ZuckerBlog

Detecting photoshopping

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:04:41 GMT

This was a bit of a tough quiz. Sometimes you have to look at the subject matter, and other times you have to look at the composition. Remember, this isn't bad photoshopping.

Created By Their Toys

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Zuckervati, the early years

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:56:58 GMT

Been having a little fun with yearbookyourself.com. I have to say, I'm a real big fan of face-altering mashup software, as we've seen before. You can upload a picture of yourself and mash it up into some old yearbook pictures. You can pick years between 1950 and 2000, so the possibilities for fun are somewhat limited. Here's my go at some early yearbooks:

Wow, I'm pretty sure I look like my dad in one of these. And possibly my grandfather in another.

Well now, if you've got a "That '70's Show" fixation, or are a big fan of "Saved by the Bell" then the next batch is even better:

The horrible irony is that the blond mulleted Zuckervati is pretty darned close to my actual yearbook picture.

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I suppose this is good to know.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:16:02 GMT

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

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The Motorcycle Blogs

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:31:06 GMT

After a gruelling weekend of sunburns and heatstroke, I am now the proud owner of an M2 license. R and I signed up for a course at Conestoga College and we both made it out without setting fire to any of the college motorcycles. My tests went flawlessly, until the final one, where I earned 3 demerit points for not staying inside the lines during a "braking while in a tight curve" test.

But that's neither here nor there. Water under the bridge. I now have an M2 and am legally allowed to drive a motorcycle or scooter. Now to find something suitable to ride. I'm still debating on getting a full-fledged motorcycle or a really powerful scooter. After the training this past weekend and the 14-16 hours of sitting on a motorcycle in the hot sun, I'm actually less inclined to get a scooter, if only because they tend to lack power and range. And friends with motorcycles will make fun of me.

But we'll have to see. No sense going off to buy something I won't use or enjoy.

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Say Uncle!

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:27:26 GMT

My membership to the International Fraternity of Uncles™ is once again confirmed with the birth of my niece, Ashlen. She came in (or out) at a respectable 8 pounds 10 ounces. Of course, this means I have another birthday to remember (darn it), which is Monday, August 11th. She's quite the looker, and has big, bright eyes. Unfortunately, for you, I'm still limited by the request of my brother to not display any pictures of his children. So here's something my lawyers say is acceptable:

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Better than a kick in the gut

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:16:27 GMT

... but not much. I've been sprucing up the old mortal coil by going to a boxing training class for some time now. In an attempt to accelerate results, I've extended this once-a-weekend torture-fest to Mondays and Wednesdays as well.

The results are promising; I've felt pretty energized in recent weeks, despite an almost daily stiffness in joints and muscles corresponding to previous nights' workouts.

Last night, however, I became party to an extra-strenuous workout when, while in the middle of a series of crunches, the instructor began striking me in the midsection with a broom handle wrapped in a towel. This new torture is said to ensure you keep your core tight while performing abdominal work, since that's where you're likely to get hit by opponents, should you resort to the actual act of self-mutilation known as boxing.

After ten rapid strikes in my gut, I was allowed to come out of a half-crunch position. Needless to say, my abs are tender this morning.

The close attention paid by the instructor is partly my fault: the whole class was sitting around the edge of the boxing ring, feet inward. Partners were poised on our feet, and we extended our upper bodies out over the edge of the ring for sit-ups and other ab work. Meanwhile, to ensure tight cores, the instructor came around to each of us, and slammed our abs with the "training device". However, by the end of the routine, I hadn't been attended to, and made a point of mentioning it to my partner. Other people overheard this, and, of course, things got blown out of proportion. Instead of punishing the whistle-blower (like any good boot camp Drill Sargent would do), the instructor returned, and thinking I was making light of the whole issue, proceeded to give me 10 straight beatings while the rest of the class watched.

Ah, public humiliation. Like old times. Afterwards, people came by to congratulate me for smiling and taking such a beating ... so did the instructor (who also mentioned that if the pain is ever too much, to let her know). I noted that around beatings 5 or 6, I said "ok, that's enough," but she just smiled and went about her post-class routine.

