south park

Ya gotta love South Park. They are taking digital distribution to the next level. They have their entire catalogue of episodes going back 12 seasons available to watch online on their South Park Studio website (and none of this outside the US Region crap either!).

I just watched their latest episode, Canada on Strike. The Canadians want some of that Internet Money, similar situation to the writers strike, so Cartman and co make a video that becomes a huge internet hit. When they go to collect their millions of "theoretical dollars" from the hit, they meet a load of other internet memes; numa numa and tron guy as well as the Star Wars kid!

What I didn't know was the song Butters put online was already up there! See the videos below:

emigrating to canada

November 1st
Moved to Canada. I am so excited. It's so beautiful here. The scenery is great, the trees are so tall. Can't hardly wait to see them with snow covering them.

November 5th
Canada. It is the most beautiful place on earth. The leaves have turned all colours and shades of red and orange. Went for a ride through the beautiful countryside and saw some deer. They are so graceful. Certainly they are the most wonderful animals on earth. This must be paradise. I love it here.

November 211th
Deer season starts soon. I can't imagine anyone wanting to kill such a gorgeous creature. Hope it snows soon. I love it here.

December 2nd
It snowed last night. Woke up to find everything blanketed with white. It looks like a postcard. We went outside and cleaned the snow off the steps and shovelled the driveway. We had a snowball fight (I won). When the snow plow came by, we had to shovel the driveway again. What a beautiful place. I love Canada.

December 12th
More snow last night. The snow plow did his trick again to the driveway. I love it here.

December 19th
More snow last night. Couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work. It's beautiful here but I'm exhausted from shovelling. That fucking snow plow.

December 22th
More of that white shit fell last night. I've got blisters on my hands and a sore back from shovelling. I think the snow plow hides around the corner until I'm done shovelling the driveway. That freakin idiot!

December 25th
Merry freakin Christmas! More freakin snow! If I ever get my hands on the freakin idiot who drives the snow plow I swear I'll kill the idiot. Don't know why they don't use more salt on the roads to melt the freaking ice.

December 27th
More freakin white shit last night. Been inside for three days now except for shovelling out the driveway after that snow plow goes through every time. Can't go anywhere, the car's stuck in a mountain of white crap and it's so freaking cold. The weatherman says to expect another 25 centimetres of snow again tonight. Do you know how many shovels full of snow 25 centimetres is?

December 28th
That freakin weatherman was wrong. We got 75 centimetres of snow this time. At this rate it won't melt before summer. The snow plow got stuck up in the road and that idiot came to my door and asked to borrow my shovel. After I told him that I had already broken six shovels shovelling out all the snow he had pushed into my driveway, I darn near broke my last one over his freaking head.

January 4th
Finally got out of the house today. Went to the store to get food and on my way back a damned deer ran in front of the car. Did about $3,000 damage to the car. Those freaking beasts should be killed. They are everywhere. Wish the hunters had exterminated them all last November.

May 3rd
Took the car to the garage in town. Would you believe the thing is rusted out from all that salt they put all over the roads?

May 29th
I am going back to Ireland. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would ever want to live in such a God forsaken place as Canada!

my 24 hours

With a shift change at work, my plan for getting up the mountain in the afternoon was interrupted. Instead I managed to take a load of pictures around the village and at work!

Take a look here and leave a comment on which one I should submit to the group!

www.flickr.com

bank of ireland

I'm just sitting here, waiting and watching the clock. I'm waiting for 1am to come around.

I need to contact my Bank. Bank of Ireland in Carrigaline. The problem with being here in Canada is that to get in touch with any business at home requires you to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.

I just checked out the Bank of Ireland Website and it turns out my branch isn't open until 10am (2am Canada time)! Just brilliant! Banks in Ireland are really a joke. How come they manage to stay stuck in the stone age. This is 2007. Take this for example:

Earlier this year I wanted to change my billing address to Canada so I could buy stuff on-line and get it sent to my billing address here in Canada. Like buying iPods or other things off websites. My branch told me that I had to submit this request in writing. An email wouldn't do. A fax wouldn't do. I had to write the request in a letter and post it. Taking the 2 weeks for it to get to Ireland and another 2 weeks to process it, I felt it wasn't worth it. Especially since I'll only be changing it back about now.

Another example: My friends are with AIB. They offer their on-line customers the ability to transfer funds to an international account, so they could send themselves money over the web, no worries. Bank of Ireland on the other hand... "Sorry, we don't do things like that on-line". The request has to be written and posted into the branch. They can then transfer the amount once they confirm that it is you making the request (this process made harder considerably as I'm about 7,000Km away). Repeat as necessary for each transaction.

