from james's desk

been a long long time..

2007-10-19T22:20:00.000-04:00

wow...it's October 19 and where has the year gone by??

Kevin's in China doing it up... So is my friend Peter...dad's in Egypt.. and I am here in lovely Toronto...lol....well sorry for no entries but 13 hour days do not allow such luxuries!!

lifes been busy!!

2007-07-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

yeah...Not did I get one but TWO contracts looking after these two townhouse complexes. Garbage collection twice a week, recycle, and grounds keeping have made my life busier than ever... bought some snazzy tools to help out, glad I got them cuz I handled serious tasks in no time at all!! Work is hard but it's all worth it!

fathers day

2007-06-17T20:05:00.000-04:00

wow!!

what a stressed out bunch of days...

trying to seal 2 contracts for one year uptown...neighborhood is a bit rough...well a lot rough but the residents that live there are great people so far. Hope we win the bids we put in...my life is about to change!!

On a happy note..Kevin and dad cme in for dinner and we went to Dad's fav spot in C-town. It was a great time that went by too fast.

montreal long weekend

2007-05-25T11:18:00.001-04:00

Well it's been six long years since I was last in Montreal, and I never realized how much I love it there!! We stayed at the same place my crew and I did back in 2000 when we went to that big party at Montreal Stadium in Westmount.

The stay was too short but I loved it non the less. The drive in was about 6-7 hours.
We did the urban tourist thing and thanks to my brother, recommended THE poutine place in Montreal called la banquis,a 24 hour joint that sells poutine and hamburgers. Montreal is the home of fast food, bagels and cafes/restaurants!
some piks I took!

NEW Red Cinema 4k eng style video camera

2007-05-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

what what what!!

here it is... this camera has been released. Apple supports new codec called redcode. a high def codec raw at 12 bits!! this is sweet!! deep pockets??

RED RENDERS OBSOLESCENCE OBSOLETE

The RED ONE™ body - designed for flexibility and functionality. Weighing in at around 9 lbs, a streamlined packaged designed specifically to maximize your shooting options, along with a 35mm PL lens mount allows you to take advantage of the world's best optics. Modular and upgradeable, the RED ONE™ camera is a future-proof acquisition system you can build upon. RED ONE™'s modular design means you can upgrade with us as we add new features, accessories and improve system specifications.

PIXEL SHIFTING AND
UP-REZZING NOT SPOKEN HERE

Typical high-end HD camcorders have 2.1M pixel sensors and record with 3:1:1 color sub-sampled video at up to 30fps. We deliver 12M pixels at up to 60fps and record 12 bit native RAW, or 10 bit over-sampled HD your choice. That’s more than 5 times the amount of information available every second and a vastly superior recording quality. Don’t need all that data for your workflow? Dial it back, and keep all the other advantages of the Mysterium™ Super 35mm cine sized (24.4 x 13.7mm) sensor. You get the same breathtaking Depth of Field and selective focus as found in film cameras. Mysterium™ boasts a greater than 66db Signal to Noise Ratio thanks to its large 29 sq. micron pixels. And 12,065,000 pixels deliver resolution that can only be called Ultra High Definition.

RED ONE IS A MODULAR DESIGN

Shoot lightweight ENG style (body around 9 lbs., in rugged aluminum alloy) or load it up to shoot a feature film. Initial options will include RED-CAGE™ for mounting accessories and “growing” the camera body. Configure for tripod, crane or long lens applications. Onboard or external high-resolution RED monitors come equipped with advanced tools for framing, exposure and focus. The RED ONE™ camera has numerous stainless steel mounting points on the body to allow hundreds of optional RED and third party accessories... some that haven’t even been dreamed of yet.

MSRP of $17,500 for RED ONE™ camera.
Estimated to ship in Early 2007.

reds website

been a while!!

2007-05-01T10:36:00.000-04:00

yes folks...
been a long while...I have been extremely busy, no time to blog!!

life is busy...

2007-03-30T10:13:00.000-04:00

no time to fool around these days...

been busy with the expansion of my company accounts. Lots of prestige accounts that are starting to pay off. Busy with the HVAC maintenance season as well!! Going to do some seasonal work with a friend of mine, it's hard hard work but pays well, imagine going to Hamilton to work this weekend after 21 years I left!!! Erie!! Making a move soon,owning property to rent out is on my mind bigtime these days..yup another slumlord is on the rise..heheh just kidding.

The 2007 audi rs4 vs bmw m5

2007-03-19T11:30:00.000-04:00

I want this car the most..not to do this but flap!!! These dudes are insane!!

enjoy the ride...

2008 audi r8 supercar

2007-03-19T11:24:00.000-04:00

Yes..This car exists..those germans have it already. This car is number 2 on my wish list!!!

2007 audi s8 v10

2007-03-19T11:13:00.001-04:00

This is a car I want badly...see the clip and KNOW WHY!!

Frank miller's "300" in IMAX March 17 2007

2007-03-18T13:22:00.001-04:00

Holy smokes!!!!

What a serious flick. This tale of honour and devotion is brought to the mega big screen, Imax to be short, nothing short of awesome in it's delivery!! Watching this movie at Imax is a must do. Imax movies are remastered at 300 frames per second, so a full length feature running at 2 hours is a real audio and visual treat!!

About the flick...

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, "300" concerns the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians; the battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world's first democracy. This last sentence is of course rubbish as the Spartans were famously governed by an oligarchy and were very much the antithesis of Athenian democracy. Written by Simon Stevens

In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the enemy in one of the most famous last stands of history. Persian King Xerxes lead a Army of well over 100,000 (Persian king Xerxes before war has about 170,000 army) men to Greece and was confronted by 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and other Slave soldiers. Xerxes waited for 10 days for King Leonidas to surrender or withdraw left with no options he moved. The battle lasted for about 3 days and after which all 300 Spartans were killed. The Spartan defeat was not the one expected as a local shepherd named Ephialtes defected to the Persians and informed Xerxes of a separate path through Thermopylae, which the Persians could use to outflank the Greeks. Written by cyberian2005

In 480 BC, the Persian king Xerxes sends his massive army to conquer Greece. The Greek city of Sparta houses its finest warriors, and 300 of these soldiers are chosen to meet the Persians at Thermopylae, engaging the soldiers in a narrow canyon where they cannot take full advantage of their numbers. The battle is a suicide mission, meant to buy time for the rest of the Greek forces to prepare for the invasion. However, that doesn't stop the Spartans from throwing their hearts into the fray, determined to take as many Persians as possible with them. Written by rmlohner

ultraspin 12 at KH and guv feb 24 2007

2007-02-26T14:13:00.001-05:00

daaaaaaaamn!!

the hardest or most kick assed event I have ATTENDED as a civillian in 10 years!!!

Ultraspin 12 at the koolhaus and guvernment complex.

My favs were blank and jones, rank 1, max graham and talla2xlc.

the sound system was perfect and I had to wear ear plugs cuz the bass was so punchy hard!! the guv side system was flawless as usual!!

all my crew arrived arrived and we kicked it in the sofa section in the koolhaus side. we had that area locked down. here are some videos of this and me doing my dr glow thing!!

bronchitis

2007-02-20T19:50:00.000-05:00

yes I have this dreaded affliction!!

Acted up on thursday...saw the doctor yesterday and got some heavy duty meds!!

didn't want to do anything except work, come home and die!!! getting better slowly though, that's why I have not posted. happy new year of the pig everyone!!

johan gielen at the docks live!

2007-02-20T19:44:00.000-05:00

I filmed this artist among others on february 10 2007 at an event thrown by destiny and trance addict. It's been a long time in the EDM scene and it's a lot of fun!!

steve porter live

2007-02-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

The you tube is good for video sharing but the quality sucks!!!

I post video on my own site production multimedia

click here to see some older video I posted last year. You can see Miss Money Penny in there!! hehehe!!

I use Quick Time and the video is a lot better than what you will see on youtube. Also there is no time restriction!!! I will be re-doing the web site and posting new videos soon, even better than the one posted.

armin and blank and jones clip live!!

2007-02-06T09:51:00.001-05:00

This is what I love to do...film live acts!!! This clip will not convert properly!! Once Youtubes FLV converter goes to work on my clip..it gets wrecked!!! The clip Is actually a high quality mpeg 4-h264 clip encoded at 2pass 700k/bs. looks good on an ipod video but not here!!!:(

breakdancing-planet b-boy

2007-02-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

Remember when dudes did this??? I did and as a kid, I never had the balls to do it. Many years later...I can only watch these young pups do their thang!! Thanks to Miss Money Penny for the link to the crew involved with this. a whole new sub-culture has emerged!!

Vader of the Opera

2007-01-25T13:40:00.001-05:00

Now this guy had too much time on in hands...slik though enjoy!!

youtube video links

2007-01-22T18:08:00.000-05:00

I thought I try something new on my blog, here are the first video clips of events I shot. This clip looks good.

1440x1080i>QT conversion>2 pass>320x176>datarate 720kb/s> h264 .mp4
been having trouble uploading new clips with same settings...footage pixelates!!

Might just upload mpeg 4 clips without the H264 codec.

transfer raw to archos 604 DVR

2007-01-16T10:46:00.000-05:00

You can transfer data via this dock. There is a usb cable that connects to your camera or card reader or computer. Simply attach the card reader to this!

