Birthday

I had my 23rd Birthday Party at Muzik on October 14, 2006. It was great ! Thanks for everyone who came out and made it a great night!Thanks Chris for hooking up everything, especially the rides... You know it.

Apartment for Rent

Apartment for rent !
61 Cecil Street, Toronto, Ontario
Major Intersection: Cecil and Spadina
Close to UofT
Rent: 1600 per month, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathroom, All Inclusive

Two Options:

a) We are looking for subletters starting May 1st to August 31st.

b) We are looking for someone to take over the lease and sign a new 16 month lease with the Property Manager. Starting May 1st.

Here is the front of the house. There is a main entrance, and each apartment has it's own locked entrance inside. There are 3 floors and an apartment on each floor. 5 people on first floor, 3 on second and 3 on third.

There is a large porche on the front of the building.

Inside the main entrance there are stairs up to the 2nd and 3rd floor apartments.

This is the kitchen. There is an electric Stove and Fridge.

The common area is attached to the kitchen.

There are two bathrooms total. Here is one of them with a bathtub.

The second bathroom has a stand-in shower but no bathtub.

There is a Fridge as well as a skylight above. The far door is the entrance to one of the rooms.

Here is my room! :)

This is the largest room that looks out onto Cecil Street.

The last room has a fire exit balcony attached to it. It could be pretty nice in the summer!

New York - Boston - Part 2 of 2

My friend Marcus just got back from MIT and it got me in the mood to write the second half of my New York/Boston Trip. I was happy to take on this part of the trip because I was going into Connecticut and Rhode Island which are the only two states on the east coast that I haven't been to. Yale is located in New Haven, Connecticut and I stopped there to check out the campus. Yale is the 3rd oldest institute of Higher Education in the US. It was really nice, and I enjoyed the small town atmosphere. Afterwards we drove through Rhode Island in the blink of an eye. Rhode Island is the smallest state in terms of area. The main city is Providence. We didn't stop to explore the city because it was getting late. As we drove into Boston I was struck with a familiar site. This bridge is called the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. The bridge is part of the Big Dig project in Boston which is the largest overall highway construction project in the US. The bridge is a famous site often appearing in commericals. The "Big Dig" has literally turned the city into a huge construction zone. It was an absolute disaster driving around the city. I don't recommend taking your car anywhere near the city of Boston.

Can I have your John Hancock! This city is full of history. This is where the American Revolution Began! This is the place where The Boston Masacre and The Boston Tea Party took place and where Paul Revere made his midnight ride. Below you can see that John he has a very distinguished signature on the Declaration of Independance that he signed on July 4th, 1776.
We went out to Boston Common which is a huge park in the center of the city. Here you can pick up the "Freedom Trail". The "Freedom Trail" is a red bricked line that takes you through all the historic sites of the city. Along the trail you can see such sites as the first public school and the location of the Boston Masacare. It also goes through a grave yard where you can find some famous graves such as Samual Adams, Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin's Parents. The red bricked trail also took us to Quincy Market. This Market was built in 1826 and it's still a great source of food and entertainment for Bostonians. Here you can find an exact replica of the Cheers Bar and all kinds of souvenirs and good food.
The Freedom Trail also brought us to this Amazing Holocaust Memorial. I found this Monument to be very moving and I wanted to spend some time talking about it. The Monument consists of 6 large towers. Each tower represents one of the 6 death camps (Belzec, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor, Majdanek, Treblinka, and Chelmno). Here I am below standing in one the green glass towers.
Inscribed on the glass walls of each of the 6 towers are the registration numbers of all the victims that died at each camp. As you walk through each tower there are quotes etched into the concrete. On of the quotes disturbingly said: "Most infants and children were killed immediately upon arrival at the camps. The Nazis murdered as many as one and a half million Jewish children."
The most disturbing thing for me was that as you stood inside each tower, the grate below your feet let out steam that rose up passed your head. As you look through the tinted green glass with the steam/gas rising passed your eyes you realized the horrifying TRUTH that each victim suffered. They were gassed !!!!! Over 3 million Jewish people died in these extermination camps!!!