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Removing a Tree

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:41:55 GMT

The amount of rain we've been getting this summer is astounding. I'm pretty sure we haven't had two days back-to-back without rain. As a result, all the vegetation has been growing like crazy, and getting heavy with moisture. The other day, after a particularly heavy downpour which sent rain in sideways through slightly-open windows to cover the bedroom floor with water, I went to the garage/studio to check for water damage. I've been keeping some of the front windows open to keep some air flow in the studio. While there was no water on the inside of the studio, I did notice a large amount of vegetation against the back casement window.

Apparently, the heavy rains and wind had saturated and blown over a branch from this large maple tree that comes into the yard from the neighbouring property. This branch is huge (about 30 feet long, but it didn't come crashing down through the studio roof. It merely came to rest upon it. So I've had people in this week to clear it out.

The studio is intact, and the branch is gone. Now to clean up the yard.

I considered taking care of it myself, but it is over 20 feet above the ground, and looked like too big a task for one person. These guys came in and had it out inside of two hours. They were pros.

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Hang Gliding Pictures

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:42:14 GMT

This past weekend we got the chance to do a little hang gliding. Initially, I wasn't too keen to suspend myself from a kite and get dragged by a small plane, then released, only to have to find my own way down. But I figured, what the hell, I've done acrobatic gliding before ... this is just one more skill to learn before I can become a super-spy.

In the end, the weather started getting a little too turbulent for hang gliding (or not turbulent enough, I wasn't too clear on that part), so I never got my turn. I did get some neat images of R and a friend. We even convinced one of the pilots to free up space in the tandem sail plane (or regular glider).

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On Poutine and Horses

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:30:30 GMT

We spent last week in Montreal, attending the Just for Laughs festival, shopping, drinking in pubs, and generally getting to know the city a little better. We stayed at the Hilton in Laval, and drove in to the Île de Montréal each day, finding a parking spot somewhere, and exploring until the evening shows. We got to see Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Ryan Stiles and Greg Proops, and Russell Brand. All funny shows ... though the South Park Live show was more like hanging out with a bunch of slackers while watching a South Park marathon.

One of our key tasks in Montreal was to get poutine. Well, really we were looking for the most authentic poutine we could get in the city of Montreal. Poutine, in case you are unaware, combines french fries with gravy and cheese curds. Yes, on the surface, it seems like a pretty basic dish, yet so many of us go on and on about how crappy most poutine is. Most often the comparison is with any kind of poutine that's not sold in Quebec, versus Quebec poutine. Probably the largest issue with poutine is the omission of the cheese curds. Any place that uses shredded cheese isn't making it properly. Doesn't mean it isn't tasty, though.

The second task was to partake in some of the other dishes which are generally not available in Ontario; dishes such as horse meat, unpasteurized cheeses, liquor from the SAQ which one can't find at the LCBO, etc. On our first night, we came downstairs to find that horse was the special of the day at the hotel restaurant. Though we didn't take advantage of the $27 plat principaux, we did look for horse elsewhere in Montreal. Interestingly enough, La Queue de Cheval Steak House does not have horse meat (just in case you needed to know this, cheval = horse).

(Of course, after we got back home, we discovered at least two places in Toronto that serve horse meat. Batifole and La Palette.)

We even found a place that did horse poutine (I think it was Frite Alors), along with many of other poutine variants. Some of the restaurants had whole menus dedicated to different kinds of poutine topped with other stuff. One of the best overall places was La Banquise, a 24-hour poutine restaurant, with a couple dozen poutines on the menu.

We never did get any horse meat (I'm not too disappointed), but we did end up trying about six or seven different poutines from around town. We also got a plate of plain frites from Boris Bistro, which were fried in duck fat. Very crispy. Otherwise, tasted the same as regular fries.

All of the poutines that weren't hidden under piles of bacon, smoked meat, or other additions were variants of the same simple recipe: fries, some kind of gravy, and white cheese curds. So, the quality of these ingredients generally dictated the overall quality of the poutine. After trying a bunch of different kinds, I'm convinced that Harvey's poutine is a perfectly serviceable replacement for most Montreal poutines. It just doesn't seem very authentic.

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We're here. Get used to it.

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:26:18 GMT

You've got to hand it to Canada's military. Not only were they marching in the Gay Pride parade ... they were actively recruiting during the day:

To mark its place in the festivities, the Canadian Forces set up an information booth in an area of the city where thousands of people gathered for the start of the parade.

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