As you may have noticed (unless you are using a feedreader or mobile device), the site has gone through an evolutionary design refresh.

There were a couple of reasons for doing it, but the primarily motive was because it gave me a chance to fix things that had broken over the years. I built off the old design by incorporating some of the colors & backgrounds, and kept the infamous ice block (Search my name under Google images and see what comes up). The Site should look fairly pretty at all resolutions over 800×600, but will look best at 1024×768 or greater.

There is still some work to be done, but I can assure it will be done at an extremely leisurely pace (consistent with my approach to the site in general).

Some changes that I’ve made include:

• Added a flash “logo” that will be improved when I get the chance
• Greatly fixed and improved the Archive section for the page.
• Fixed the XML feeds. (if you don’t know about RSS Readers, you can read this link – it’s a great way to stay in touch with your news sourced). Main content RSS here, and Daily Links RSS Here.
• Improved the layout between Daily Links section and Main Links section.

Some changes yet to be made:

• Update flash header
• Incorporate design into new version of photo gallery (waiting for new software)
• Update “rollovers” for navigation links up top – I think it now says something about Monkeys
• Fix anything else that I find out about

Let me know if you see any problems. Thanks!

Comments (0)

More pics from the Europe trip are up – this Time from Athens. See the Gallery here.

We spent three days in the capital – and it was very very hot.

It is amazing how young the city is – all the buildings were built in the 70′s, and all the residents seem to be born in either the 70′s or 80′s. Young people from all across Greece come to Athens to find work. The nicest part of town is known as Plaka, while the rest of the city is known for being very grey and haphazard. There are a few relics of the architecture that used be present in the town, before it was all torn down in the 70′s (don’t have any picture, sorry).

You’ll also notice our pictures from the Acropolis, and accompanying museums – very spectacular as you’re likely aware. One surprise was how much mass Hercules has – he really is jacked.

Hostage

To get a sense of greek culture – there is a movie you may want to see: Hostage – It shows how Greeks approach life – and how well it contrasts with the Albanian approach.

Here is a summary of the movie:

One morning, a young man boards an intercity bus on its daily run to Thessaloniki in northern Greece. He hijacks the bus at gunpoint and takes seven hostages. He turns out to be a 25-year-old Albanian immigrant and his demands include a big ransom and safe passage back to his homeland. In no time at all the hijacking is being transmitted live on national television. For the next 20 hours a wild and at times bleakly comic chase ensues through northern Greece, the bus at the head of a convoy of police cars, television crews, desperate relatives and bystanders. And all the while, the bus is getting closer and closer to the Albanian border… Constantine Giannaris’ gripping film is based on a true story.

Comments (0)

After far too long a break, I’m posting some pictures from this summer’s Europe trip. Up today are pictures are from Kefalonia, the self-proclaimed most beautiful island of the Mediterranean.

If you enjoy wine, you might want to stop by the island – There is a neighbour village has an annual wine festival with unlimited wine (here is one of the pics from the event). And the entrance price is a total of 0 Euros. Yes, unlimited wine with free entrance, and plenty of crazy greek dancing. Good times.

Click this link to see the pictures.

If you’d like to see the slideshow, click here.

Here is an excerpt on Kefalonia from Wikipedia:

The island got its name from the mythical hero Cephalus who arrived to the island as a refugee from Athens, displacing the island’s initial inhabitants, which were known as Teloboes or Taphioi.

The towns and villages were mostly built high on the hilltops to prevent attacks from raiding parties of pirates that sailed the Ionian Sea during the 1800s.

In 1864, Kefalonia and the southern half of the Ionian Islands become a full part of the Kingdom of Greece, which later became a republic.

In World War II, the island was occupied by Axis powers. Until late 1943,
the force was predominantly Italian, the Acqui division and Navy effectives totalled 12,000 men, but some troops from Nazi Germany were also present (about 2,000). The island was largely spared from the fighting, until Allies armistice with Italy in September 1943. Confusion followed on the island, as the Italians were hoping to return home, but the Germans did not want the Italians’ munitions to eventually be used against them. The Italian forces were hesitant to turn over their weapons for similar reasons. As German reinforcements were headed to the island, the Italians dug in and eventually, after a referendum among the soldiers to choose between surrender or fighting, fought against the new German invasion. Ultimately, the German forces prevailed in taking full control of the island. 6000 of the 9000 survinig Italian soldiers were rounded up and executed.