I think you can attach a CF card reader directly to the USB A or USB B port on the side of the unit, without the need of the dock. I will try my friends unit and see if it works with his USB card reader. According to specs, It can support JPEG, BMP or PNG photo files, RAW support not available (yet)

Docking Adapter for Archos 404, 504 & 604 series

* Quickly recharge your ARCHOS
* Transfer photos directly from a DSC (USB Host)
* Transfer files to and from a PC
* Delivered with AD/DC + USB A / USB mini B cable

My New dvd burner...

2007-01-16T09:05:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time since I updated my Pioneer 105 dvd burner to dual layer!!
The Pioneer works fine but I need a new solution...a Lacie Multi drive that burns Blu-Ray disc, DL and all cd and dvd formats except HD-DVD!-(LG has a solution) This burner is awesome for anyone in the video biz!! alas....I didn't get this drive yet as it has been only just released at 1300 buck canadian!! so I opted for the next best thing, the external DL burner with lightscribe. Called the Lacie D2 burner, I am very happy with the prompt and rock solid burns this unit performs. The lightscribe feature is lengthy at 20 minutes to print image to label side on lightscribe media but the results are awesome!!

LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive
USB 2.0 & FireWire

LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive

User Benefits:

* The professional choice for Blu-ray recording
* Easily save 50GB of digital data on 1 disc
* BD (Blu-ray)/DVD/CD writer in one drive
* Durable metal d2 design; quiet operation

$1,149.00

Now accepting pre-orders. This product will ship in late January 2007.

d2 Design by Neil Poulton

Burn up to 4 hours of HD video on a Blu-ray disc without quality loss and then share it with your customers or send your high-quality master for replication. New Blu-ray technology allows you to archive large amounts of data, audio asset libraries, raw video shoots, image files or complete multimedia projects on long lasting BD media - at a low cost per GB. Easily back up as much as 10 DVDs worth of important files at a fast throughput of 9MB/s. Backward compatible with CD/DVD media, it also offers a compelling interactive multimedia experience when playing back your BD-ROMs. Bundled with full-featured, easy-to-use software, including packet writing and backup applications, it’s the LaCie Blu-ray burning solution for intensive professional use.

LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive
Item Number : 301115U
Capacity : up to 50GB
Interface : Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and FireWire
Writing Speeds : BD-R* (single or dual layer) 2x
BD-RE** (single or dual layer) 2x
DVD±R 8x; DVD+RW 8x; DVD-RW 6x; DVD±R DL 4x
CD-R 24x; CD-RW 16x
Reading Speeds : BD-ROM*** 2x; BD-R 2x; BD-RE 2x
DVD±R 8x; DVD±RW 8x; DVD±R DL 8x; DVD-ROM 8x
CD-R 32x; CD-RW 24x; CD-ROM 32x
Cache Size : 8MB
Dimensions (WxHxD) : 6.3 x 1.7 x 10.6 in. / 173 x 44 x 268 mm
Weight : 3.31 lbs. / 1500 g
System Requirements : Mastering/Burning: FireWire (IEEE 1394) or USB 2.0-equipped computer; Windows XP with the latest service pack / Mac OS 10.3.9 or higher; Pentium 4 Dual Core 3GHz processor or higher / Power PC G4 or Mac Intel processor or higher; minimum 512MB RAM
HD Video Playback****: Nvidia 7600GT, ATI X1600 series GPU; minimum 1280x1024 monitor resolution
Bundled Software : Easy Media Creator 8.2; Cineplayer 3.4 (HD playback); Toast 7.1.1 Titanium; compatible with Sonic Scenarist® authoring software
Comments : *Blu-ray disc Recordable - write-once
**Blu-ray disc Rewritable
***Blu-ray disc Read Only Memory
****Non-protected. Requirements for protected HD video are not yet finalized.
See www.apple.com for the BD player release date
Box Content : LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive; USB 2.0 cable; FireWire cable; external power supply; LaCie DVD-ROM (Windows)/CD-ROM (Mac) with User Manual and software; Quick Install Guide
Warranty : 1 Year Limited Warranty
Speciﬁcations and appearance are given as guidelines and may change without notice.

Archos 604 wifi multimedia player

2007-01-13T21:57:00.000-05:00

Now for all us Mac fans that probably won't see the i-phone for another year, here is a really cool device!!!

Features

The Archos 604 is an update of the company's impressive AV 500, which handily won PC Magazine's Editors' Choice award when it came out. The new version has a slightly bigger screen and different button layout, but it retains many of the features that made me love its predecessor. One big difference, though, is that you get a lot less in the box this time around, since many of the accessories are now optional extras—including the all-important docking station, which is required for recording video from analog sources. Even the USB Host feature, for connecting cameras and other USB devices, now requires an optional adapter. Archos 604 Wi-Fi, which adds a touch-screen and 802.11g wireless capabilities for Web browsing, e-mail, and content downloading. The 604 is available only in a 30GB hard drive configuration.

Features:

# Ultra slim with optimal screen size for watching video with 3 times the surface as that of 2.5in screens
# Reads all standard video formats in full DVD resolution
# DVD-quality video playback on TV with optional DVR Station
# Built in WIFI
# Records directly from TV in high-quality MPEG-4 with optional DVR station
# Bright 4.3in TFT LCD with 16 million colours
# Extremely fast photo viewer with zoom, music and transition effects
# Advanced music player able to display track, artist, album, and album cover
# Fully compatible with DVD-quality VOD and music online stores

Technical Information:

# Product Type: Portable Video Player
# Weight: 255 g
# Dimensions: 130 x 78 x 17 mm
# Interface Type: USB 1.1, USB 2.0, USB Host 2.0, Wi-Fi
# Storage type: Hard drive
# Capacity: 30 GB
# Supported audio formats: MP3, WMA, WAV
# Rated battery life (audio): 14 hours
# Rated battery life (video): 4 hours
# Other features: Touch screen
# Picture formats: JPEG, BMP, PNG
# Supported video formats: MPEG-4, WMV

iphone TRIPLE THREATand www.myweblog.com

2007-01-09T19:20:00.000-05:00

yes!!!
The phone I always wanted!!!! Click Here for the Steve Jobs Keynote from Macworld San Francisco, January 9-2007. This wicked phone will be available in June 2007 for 500 dollars cad$

Technical Specifications
Screen size 3.5 inches
Screen resolution 320 by 480 at 160 ppi
Input method Multi-touch
Operating system OS X
Storage 4GB or 8GB
GSM Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
Wireless data Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
Camera 2.0 megapixels
Battery

* Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing
* Up to 16 hours Audio playback

Dimensions 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight 4.8 ounces / 135 grams

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy all your content — including music, audiobooks, videos, TV shows, and movies — on a beautiful 3.5-inch widescreen display. It also lets you sync your content from the iTunes library on your PC or Mac. And then you can access it all with just the touch of a finger.

iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows you to make a call by simply pointing your finger at a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log. It also automatically syncs all your contacts from a PC, Mac, or Internet service. And it lets you select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want — just like email.

iPhone features a rich HTML email client and Safari — the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device — which automatically syncs bookmarks from your PC or Mac. Safari also includes built-in Google and Yahoo! search. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background over Wi-Fi or EDGE.

Multi-touch

iPhone features the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. It’s an entirely new interface based on a large multi-touch display and innovative new software that lets you control everything using only your fingers. So you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flip through photos and email them with a touch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web page — all by simply using iPhone’s multi-touch display.
Intelligent Keyboard

iPhone’s full QWERTY soft keyboard lets you easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. And the keyboard is predictive, so it prevents and corrects mistakes, making it easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones.

Built-in Advanced Sensors

iPhone’s accelerometer detects when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape, then automatically changes the contents of the display, so you immediately see the entire width of a web page or a photo in its proper landscape aspect ratio.

The proximity sensor detects when you lift iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away.

An ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display’s brightness to the appropriate level for the current ambient light, thereby enhancing the user experience and saving power at the same time.

I discovered another blog community called www.myweblog.com. It's a neat place to blog from and keeptrack of web blog traffic stats. Click here to go there!!

CES Las Vegas

2007-01-09T08:29:00.000-05:00

Yes the consumer electronics show is on in Los Vegas!!! Amazing new tech toys for us!!

Also, in San Francisco, Macworld is on as well!!

mmmmmmmm. tasty!!

click here for CES coverage

The Magic Flute Review (jan 6 2007 performance)

2007-01-08T08:44:00.000-05:00

Was an amazing event. The Rose theatre was a full house.

more to follow.

dream jobs!

2007-01-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

Jeff Bezos (amazon.com) has ventured into the space business. Incredibly cool ??

If you have these stats...apply!!

Development Flight, and We are Hiring

Blue Origin wants you! Actually, Blue Origin needs you and wants to hire you … assuming you’re a hard working, technically gifted, team-oriented, experienced aerospace engineer or engineering leader. If you might be interested in joining us, please keep reading.

We’re working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go and so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system. Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we’re working on it methodically. We believe in incremental improvement and in keeping investments at a pace that's sustainable. Slow and steady is the way to achieve results, and we do not kid ourselves into thinking this will get easier as we go along. Smaller, more frequent steps drive a faster rate of learning, help us maintain focus, and give each of us an opportunity to see our latest work fly sooner.

Our first objective is developing New Shepard, a vertical take-off, vertical-landing vehicle designed to take a small number of astronauts on a sub-orbital journey into space.

On the morning of November 13, 2006, we launched and landed Goddard – a first development vehicle in the New Shepard program. The launch was both useful and fun. Many friends and family came to watch the launch and support the team.