Why is the Irish banking sector so power happy and feel they can do what they want? They have banking 365, but all their operators seem to like referring me to my branch to answer questions. So going back to the opening times; they are open 36 out of 168 hours a week (21% of the week)! Opening at 10am gives all their employees a lovely lie-in and they can avoid the rush-hour traffic. Then closing at 4pm must really cut into their drinking time down the pub, after all they don't have to be back at work until 10am the next morning!

When I get home I'll be considering moving my SSIA money to anywhere else but there! Not a happy camper here.

Thankfully I have my new addiction to Desktop Tower Defence to keep me company for the next hour thanks to Ambrand... ya bastard!

start of telus

It is the start of the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival here in Whistler. This comic was in the Question this week, and it sums up the feeling of nearly everyone here. We did get 22cm on Saturday tho!

This is also my first Post via Flickr...

turning canadian

You know you’re turning ‘Canadian’ when...

• You understand the phrase "Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine, on the chesterfield."
• You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.
• You drink Pop, not Soda.
• You know that a Mickey and 2-4's mean, "party at the camp, eh!!!"
• You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway.
• You drive on a highway, not a freeway.
• You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.
• You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group.
• You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.
• You brag to Americans that: Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion, Michael J. Fox, John Candy, William Shatner, Tom Green, Matthew Perry, Mike Myers, Neve Campbell, Pamela Anderson Lee & many more are Canadians.
• You know that the CEO of American Airlines is a Canadian.
• You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
• You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced "Zed".
• Your local newspaper covers national news on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.
• You know that the four seasons mean: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road work.
• You know that when it's 25 °F (-4°C) outside, it's a warm day.
• You understand the Labatt Blue commercials.
• You know how to pronounce and spell "Saskatchewan".
• You perk up when you hear the theme song from 'Hockey Night in Canada'.
• You are in grade 12, not the 12th grade.
• "Eh?" is a very important part of your vocabulary, and is more polite than, "Huh?"
• You say "aboot" instead of "about"
• Your Beer Case handles Are Big Enough To Fit Your Mitts
• You froze your tongue to something metal and survived to tell about it.
• You know that we don't all live in igloos and ride polar bears to work

via the SWAP E-Bulletin 2 April 2007

employee of the year

The Whistler Chamber and American Express thanks all Whistlers Star Employees for their outstanding work for the season and invite them to a Service Recognition Awards Night with Dinner, Prizes, Awards and an After Party!
I got nominated as Employee of the Year for Rogers Chocolates (Whistler)! This is what they had to say:

Darran has remarkable ability to put in just a little extra for each and every customer, each and every time. He is also really SMART! He is willing to work extra shifts -even on a powder day. He sees what needs to be done and does it efficiently and with a smile. His warmth and patience with customers is beyond compare.

As part of the award I got a letter as well as a really nice photo frame of Blackcomb Glacier. It is a great photo because you can make out all the areas and shoots I go playing on on the glacier! I also won $100 worth of gift certificates to the Longhorn!

There was also free caricatures from Cruelty Free Cartoons! I let him flex his muscles and do whatever he feels, only telling him I work in a Chocolate Shop! Here is the final result:

He spelt my name wrong, but I still plugged his website! Aren't I a nice guy!?

shamrock mission in photos

Here are some photos of our mission on Paddy's Day, taken on Taidy's camera!

The Shamrock Artists!

The Finished Shamrock!

Size Comparison :-)

The St. Patrick's Day Team!

shamrock or graffiti?

UPDATE: More Photos here!

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day in Whistler and we needed to show off our Irishness. (Especially considering everyone seemed to be Irish yesterday)

So we came up with a plan! Armed with 6L of water, a couple of bottles of green food dye we headed up the slopes to a location where we thought would be good to mark out a giant shamrock. The location, which could be seen from 2 lifts, as well as the Roundhouse (the biggest Mountain Restaurant in North America [the world?])


The final result can be seen above (original photo slightly edited to you can clearly make out the Shamrock!). We needed to go on a mission half way through for another 6L of water! There was also a lot of cheers from people on the Peak Chair lift wishing us Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Hope you had a good one?

pre paddys day

St. Patrick's Day is coming up again. Tomorrow I believe! My plans for the day? I got the day off so I'm off Skiing!

So according to a report I read via Dec's Ramblings most of the Ministers at home are off doing their thing: "maximising opportunities for showcasing Ireland". There are two TD's left to run the country! So where are they all going? I made a map!

No one is in New Zealand or Australia and I haven't heard where the President is?! She is off to the Vatican City next week tho, so I guess she has to stay and watch the parade!

