Sicilia

EuroRoss has taken a bit of a backseat lately, don't get your panties all in a bunch I'm just cruising around Sicily with understandably limited internet access and even more limted time. Take a look at this pic from Taormina and tell me Sicily isn't the place to be (at least until the hockey season starts that is! ;-)



Ciao, see you next week! :-)

Deseronto Paris

It's true what they say. Despite it being one of the largest cities in the world as well as the #1 tourist destination on the planet, Pairs is deserted in August...



My favorite bakery, closed for the past month on vacation (re-opens Monday).
New trandy watering hole, closed at 1am on Friday night (usually open until dawn).
Old watering hole, open... but with only a single waiter and no other customers.

At least the Subway shouldn't be a nightmare tomorrow morning... who am I kinding, of course it will! ;-)

Stuttgart Savy

Stuttgart is like a second home to me, so it's always great when I'm able to experience something new in the city, even if it was at 6am in the morning!:



Of course hitting some of the city's staples for a good time is also a necessary vice! ;-)

Earth, Wind, Fire, Water

Rolling waves under a western sunset? Actually the sun going down on another day over clouds at 35,000 feet...

Start It Up NHL!

Another great season of NHL/OHL hockey is about to get underway, this time I'll be somewhere a little colder than the tropical restaurant watching the games :-)



...but in defence,you certainly couldn't beat the rays! :-)

Women Have Secrets Too

11 Secrets women will never tell you. That's all and good, but the list misses the other 989 secrets ;-)

"The Secret" - Rodin Museum (1909)

Bayern Tears

When Bayern Munich flexes their financial muscle as the powerhouse of the Bundesliga to steal away great players and talent from other clubs there's no problem, but when international clubs try to do it to Bayern they cry and go running to mommy:

"Bayern Munich warned Manchester United on Tuesday to stop trying to
recruit England midfielder Owen Hargreaves or it will complain to FIFA"

Cry babies.

[Using your best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice] Oooo, my name is Kahn, don't even look at me, I'm a crybaby! ;-)

OH NO!

Am I having a nightmare?!?!? The fattest man in the history of the bundesliga and incidently also the worst teamate, most selffish ball hog and freeloading slob is flirting with a return to the Bundesliga... with my team VFB Stuttgart!!!

Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up... somebody pinch me quick! (preferrably someone female and cute ;-)



Yes, this picture is upside down because the posibility of having the fat man on our team (no matter how much suffering we are sure to experience this season) definatly deserves 2 thumbs down! ;-)

Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up...

Waiting

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting...

Celeb Birds

I love it when celebs lash out at the poperotzi. Here Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek) and Heath Ledger (multiple chick-flicks) get a little creative in their aggression. Either that or they know that their lively-hood relies on their images and stardom which is at least in part fed by these photo-stalkers. Hilarious stuff:

Wedding Time

I'm soon off to the first of three wedding's of the summer, hopefully this isn't how some of the grooms will be getting to the alter ;-)



I'm getting old however, whereas for the past five years there's been 3-6 weddings to go to per season it's now starting to decline and be replaced by 3-4 baby annoucements... times flying ;-)

Weight On My Shoulders

Sometimes it feels like I'm pulling more than my share of the weight around here ;-)



So much to do, so little tiem...

Nothing, Nil, Nada

There is nothing, nil, nada to say right now. It's time to just live it out and write about it later. Do and be done... living with no regrets. Sometimes I don't believe myself the life I am able to live with the travel and experiences I'm able to hoard.

I'll catch up with you all shortly... as always, first beer on me :-)

Home Down Under

The view from my future home for one and a half months next March/April in Sydney and again the year after that more permanently in Melbourne, Australia:



Sweet! Thanks for the pics Al!

Chillin'

Gotta love summer - BBQ, beer and babes :-)

Your Kiss

You don't have to be rich,
To be my girl.
You don't have to be cool,
To rule my world.
Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with,
I just want your extra time, and your...

Kiss

Days Gone By

Another day gone by in the city...

Adverlaughing

Sometimes the marketing guys get it right and inform customers on their product or service while getting a laugh or two out of us:

Movies, Movies, Movies

After almost a year of crappy movie releases that I wasn't interested in seeing my standards have been sufficiently lowered to the point where there are now 3 movies I really want to see:

Token Chick Flick - "The Last Kiss"

Looks like this is the unwritten sequel to Garden State. Garden State is one of the best movies of all time.