Here’s the vehicle coming out of the “barn” in the wee hours of the morning:

Careers

Blue Origin is hiring highly qualified and dedicated individuals. Our hiring bar is unabashedly extreme, and we insist on keeping our team size small. This means the person occupying each and every spot must be among the most technically gifted in his or her field. Other hiring criteria include:

1. You must have a genuine passion for space. Without passion, you will find what we're trying to do too difficult. There are much easier jobs.
2. You must want to work in a small company.
3. We are building real hardware. This must excite you. You must be a builder.

Blue Origin's engineering and manufacturing teams work in a newly rennovated 280,000 sq. ft. facility on 26 acres in Kent, Washington. We are just 20 minutes south of Seattle and 15 minutes from Sea-Tac airport. We also own and operate a launch complex in western Texas.

avatars...

2007-01-03T12:08:00.000-05:00

I love these things!!!!
Here are some I stole off of ppl's posts!! hehehehehehe

deviant art

2007-01-03T11:58:00.001-05:00

I have a deviant art account that I have not used in ages, been updated.

some really interesting ppl there!!!

such as superkev.!

Have a Merry Xmas !!

2006-12-22T10:01:00.001-05:00

have a good one!!

External Blu-Ray combo drive for Pc and Mac

2006-12-22T09:42:00.000-05:00

I have been waiting for this for a long time, an external solution!! This bluray device is not here yet albeit being released in Japan by Logitec, (not Logitech) in August 2006. The Sony Vaio Bluray drive on their top end AR Vaio notebooks are here already, included onboard and outputted via a 17 inch xbite monitor who resolution peaks at 1920 x 1200, that's true High Def resolution!! At $4000, that is a lot for those early adopters wanting a top end notebook. Software support is limited but functional.A new wave of third party vendors will pop up soon enough. Now what is Apple got going on??! well, with Macworld coming up in jan 8 2007, we are sure to see what their offerings are for the new Macpro 3 lineup regarding the Bluray format. The Merom processor (64 bit) for the Notebook line is inevitable and the world eagerly awaits the outcome for these pro apps and hardware. damn the wait better be worth it!

How about this camera?!!!

2006-12-19T20:42:00.001-05:00

This monster of a CAMERA IS 39 MEGAPIXELS!!!

ANYONE WANT ONE??!!

At $30,000 USD, you better not drop it!!!!

The Hasselblad H3D is the world’s first 48mm. full-frame, large-sensor, medium-format DSLR camera system. The H3D has been developed around a brand new digital camera engine producing increased lens performance and a new level of image sharpness. By focusing solely on digital camera architecture, Hasselblad is able to offer photographers the full benefits of professional medium-format digital cameras as well as the ease of use of the best 35mm DSLRs

Large format 48x36mm digital capture
Today’s digital photography demands higher resolution, less noise, and improved compositional choice, all of which the CF backs provide. The sensors are 22 or 39 megapixels in size and they are both more than twice the physical size of today’s 35mm sensors. This means more and larger pixels, which ensures the highest possible image quality and moiré free color rendering without gradation break-ups - in even the most subtley lit surfaces.

Four modes of operation and storage
Optimum portability and image storage are critical for the professional photographer. On the digital front, the H3D offers a free choice of the portable CF card storage, the flexible Firewire driven Hasselblad Imagebank, or tethered operation with extended, special capture controls. On the film front, an optional 120/220 magazine is offered for those occasions where film is preferred. With these four operating and storage options, the photographer is able to select the best mode to suit the nature of the work at hand, whether in the studio or on location.

H System lenses
The specifications of the specially designed HC/HCD lenses exceed the demands made by digital capture. The central lens shutters of the lenses add flexibility by allowing flash to be employed at shutter speeds up to 1/800s. Thanks to the large format, the depth of field range is considerably shallower making it much easier to create a perfect interplay between sharpness and blur. The H3D design has also made possible the launch of a completely new 28mm lens, designed and optimized solely for digital image capture. Image quality is lifted to a level, yet unseen in digital photography, including digital correction for color aberration and distortion (DAC).
A choice of bright viewfinders
One of the important traditional advantages of medium format is the extra large and bright viewfinder image. The H3D comes with a new HVD90X viewfinder designed for full performance over the large 36x48mm sensor. It is interchangeable with the HV90X and the new waist-level viewfinder, the HVM.

Unique Hasselblad Natural Color Solution
Normally troublesome subjects such as various skin tones, metals, fabrics, flowers, etc. are easily captured by using the new, powerful color profile – the Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS). It works invisibly in the background in conjunction with the FlexColor imaging software, producing outstanding and reliable out-of-the-box results. In order to support our new unique color system, we have developed a custom Hasselblad raw file format called 3F RAW (3FR). The file format includes lossless image compression, which reduces the required storage space by 33%.

DNG workflow
3FR files can be converted into Adobe’s raw image format DNG (‘Digital NeGative’), bringing this new technology standard to the professional photographer for the first time. In order to optimize the colors of the DNG file format, conversion from the 3FR must take place through FlexColor. The DNG file format enables raw, compressed image files to be opened directly in Adobe Photoshop. Hasselblad image files carry a full set of metadata, including capture conditions, keywords and copyright, facilitating workflow with image asset management solutions.
IAA – helping you classify and select images
Building on the success of its Audio Exposure Feedback technology, Hasselblad has created Instant Approval Architecture (IAA), an enhanced set of feedback tools, designed to liberate the photographer from the selection process and to concentrate on the shoot. Audible and visible signals as well as recorded information in the file and in the file name all promote a quick and easy classification in the field or in the lab. Sorting becomes automatic, accessible and very fast, facilitating reviewing the best images for immediate client presentation.

FlexColor workflow for the specialist commercial photographer
FlexColor enables you to create an image processing workflow that gives you the highest degree of control for your studio photography. In tethered operation, tools such as overlay masking help bring productivity to advanced set composition. The latest version of the FlexColor software enables you to manipulate color temperature and compare image details across multiple images for precise image selection. FlexColor uses the 3FR files and runs on both Macintosh and Windows computers. The software is licensed to allow you to provide free copies for all your co-workers and production partners.

Last, but Not Least
Naturally, as with all Hasselblad products, a new H3D affords access to the full range of Hasselblad service and support, ensuring that your investment will last for a long time to come. And the latest firmware updates are always just a download away.

Specs

Sensor dimensions: 36.7 x 49.0 mm

Shooting mode: Single shot

Color definition: 16 bit

ISO speed range: ISO 50, 100, 200 and 400

Image storage: CF card type II (write speed >20 MB/sec), New Image Bank 100 GB external hard drive or tethered to Mac or PC

Color management: Hasselblad RGB: • full dynamics • reproduction dynamics

Battery type: Li-ion (powered from the H3D camera grip)

Capture rate: 35 captures per minute

Color display: OLED 2.2”

Histogram feedback on rear OLED and on camera body grip LCD

IR filter: Mounted on CCD sensor

Acoustic feedback

File format: Hasselblad 3FR

Software: FlexColor (included)

Host connection type: FireWire 800 (IEEE1394b)

View camera compatibility

Battery capacity: H3D camera system, Li-ion battery: 250 captures in 4 hours

Operating temperature: 0 - 45 °C / 32 - 113 °F
H3D-22

Sensor size: 22 Mpixels (4080 x 5440 pixels)

Image size (8/16 bit RGB): RAW 3FR capture 30 MB on average. TIFF 8 bit: 66 MB

Storage capacity: 2 GB CF card holds 66 images on average

H3D-39

Sensor size: 39 Mpixels (5412 • 7212 pixels)

Image size (8/16 bit RGB): RAW 3FR capture 50 MB on average. TIFF 8 bit: 117 MB

Storage capacity: 2 GB CF card holds 40 images on average
CAMERA FEATURES

Camera type Large sensor full format DSLR

Lenses Hasselblad HC and HCD lenses with integral leaf shutter. All C type lenses from the V system with optional CF lens adapter.

Shutter speed range: 32 seconds to 1/800 second (18 hours to 1/800 second using film)

Flash sync speed: Flash can be used at all shutter speeds.

Viewfinder options:
•HVD90X: 90° reflex viewfinder w. diopter adjustment (-5 to +3.5D). Image magnification 3.1 times. Integral fill-flash (G.No. 12 @ ISO100). Hot shoe for SCA3002-system flashes from Metz™.
•HV90X: For use with film capture
•HVM: Waist level viewfinder

Focusing: Autofocus with Ultra-Focus digital feedback. Instant manual focus override. AF metering with passive central cross-type sensor. Metering range EV 1 to 19 at ISO 100.

Flash control: Automatic TTL centre weighted system. Uses built-in flash or flashes compatible with SCA3002 (Metz™). Output can be adjusted from -3 to +3EV. For manual flashes a built-in metering system is available.

Exposure metering: Metering options: Spot, Centre weighted and Centre Spot. Metering range Spot: EV2 to 21, Centre weighted: EV1 to 21, Centre Spot: EV1 to 21

Power supply: Rechargeable Li-ion battery (7.2 VDC / 1850 mAh). Optional cassette for 3 CR-123 Lithium batteries available.

Film compatibility

Brampton Lyric Opera presents -January 6-2006

2006-12-14T09:47:00.000-05:00

We are filming the second performance at the Rose theatre for the Brampton Lyric Opera.

The Magic Flute...Read on!!

W. A. MOZART'S

THE MAGIC FLUTE

SUNG IN ENGLISH WITH FULL CAST, CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA.

SATURDAY JANUARY 6, 2007.

