That Just Happened!

This past weekend MPW and I were joined by Becky and Jeremy at the Royal Ontario Museum for some educational fun.  MPW and I love the museum and were excited to share it with Jeremy who had been once as a kid, but didn’t remember much. 

It is unfortunate that Jeremy did not remember the original museum.  Now they have added the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal onto the front of it and it is just horrendous.  I think it is one of those things that you either love or hate, and I can say I hate it!  With all of the new building developments and condo buildings being erected in Toronto, it would have been nice to preserve a bit of our history.  But, oh well, there is plenty of history inside  the building!

This is Becky and Jeremy inside a reconstructed tomb.  Jeremy couldn’t believe there was an actually mummy!  And no matter how many times I see the dinosaurs, I can hardly believe how old the bones are.  Some of the fossils on display are approximately 200 million years old (sorry Creationists)!!  The whole time we were looking at them I kept running ahead to the next one and calling out the date to Jeremy who was further back.  A little annoying?  Perhaps.  Could I help it?  Not at all!!  I love the dinosaur exhibit.  It not only has dinosaur fossils, it is organized chronologically, so you can follow their evolution (again, sorry Creationists) through time and they even have a comparison between animals today and their ancestors. 

Look at all the teeth in the T-Rex!

Jeremy in front of a turtle/tortoise fossil that is suspended from the ceiling.  Can you say awesome?!

We also saw ancient armour, the Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracotta Army (which is a special exhibit on right now that was absolutely amazing, but sorry, no pictures allowed), the bat cave and a whole exhibit on biodiversity.  This last one includes a whole room of stuffed birds and another room of stuffed animals.  It always creeped me out as a kid and, as I learned yesterday, still does.  Can you imagine going into a whole room of dead birds in flight, looking up and seeing this…

Creeeeeeepy!

What wasn’t creepy was the Gems and Minerals exhibit.  Ooooooh shiiiny.  Both Becky and myself would not mind having any of those gems on a ring, but here here are some samples of the minerals and gems we saw.  Pretty.

Finally, after a long trek through the museum we hit up the China exhibit and the Canadian exhibit.  It is weird being in a museum  and seeing a vase that your grandfather had a very similar one of in his basement that was given to him by his grandma.  Weird. Perhaps most impressive was seeing this famous painting:

The Death of Wolfe, Benjamin West (1771).    You can go here  to read a bit more on why Gen. Wolfe was so important in the foundation of Canada.

After that, it was off to a pub for some food and then the subway to take us home.  But not after sneaking back to see more of the wedding set up that was taking place.  That bride had some of the largest pink roses I have ever seen.  Absolutely gorgeous.  What a wonderful day! 

Yeah, That Just Happened!

Jacobs, A.J. The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment.  (Simon & Schuster (2010).

On a mission to understand the mysteries of modern life – from love to work to fame – I became a human guinea pig. I immersed myself in a series of radical lifestyle experiments. I changed the way I thought, talked and looked. I followed old wisdom and new science. I saw the world from the eyes of a woman. I followed the wisdom of George Washington. I outsourced my life. I engaged, I’m afraid to say, in public nudity. (Not all at the same time).

These experiments wreaked havoc on my life, and drove both my wife and me to the brink of insanity, but also gave me fascinating insights.

From the Author’s Website

I really enjoyed The Year of Living Biblically    and really looked forward to reading this one.  I think Jacobs has such a great sense of humour (although his wife surpasses him…she has to put up with it, after all) and it really lends itself to these crazy experiments.  This book sees Jacobs; discovering what George Washington would do, trying to uni-task, practicing Radical Honesty, standing in for a celebrity, outsourcing his life, trying to be more rational, experiencing life as a beautiful woman, being naked, and finally doing something for his wife and becoming her slave for a whole month.  In each experiment Jacobs learns some things, both good and bad, and talks about how they changed his life (in a small or big way). 

I always feel like I could live vicariously through him and I often think to myself, “thank goodness he did that, so I can learn the lesson without actually having to doit”.  For example, perhaps it’s the unadventurous side of me, or maybe it’s the pathological liar in me, but I don’t think I would ever want to practice Radical Honesty.  Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like, and my life is just easier when I can tell little white lies.  I have strived to tell the truth at all times, but after reading about Jacobs’ experience with it, I realize sometimes it’s just better not to.

His writing is funny and honest and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who ever wondered what it would be like to live according to George Washington’s code.  I’ll also tell you there was one really glaring spelling mistake I had difficulty reading past.  I would say this was a Put on Your TBR List.

Becky and Georgie

A week ago Saturday, MPW and I were fortunate enough to be invited to Georgie’s Surprise 60th Birthday!  I was going to post this sooner, but I was trying to raise money for the RONA MS Bike Tour.  Georgie is the mom of my friend Becky (my personal dog whisperer).  It was held at a lovely restaurant named Pepperwood Bistro.  The food was delish, the company was swell and the guest favours…yummy!  

Of course, some of the guests *ahem* MPW and Max, couldn’t wait to dig in, which was fortunate for Brian who was visiting from Ohio.  Apparently, there is no such thing as NIBS south of the border, which was quite shocking to the rest of us.  So of course we had to make him try them.  Here is Brian’s first taste of NIBS and according to him it was like, “Twizzlers…only…more!“.   

Brian picked a great weekend to come up and visit Krysta and Jay (You may remember Jay as the Gentle Giant).  Brian actually met Krys while they both taught in Japan and it had been 6 years since they had seen each other!  Of course Krys and Jay were excited to have him up for the weekend and excited to play host as well.  Becky was intent on getting Georgie there, so she needed someone to hold down the fort and direct guests at the restaurant.  Krys is like a second daughter to Georgie, so she was happy to step in and help, and it was a job well done!  

And of course the lovely lady who was responsible for the surprise was Georgie’s lovely daughter Becky.  She had printed special menues, had a gorgeous cake made (couretsy of a former coworker and baker extraordinaire Monika Bakes) and got the birthday girl there, despite the fact Georgie has walking pneumonia,  so again another job well done.   

Thanks again for the lovely invite!  

Yeah, That Just Happened!