I recently upgraded the web site photo software. One of the features it enabled was using an Internet Explorer plug-in called Cooliris to view photo walls of the picture galleries. It also works on lots of other websites like YouTube, Google, and Flickr.
To install Cooliris, simply surf to www.cooliris.com and click on the Download Now button in the middle of the screen. Answer the appropriate security questions and after a few minutes it will install. Now comes the fun part.
On your browser toolbar, you should see a small button that contains two overlapping green and blue rectangles. They look somewhat like two CRT screens. Surf over to one the picture galleries (click on a link below) then hit the Cooliris button on your toolbar. You should see a black wall with pictures from the web site displayed. As you move your mouse left or right, the wall will scroll and new pictures will be added.
It sounds complicated but it isn’t and is the fastest way to view the picture galleries.
Here’s a gallery from our recent trip to the Dominican Republic to try it out on:
http://www.giraud.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=99363
Have fun!
Tags: Photos · Technology · Vista
Sharon and I spent Christmas afternoon and evening with the Ballards. As a gift, we purchased them a copy of Rockband II only to find out that they already had it so we just played theirs instead. A fun and hilarious afternoon was had by all playing Rockband, eating and drinking. Even Ian’s turkey was good and I don’t really like turkey. For pictures of budding rockstars, click below:
On the 26th, Sharon and I headed for Quebec City for a few days of eating and basking in the snow. We discovered its really cold in Quebec City. Most of the snow had melted and frozen turning the entire old city in a skating rink. It then warmed up to above freezing and turned most of the ice into brown mush. It wasn’t that cold but very messy. Sharon discovered that her boots weren’t as waterproof as she hoped. We stayed at the Chateau Frontenac, a wonderful (now) Fairmont hotel. Our room was tucked off in a tower requiring two elevator trips and lots of walking to get to but was very quiet and cozy. We ate some excellent food, saw some great art and generally had a great time. Apparently we just got out in time on Dec 26th. Sharon’s brother sent us a note that he was delayed leaving for Mexico by 7 hours. Coming back, we tried to get an earlier flight. The best we could manage was Quebec City -> Montreal -> Ottawa -> Toronto. All the flights were on time and we made it back 3h before our original flight was scheduled to arrive. Of course, we left 7h earlier but who’s counting?
Tags: Photos · Travel
To friends, family and visitors, I hope you have a safe and happy Holiday Season. Sharon and I have been doing a fair bit of enjoying the last few months.
On Dec 24, Patrick and Stephen hosted an extended Christmas Eve for all of the respective families and children. To see the entire album click on the album title below or press the arrows to scroll through pictures.
On Dec 14th, Charles and Carmen hosted the annual Gay Christmas Bash at their place for Stephen and all of his friends. A great time was had be all:
So that Sharon and I could keep up with all the Holiday Season entertaining, we spent two weeks at the end of November sitting on a beach working out our livers in the Dominican Republic. More on this trip in another post, here are the pictures:
Tags: Photography · Togetherness · Travel · Update · family
I have posted a few more Stampede galleries. Click on the thumbnail to visit a gallery in a new page.
The chuckwagon races were fun to watch even though you only saw the start and finish.
The Grandstand show was really impressive and done by the same guy who does all the choreography for Cirque de Soleil. While there were lots of western elements (and a Kiss, Cher and Village People tributes), it was also very French. George Brookman has infused Stampede with the spirit of Canada. I was really surprised at the close ties between Stampede and Quebec City.
The miscellaneous gallery is a collection of pictures from the Barns and a few late night pictures at the Midway that I couldn’t find a single good place to post. A small amount of drinking might have been involved in a few of the pictures.
On Saturday, Sharon and Jasmine went off shopping. Brent, Jasmine’s boyfriend, was kind enough to drive me to Canmore and give me a tour of the area as well as a short hike to see a waterfall. Brent was lucky enough to grow up in Canmore and his family still has a large property in the area. The colours in the lakes were remarkable, a blue-green that you only see in the mountains.
Tags: Canmore · Photos · Stampede · Travel
Sharon and I were invited by Karen Brookman to spend a few days at the Calgary Stampede with her and her family and friends. Needless to say, it was a blast. George, Karen’s father, is president and CEO of the Stampede in 2008 and we were given the red carpet treatment. We had great seats, foods and lots and lots of fun. I’ve started posting a number of galleries with more to come. All the galleries can be found here if you want to explore by yourself. If you want full sized images, please let me know the image name.
Clicking on the picture will take you to the gallery unless otherwise noted.
After watching the parade from our VIP seats, we went off to Stampede Headquarters to rest up for lunch:
The rodeo was incredible to watch live. Hats off to the cowboys that do this for a living. Their jobs give a whole new definition to the term pain. If you think you are having a bad day, keep this picture in mind. The entire gallery (its large to show maximum pain) can be found here
A visit to the Stampede wouldn’t be complete with a bit of partying, drinking and then taking pictures. We didn’t get too out of hand, and the gallery can be found here.