8:00 PM

ONE NIGHT ONLY AT

THE ROSE THEATRE

1 THEATRE LANE

BRAMPTON

(click here for seating plan)

TICKETS STARTING FROM ONLY $30

905-874-2800
or
905-793-4600

MAKE IT A CHRISTMAS PRESENT YOU'LL NEVER FORGET!

www.bramptonlyricopera.ca

Driving Directions to the Rose Theatre Brampton:
FROM EAST (Toronto, Oshawa, Kingston)
Take Highway 401 west to Highway 410. Take Highway 410 north and exit at Queen Street. Take Queen Street west to Theatre Lane. Turn right onto Theatre Lane and left into the Rose Theatre parking garage.
FROM WEST (Georgetown, Guelph)
Take Highway 7 (Bovaird Drive) east into Brampton. Turn right onto Hurontario Street (Highway 10) and travel south to Theatre Lane. Turn left onto Theatre Lane and right into the Rose Theatre parking garage.
FROM NORTH (Caledon, Orangeville)
Take Highway 10 (Hurontario Street) south into Brampton. Turn left onto Theatre Lane and right into the Rose Theatre parking garage.
FROM SOUTH (Mississauga, Hamilton, Niagara)
Take Highway 403 north to Highway 410. Take Highway 410 north and exit at Queen Street. Take Queen Street west to Theatre Lane. Turn right onto Theatre Lane and left into the Rose Theatre parking garage.
Brampton Bus & Train Terminal
2 minute walk to the Rose Theatre
Location Ticket Sales
8 Nelson St. W., Brampton, ON
Queen St. & Main St. (Hwy 10)
Nelson St. @ George St., north of Queen St., west of Main St. (Hwy. 10) Take Hwy 410, north to Queen St., west to Hwy 10, north to Nelson St.
Google map

Available Schedules

Train and bus services from this location
GO Transit tickets sold by Brampton Transit.

Where and how to buy tickets and passes
Phone Number Fare Calculator
416 869-3200
toll free 1 888 438-6646
TTY 1 800 387-3652 This location is in fare zone 33.

Brampton Lyric Opera gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. With $100 Million in funding from the province's charitable gaming initiative, the Foundation provides grants to eligible charitable and not-for-profit organizations in the arts, culture, sports, recreation, environment and social services sectors.

Diana's Theory

2006-12-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

Police services prepare to take away the car in which Diana died in this Aug. 31, 1997 photo in Paris. (AP / Jerome Delay)

In regards to this theory, I think a lot of people are guilty in contributing to Princess Diana's death. A real shame. I believe there was a plan to erase Diana, almost reminicent of the Marilyn Monroe coverup.

Read on:

Conspiracy theorists press case on Diana's death

Updated Wed. Dec. 13 2006 9:10 PM ET

Michael Stittle, CTV.ca News Staff

British officials are going to ridiculous lengths to prove what conspiracy theorists refuse to believe: Diana, Princess of Wales, died because her driver was drunk and crashed inside a Paris tunnel, as paparazzi buzzed about their car like flies.

In the ranks of celebrities whose deaths seem to reveal a web of sinister connections, Diana holds a place just beneath John F. Kennedy, slightly above Elvis Presley, and far above Kurt Cobain.

"You can equate this to various other figures who died tragically ... and have caught the popular imagination," Hugo Vickers, an expert on the Royal family, told CTV Newsnet. "There will always be conspiracy theories, and actually it doesn't really matter what the official inquiry says -- those people will still go on believing them."

Metropolitan Police Chief John Stevens has written a 400-page report -- roughly 160 pages shy of the 9/11 Commission Report's length -- in an attempt to clear up the mysteries surrounding Diana's death.

The report cost US$5 million and took three years of hard work. Stevens had access to about 400 interviews with witnesses and friends of the princess.

But his findings may just stir up more questions, such as the claim that U.S. agents tapped Diana's phone the very night she died. Britain's intelligence service MI-6 has claimed ignorance, while America's National Security Agency denied the charge.

Even if it's true, Vickers doubts the alleged spying had any connection to Diana's death.

"Since the nine years that she died we've had so many red herrings pushed in the way of things," he said. "This one seems to me slightly another one, to be quite honest."

Meanwhile, a public inquest into Diana's death is expected to resume in 2007, with preliminary hearings set for Jan. 8 and 9 at London's Royal Courts of Justice.

Mohamed al Fayed, millionaire owner of the famous London department store Harrods, has led the charge in Diana conspiracy theories.

Al Fayed is the father of Dodi Fayed, who also died in the crash. He claims his son was engaged to Diana and the father of her supposed unborn child.

What we know

* On Aug. 31, 1997, Diana left the Paris Ritz with Dodi Fayed for his apartment on Champs Elysees, travelling inside a black Mercedes 280S.
* Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones accompanied the couple and the car was driven by Henri Paul, an employee at the Ritz.
* As the car entered the Pont d'Alma underpass at roughly 160 kilometres per hour, Paul had a blood-alcohol level three times France's legal limit. He was unable to maintain control as several paparazzi pursued the car.
* The car struck one of the tunnel's concrete pillars head on, ricocheting into a wall and sustaining massive damage. Diana clung to life while at least one photographer took pictures of her prone body.
* She finally perished three-and-a-half hours later at Pitie Salpetriere Hospital. She was 36. About 50 other people have died in the same tunnel in the past 60 years.
* Trevor Rees-Jones was the only passenger wearing a seatbelt and the only survivor.
* Three photographers taking pictures of the crash were later charged with breaking French privacy laws, because the inside of a car is considered a private space. They were later acquitted.
* In 2002, France's highest court dropped manslaughter charges against nine photographers who pursued the car before it crashed, ruling they were not responsible.

Doubts, theories and pointing blame:

1) The Monarchy

In one of the more bizarre theories proposed by Mohamed al Fayed, he claims Diana's engagement to Dodi Fayed sparked a furious reaction from the Royal family, upset she was going to marry a man of Arab decent.

He also claims Diana may have been pregnant with his son's child.

On his personal website (which can be found here), he includes a letter sent to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in which he accuses the government of inaction on investigating the couple's deaths.

Blair never replied, which only drove al Fayed to further accuse the British government of playing a role in the car crash. He also argued that a partial embalmment of Diana shortly after her death spoiled any pregnancy tests.

"I am beginning to wonder if Mr. Blair is not just discourteous but worried that my campaign to expose the murder of my beloved son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales, will also reveal the part played in their deaths by his Government," al Fayed writes.

"When the British Ambassador in Paris gave orders for Diana's body to be embalmed, he wilfully destroyed medical evidence not least that of her pregnancy. Such embalming was against French law. The Ambassador could not have done this without receiving orders which could only have come from the British Security Services, the Royal family in the person of the Duke of Edinburgh or from the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. Perhaps Blair himself was personally involved."

2) Diana's own sense of endangerment

The princess had worried there was a plot to kill her in a car crash, according to a dubious letter she supposedly wrote just 10 months before her death. Her butler at the time, Paul Burrell, claimed he was told to safeguard the letter in case she was right.

The Daily Mirror, a British tabloid, was one of the first newspapers to publish the letter, but blacked out the name Diana suspected of initiating the plot -- her husband Prince Charles.

Diana wrote that "this particular phase in my life is the most dangerous," adding that "my husband is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry."

But the letter is undated and has no address. It was later published in a book by Burrell with the Mirror's backing.

3) Diana's political influence

Diana, a vocal opponent of landmines, had a growing political influence on the issue. Like many celebrity-activists before her (notably John Lennon), conspiracy theorists claim she was tracked by U.S. intelligence officials.

"The public profile she took on land mines certainly didn't endear her to some countries and that might have been a problem for her," Nick Fielding, an author on intelligence issues and former Sunday Times journalist, told CTV Newsnet.

"But I don't think it would have been a big issue for most Western countries -- most UN members, in fact, because there are international landmine conventions against landmines to which most countries are signatories."

Canada and Britain are among the nations that have signed on to the UN's 1997 antipersonnel mine-ban treaty. But one notable absence is the United States.

Henri Paul, who was driving the car during the fatal accident that lefe Princess Diana, her friend Dodi Fayed and himself dead is seen in this undated photo. (AP Photo)

Henri Paul, who was driving the car during the fatal accident that lefe Princess Diana, her friend Dodi Fayed and himself dead is seen in this undated photo. (AP Photo)

4) Henri Paul: secret agent

Henri Paul, the head of security at the Ritz where Diana stayed, was a French intelligence agent working for Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST), the country's domestic intelligence agency.

At the last moment, Paul replaced Diana's regular driver. Henri had already been paid about US$3,600 for information about the princess. Details of his whereabouts between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. (when they left) are largely unknown.

Despite later accounts of the tragedy, Paul was not drunk. Despite his reputation as a heavy drinker, he had only two drinks at the hotel and video footage before the crash showed him walking steadily.

5) The White Fiat Uno

French investigators examining the scene of the crash believed a white Fiat Uno may have grazed Diana's car before the crash, possibly in an intentional move to kill her.

As proof, witnesses reportedly saw a white car leaving the tunnel around the same time, while evidence at the scene included broken pieces of what was believed to be a Fiat Uno.

Photographs of Diana's car taken shortly after the crash also suggest their were scrapes on the back of the vehicle and flecks of white paint.

Private investigators hired by al Fayed traced clues to a white Fiat Uno owned by a professional photographer, James Andanson, who later killed himself -- although al Fayed believes he may have been murdered.

Although French police eventually ruled out Andanson's Fiat Uno as having anything to do with the crash, al Fayed remains convinced a Fiat Uno was involved.

