This was my fourth time in Victoria during this event, and I’d never made it down to the parade, so I figured I’d drop by this year. I decided to take some photos, but in traditional parade fashion, my camera died within the first ten minutes. This has happened at the last three parades I’ve attended.

Soon after arriving at the parade, standing in the chill air, shoulder to shoulder with strangers, I suddenly realized why I’ve missed the last three; I don’t like parades. Standing in a giant lineup, that never moves, while people slowly drive by, laughing and waving at me, is what I imagine hell would be like if there was such a thing.

Putting my cynicism aside for a moment, it was fairly good. A lot of schools and organizations got involved and seemed to put in a lot of effort.

One of the groups involved was Homes for the Homeless, or something like that, which was basically a group of homeless people scaring children and screaming that we need to make legislature listen. The cause is certainly valid, as anyone who spends any time in our downtown core will know, but it just seemed out of place in a parade or at least improperly executed. The funny bit (maybe funny isn’t the right word) was after they finished their march, they came back up the opposite way asking the crowds for change.

After my coffee sunk into my system, it was a pleasant way to spend the morning. I think next year the five minute television coverage from the local news will probably suffice, though.

We took a double black diamond run back down, because my friend apparently hates me, but I took it slow and had a lot of fun. It’s definitely something I’ll look into pursuing, but I’ll need to get in much better shape for it. I haven’t really used my biking muscles (i.e., legs) in over ten years, so I find it exhausting. By the time I get to the top of the hill, I’m almost too tired to enjoy myself on the way down.

Halfway down the hill, someone behind us took a six foot drop and landed chest-first on his handlebars. He didn’t seem to have any broken bones, but he must have been fairly bruised the next day. This incident really didn’t help my mental well-being for the second half of the ride, but I made it all the way down without falling. I had a minor incident where my shorts somehow got caught on my handlebars and I ran into a tree, but nothing serious happened.

When we got to the bottom of the hill, I rode my bike onto a wooden platform about three feet in the air, fell off the side of it, and landed head-first on the gravel, scraping my shoulder up quite nicely. I made it all the way down the bloody hill, only to eat dirt in the parking lot. Figures.

The first day of riding nearly killed me, as my legs just weren’t used to it at all. After three days, the trip is already immensely easier, and I’m actually really enjoying myself. It’s nice to get a little bit of exercise before and after work, and I’ve had a lot more energy overall this week. With the traffic I have to go through while driving to and from work, it’s nearly as fast, if not faster at times, to ride a bike, so this is definitely something I’d like to keep up.

I bought a camera a couple of days ago, a Canon SD1100 IS. I haven’t had much of a chance to take it out yet, but I’m quite happy with what I’ve seen. This is the first camera I’ve had with image stabilization, and it seems to be worth the extra cost so far.

Thursday night, a friend and I went to see Wintersleep, an indie rock band from Halifax. It was a fantastic show, even worth standing in a crowd of drunk idiots to watch.

Unfortunately, their opening band, The Most Serene Republic, weren’t great. The lead singer looked like he was trying too hard to be quirky, and they sounded really messy most of the time. I just listened to a few of their studio recordings on their MySpace page, and they actually sound pretty good, so maybe they just have to get their live act together.

I’ve attached “Laser Beams” from Wintersleep’s Welcome To The Night Sky album for your listening pleasure.

If I were ever to have children, I would inevitably mess with their heads with the likes of this, so it’s probably best I not go there.

[via Boing Boing, a few weeks ago]

It seems to be a great guide for tourists. It will display a map of a city, using Yahoo! Maps, with marked points of interest. You can select a destination, read a description of the area, and view a photo chosen from Flickr. Points of interest include everything from neighborhoods and parks to museums and pubs. It also has information on walking paths, cultural events, and dining recommendations. It seems like a really good resource, and I’ll try to make use of it on my next trip. It has fairly wide coverage in Europe, North America, and Oceania, but only in major cities right now.

Choosing photos from Flickr, with permission from the photographers, is a terrific idea. Not only do they have access to photos from all over the world, but they receive an enormous amount of word of mouth publicity from it. Most people are more than happy to let them use their photos, and most people, like I am today, will link to their contribution. Free photos and free marketing. Pure genuis.

We had an old map of the park and marked off a few areas we wanted to see. Cary’s really into photography, so the main focus of the trip was to get some good shots. We started with a waterfall they call Niagara Falls. Not as spectacular as the real thing, but still impressive. We then hiked over the waterfall and onwards up the mountain until we reached a railroad tressel. The walk up was maybe 150 to 200 metres, but it was quite steep, and I was a wobbly-kneed, sweaty mess by the time we reached the top. With the rain coming down, and the heat of the day, it felt like we were lost in a sauna. A gentle fog had rolled in and settled on the tips of the surrounding trees, and even with my clothing sticking to me like cling wrap, the view was worth the climb.

Hiking always makes me feel like a kid again. As soon as I’m pushing through overgrown brush on a narrow path, away from the sounds of the city, my mind seems to jump backwards a couple decades. Suddenly I’m a silent explorer discovering an exotic rain forest and tracking a legendary treasure, a young kung-fu apprentice on a journey to find his inner power, a lost boy learning to fend for himself after being left behind on an expedition. I’m once again an eight year old boy, walking through the forest with his father, letting his imagination stretch and grow.

The tressel was the highlight of the hike for me. Cary has a thing with heights, so he stayed off it. I decided the heights didn’t bother me too much and set out to stroll across the bridge. The gaps between each wet board were just enough to poke a foot through, so each step had to be placed with care. The longer you stare down through those gaps, the less substantial that bridge seems to be. When I finally made it to the mid-point, it was like walking on cardboard. With Stand By Me running through my mind, I brought my camera out to take a photo and found my hands trembling. After snapping a rushed shot, I calmly walked back to solid ground while having a minor internal panic attack. I guess heights do bother me a bit.

We then carried on deeper into the forest to find an abandoned mine shaft, which wasn’t as impressive as I thought it would be. The walk to get there was nice, however. It was getting fairly late by the time we found the shaft, so we made our way back to civilization. On the way back down I only managed to fall on my ass twice. I will be investing in a pair of hiking boots very soon.

The humidity seemed to murder my cheap camera. and all of my photos were corrupt. The tressel photo above is one of Cary’s.

For when the stress is just too much.