Things to do tomorrow:

• Wear Orange on Saint Patrick's Day - Back in 1999, it was Orange you had to wear... some very mixed up ideas there... :-S
• Make Brown Bread & Guinness Ice Cream - Not my cup of tea...
• Buy a St. Patrick's Day Flash Card - Necessary!
• Go to the Dubh Linn Gate Pub from some Après-ski - Actually.. Don't. Please Don't. That is the Worst Pub in the World... or at least Canada!
  

update

What I've been up to lately:

• A bit of house keeping, replacing Gurr with Grrr! It turns out I was expressing the wrong emotion! Sorry Vanessa, hope I make more sense now!

• I'm trying to sort out my flights to return to Canada Ireland, but my USIT login isn't working. They updated the system to the 2007 programme! So I'm waiting for a reply from USIT. That could be some time... BASTARDS!

• I'm also waiting for Scouting Ireland to get back to me re: My application for Jiingijamborii, which I sent them 3 weeks ago, and still no results! international@scouts.ie seem to just gobble up emails.

• I have also added a small AdSense banner at the bottom of all pages on my blog. I'm noticing a difference with a few people clicking! It is only small, it blends in and most people won't notice it as it's at the bottom of the page!

• Besides that, I'm a terrible team member on Geared Up Blog, but constantly looking for a new story. Any ideas? Drop me a mail! Thanks!

• I'm also quite busy at work:

P.S. Sorry for clogging everyones RSS readers up when I updated a few of the posts. Blame Blogger!

UPDATE: I'm returning to Ireland not Canada! Thanks Elisabeth :-)

go ireland

As everyone who knows me knows I'm no Sports Head. But today Ireland played trashed England in the Six Nations at Croke Park. The score: 43-13!

You can watch the news stories about the Match here. It is a shame that both the BBC and RTÉ aren't streaming the live match to people outside Ireland and the UK. There are no pubs showing the match here in Whistler. Not even the worst Irish Pub in the World! Bastards!

This is the second Rugby match to be held at Croke Park. RTÉ did a nice programme on the opening of the GAA Stadium.

This specially commissioned half-hour programme celebrates the moment when Ireland unites in sport as the Irish rugby and soccer teams play in Croke Park for the first time.

Watch it here.

montage video

A video of our trip so far... Bringing a tear to my eye!



Only half way through our adventure...

tubing in whistler

I went tubing a few days ago. I took a video of it and uploaded it to both YouTube and Google Video. It was the exact same video uploaded to both, but as you can see, the Google Video version of the clip rendered a lot better than the YouTube one.

Google Video:


YouTube:

global heating

So it finally comes around to bit us in the ass. Global Warming is here!

Take a look at a few pictures from last January I took on my holiday to Kandersteg. I have matched them up similar photos taken a few days ago from Patrick who is back for his own holiday. The differences are scary.

As you can see from these photos of the village, there is a severe lack of snow.

These photos of the campsite path shows you exactly how little snow there is. Last year you could cross-country ski through the campsite. This year it doesn't look too good.

More worrying is this photo I found on Flickr.

Originally uploaded by u_sperling.

So I think I got the best deal this winter with a record snow fall here in Whistler!

new year

So I put off this post for a while. There isn't much to say, so I guess there isn't much to write about! New years was totally uneventful, where the most exciting thing that happened was... hang on, nothing exciting happened! I stayed in and watched some Comedy DVD's I had. We ended up not having our Back to the Future night.

Besides that the past few weeks have been pretty much work and Skiing! I have a taste for new ski's after demo'ing some new ones one morning. I also wasted a week organising a 3 day road trip from Dallas Texas to Whistler that fell through. Long story.

Work has been pretty easy after the huge Christmas rush, it is a little bit too quiet! Conor also arrived home with presents and chocolate! Life is pretty boring, with nothing much happening. Snow is quite good tho... Am I rambling yet? Repeating myself? No? Then I'll stop.

happy everything

It has been a very busy week;

It was Christmas!! It came and went so fast! Not too bad for my first Christmas away from home. We went skiing for the morning, where I taught how to Ski. After about 2 or 3 hours, we decided i needed a bit of time to get off the green slope and get in some real runs! Myself and Taidy headed up to a very windy peak. It was a total white out as we took the peak-to-creek run down, turning off to head towards mid-station (have I mentioned enough runs that no one knows what I'm talking about yet...? Here is a map!) to meet Heather. It was impossible to see where you were or where you were going at the top. You had to rely on people being in front of you to see their outline, or else if you were lucky, there was a marker warning you of a cliff or something. Good times!