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

---Martin Niemoeller

Some Final notes on Boston: Harvard and MIT both have campuses close to Boston. And I got a chance to see those campuses as well. Harvard's campus was really nice, and there was some very old architecture and history there. Marcus later told me that it's a Harvard tradition to piss on the statue of John Harvard's foot. Which means that thousands of people have done that. And guess who unknowingly rubbed his foot for good luck !! eww! I like MIT's campus better. It is more modern and it looks like it has some excellent engineering facilities. Also, I got a chance to have a pint at The Green Dragon Tavern, the "Headquarters of the Revolution"!

Just north of Boston is the town of Salem. We took a hike up here to see the city famous for the Witch Trials conducted in 1692.

We went to the Salem Witch Museum. This museum was excellent. It gave a very detailed description of the Salem Witch Trials. But what I really appreciate about this museum is that it tried to draw lessons from the Witch Trials. For example, the people of Salem in 1692 where a very fearful people. They lived under a constant threat of Native attacks. The people were very religious and feared the wrath of god. The weather climate could easily wipe out an entire crop and starve families. Children were dying of diseases. And there were actually earthquakes. Naturally, the people of Salem buckled under the pressure and began insane trials of little girls who accused each other of witch craft. The museum did an excellent job of relating the witch trials to such morer modern events as putting the Japanese in isolation camps during world war two and the hunt for communism during the cold war. And most importantly the rapid depletion of American rights and the descrimination of immigrants through the current war on terror. We can't let irrational fear take the best of us and allow us to make incorrect and innapropriate deicisions. We are behaving just like the crazy Salem settlers did when they started to burn witches at the stake or push people off clifs to their deaths. The museum did an excellent job of putting things in perspective!
After we saw Salem and Boston we headed south along the coast. And an important landmark is Plymouth Rock. Although my picture is blurry, that rock is actually the Plymouth Rock. Although this is mostly a myth, it is said that the first pilgrims to come to North America on the Mayflower passed through this point. All the pilgrims touched this rock as they disembarked from the boat. Although this is probably not true, it does symbolize the rise of a great nation, the humble beginnings of a super power.
Cape Cod is a large armed shape penninsula that petrudes out into the atlantic ocean from Massachusetts. This was the last stop on our trip. What I didn't know about Cape Cod is that it was th summer residence of John F. Kennedy. We saw this monument of his life near Hyannis. We actually found the Kennedy Compound along the shore not too far from here.
Although it took a long time, we actually drove out to the tip of Cape Code at Provincetown. The beaches were beautiful and I actually saw the sun for the first time on the trip. What was interesting about this place is that there was a large homosexual population. There are actually a large number of well known gay resorts along the Provincetown shoreline.
Whew, this turned out to be a very intersting trip. From New York City, to Boston, Salem and Cape Cod. We started to head back to Toronto and we drove through Albany which is the capital of New York. And I was instantly struck by the size and architecture of the State Legislator Buildings which they call "The Empire State Plaza", as you can see in the picture below. The dome on the right is a performaning arts center called "The Egg".
This was an excellent trip!

Intelligent Image Processing

I am currently in Steve Mann's Intelligent Image Processing Course at the University of Toronto. Our lab work is documented with Glogger. I have linked my Story Boards of my progress below:

1) Keyer
2) Eyeglass based display

More info on our course pleace go here.

New York - Boston - Part 1 of 2

NEW YORK NEW YORK !!! In late August we took a trip out to New York City. The Rome of the American Empire. I simply love this city. And I jump at any opportunity to go here. Becuase of an unfortunate car crash just before we were to leave for New York we were able to get a rental car which made things a little easier. The plan was to spend 4 days in New York City, and 2 days in Boston as well as see Cape Cod and Salem Massachusetts before heading back. This particular blog entry will show you all of the New York City section of the trip.

