A Trip to Calgary: The Good Old Hockey Game

I had the pleasure last week of spending some time with a couple co-workers from Saskatchewan. They had been in town for the past 3 weeks to help us with a special project. Since I had been out of commission recently, it was refreshing to get back into the swing of things by hanging out with these two crazy chicks on an adventure in the big city.

As you can see, it was also a week full of finger food. Rest assured, I did get my share of the 4 basic food groups: wings, fingers, nachos and riblets. All of this nutritious food washed down with refreshing beer. (Beer is essentially liquid bread, you know)

After a few days of this wonderful fare, it was time to go experience our national pastime. It was time to go to the hockey game. I picked up the girls at their hotel after they had done a little shopping to 'prepare'. A couple Calgary Flames T-shirts and some temorary tattoos and we were ready to roll. We picked up some free burritos in the hotel lobby, jumped in the car and we were off.

Here are the highlights of this epic evening. Hope you enjoy, and when you come to Calgary, don't forget to go to the hockey game. Until next time...

Happy New Year from MrJingjong!

My friend, Steve was back in town for the holidays and he invited me to spend New Years Eve with him watching the Calgary Flames play the Edmonton Oilers. Of course, that was after we stopped for some fresh sushi at Globefish. After being in the hospital for Christmas and hanging out on my couch as I recovered, I was feeling a little cabin fever so Steve's invitation to get off my ass sounded refreshing.

So here's the video. Enjoy and don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe to MrJingjong!

The Day I Joined the Cult of Mac.

Throughout my many years of being a PC user, I have always been "Mac Curious". After my crappy Christmas in the hospital, I thought it would be a good excuse as any to treat myself to a nice gift. So, I went to the Apple Store on December 30th, 2009 and officially became the proud owner of a MacBook Pro.

It's been 4 days since I made my purchase and all I can say is that I am in love. Can you love a computer? If they are sexy, you can... I guess, and they are sexy. There is love in every aspect of this product. Even the box is incredibly beautiful with its molded black, plastic tray and foam-lined lid. As I opened the box for the first time, I was greeted by the signature logo on the Aluminum unibody case. Lovingly wrapped in plastic by angels just for me, it was pure pleasure unwrapping this beauty.

I have never had an OOB experience like this since I was 9 years old, opening up my Millenium Falcon toy, complete with Han Solo and Chewbacca figures.

The refreshing thing about Macs is that, unlike PC notebooks, Macs are not overloaded with crapware that's supposed to make your computing experience easier. When ever I buy a notebook PC, I usually expect to spend the first couple hours uninstalling the wares that the manufacturer installs. After that, I am endlessly adjusting and tweaking Windows to my preferences, getting rid of the dashboard, taking out toolbars, deleting unnecessary shortcuts, etc... Oh yeah, they actually include the recovery dvds. You don't have to spend additional hours making your own.

I was pleased to be able to use my new MacBook Pro right out of the box with a touch of the power button. After entering my name and registering, I was greeted by a nice welcome video and I was on my way. The learning curve for this new frontier is gentle. There are a few things different about working on a Mac, but once you get the hang of it, you're good to go.

Right away, I wanted to learn how to edit video with iMovie 09 and after a couple practice sessions with some test clips, I was making some great looking video. Just in case you want to see my first iMovie edited video, check out the Happy New Year post. The graphics card and processor handle my video wonderfully, rendering my transitions and previewing my clips with ease. It's truly great to have this new tool.

A Trip to the Hospital: Christmas 2009

Hello folks. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been sick lately and spent my Christmas in the hospital eating lime jello and popsicles. I went to the emergency room on Christmas Eve and had myself some lovely surgery. So, for your viewing enjoyment, here is my trip to the hospital.