Who?
Her name was Sjoerdtje; most people in Canada called her Sharon. We called her Beppe. Continue reading
Filed under: Anecdotes, Announcements, Interest, Ponderings | Tagged: Beppe, Memorial, Passing, Sharon, Sjoerdtje, Young Lady | 2 Comments »
On Top of the Job
Posted on April 1, 2011 by Jorge
The state of our roof before we had it fixed.
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“A new roof is one of those home improvements that is painful because the results aren’t really obvious to you. ” These words were spoken by a friend of mine when I was talking to her about the sorry state of my roof (and how I was looking to have it repaired or replaced) . I didn’t really understand exactly what she meant until I started getting quotes to have my roof redone.
Filed under: Anecdotes, Interactive, Interest, Toronto Guide | Tagged: Home Improvement, Imperial Roofs, Roofing | Leave a comment »
MM6 – 24 Hour Movie Marathon – 2011
Posted on March 26, 2011 by Jorge
Just so you know, there were some complications this year; both in terms of: the movies we selected and the circumstances under which we were placed to film the fanpics. Not everything was able to make it in this year. Also: we are lazy.
After what seems to have been an eternity, another 24 Hour Movie Marathon is upon us. Having skipped 2010 (although the official position is that we HAVE maintained the average of one per year since we doubled up in 2008), we are very much raring to go. The dynamics of our free time have changed a bit, but steps have been taken to make room for the event. Booya!
The lineup this year, in my opinion, is the strangest yet (or maybe the space in between this year’s and the last has clouded my memory); however, I am very much looking forward to these twelve films. The challenge will be staying awake and doing a good job on our fan films. Every year that we do this we wonder if the idea well for our multimedia hilarity will run dry; so far we have managed to come up with -according to us- some good material.
Filed under: Friends, Humour, Interest, Special Events | Tagged: 24 Hour Movie Marathon, Hausu, House, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Machete, Micmacs, Movie Marathon, New Jack City, North By Northwest, Once, Singin' In the Rain, The Black Hole, The Fall, The Human Centipede, The King of Kong | 3 Comments »
Emm Emm Sicks
Posted on March 7, 2011 by Jorge
The Countdown Begins
Really, the countdown began a few months ago when I purchased my train ticket to Ottawa; Movie Marathon Six is almost upon us! Here is the program…
- The King of Kong
- New Jack City
- Once
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
- Singin’ in the Rain
- North By Northwest
- Micmacs
- The Black Hole
- House (Japan)
- The Human Centipede
- Machete
- The Fall
In a word: insane-o! I have seen only a few of these; the rest I am very much looking forward to watching.
So the usual hijinks will be hinjinksed: movie watching; tableau picture-taking; fan-film-making; sleep-deprivation. We might even do some webcasting and live chats; or maybe we won’t. Ah, movie marathons are the bomb!
For a sampling of our previous events, click here.
Filed under: Friends, Humour, Interactive, Interest, Special Events | Tagged: Dave, Friends, Good Times, Movie Marathon | 7 Comments »
Off the Hook By Going Off the Airwaves
Posted on February 2, 2011 by Jorge
Avoiding Getting Wired
In the place we used to live in near High Park, we used to have cable. When we moved into our new home, we opted out of paying for cable and watched whatever we could pick up from the analog feed to our house. The TV we had was not the greatest and picked up a small number of channels (most of which were fuzzy). Even though this wasn’t the greatest option, we didn’t mind as our TV wasn’t awesome and wouldn’t take advantage of the Holy Grail that is HD.
Fast forward a few years and the TV started to show its age; we finally ended up getting a new TV (more at my insistence). Due to me getting my wish, Mrs. J made a simple ask: CTV (which never showed up using cable or a simple antenna using our old TV). The decision was made to get an antenna that would allow us to pick up digital signals. Due to my fear of heights and the fact that I had no idea how to install one, we decided to call some professionals.
Geoff does some prep work.
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The Antenna Guys
A friend of Mrs. J’s sent her an article about getting HDTV channels using an antenna, and had a helpful link to company called The Antenna Guys. It is a small operation (based in Toronto) made up of a few guys that will come to your house and install a Channel Master antenna (or another one available from their inventory listed on their home page) and wire it to your distribution point so that you might be able to take advantage of the airwaves.
I spoke to Geoff (the owner) to get a quote and the cost of installation was relatively affordable (they even take off $25 if you provide a ladder and are easily reachable by TTC). Really, when you think about it, if you’re not really a specialty-channel-kind-of-person, you’re really doing yourself a disservice by buying basic cable, especially considering the fact that a lot of the channels that you watch are probably available using an antenna. The one-time charge of installation of an antenna is recouped in a few months in terms of saving money by not paying for a cable provider for your TV.
The Channel Master antenna and neat wiring.
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I touched base a few times with Geoff to make an appointment. Accommodating and polite, he explained what they did and we worked out a time when I would be home so they could do what they needed to do. As his partner was riding a bike to get to our place, he did all of the prep work so that when his “climber” arrived, there would be no delay. Installation took a few hours (which was impressive considering how icy the roof was) and we received a decent number of HD channels which is impressive considering where we are located.
One thing to keep in mind when working with The Antenna Guys: make sure you are explicit in how you want things wired; this is something that they appreciate. For instance, I asked Geoff not to anchor the cable he brought into the house (he had to drill in) so that I might have some slack to do some rewiring if I needed to at a later time. He did exactly as I asked, and left a good length of coil which I have stored in my laundry room.
Antenna mounted and pointed towards the CN Tower.
Click to enlarge…
Another awesome thing they did: fixed up the wiring outside the house. Geoff tie-wrapped and straightened a lot of the messy wiring job of previous folks. He even left me extra caulking to plug up some of the other holes that he found that had been drilled before he got there.
The Antenna Guys are a great group of dudes who will help you unshackle yourself from the expense that is cable and reap the benefits of free off-the-air digital signals. I would recommend these guys to anyone interested in this kind of thing.
Geoff is a salt-of-the-Earth kind of guy whose business is in its infancy and he could use the support of word-of-mouth advertising; if you or anyone you know is thinking about going aerial, check out their web page.
Filed under: Interest, Toronto Guide | Tagged: Antenna, Digital, HD, Installation, Toronto | 4 Comments »
Barking Space 
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