While the war ended in central Europe in 1945, Kefalonia remained in conflict due to the Greek Civil War. Peace returned to Greece and the island in 1949.

Almost every house was destroyed in the 1953 earthquake, with only regions in the north escaping heavy shaking. Damage was estimated in tens of millions of dollars, however the real damage to the economy occurred when residents left the island.

Kefalonia became famous in the late 1990s thanks to the novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, written by English author Louis de Bernières. The love story that is the theme of the book takes place during the events of the Second World War, and is based on historical facts.

Comments (1)

Santorini is a surreally beautiful place – It’s one of those places that makes you reflect when you look back on your pictures; “Was it really like that? Was I really there?” – Well, I was lucky to be there and thankful to have the pictures to prove it.

Take a look at the Gallery to see all 39 Images.

We spent 3 days in Santorini in an excellent hotel picked out by Dennis & Lil (it was a cave room dug into a cliff, with the main walkway behind us), and were there long enough to go swimming 3 times. The beaches across the island were very diverse (red sand, rocky beaches, black beaches), but consistently “hard” to get to. To get to beaches you had to work, unless you preferred a donkey ride – Each beach we visited included a walk down, and the up the cliffs for vertical distance of about 200-400m (fortunately we replenished all the energy lost during the hikes at dinner afterwards). Looking up at the cliff hugging buildings while swimming a half a kilometre below was an unforgettable experience.

There are two kinds of people in Greece – those that love you, and those that couldn’t give a shit. Sometimes you’ll find a person with both of those qualities! You’ll be able to tell right away which group the people you encounter belong too – People aren’t afraid to show you how they feel.

If you are in the mood for a chick flick, and also want to see more of Santorini, rent the movie “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.” – It was playing during a late-night flight I was on recently (no, I didn’t go to the theatre/rent it myself), and I enjoyed the film – You’ll even see the donkeys on the steps.

Comments (1)

Prague was outstanding – a great place visit.

I’ll save my “Prague Review” for another posting, and just put up the pictures now.

If you want to see them, click here (there are captions for all photos).

Comments (0)

Hi All,

I’m Currently out of the country, and writing in an internet cafe between ferries. I assure you there will be plenty of great pictures when I get back (or get some more time at a computer).

Nos vemos.

Comments (3)

More pictures up now – got 69 from 3 parties, and a couple random pics from my travels.

If you’d like a larger copy (for printing out) of any of the pics, give me an email, and I’ll let you know how to get them.

See the Gallery here.

Comments (0)

For the first time ever, I’m posting 2 galleries at once. Groundbreaking, no?

First Gallery is from SFU’s 2005 BBA (Bachelors of Business for those Americans) and MBA convocation that took place on June 4th. There are about 50 pics there.

Second Gallery contains pics from all the parties and BBQ’s that have happened since then. Due to the CFA L2 exam, which was on the 5th, partying before convocation was extremely limited. The picture to the left shows a racehorse because the CFA exam was at the PNE, right next to the horse track.

Picture are shown in sequential order. If you want a copy of any of the images, just let me know and I’ll send over a larger version

Comments (0)

In response to a posting by Mike @ recruiting.com I’m keeping the Ponzi scam rolling!

Number of books I own: Probably about 40, and growing. Book trading and the library are frequently utilized as well

Last book I bought: What to Write (couldn’t find the link in amazon, sorry)- haven’t read it yet, but came as a recommendation from the last book I read.

Last book I read: Art of the Start - Guy Kawasaki. I enjoyed it, found it both informative and entertaining. (this is the last book I read unrelated to derivative securities or equity analysis).

Five books that mean something to me:

• 100 years of solitude – Probably my favorite book. I’m a big fan of Garcia Marquez, and this is his best work.
• The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America - Excellent insight into value creation in business.
• plato’s republic – A classic and a foundation for all that is perfect
• midnight’s children - very captivating story by the infamous author of “satanic verses”. this is a better book.
• View from the Top – Quite simply the worst book I’ve ever read. RIP Wilt the Stilt.

Haven’t decided who I’ll pass this on to yet, but I’ll post their responses here when i get them.

Comments (1)

The only thing scarcer than blog posts on this site have been new pictures, but that is about to change. I’ve just uploaded ~40 pictures from the last 3 months, including pics from several different outings, and several different cities.

There are no captions yet, but if I get some time, I’ll do what I can to provide some more context.

You can see the pictures here

Comments (0)