Following a trip home to open presents, and a Shower we headed out for Christmas Dinner. We had reservations booked at the Hilton in Whistler! It was a lovely buffet Christmas dinner, with as much as you want to eat. I had 2 starters, a main course, another starter and then some desert! It was class, we didn't have to wash up or anything after!

After that it was out for a bit of dancing, or that was the plan, which failed on 2 accounts, 1. We were way too early for dancing, and the club was empty and 2. We were all stuffed after dinner! So it was home and then to bed after a great day! I hope you all had a good day what ever you got up to.

The day after, Stephen's Day was so lovely! The sky was so blue and the sun was shining so bright! If I wasn't trying to get over this cold I have I would of loved to be up the mountain.

Besides that I have be working like a trooper, and going to enjoy a well deserved day off on the slopes tomorrow! I hope you all had a great Baby Jesus Birthday and everyone has a plan for New Years. Back to the Future I, II and III over in Nordic Drive if anyone interested in attending :oP

back online

Early Friday morning our broadband connection was lost at home. After nearly 5 days were back online here in Whistler. Bloody ridiculous!

It has been terrible for business, the week before Christmas, as if you used high-speed Internet access for your credit or debit cards you could not process any of these transactions. Thus a severe loss of business. I know where I was working, we didn't have a dial-up back up in place and it took till Sunday before we had to set it up ourselves.

This is not helped either with Whistler Cable/SHAW Cable and their terrible technical support. I was in contact with them 5 times in total, twice for work and the rest for home, the first time to find out was it us or is everyone out. They could only give me a straight (or correct) answer last time I rang. Every other time they didn't really know what the problem was at the moment or when it would be fixed. About as helpful as a kick in the face.

I really wouldn't mind if they told us what went wrong, which we now know:

Heavy snow had weighed down B.C. Hydro wires on a transmitter near Whistler, which touched the Telus line, knocking out ADSL access to Whistler and neighbouring Pemberton.

via CBC News

But we weren't. There was a severe lack of communication. It was word of mouth and rumour that kept us up to date. Things I've heard over the last five days were from Solar flares and Sun spots to the Internet would be out for at least 2 weeks. We found out yesterday it had something to do with a fiber-optic line broken, which really isn't true either. What kind of Joke Company is this... would they got away with this in Ireland? Maybe... but I'm sure there would be way more complaining ;-)

On the lighter side of things, I started to Snowboard yesterday. I would show you a video of my first few runs, but Taidy took it so who knows when I will have access to it...

sushi village

I had Sushi for the first time ever last night. We have been putting it off for a while now, but considering there are a few sushi restaurants here in Whistler, we couldn't put off going out for some any longer.

We headed in to the Sushi Village, in the Village (funnily enough), where we tried to make out what is nicest and what we should try. Of course we didn't have a clue, so we just got come combinations.

For starters:

• Sweet Potato Tempura - サツマイモの天ぷら

This was basically sweet potato, that kinda looked like deep fried hash browns. It was alright, it gave up some practice with using our chopsticks to get ready for the main course. Which was a selection of:

• Tekka-Maki - 鉄火巻き - Fresh tuna wrapped in the center
• Kappa-Maki - かっぱ巻き - Sliced cucumber in the center
• Salmon-Maki - サーモン巻き - Fresh salmon in the center
• Spicy B.B.Q. Salmon Roll - スパイシー バーベキュー サーモン 巻き - B.B.Q Salmon, avocado
• Spicy Scallop Roll - スパイシー 帆立巻き - Scallop, Cucumber
• Spicy Tuna Roll - スパイシー 鉄火巻き - Tuna, cucumber, radish

They were all covered in rice and then what were guessing is sea-weed type thing to hold it all together, or else the sea-weed thing and rice on the outside! We were not too fond of the Tuna or Scallop, altho the Spicy Tuna Roll was quite nice.

There was about 12 little pieces of sushi each, and it was quite filling. That also might be the fact this was our first time trying it, so we got full on raw fish pretty fast! One pointer is the small bit of green stuff you get on the side of your dish, my suggestion is, try a tiny bit and then just don't touch it. It's Wasabi and its the worst substance known to man.

Overall, it was a great night. You'd need to be in the mood for sushi, but it very different, but defiantly worth a go!

P.S. Do ya like the way I put in some Japanese into this post! Hopefully it might be noticed! Hello all my Japanese readers :-)

a tedious job

This has to be one of the most tedious jobs I have ever done. There was 60 single boxes, that first of all had to be constructed. Then I had to put some poof or stuffing in to line the bottom. Then add a single chocolate truffle. Close and seal with a little sticker. Then cut a small length of ribbon and tie it in a bow. As you can see, at this stage I had 7 done and another 53 to go! Fun fun fun!
I got them finished before the night was out. Olé!