So we got up early and headed through Niagara falls past Rochester and then took a right at Syracuse. I happen to be a fan of "The Office" and I was delighted to past through Scranton Pennsylvania. From there we went straight through New Jersey accross the Washington Bridge onto the north part of the island. We left our car at JFK international airport in the longterm parking. The hostel was located on the Upper Westside right near Central park and on the subway line so it was perfect.We first ventured out into Central Park. This park is huge (843 acres) and it's surounded by a rectangular wall of Manhattan City. Inside the park you will find a huge reservoir, a zoo and aquarium, and a fair. The park is a great place to walk around and enjoy.
Because I am a Computer Engineer, don't be suprised I stopped by the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. It's a pretty cool place and it's open 24 hours for your Apple computing needs. I love my Mac.
Heading south on 5th Avenue we come across some famous sites such as St. Patrick's Cathederal and Saks 5th Avenue. We stopped at the famous Rockefeller Center. This is an extreemly famous broadcasting (NBC studios) and culture hub of American. At the center of the 19 building complex stands the centerpiece, "30 Rock". At the bottom is Rockeffeler Plaza where you can skate in the winter and they place a huge Christmas tree (I remember it from Home Alone). So, we went to the "Top of the Rock" to catch a good sight of the city.
The above picture is looking south at the bottom of the Island. You can see the huge Empire State Building reaching into the clouds. And in the far distance you can see the cluster of huge buildings in the Financial District where the World Trade Center used to be. Below you can see looking north and the huge outline of Central Park and the city surrounding it.
Just south a few block you can find Grand Central Station. This place always reminds me of Armageddon when the meteor's crash through the walls into the grand halls within. From there we caught a subway north along Park Avenue to the Upper East Side. We got off near the Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met"). You can see the Muesum on the right in the picture below. The perminant collection contains over 2 million pieces of art from around the world. You can't even begin to see and understand all this museum has to offer. From their we walked a few blocks north to the Guggenheim which was being restored on the outside. We actually didn't go into the museum but we should have.
Times Square!!!
This is where Broadway intesects 7th Avenue stretching from 42nd to 47th street. Like Red Square in Moscow, Champs-Elysees in Paris, Trafalger Sqaure in London, Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Times Square has become a world landmark and a symbol of the very city it is in.
Down at the southern tip of Manhattan Island is the Financial District. The first site we saw was the crater left by the World Trade Center. There were tonnes of people here checking it out. They had an amazing photo display of September 11 and a very detailed time line of all the events that occured that day. There is still a lof of construction going on in the area and you can still see visible damage on the buildings surrounding when the WWC came down. You can see in the right hand side of the picture below a support girder left in the shape of a cross from the World Trade Center. The last time I was in NYC, I actually went up the World Trade Center to the top. Very amazing.
Just a few blocks away is Wall Street. Wall street is the heart of the world economy. Below your feet lie the gold bar vaults from countries around the world. When two countries make a transaction, they just move the gold from one vault, down a few vaults to another countries vault. Walking around down here makes your feel like you are on military lockdown. There are huge barricades to stop any unwanted cars from entering the area. There is a building very close to the picture below called Federal Hall where George Washington took the oath as the first President of the United States of America on April 30th, 1789. I thought that was interesting too. Wall Street is very close to the Southern Tip of Manhattan and we walked down to the shore where you could see Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty in the distance. As you curve around the east side of the island you get an awsome view of the Brooklyn Bridge. This is an Engineering masterpiece, and I still remember Prof. Collins talking about the bridge in our Civil Engineering class. This bridge is 5, 989 feet across and spans the east river and it connects Manhattan to Brooklyn. I am very happy to have walked across the Brooklyn bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge on the west coast.
There is so much more to this city then just the tourists locations. The food is spectacular. We had dinner in little Italy and it was some of the best food I have ever eaten. There is so much to this blog that I have left out and I can only urge you to come see this truly amazing city.

On the way out we went up through Harlem. Harlem is a great part of the city with some amazing architectural and cultural sites. We went through Columbia University and saw the Apollo Theatre. From there we went back to JFK to get the car and head out to Boston.

GO TO NEW YORK CITY !