Token Mindless Flick - "Talladega Nights"

Yes this is a retarted movie. Why do I want to even see it? Four words: Beer and Will Ferrall.



Token Intelli-Flick - "An Inconvenient Truth"

Finally something for the mind, ok I've seen it already, but it wacks your brain into awareness.



I lied, here's two great movies I saw this past year - "First Decent" and "Over The Hedge", go check em out!

Workplace Evals

Matt McAlister has been working at Yahoo! for a year now and breaks down the positives and negatives of working there as he sees it. Having recently started just 8 months ago myself I started comparing and thinking of my own +/- 's. And without further ado here's my post-it note sized comparison list (it has only been 8 months after all ;-)

Positives:

Management - I've replaced the first 6 on the list with "management" since it rocks hardcore in my group/department/division. Best boss ever, back you up to the wall and provides all the resources needed to succeed. #1 Strength by a country mile.

Great Work Environment - Great people, very understanding, terrific... now if it was only located in Stuttgart, Ottawa, Melbourne, Nice or Rotterdam we'd have a winner ;-) There is however a Tim Horton's just downstairs, bonus!



Position - I've added this one to the list as well. With any job it's SO important to have a good fit between the individual and the position (job requirements/responsibilities, skills, learning, etc.). I've been lucky that I couldn't have asked for a better fit, what they need is what I've got education, experience and passion in and the integration with my studies and learning areas is a great fit. Makes all the effort in the application process, decision mulling and ultimate relocation all worth while.

Travel - Lots of flexibility here, it's a job positive but mostly because #1 on the list makes it possible. Great co-workers, terrific boss, constant learning and travel, 4 of the 6 keys for a happy Ross - hockey and the last negative listed below being the other two ;-) ...although they tell me Hamilton's in the running for an NHL team soon... YEAH RIGHT!

Now on to the...

Negatives:

Control - Using Matt's words: "There are way too many people “owning” things and not enough people contributing their expertise in the places where it’s needed most" doing things. In fact the "owners" do a great job of suppressing the "doers".

Innovation Constipation - More like innovation aversion for our client groups within the organisation, although I will say that our department's on this like white on rice.

Isolation - With regards to our group being spread out over 2 floors and also not being near our client departments. Errr!

Product Duplication - Not that I know of, rather we have responsibility overlaps causing problems. There are still 3 groups that I can't tell the responsibility difference between in our division, it's not just me, I ask others that have been here for years and they can't tell me the difference either!

Analysis Paralysis - This is a HUGE problem. Don't even get me started on the whole "don't jump to solutions, that's our job, just give us the analysis" bullshit. Combined with control above it forms a deadly duo requiring a daily war-like effort to overcome. I guess that comes with the territory when you work within government :-(

Where are all the women at? - Amen to that brother. Amen. ;-)

Overall the positives massively outweigh the negatives (although there's always room for improvement!) and I'm lucky beyond belief (at least for now) to be where I am. I can only hope that my other colleagues can say the same...

Get Your Digs

Looks like I'm going to be on national TV soon, today while humping back to work after lunch I nearly ran over the tv crew for a small late-night Canadian television show called "JR Digs". Discounting the fact that this show is borderline cable access, it's actually not a bad show. Basically JR goes around making fun of himself and others... mostly others, and that's the show. Yes there's a reason it's on at 2am in the morning ;-)

Anyways, on my way back home after work there they were again just inches from my appartment complex tormenting some half-baked, fully-loaded bum. You'll notice a stylish handsome man walking in the background... that would be me ;-) Please ignor the $2.99 Wal-Mart shades I happen to be sporting... my Oaks are... um... in the shop? ;-)



I'd wait to post and tell you the day I'm actually on, but I most likely won't be watching... :-)

Reporting Inconsistancies

So which is it Fox? Talk about sitting on the fence! ;-)

Damn You Real Player

Fuck, I had to install Real Player on my machine to run a file today and the frigging thing is so annoying I am reaffirmed that I should have listened to myself in my past decision to never load that crap on my machine ever again. This pic says it all:



Grumpy Monday's... actually it's a Tuesday-Monday ;-)

Huh?!?

A totally useless post... I guess "I'm talking" ;-)

The Sunday-Monday Sites

Today is a Sunday-Monday. Because today is a holiday and it's a long weekend, Sunday night becomes like a second Saturday night and Monday becomes like... well it's like a Sunday-Monday. Hence the Sunday-Monday links:

Greatest old video game ever - Oregon Trail, an now you can play it online.