"Since at least one eyewitness suggested that the white Fiat Uno was 'waiting' for the Mercedes, there is also the sinister possibility that, at the mouth of the tunnel, the Fiat deliberately collided with the Mercedes to force it off course," he claims on his website.

Bumfights dvds 1-4

2006-12-13T21:31:00.000-05:00

Has anyone seen this shit??!!! It's funny and sad at the same time. The 2 fucking idiots got rich off the misery of homeless people smashing the shit out of each other. Read the following bit I stole off this other site. Be amused,then angered at how the human race has deteriorated!! If these bitches were here in Canada...I would jack them up...big time...Imagine a video dvd on that!! BTW..seeing ty beeson getting kicked off Dr. Phil was classic!! good for you Dr. Phil!!!

Bumfights

"Society has a fascination with homeless people, people living on the streets. Almost a perverse fascination. People don't get a chance to see much of that. We thought it would be exciting to get a glimpse of that kind of life. Fights are part of homeless culture. It's a way for them to vent their anger. We're simply there to video it. "

Ray Laticia and Ty Beeson were "forward-thinking" filmmakers in their early twenties when they spent three years developing the fastest-selling independent video in recent history: Bumfights: A Cause For Concern. One part brutally voyeuristic shockutainment, two parts MTV's Jackass - these $19 VHS tapes and DVDs fly in the face of Terence McKenna's theory that our tragic universe is running dangerously short of fresh, appealing novelty.

The premise of this production is brutal and straightforward. Homeless men and women living on the streets of California and Las Vegas (affectionately referred to as bums) are offered cash, food, liquor, clothing, and motel rooms. In exchange, they perform amateur stuntwork without safety nets, erstwhile fisticuffs in public places without protection - or any kind of vicious brawl which might serve to titillate giggling armchair fratboys watching from presumably the same USC or UCLA dormitory once occupied by the video's producers.

One on one, two against one, groups versus groups - even trucks against outhouses. Scruffy, toothless vagrants scuffle and skirmish, executing obscene pratfalls with the grace of neither Buster Keaton nor Mr. Bean. We see diseased, urine-stained castaways who wrangle and wrestle like adult homosexuals mutually mouth-rolling the world's last remaining latex condom. The more adventurous exchange violent, bloody facial blows with blunted axes. And if that isn't enough, please enjoy the lovely supermodel Angela Taylor bouncing around on a motel bed during intermissions, flashing her boobs in an engaging strip show! You go girl!

One prays that the remaining 99% of this backalley Broadway musical has been equally choreographed, but that just isn't the case. On the tape, a man pulls out one of his teeth with pliers. Another sets his hair on fire. Another shits on the sidewalk. They're rewarded with half a pastry. Others jump off buildings and speed down hills in shopping trolleys, and the tape's formidable antihero - "Rufus" the Superstar Stunt Bum - breaks his ankle during a fistfight. Age 47, honorably discharged from the United States Army in May 1982 for injuries sustained during combat training, Rufus is the loudest and most vocal of the bunch, the guy who sports the big huge BUMFIGHTS tattoo across his forehead.

Another "bum," Donald Brennan (age 53) was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1970. He was a member of the 1st Air Cavalry and served a 13-month tour in Vietnam. Mr. Brennan has been decorated with both a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

Hardened, angry fists clenching rolls of quarters smash faces, knock out teeth, and bloody eye sockets - all to the charming strains of a punk rock soundtrack. After only a few minutes, it's hard not to feel a bit... (long sigh)... empathetic with this entire cast of ne'er-do-wells. It sinks in right away: you're watching sad people down on their luck getting harassed, knocked around, and outright bribed with salted snack treats into bloody confrontations. They're supplied with knife blades in some segments, and pipin' hot vials of crack in others - which they smoke with quiet desperation and refreshed enthusiasm. Drugs and malt liquor fuel infuriating sequences of interracial curb stompings and full-scale riots in awkward, public places. The brawls - and the cameras - continue to roll as horrified passersby call the police, try to break things up, and scramble with paramedics.

What's the worst thing you've ever done to a homeless guy? Surprised him by shouting TIM-MAY!! directly into his fat, red face so he drops his clankity cup and all those coins go rolling around every which way and he just stands there tinkling down his pantlegs?

These homeless people all have something in common. They genuinely appear to believe they're goin' places. They've been selected by honest-to-gosh Hollywood producers. Hollywood, California that is! Let's fool these... these... dumb bum doofuses into thinking they're gonna be the next best thing since The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. No, seriously dude. Take this here tuna salad sandwich and put your imagination on. Y'all are gonna explode like wildfire across the big silver screen TV. Audiences root for "underdogs" who can still thrive under adversity. Viewers appreciate reality, and they've come to enjoy a measured sense of progressive, sequential elimination. Fame, financial incentive, and a sure way to pull yourself out of poverty is staring you straight in the face, gentlemen - and you have absolutely nothing to lose! I dare say what you're lookin' at here is a bonafide whirlwind rags-to-riches fairy tale miracle fantasy-dream with angel wings comin' true to life! Okay? Great. Cause tonight we're filming a segment called Bum Hunter.

We're going to creep up on people shivering in sleeping bags, and pin 'em down real good. Crikey! This one's getting away! Lucky we've got eight rolls of duct tape! Shrrrrrrrick! They're hard to tackle, and you don't often see them in the wild. Shrrrrrick! This one's got a tremendous amount of extra strength! He could be on PCP! We'll stuff him in a van, take his shoes, and release him three days later fifteen blocks away.

Don't ya see, dude? Bumfights is like Friends meets Queer Eye For the Straight Guy meets Survivor - starring individuals deprived of food and shelter who are willing to take drugs and suck dicks. They'll be pitted against one another in the controlled, manageable environment of everyday social discord. This kinda shit taps directly into our unconscious desire to finally initiate that long overdue backlash against the homeless population. So whaddya say? Aren't we all just a little bit tired of looking at their knobby, grubby hands and styrofoam cups? Their poorly inked cardboard signs? We hate being assaulted by gobbly turkey voices on the street, and we just can't stand it when they approach our automobiles and we're idled at a red light. We can thin out their ranks. We can get them out of here. And if homeless people smashing each other's faces with broken bottles isn't extreme enough in this dwarf-tossing Fight Club era, we'll throw some high-school students into the mix, and pay them with Hot Pockets.

Bumfights weighs in at 57 minutes. It's populated with ghastly, there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-you types, plucked fresh off the street like bruised raspberries. The ethical debates which ping-pong back and forth inside the viewer's mind are a weighty side-effect of the video's popularity. Those seeking to proclaim such tapes illegal raise the distressing prospect of banning everything which fails to measure up to a neighborhood's standards of political correctness.

Independent video stores are more than happy to showcase featurettes like World's Scariest Police Chases, or Girls Gone Wild. Gang rapes, street fights, barroom brawls and hockey matches are happening all around us. They're captured on film each and every day of the week. During the Great Depression, bums earned money by performing in geek shows, swallowing live snakes or biting the heads off chickens. Mentally ill men and women are turned loose from halfway houses at an alarming rate, and many states have ceased financial aid to ex-cons seeking to rebuild their lives.

and so

The bums awoke from their stupors, punch-drunk and pissed. They'd been conned into terrible stunts by a handful of overenthusiastic filmmakers and cheap door prizes. In one instance, a single plain cake donut was the winning trophy. Lawsuits were filed in no short order: bums on one side, video producers on the other. Alas, we good people were served only "knuckled" sandwiches, your Honor - and while none among us was hot enough to advance, what we got for our efforts weren't even slightly better rags.

The defendants (Ryan McPherson, 19; Zachary Bubeck, 25; Daniel J. Tanner, 21; and Michael Slyman, 21) pleaded not guilty to charges of battery, illegal fight promotion, conspiracy and soliciting an assault with deadly force. They claimed to possess a mutually beneficial, professional working relationship with the homeless, arguing that each and every last bum chose to fight. They were willing contractors who signed fanciful disclaimers protecting the filmmakers from important liabilities. The participants were indeed rewarded for their efforts, and they collected their winnings. The defense went on to state they were merely interested in documenting the inherent "humor of homelessness," something which hadn't really been touched upon in mainstream entertainment. When the footage was screened, the judge's jaw dropped and a witness covered his eyes.

Interviews with the filmmakers laid bare contradicting intentionality. To the BBC, Laticia explains Bumfights "is not done to be shocking. It was done to show an aspect of society that people would otherwise not see." To Wired magazine, he claimed the video was designed to shock: "We're quite aware that some people find it hilarious and some people find it disgusting." The closest they ever got to the truth was during an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "This project is a means to an end. We want to be feature filmmakers. We're going to cash in and then cash out and go make some movies."

And then, when grilled by Greta Van Susteren on FOX News in 2002, Ty Beeson asserted that pulling out Rufus's tooth with pliers was actually kind of a favor.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why didn't you send him to a dentist instead of handing him a pliers?

BEESON: Because he needed it out at that point in time, and sometimes in the streets, it gets rough, and you've got do whatever it takes. That's real life.

VAN SUSTEREN: Lots of people get real-life toothaches, Ty, and they go to the dentist.

BEESON: You're right. A lot of them do, but -- but when you're in the streets and you can't, you've got a -- and you've got a tooth that's bothering you, then you do whatever it takes.

VAN SUSTEREN: How can you call it real when it's staged, when you're paying people to pull their teeth out with pliers and you're paying them to do stunts that are dangerous, to bang their heads against walls? How is that...