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Ottawa

Saturday monring we packed up and headed out to Ottawa. Michelle, Jeff and I took off to meet up with Geoff. He was working for the government in Ottawa and also goes to school at Carleton, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity for a road trip. Of course, Ottawa is the capital of our beautiful nation too.
The first thing that struck me about Ottawa is that it is very clean. The buildings are all in great shape and it's very nice to walk around and smell the fresh air. Toronto could learn a lot. First up, we strolled on by the Parliament buildings. The center building with the Peace Tower (By the way, it's illegal for any building in Ottawa to be taller than the peace tower) burned down in 1916. They rebuilt the building that is there now in 1920.
Also on the field of parliament hill there is a re-enactment of the "Changing of the Guard". I believe what is happening is that the guards that are protecting the Governor General at Rideau Hall are switching shifts. The Governor General is the Queens representitive in Canada but the position is purely ceramonial now.
Speaking of Rideau, This is the Rideau Canal Waterway that connects the Ottawa to Kingston by a series of lakes and rivers. Boaters can take this lock system to bypass the rapids at the mouth of the Rideau and the Ottawa River. The Rideau Canal is the worlds largest naturally frozen ice rink (Guiness Book of World Records). I have some friends who go to Carelton and they can acutally ice skate to school in the winter time.
After getting some world renound Beaver Tails which are a magical mixture of fried dough and powdered sugar/cinnamon or chocolate sauce we headed over to the National Art Gallary. Watch out Michelle, that Spider is going to get you.
There are many great exhibits here at the National Art Gallary and I definitely recommend visiting it. I was very suprised to stumbled over two of my cousin Scott McFarland's works. Below I am standing in between them. On The Right (my left) there is "Orchard View" and on the left (my right) there is Boathouse Exterior. It was pretty cool to see them here.
After walking past the US embassy which looked like Camp X-Ray we walked across the bridge into Quebec to visit a few more museums. We went to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. It was very interesting and we watched an excellent IMAX on Greece. We actually ran out of time for the War Museum. If you looked across the Ottawa River you can see Parliament Hill.
You can see at the rear of Parliament hill that there is a circular building. This is the library. This is the only part of the Parliament that was not burned down in 1916. Therefore, it is still the original. The reason it didn't burn down is because the huge iron doors seperating it form the rest of the building kept the fire out.
Ofcourse we had to Visit Pub Italia which has over 200 beers. you can see Geoff carrying the Duvel Bottles. It was good. I think I drank to much and Jeff is flashing a light at me to get my attention.

This was a great weekend trip. Thanks Geoff for hosting us, we had a great time.

Algonquin Provincial Park

Jeff, Luke, Spondon and I decided to conquer Algonquin Provincial Park this summer and it was a great experience. Check it out:
Luke and Jeff above and Spondon below are all ready for the big Hike ahead of us. Little does Spondon know the true weight of all those cans he is carrying. LOL.
We prepared for the whole trip on friday night. We got all the food together and distributed it amongs the 4 backpacks. Thanks to Jeff we were going to eat like kings. Pizza, Roasted Vegetables, Chili, Scrambled eggs, bacon! mmmm.

Here is the official plans for the trip:

Saturday: Up at 5:30. On the road by 6:00. Check in at Mew Lake Campground by 9:00. Hike to Harness Lake (17 km). At a good pace, stopping for lunch and snacks along the way, we should arrive by 5 pm. Set up camp. Dinner.

Sunday: Relax, eat, drink. Dayhike? Swim? Can figure it out when we get there. Definitely poker. Anyone have chips?

Monday: Up around 6:00 and packed up by 7:00. Head back along the other side of the Highlands loop trail. The marked route is 18.6 km, but can be shortened to 16.1 km if we take the shortcut at Provoking Lake. Back at the trailhead.

The Map is posted below, we took the blue route. And let me tell you, it was a very long hike. LOL.
Algonquin Park was established in 1893, not to prevent logging but to create a wildlife sanctuary. As people learned about it and explored it, Algonquin park gained a reputation of being an extreemly beautiful place to visit. As we journeyed into the Park we began to realize just how to true that was.
I love the Canadian Wilderness. you can see the Canadian Shield poking through the path as we walked over it. Algonquin Park is Ontario's oldest Provincial Park and it covers 7,700 square kilometers. This place is huge and you do not want to get lost here.
Below is the lake that we camped on. Here we set up our tent and started cooking food and building fires. We were lucky enough to pick up a reverse osmosis water filter before coming out here and that kept us hydrated quickly and efficiently. Thanks Kunaal!!!
The view from this perticular cropping was amazing. I can see why the Group of Seven visited out here many times and how it influenced their work.
On our way out we were lucky enough to see a Moose.