Falling Leaf

Well another Leaf has fallen. Pat Quinn has been fired from the Mighty Maple Leafs. I am not surprised about his passing but question the decision to keep Ferguson as GM. From what I understand he is a rookie GM and I am not sure what experience he brings to the table. The Toronto Maple Leafs are arguably the largest and most recognized hockey franchise in the world, albeit they are loved by many, hated by most. I think Paul Maurice will be a good fit for the Leafs and transform the team as he has done with the Marley’s and Carolina Hurricanes if he gets the nod from the Leaf gods. As great as Quinn has been for the Leafs, his old style and times as a valued coach are drawing close to an end. I foresee retirement in a few years after helping a team rebuild like New Jersey or Chicago. I do hope to see a purging of Leaf players. Ferguson will need to shut the doors of the Leafs Seniors home and build a solid team for the next season cup run. No more excuses, no more valid taunts from arrogant Sens fans. Stop picking on the Leafs you bunch of bullies. You just wait until next year! I wonder if a Leaf fan has ever said that before....hmmm.

~2q

So, I lied. I didn’t post anything last night. I though I should spend some time wife my wife and stop playing Civilization. Man, it was a rough 10 minutes. I am trying for a population/land area victory and am pretty close to achieving it. On another note, finally eBay has a free listing day today so I can sell some more of my old porcelain collection. Now I realize that collecting various porcelain figurines, dishware and stoneware etc, may not be the coolest thing I have done but I must say I rather enjoyed finding these little gems in thrift stores. As soon as list my new items I will be sure to post them here for all to see. Up first will be a ‘RARE 1952 MI Hummel 218/0 TMK 2 Birthday Serenade’ figurine. I have a bunch of Wedgwood jasperware pieces, Bunnykins dishes, Alfred Mekin dishes, and a load of records I will be listing in the future. Now I just need to find some other useless items to collect. Oh wait, I almost forgot, that would be my hockey cards. Oh well, I guess everyone needs a vice or three…or more.

So, I have slacked off over the Easter holidays. My only excuse is Civilization IV. Man it is way too addictive. I keep telling myself, just one more turn, but then there is a whole enemy civilization way to be plundered. But I had to try out the new patch will all of its great and wonderful improvements, none of which have helped my game. However, tonight I will post some new discoveries about the photo and writing contest as well as fill you in on a little hockey adventure we had this past week, well just after I finish a couple more turns on Civ IV. I guess in this case one can be a little 2qurios.

So, I was digging around in some of my old files and stumbled across an old photo I had found at a Salvation Army Thrift Store in Ottawa. Every time I pull out the picture I seem to find something new and interesting about it. For a still picture there seems to be so much action in the shot, so many things happening behind the scenes. It is almost as if you are watching a movie, and can visualize the reactions of each person. You can make out the stereotypical characters of the group, the alpha male coolio and his close buddies who want to be like him. Then you have the guys on the fringe of the club, who want to be accepted and think it’s hip to be hanging out with these guys. On one end you have the two younger guys (far left and second from right rear) who just aren’t cool enough to be with the inner group but model themselves to be exactly like the center guy, and on the other end you have the realist. He isn’t enamoured by the leader and is more than likely the one who keeps the group grounded, never wanting to stir things up too much. We definitely can’t miss the token nerds. You have the one accepted nerd that must have won the trust of the group by performing some crazy dare or will do just about anything for the group to get attention. Then you have geek who so desperately wants to impress the guys but will always be the butt of all jokes. In the background you can notice the ‘evil man’ behind the puff smoke. There’s something dark and sinister about him that I just can’t place. For some reason he reminds of Reverend Henry Kane in Poltergeist II. And to top it off, in the background there is the fatherly figure keeping watch over the trouble makers.