Review on Russel Braun and The Brampton Lyric Opera

2006-11-13T19:46:00.000-05:00

Sunday November the 12-2006 was an interesting day or rather evening. Production Multimedia was invited (once again) to film the highly acclaimed operatic star Russell Braun with the incredible partnership of the Brampton Lyric Opera and The Brampton Lyric Opera Orchestra. We enjoyed the inaugural performance at the new $55 million dollar Theatre in Brampton, complete with multi-tiered balconies, proper acoustic and stage laypout, optimized for the best viewing and listening pleasure of live stage. Filming from the high tech sound booth, fully equiped with full-on sound and lighting controls, we jacked into the house audio system and was treated to a film session sure to make the most jaded videographer envious! Proper review to follow!!

Filming again for the Brampton Lyric Opera November 12 2006

2006-11-11T20:25:00.000-05:00

Once again....Production Multimedia has the priveledge of Filming Russel Braun at the NEW Rose Theatre in Brampton, Sunday November 12-2006. Those who love Opera and Classical should follow and attend these stellar performers and performances ororchestrated Thru the Brampton Lyric Opera. We have had many opportunities to film these fabulous events during these last two years. Read on....

Presents, An Evening of Opera With Conducted by:

Mark DuBois & Shek Ko

November 12, 2006
8:00 P.M.
The Rose Theatre
1 Theatre Lane, Brampton
905-874-2800
Tickets starting from only $36 click here for -> Seating Plan www.bramptonlyricopera.ca An opera concert with full orchestra, Canadian Opera Company soloists,
chorus, and of course, Canada's leading baritone,
RUSSELL BRAUN !

Thrilling, manic, glorious, superbly sung and malevolently acted, rich, powerful, elegant, soft-grained, and spine-tingling are but a few of the epithets the media have used to describe opera sensation Russell Braun.

One of the most sought-after lyric baritones on the international stage today, Russell Braun performs regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, l'Opéra de Paris, the San Diego Opera, the San Francisco Opera and the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.

In concert, opera and recital, the international stages of the world are his — whether it be the Metropolitan Opera in New York, l'Opéra de Paris, the State Opera in Vienna, the Lyric Opera in Chicago, the Los Angeles Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Salzburg or the... more Glyndebourne Festival.

His powerful voice and commanding presence has given vigour to such roles as Billy Budd, Figaro, Papageno, Count Almaviva, Don Giovanni, Pelléas, and Eugene Onegin.

Two recent additions to Russell Braun's already impressive discography of award-winning recordings — Winterreise (CBC Records) and Mozart Arie e Duetti (CBC) — have received enormous critical acclaim.

"A searching musician, Braun also has one of the world's most beautiful baritone voices. He brings a poet's soul and a young man's bewildered grief to Schubert's shattering cycle of solitude and loss."- New York NewsDay

In Person:
Rose Theatre Brampton
1 Theatre Lane, Brampton
(Opening September 2, 2006)
Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm
Sunday Closed (except on event day)

Driving Directions to the Rose Theatre Brampton:

FROM EAST (Toronto, Oshawa, Kingston)

Take Highway 401 west to Highway 410. Take Highway 410 north and exit at Queen Street. Take Queen Street west to Theatre Lane. Turn right onto Theatre Lane and left into the Rose Theatre parking garage.

FROM WEST (Georgetown, Guelph)

Take Highway 7 (Bovaird Drive) east into Brampton. Turn right onto Hurontario Street (Highway 10) and travel south to Theatre Lane. Turn left onto Theatre Lane and right into the Rose Theatre parking garage.

FROM NORTH (Caledon, Orangeville)

Take Highway 10 (Hurontario Street) south into Brampton. Turn left onto Theatre Lane and right into the Rose Theatre parking garage.

FROM SOUTH (Mississauga, Hamilton, Niagara)

Take Highway 403 north to Highway 410. Take Highway 410 north and exit at Queen Street. Take Queen Street west to Theatre Lane. Turn right onto Theatre Lane and left into the Rose Theatre parking garage.

Brampton Bus Terminal — BUS & TRAIN TERMINAL -
2 minute walk to "THE ROSE THEATRE"

Audi rules the automotive world...

2006-11-05T17:49:00.000-05:00

Yes to all YOU German car haters....This one's for you....

THREE incredibley hardcore cars...

1) The 2007/2008 RS4

2) The 2007 -S8 (Europe Spec)

3) The 2008 R8

I will take any of these three cars and kick your ass on the road or track...

( The 2007 S8)

On the S8... The car I saw had the chip modded, that car buried the speedo at 310Km/hr!!!!)

(from worldfancars.com)

Distinct sports appeal and supreme comfort – these are the two defining characteristics of the Audi A8. At the time of its market launch three years ago, this large saloon shot straight to the top of the luxury segment thanks to its dynamic qualities. The brand with the four-ring emblem is now unveiling a sporty top model of the very highest calibre in the luxury segment: the new Audi S8.

It will be appearing on the market in the mid of 2006, with a price tag of EUR 97,600.

The Audi S8 is equipped with a new V10 engine that capitalises on the expertise of the super sports car Lamborghini Gallardo. The 10-cylinder power unit develops 450 bhp of power and 540 Nm of torque from a swept volume of 5.2 litres. The torque value is achieved at as low an engine speed as 3,500 rpm. As on the Le Mans winning R8, the most successful racing car in the world, FSI petrol direct injection assures superior power output in the Audi S8. This luxury saloon sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds, and is electronically governed at 250 km/h.

In outfitting the S8 with the V10, Audi is introducing an engine technology that has long been demonstrating its performance potential in the world of Formula 1 racing. The Italian super sports car brand Lamborghini, a subsidiary of Audi, likewise regards the ten-cylinder engine as synonymous with dynamic power. This engine concept has a much more sporty emphasis than a comparable twelve-cylinder power unit. Ten-cylinder engines are more compact and lighter; thanks to the smaller number of components, they have lower moving masses and less internal friction.

The 450 bhp V10 is the second generation of Audi V-engines, all with a 90-degree included angle and a spacing of 90 millimetres between cylinder centres. Key areas of the Audi version have been reengineered compared with the engine in the Lamborghini Gallardo. The bore has been increased from 82.5 to 84.5 mm; the stroke is 92.8 mm and the displacement 5204 cm3. A so-called bedplate structure – an intermediate frame – reinforces the extremely compact crankcase, which is made from cast aluminium.

With its crankpin offset of 18 degrees, the V10 fires at the ideal spacing of 72 degrees crankshaft angle. A balancing shaft located within the "vee" eliminates the so-called free inertial forces of the first degree and also contributes towards the engine's notable refinement. All four camshafts can be adjusted continuously by 42 degrees crankshaft angle, depending on load and engine speed, to optimise filling of the combustion chambers and thus enhance the power output. They are driven by no-maintenance chains and actuate the 40 valves via roller cam followers.

The V10 in the new Audi S8 uses FSI petrol direct injection. This permits a high compression ratio of 12.5:1 and a correspondingly more effective combustion process based on a lambda value of 1. The common rail injection system delivers the fuel directly to the combustion chambers in precisely metered amounts, at a pressure of up to 100 bar.

The two-stage magnesium variable intake manifold incorporates electronically controlled tumble flaps that induce a swirling movement in the air drawn in. Four close-coupled main catalytic converters take charge of exhaust emission control for the V10 of the Audi S8. FSI technology has impressively demonstrated its potential in motor sport – the R8 racing car equipped with it participated in the

Le Mans 24 Hours on five occasions for Audi, winning the race on four of those occasions.

The powerful ten-cylinder engine is designed for impressive torque as well as engine power. It generates 450 bhp at 7,000 rpm, but musters up 540 Nm of torque at just 3,500 rpm. 90 percent of the torque is available from as low as 2,300 rpm. The V10 exhibits spontaneous throttle response and very refined running, and under load it also produces sonorous acoustics, as befits a dynamic car.

The V10 imparts the luxury saloon with the road performance of a high-calibre sports car. The Audi S8 races from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds. The speed is not governed electronically until the needle reaches 250 km/h. The engine shows a distinctly modest thirst, needing only 13.9 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres – a figure achieved partly thanks to the consistent use of lightweight design, which clearly sets the A8 range apart from its competitors. With its innovative aluminium body, the Audi Space Frame ASF, the S8 weighs just 1940 kilograms, including the dynamic, sure-footed quattro drive. On the new Audi S8, every horsepower has to propel just 4.31 kilograms – the power-to-weight ratio of a sports car.

The 2008 R8_

Audi has unveiled the 2008 R8 — its first ever mid-engine sports cars. Sales will begin in the first half of 2007 for the United States and Europe. The car has a 420 horsepower high-revving V8 engine and all-wheel-drive. It uses the mid-engine Lamborghini Gallardo platform, and will somewhere between $80,000 and $110,000 — positioning it squarely against the BMW M6, Porsche 911, and Aston Martin Vantage. It features a choice of LED or Xenon headlamps surrounded by LED running lights and indicators. LEDs are also used in the engine bay to make the impressive V8 visible even at night. Both a standard manual and an automated manual transmission will be offered. Claimed 0 to 62 mph time is 4.6 seconds, though this number is likely conservative.

The sporty interior is dominated by a totally driver-oriented cockpit architecture, integrating the driver between the dashboard and the high centre console. The instrument panel above the console is angled slightly towards the driver. The flat-bottomed steering wheel is a typical feature of the sportiest Audi models, and also enables comfortable sports car entry and exit.

