Just Another Quirky Victoria Thing

While dining at Superiors a few days ago I noticed this huge tree in the middle of the restaurant courtyard filled with hundreds of shoes. You make a donation, throw a pair of shoes into the tree and make a wish. Proceeds go to a local charity. Hmm... I'm not sure if it has the same aesthetic effect as a rippling, glimmery fountain but judging by the hundreds of shoes it is very popular. I wondered if the patrons dined and then went home without shoes? Or did they bring an extra pair with them? I should have asked the server but she seemed a little frazzled by the four customers she was serving.:) So for now the origin the shoes remains a mystery.

More Blue Whale Pics

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Date With A Blue Whale

I've experienced some pretty cool stuff in my life and this ranks as one of my top ten experiences. Over the weekend I visited the Blue Whale Project in Victoria and learned all about this amazing reconstruction project. This rivals anything that I have seen in the greatest museums in the world because I was able to encircle and touch the real bones of a blue whale. Most skeletal exhibitions are casts of the bones but these are the real vertebrae, the real gigantic jaw bone, the real ribs of a blue whale...for those of us old enough to remember, we were once taught that this largest mammal of the world was extinct. I remember reading the World Book Encyclopedia and seeing those sad words, "Extinct" beside the humble illustration of the blue whale. This blue whale was discovered off the coast of P.E.I. in 1987 and buried for twenty years before being excavated and transported to the other side of the Canada. The remarkable thing about this visit was that there were hardly any visitors at the site so there was lots of time to talk to the friendly biologists and really begin to appreciate this astounding species.

Luminara 2009

This year's Luminara was a spectacular show. The thunder and lightning made an unexpected entrance and it soon became an aquatic event.

A Child Once Again

“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.”
Issac Newton

The Definitive Canadian Movie Discovered

After several precious hours researching the best Canadian movie I settled on, "Stone of Destiny" but my destiny was to change when I walked into Blockbuster and recounted my pathetic choice to the cool video dude encrusted in Blockbuster blue polyester standing slightly unconscious behind the ominous candy laden video counter. Immediately the kind but corrosive Blockbuster associate mumbled, "One Week" to which I replied, "Oh, I only need the movie, for one night." He patiently responded, "No, you want to rent the movie 'One Week' as your Canada Day selection." Then he expertly but dispassionately explained the premise of the movie which included a dying man's trek across Canada in search for true adventure. I quickly tossed "Stone of Destiny" then I almost kissed Blockbuster man. I'm sure he was relieved to just hear my repeated "thank you's" as I skipped out the door. The conclusion to the saga? A beautiful summer's eve was spent watching an inspiring feel good Canadian movie about a man's great trek across this expansive country on a Norton motorcyle. Quintessentially Canadian? Well it was brimming with quirky, quaint, and foolhardy quintessential Canadian characteristics.