Why am I sharing this with you? Well, I would like to start a bit of investigative report on the photo. There are so many hidden clues to the story; the beer labels, the time on a guys watch, the pamphlets on the ground, and the “G” on the building in the back and the clothing style. Every couple of days I will post an enlarged image of each person as well as some images from the surrounding area and I would like you to let your creative juices flow, and write profiles for each character and post them on the blog. Once all of the character profiles have been written, I challenge you to write a short story on the photo. Give me your spin on what’s happening. Email me your short story and I’ll post them here for everyone to vote on. The winner, deemed by the 2qurios readers, will be awarded a small prize; a pencil signed by HB, the coveted title of, “2qurios Story Teller Extraordinaire,” and of course two Timbits (click here for contest rules and regulations). I am curious to see what you will conjure up, and maybe even solve the mystery of the photo. I guess you can never be 2qurios.

So, I was blog hopping last night and found some interesting posts on themuddler.com. You really have to appreciate a techie that is secure enough to have pink as the predominate colour on their blog. I guess when you look at from a hexadecimal point of view it really is only #D1A7A7. But do not judge a blog by its colour The Muddler provides sharp insights, witty humour spattered with sarcasm and a randomness of topics that A.D.D. people like myself appreciate. The Muddler has a riveting horror story of a techie without internet for 6 days. I have often thought what the world would be like without the internet and how I would cope. I can honestly say that I think I would have treated the situation a little differently. Can’t say I would have taken a spinning class or read a ton of books. I really don’t know what I would occupy my detox time with. Board games by myself? Long walks to the fridge to find bread and all the fixings but no clue how to assemble them into something edible? I have no idea what I would do. I think I’m feeling sick and dizzy right now. I need to stop talking about it. I just have to say kudos to The Muddler for valiantly making it through those dark times and coming out on top. My question to the rest of you out there surfing is what would you do with out the wonders of the interweb for a week?

There was a post on his site that was quite interesting and most of us PC users have experienced it in some form or another, the beloved Windows error message. Ever so beautifully scripted with copious amounts of information to help the dumbest of computer user to overcome the problem. With rounds of applause to Apple and their software Boot Camp, Mac users can now experience the famed blue screen of death. I posted a comment on The Muddler in response to an error message he recently had and questioned what Mac users would see. The Muddler has informed me in one of his posts, that, to the chagrin of many Apple users, someone has successfully caused a blue screen on a Mac. I’m sure this didn’t take too much expertise, but none the less a interesting look at what’s to come of the Appledows WinOSX 2006. Well, I guess you can never be 2qurios.

~Challenge of the day~
Where is 'e? Whoever discovers the Google Earth location of this boat will receive a small fortune; the chance to win two free Timbits!

Hint: It is in Canadian salt waters and additional clues are hidden in the challenge.

Official Rules and Regulations

1. No purchase necessary.

2 To enter: Submit a comment on the 2qurios. website at http://2qurios.blogspot.com. All entries must be received on the last day of each month and must include a valid e-mail address, entrants name, mailing address and complete telephone number, including an area code,and $3.00 to cover shipping and handling fees. Shipping and handling may be waived for poor people. Incomplete entries will not be included in the Prize drawing. You may only enter once. The sponsor, 2qurios, is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, incomplete or incorrect entries. Entries become the property of 2qurios and will not be returned. 2qurios reserves the right to publicize, through normal media channels, the name and likeness of the winning entrant.

3. Prize details: Two Timbits picked at random. Total value $0.24. No prize substitutions will be allowed by the winner. Any applicable taxes on the Grand Prize will be the sole responsibility of the winner.

4. Awarding of Prizes: Winner will be selected from all eligible entries received. A random drawing will take place a few days after the delivery date. The winning entry will be based on the entrant's name and address only, not the entrant's e-mail address. The winning entry will be notified by Email and through the 2qurios blog. If the winning entrant does not claim the prize within 30 days, a second entry will be drawn for the same two Timbits. This process will continue until a winning entrant claims the prize.

5. Odds. The odds of winning the grand prize depends on the number of qualified entries received.

6. Eligibility: This contest is open to all legal U.S. and Canadian residents, age 18 and older. Employees of 2qurios and their family, friends, and friend of friends, including babysitters, and household members are not eligible. All federal, state and local laws apply. This contest is void where prohibited. 2qurios is not responsible for printing, distribution or production errors and may rescind, cancel or revoke the awarding of prizes based upon any such error without liability and at its sole discretion. By participating in this contest and sweepstakes, entrants waive all rights to and hold harmless 2qurios from any loss, damage or expense arising out of or in connection with the participation in this contest or the acceptance or misuse of any prize.