The sports seats are trimmed as standard in a Leather/Alcantara combination, or optionally in full leather. Alternatively, the R8 can also be fitted with bucket seats, specially developed by quattro GmbH. There is plenty of room for the two occupants, with comfort levels well beyond the norm of high-performance sports cars. There is space behind the seats to stow large bags, or even two golf bags. The luggage compartment at the front has a capacity of 100 litres.

With numerous trim variants and applications in Piano finish or Carbon sigma, there are few limits to the range of customisation options for the interior.

The drive train

At 7,800 rpm the 4.2-litre engine delivers 309 kW (420 bhp) of power output. Peak torque is 430 Newton-metres from 4.500 to 6,000 rpm. And no less than 90 per cent of this maximum torque is maintained consistently throughout a wide engine speed range from 3,500 all the way to 7,600 rpm. As a result of these qualities, the eight-cylinder power unit provides maximum thrust in virtually any driving situation.

The performance figures are equally impressive: the R8 accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 301 km/h.

The engine is a high-revving unit. The maximum engine speed is 8,250 rpm. The advantages of this principle are superior power output at high engine speeds and a smooth, eager responsiveness all across the revs range. Added to this are its agility, liveliness and engine sound, which is similar to that of a race car.

The Audi R8's dry sump lubrication – another technology originating directly from motor racing – provides the ideal basis for maximum longitudinal and lateral acceleration. It allows the V8 to be installed lower, thereby lowering the centre of gravity and further enhancing driving dynamics.

Two transmissions are available: a manual 6-speed gearbox or optionally the Audi R tronic sequential-shift gearbox, with a joystick gear-shift on the centre console and, most especially, the paddles mounted on the steering wheel. 'Shift by wire' technology provides for very fast gear-shifting and an outstanding power-to-weight ratio, allied to compact gearbox dimensions. The Sport mode, with its fast shifting, guarantees the absolute maximum in terms of driving fun. An automatic mode can also be selected.

The car is fitted with permanent four-wheel drive, which distributes the power variably to the front and rear axles by way of a viscous clutch. On the Audi R8 the legendary quattro system is adapted to the axle load distribution typical of mid-engined cars.

The chassis

The chassis features forged aluminium double wishbones at the front and rear. At the front they are triangulated, while at the rear the top one is triangulated and the bottom one is a triangulated wishbone with a track rod. This provides for optimum wheel control, and is a geometry which has proved itself to be the ideal solution in delivering agility, maximum steering precision and precisely defined self-steering characteristics.

Direct, hydraulic rack-and-pinion steering provides optimum feedback to assist the driver.

The spring and damper set-up is stiff in order to deliver maximum driving dynamics, while still providing a quite astonishing level of ride comfort. This is particularly true when the 'Audi magnetic ride' adaptive damper system is chosen as an alternative to the standard gas-filled shock absorbers.

The reason for this is that these shock absorbers employ an innovative technology. Instead of the conventional damper fluid, a magnetorheological fluid is used – in other words, a fluid whose viscosity can be influenced by an electromagnetic field. This effect enables the damping characteristic to be influenced electronically at will and instantaneously, by applying a voltage to the electromagnets.

Audi magnetic ride uses this property to deliver the correct damping forces in every driving situation, thus optimising ride comfort and driving dynamics. A computer equipped with sensor technology determines the prevailing driving situation in a matter of milliseconds. Drivers can choose from two driving programs depending on whether they want to drive in a highly sporty style – with the magnetorheological fluid adjusted to a low viscosity – or with the emphasis more on ride comfort.

The Audi R8 is fitted with 6-arm 18-inch wheels as standard, and can optionally be ordered with 19-inch wheels. The 235/40 size tyres at the front and up to 285/35 at the rear provide the necessary road-holding. This tyre configuration also ensures that this mid-engined sports car is always able to translate the dynamism of its drive train and chassis into optimum grip and maximum lateral dynamics.

The mid-engined sports car's long wheelbase and extremely low centre of gravity ensure that it always retains maximum stability, resulting in superb agility, finely attuned responsiveness to any driver input, and high levels of safety.

Equipment and trim

Even the standard equipment of the Audi R8 meets the high demands of customers in this segment. Xenon plus lights, LED rear lights and daytime running lights, 18-inch aluminium wheels, an audio system with 7-inch monitor, an anti-theft alarm and Leather/Alcantara interior trim are just some of the items on the extensive list of standard features.

The range of optional extras leaves virtually nothing to be desired. A Bang & Olufsen sound system, featuring an output of 465 watts and 12 specially designed speakers, delivers surround sound of the highest standard. A microphone-based vehicle noise compensation system adjusts audio levels to changing road conditions and speeds.

The acoustic parking system and a rear-view camera help the driver to manoeuvre into even the tightest of spaces. The radio/navigation system plus, featuring a large-format colour monitor and MMI keypad, combines extensive functionality with extreme user-friendliness. A range of coordinated and ideally combinable design and leather trim packages from Audi and from quattro GmbH can turn any R8 into the customer’s personal dream car. The wheels range offers design alternatives in sizes of 18 and 19 inches, fitted with 235/35 size tyres at the front and up to 295/30 at the rear. A total of eight exterior colours are available, from Ibis White to Phantom Black, pearl effect.

The 2007 RS4...

New dimensions in driving dynamics combined with innovative ideas and concepts – and, in addition, exciting lines and a level of equipment living up to even the highest luxury performance standards: The new Audi RS 4 combines the latest high-performance motoring qualities offered by quattro GmbH in a thoroughbred sports saloon with supreme everyday driving qualities in the premium segment. Indeed, the new RS 4 is the top-of-the-range model in the A4 series, a development all-new from the ground up.

Numerous technical achievements – many of which hail from motorsport – give the new Audi RS 4 its unique class and character. These features include the high engine speed concept now being introduced for the first time in a production Audi, innovative FSI technology, as well as the latest generation of quattro drive with asymmetric/dynamic distribution of torque. Developing a maximum output of 420 bhp, the V8 revs up to a speed of 8250 rpm. With its displacement of 4163 cc, this engine exceeds the magical barrier of 100 bhp per litre - truly outstanding in a production saloon. Maximum torque of 317 lb-ft comes at 5500 rpm in this very compact engine, with 90 per cent of the engine’s torque consistently available between 2250 and 7600 rpm. The result is excellent muscle and pulling force at all times, enabling the driver whenever he – or she – wishes to drive in truly relaxed style without frequent gear changes.

Audi has chosen its trendsetting and groundbreaking FSI technology for the RS 4 saloon, direct gasoline injection ensuring even more effective combustion of the fuel/air mixture and, as a result, an even better power yield. This is matched by the highly responsive development of power, the RS 4 accelerating to 62 mph in 4.8 seconds and reaching 125 mph in 16.6 seconds. Top speed is cut off electronically at 155 mph.

Bronchitus and Jackasses!

2006-10-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

Wow!!

What a messy weekend....My Bronchitus reared it's ugly head on Friday!!!
What a shitty way way to go you think??!! People die from Pneumonia and Bronchitus is not far from that!! I cannot explain how weak and shitty you get with this ailment. You can barely find your way to the bathroom... or post some decent blog. P.S. to my brother Kevin who always finds time to post blogs and respond to many others ie: mine, and I wonder were he get's the juice to do it daily!!! When I feel better, we will have to have a serious discussion on his movie critiques...There is a difference between award winning movies vs. crappy ones with time wasting values. Let's face it, we all love schlocky movies which brings me to this ONE movie you need to see. JACKASS ...WTF!!!! I COULD NOT STOP LAUGHING!!!!! These idiots made millions on doing (filming usining a canon XL 1 and a Sony PD-150's) stupid stunts such as in Tokyo Japan...The Night Pandas skit was seriously funny. Being in Tokyo before, seeing these monkies disrupt daily life over there was priceless. The one that took the prize was dude going into the hardware store and taking a shit on the toilet that was on display....hahahahaha damn man..;) can't wait to see jackass 2....

Fort Erie then to Hamilton

2006-10-21T18:39:00.000-04:00

Thursday afternoon,

We went to Fort Erie to Abatement Technologies to buy some specialized gear for my Duct /vent cleaning business. The traffic was light but the rain was torrential and visibility was bad too. It didn't help that I was fighting a cold too. Fort Erie is such a small place, not a lot going all there!!
After their state of emergency, I guess everyone was laying low. It was erie, no pun intended to see all the damaged trees on the ground. I made my appointment and purchased what was needed. A short stint back into Niagra Falls and we stopped of in Lundy's' Lane at the outlets. practically deserted at 5 pm. Headed back into Hamilton and stopped off at Lablaws for a bit. Finally heading to downtown Hamilton, we stopped off at this Pho joint that David and I used to go to. Phoned my brother and Dave and no answer from either one... Well, too bad suckas...that soup was pretty good!!

One more thing...watched Lucky Number Slevin, cool flick, The Aquaduct was the race track in Fort Erie.

bacon caramel

2006-10-16T21:38:00.000-04:00

bacon caramel is yu-yu-yumie....;) mmmm!!!! bacon!!!!!

here's the recipe!

bacon caramel like a chewy SKOR Bar with bacon. How much more of a comforting flavour combination could there ever be?

To do this, you'll need a couple of things beforehand, namely a pyrex dish or a couple of deep cookie sheets. You'll also need a candy thermometer and a silicone spatula, which is great for keeping the crevices of your saucepan from solidifying.

Start by frying up a good portion of bacon. I used about 300 grams worth, or 3/4 of a package. Cook as much as you can to be nice and crispy, without burning anything, which can be done over medium low heat.