Another example of a customer service nightmare.

A good look at market share analysis.

Atheist quotes.

Crazy online business ideas that worked.

And finally a great site that's got lots of food for thought. The Canary Project takes "before and after" pics of landscapes to shockingly show the effects of global warming. After seeing the effects of just a few locations it really hits you.



That reminds me, if you haven't seen "An Inconvenient Truth", the documentary of Al Gore's presentation tour on the impact of CO2 emmissions on global warming and the damaging results of that, then go and see it now... nothing you probably haven't heard about before, but the presentation is put all together in a very interesting and thought provoking format.

We need our landscapes, forests and beaches people!! ;-)

Vista-Ready?

Putting aside the fact that Microsoft still hasn't even released minimum requirements needed to run the new Vista "glass" interface, and that they've pushed Vista's ship date a couple times (rumoured to be doing it again soon), the thing I'm most looking forward to is the release of some wise-guy photo for Vista like this (take a look at the sign):

Hilarious! :-)

Secrets

I've got a secret, I cannot say,
Blame all the movement to give it away.
You've got somethin, I understand,
Holding it tightly, caught on command.

Leap of faith, do you doubt?
Cut you in, I just cut you out...

Whatever you do,
Don't tell anyone.
Whatever you do,
Don't tell anyone...

Look for reflections, in your face,
Canine devotion, time can't erase.
Out on the corner, locked in your room,
I never believe them and I never assume.
Still can't believe, there is a lie,
Promise is promise, an eye for an eye.
We've got something to reveal,
No one can know how we feel.

Whatever you do,
Don't tell anyone.
Whatever you do,
Don't tell anyone...

I think you already know,
How far I'd go not to say.
You know the art isn't gone,
And I'm taking my song to the grave.

- Queens of the Stone Age

Change

When you lose something you wanted more than anything else in the world you sometimes find a person inside yourself that had been waiting to emerge... all... those... years.

Rack It In

So I figured I'd check out my local pub where I regularly catch the game since I hadn't been back since leaving for World Cup in Germany (summer's a slow pub scene with no hockey/soccer/football having started yet). As I'm sitting there, minding my own business, enjoying the 2-0 Breman smackdown on Bayern for the Liga Cup, the waitress and bartender start smiling when I asked for the bill. Weird.

With the bill comes a closed envelope, weird. I ask them what's up and they just shake there heads with a sly smile on their faces. The envelope... filled with cash! You betcha, I won the World Cup pool!

Having totally forgotten that I had even entered ($5 and I played it one day before the World Cup started and before leaving for Germany). Four hundred bones, BAM!

PS> It actually ended up costing me about $500, $100 for the round for the bar and $800 for the all-inclusive flight/hotel/food/booze weekend to the Florida keys I bought with the winnings... I guess I'll just have to win this years NFL pool to cover the "loses" ;-)

Hockey Fists of Fury

The biggest fight in international hockey history. If I'm not mistaken I believe that both teams never actually played that game and were both disqualified from the tournament (an even bigger deal considering Canada/Russia typically went 1-2 in the standings as the best two hockey nations in the world).

Questions Galore

Got a question that needs attending to? Let the Yahoo! Answers community resond :-)



Curious little monkey question tails :-)

UEFA HO's

Spineless moneygrubbing bastards. Sports is suffering and the leagues and governing bodies don't even know it yet. When the integrity of the game is called into question there's no differentiation between "sports" and "theatre".

When will leagues (I'm looking at you Major League Baseball - steroids, German Bundesliga Soccer - referee scandals, Italian League Soccer - bribeing officials, cycling - doped up riders, All Soccer - diving, etc. etc. etc...) wake up and realize they're gambling with the future of their sport!?!?

UEFA laid down to the jack today with the announcement that Milan will be allowed to play. A poor and utterly obvious retarded technicality as an excuse is no justification. UEFA you suck today.

Happy Times With Borat

Seems like a little humour needs a go around, and while the movie isn't out yet you can start to get your 'Borat' fix on by hitting the website. Low brow laughs to be sure, but worth a giggle or two:



I love this guy, his Ali-G charater and show are also hilarious.

Dreams

I believe that dreams can come true...



(pic via Zooomr Hits)