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So, I lay in my bed awake last night thinking about all the things I could write in my brand new blog. I must have had a dozen or so of amazing articles written in my head on a multitude of topics. I would venture to say it was some of my best writing to date. Unfortunately, the thoughts quickly turned into visions and those visions turned into dreams, and suddenly I was Napoleon conquering Ghandi on the shores of India. I have been dreaming of Civilization IV a lot, and like to plan my next steps in my sleep. Needless to say all my great literary works were lost. I struggled for the better part of the day to come up with some sort of topic to write about. At one point I felt adventuresome and thought I would attempt to write a book report on Dan Brown’s, “The Divinci Code,” however it dawned on me that I haven’t read the book yet and the report may be a little lacking in content. I still would like to strike a critical conversation over books climb to fame. I wonder, should it be classified as fact, fiction or the greatest publicity stunt of the decade? Has anyone read this book yet? Is it worth the read? Are any of the claims in the book worth a closer look? Who created the Gnostic Gospels, of which much of the theories were pulled from, and where were they found? I do intend on reading it soon. I may even possibly get past the first few chapters. Well, I guess you can never be 2qurios.

~Challenge of the day~
Who can tell me what medium was used to create the image above?
Hint: The answer is in the code! - and now in the comment section. No Cheating.

So, here is my first blog. I must admit I have no idea why I am starting a blog. I really have nothing to say and find writing quite painful. I generally sit at the keyboard for hours, well ok maybe two minutes, trying to pull one of my random thoughts out of my head and onto paper. I rather love the idea of sitting down, gathering my thoughts, and placing them on my blog for the world to see and comment, but I fear the 3 other bloggers (the obligatory family members) who will visit my site will stop to comment only on my grammatical and spelling errors. If you are spelling nut who finds errors on all sorts of written material such as cereal boxes, advertisements, menus and magazines, you can turn this blog into a game. Yeah, that’s it. It will rank up there with Su Dooko and word searches. People will flock to this blog in search of the not so elusive spelling mistake in order to sharpen their QC skills. I may even offer my blogs to high schools or University journalism classes for training purposes. My writings will rank up there with, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," and Lorem Ipsum. I will be known as… well ok I’m going too far with this one.

What do I want to achieve with this blog? I have a ton of seemingly random interests. I love discovering new things, new technologies and sciences, how things work. I also like aesthetics things, such as photography, people, animals and shiney bright objects. I get distracted easily and find it hard to stay focussed on any one thing for too long, yet I can loose myself in a game of Civilization IV or just plain starring at my snails in the Gold Fish tank. I typically get fixated on a new hobby or topic frequently only to drop just as quickly once I get bored with it. Some would find that frustrating or pointless however it has given me a breadth of useless information that can only be surpassed my wife. I have collected Hockey cards, of which I recently started again with my oldest son, stamps, records, a cool rock collection now passed on to my boys, antique cameras, anything porcelain with markings on the bottom, and some old Christian books and Bibles. I love electronics and robotics and plan on making my own some day soon, anything computer related, video games, though I do like board games such as Risk, Settlers of Catan and Chess. I have enjoyed biking in the past, however my enlarged gut-n-butt makes it difficult for me to squeeze into my spandex these days. I do like to read but rarely make it past the third chapter. I think of myself as an entrepreneur, however my friends call me an entre-manure. I have tons of ideas floating around in my head for the next big thing, the big break, my cash cow, yet I am poor and will likely stay the same. I think I am a geek but I fancy myself as being a jock. I enjoy playing sports but have always been average.

Average…that pretty much sums it up. I am an average guy, with an average job working the status quo (I don’t know what status quo means but it sounded appropriate). This blog will be exactly that, average. I will attempt to let you into my world, my fantasy. I will write about some of my crazy ideas, parenthood, toys, collecting, how things work or don’t, religion, my ignorance of politics, the clubbing of seals, my love of Newfoundland, and pretty much anything else that peaks my curiosity.

I guess you can never be 2qurios.