Step 1: Once the bacon's finished cooking, blot it well and remove any stubborn fatty bits that refuse to become crispy. Then trim it down into large-ish bacon bits that'd work nicely in a Caesar salad. Reserve in paper towel to promote further fat drainage. Add to a deep saucepan the following: 1 cup sugar 1 cup corn syrup 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup heavy cream 3-4 oz bourbon or maple syrup.

Step 2: Over low to medium heat, dissolve everything while stirring constantly. Get your candy thermometer ready and then turn up the heat until reaches 240°F. Don't forget to keep stirring!

Step 3: At that point, you'll be at the firm-ball stage and things should look a lot like this:
Step 4: Remove your pot from heat and then slowly stir in another 1/2 cup of heavy cream.

Step 5: Then, put the pot back on the stove and heat it back up to 245°F while stirring still. Then, pour the mixture into a buttered Pyrex dish or deep cookie sheet.

Step 6: Immediately afterward, add the bacon. Be sure to make it an even application!

Step 7: And hey! I had some toasted almonds left over from dinner the night before, so I added those as well.

Step 8: Then, let everything cool for at least 3 hours before cutting the bacon caramel into squares. Serve it up to those without pancreatic issues and watch their eyes light up before they they begin to bounce off the walls!

bleeeeeeeech!!!

make money or make nukes?!!

2006-10-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

WTF!!!!!

What a world we live in...I am completley and utterly sick over stuff going on in the world.

Let's take Kim Jong Il (ILL) , setting off nukes. Someone needs to step on that little punk of a man, I mean at five foot two, someone needs to squash him...comments George??

Now let's take the two kids Chad and Steve...those two slackers came up with an ideal way to show video and it caught on alright...enough for Google to pay 1.65 BILLION us dollars. I cannot tell YOU all enough that video has always been a cool hobby of mine and getting to mass market like these guys did was slightly out of my reach due to not having the right friends to see my vision thru!! Well, they managed and preservered and now who is laughing now?!!!

Well done boys and don't spend all that dough in one place...In fact...invest some of it in North Korea..and turn the DPRK into a club/resort...that be cool no?!! Then you could really hear Kim muttering..."Fack-Vu my red, white an Blawoo friend""....;)

Man what a wacky place this world is.. At least I won't have to worry about it 50 years from now.

jajah.com-free telephony that works!! try it and see

2006-10-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

My friend Peter turned me on to this service, check it out for yourself. It really works!! Better than Skype. All you need to do is register, (phone number input etc) and activate the email link they send to your email inbox. Once you do this, you are now a "Jajah registered user," enabling you to talk to other users free(In zone one calling area for us) to either landlines or mobile phones right from your mobile phone FREE of charge. Obviously, you can preload your account and call long distance right from your phone bypassing the usual carriers!! The neat function is when you are logged in from your computer on Jajah, you can dial any number in the world and Jajah will connect your mobile phone to the number dialed, your mobile rings, you answer, and call is connected. Also conferencing calling and a slew of other features to work in tandem with your blog is offered as well. Jajah is a lot more sophisticated and offers many cool features. read on and you see what I mean!

Company Info

JAJAH is a new type of phone company. We are dedicated to providing our customers with better phone at a better price. It’s that simple. "The internet has touched us all. It's changed the way we do everyday things. It's changed the way we stay informed, the way we shop for the products we want, even the way we find and listen to music. In the same way, JAJAH will change the way we all use the telephone".

JAJAH is dedicated to bringing the world vastly improved telephony solutions at a fraction of the traditional price. Whenever possible, we want to provide basic phone for free - and we truly believe it’s possible. We believe that by bringing together the best of the internet with the best of the traditional telephone industry we will be able to provide our customers with unique new solutions, solutions never before possible, at a price they’ll find irresistible.

Unlike other companies that are trying to replace the phone with the computer, JAJAH believes that phones are great the way they are. Phones work. People are not interested in headsets, downloads or hotspots. They simply want to make a call. And we completely agree.

About JAJAH

JAJAH is a true “flat world” company with very small offices of very dedicated people working around the globe. It was started in 2005, the brainchild of founders Daniel Mattes and Roman Scharf and went live in February of 2006. We work globally, we think globally. We see a better future, where the people of the planet can talk to each other at a price they can afford. We don’t know that better communication will make for a better planet, but we believe it will - and we know it can’t hurt.

JAJAH is quickly gaining momentum as people hear about our vision and find out what we are doing. Please help us by telling your friends and family about JAJAH.

Noah's Ark

2006-10-08T14:03:00.000-04:00

Noah's Ark has always been fascinating to me as a child, so when I heard that the Base Institute (Bible Archeology Search and Exploration), a modern day Indiana Jones, has several digs going on throughout the world, indeed this piqued interest! We all love Indianna, so this is the real thing...read on, excerpts from Base's web site.

THE ARK OF NOAH
IN IRAN ?

It is no secret that we here at The BASE Institute have formulated certain possible scenarios (e.g. the probable location of historical Mt. Sinai and the possible historical mountains of Noah), based on the testimony of the Bible, personal investigation, examination of evidence, and other factors.

However, we admittedly propose these conclusions as potential answers and possible scenarios. We believe it would be a fallacy to dogmatically argue that our interpretation of all these factors is the only possible interpretation a Christian can hold. Because history is a once-in-time event, no assertion of history can be proven beyond all doubt. The best that can be offered is an informed argument based on the weight of the evidence.

As we offer our possible scenarios about biblical history, we are unapologetically excited about what we believe we have discovered. We believe that others, meanwhile, are free to hold opinions of their own, and that they should be excited about those as well. We leave it to students of the Bible and of history to do enough investigation of their own to formulate their own educated opinions.

Recently the search for Noah's ark has exploded with media attention after we shared pictures of a rock formation found on a high mountain in Iran. I have been careful to position all comments that I am not claiming to conclusively to have found the ark. I am not however dismissing the potential of that find in Iran has significant historical relevance. We think that the Bible and other sources point to Iran as being the most probable resting place for the Ark. Here's why:

1. Ararat refers to a Region of Mountains, Not one Mountain

I, as well as many others in the modern era, have searched Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey for the remains of Noah's Ark. It pains me to admit this, but I think I've spent a lot of time and money looking in the wrong place. A careful reading of Genesis will reveal why. Genesis 8:4 states, “then the ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month on the mountains of Ararat.” (NKJV)

The mountains of Ararat signify a mountainous region or kingdom. This verse does not refer to a singular mountain named Mount Ararat. Mount Ararat, as such, does not appear in the Bible. Mount Ararat in Turkey, is a singular volcanic cone mountain that rises out of the Anatolian Plain in Eastern Turkey.

So how did Mount Ararat get its name and therefore the attention? Many of earliest translations of the Bible, done in the centuries just before and after the beginning of the Christian era, render the term "Ararat" as "Armenia." Consequently, readers of Genesis probably understood the word "Ararat" in terms of the geography of their day rather than that of the Genesis narrator. That is, they likely restricted the term to the small district on the Araxes, the Ararat of their time, rather than considering the much larger ancient Kingdom of Urartu. (Urartu could at times be considered the entire mountainous region north of Syro-Mesopotamia.)

Thus, when Armenians read in the early translations that the Ark had come to rest in "the mountains of Armenia," they understood it to be the one tall mountain in this area, Agri Dagi (traditional Mount Ararat in Turkey), which rises dramatically from the plain of the Araxes. But Armenian literature of the fifth through the tenth centuries knows nothing of any Ark story. It is not until the thirteenth century that the Ark legends began to appear in Armenia, and by the fourteenth century these stories became popular. Agri Dagi did not become known as Mount Ararat until about 1200 A.D.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia agrees with the aforementioned hypothesis that the Ark of Noah would lie in a distinct mountainous region: "The Ark is said to have rested upon the mountains of Ararat, i.e., in the mountainous region of Armenia, the plural showing that the mountain peak known as Ararat was not referred to, this peak lies outside the general region."

This also makes sense in light of Genesis 8:5 which states: “And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month. And on the first day of the month the tops of the mountains became visible.” (NKJV)

This verse indicates that other mountain peaks became visible subsequent to the ark of Noah landing on the mountains of Ararat. In the Elborz Mountains of Northwestern Iran, there are fifteen peaks over 14,000 feet. Conversely, Mount Ararat virtually stands alone in Eastern Turkey. The Elborz Mountains seem to line up better with this verse than Mount Ararat.

vancouver september 2007

2006-10-07T00:04:00.000-04:00

In september, I travelled to Vancouver for about a week. We rented a million dollar house with views that kick the shit out of anything here we have in Toronto. Yes BC has a different vibe to it. I actually could grow fond of living there, at least for part of the year. Check these piks out, view from our house there.

it's friday, didn't you make a billion??

2006-10-06T23:07:00.000-04:00

While I was watching the news, I saw that Google was making a bid for Youtube for just over a BillionUS. All I could say is..."damn, why didn't I do that?!!" This made me think of the poor choices of friends I had in the years gone by. I wanted to do this too, but never had the right resources or team. it's like winning the lottery, but you forgot to play your ususal numbers.

production multimedia

2006-10-01T12:29:00.000-04:00

Yes, I love to film special events, music concerts and live entertainment acts. Visit www.productionm2.ca to see what we love to do in our spare time!!

here we are at square one...

2006-10-01T11:58:00.000-04:00

Well it has taken all these years to start a blog page as well. After all, who is not doing this? Spilling out all the sordid details of daily life!!! Well here's to nothing.