F 1 D 0 -- 02 05 05 at 23 59

Aurora.

Today we went to see Aurora. That is a
big new restaurant on Court Street. I
have been confusing it with the Aurora
cafe in Toronto. But only in name.

They have lots of smoked things on 
the menu. Smoked Salmon entree. Smoked
cod dinner plate. Smoked pork chop something.

Their prices are on the high side, 
but they are very friendly, and 
very very big.

This place used to be a car dealership
of some sort. Vacant for nearly a year
before these people started bringing
their restaurant gear inside.

The centrepiece is a wood oven. They
keep it hot at 650F, and take great
pride in it. "Pizza is done in three
minutes" says the young man running it.

I thought this was funny: I went to
see the features of the restaurant
and tour it every half an hour (also
went to check to make sure the bike
was still where I left it). He had
bacon on two industrial sized cookie
sheets.

I went back, and he's still making 
more of the stuff.

So I share this with him. "So you
guys have to stop using the computer,
and imagine waiters and waitresses who
shout orders to the kitchen. And I 
can just imagine someone shouting to
you 'And another two Bacon Platters!'
and you have to shout back 'Thank you!'"
And this yarn has waiter after waiter,
and waitress after waitress shouting
in orders. But people are only doing
the bacon special.

Yes, that's how much bacon he was making.

I have finally gotten around to
seeing the movie "Pleasantville". 

Now was that ever nice. It was
a feel good movie. It feels a 
lot like a love story in how it
unfolds, but has a lot of things
I'd expect from a science fiction
film. 

The story is about Dave and Jennifer,
twins. They get transported to Pleasantville
through a TV via magic remote control. It
is now 1958, and they are now Bud and
Mary Sue.

We see the usual signs of Jet Lag
associated with Time Travel. The 1950s
are sufficiently weird.

But this is Pleasantville. It is
black and white, and loves it.

Bud discovers that scientific laws
work differently here. You can shoot
a basket without even trying. Facial
tissues don't burn. It never rains.

I won't expose the whole movie. But
I really liked how it all becomes
Technicolor. It reminded me of them
black and white films, artificially
colourized. It suited it.

I picked up an economy bicycle rack!

Did that a few days ago. I didn't like
the idea of spending hundreds of dollars
on an expensive unit, knowing it won't
be used all of the time. I just wanted
something we could use to take a couple
of bikes a few miles away, ride a bit,
then drive them back home.

I originally was convinced that they
should be in the front of the truck. That
is where they are installed in Washington
State, and in Oregon (on their bus systems).

But in practice here, it didn't work well.

It worked, but wanted to press against the
fiberglass part of the bumper. Not good.

Ann really thought it would be effective
if hung on the back. I was worried, as 
the back door has only two latches which
keeps it all together. 

She was right. 

You see, I found a way to connect it
properly to the rear bumper, and the
foot of it presses against a bent portion,
where the trailer hitch would go.

All in all, it worked so well. How well?

I didn't hear the bike shifting around
during tonight's test run. It was stable.

The package came with many warnings. (I
wanted to say "life threatening warnings").
Always use rope or elastic ties to secure
the bike. Tighten the cables frequently during
a long trip. Don't use for anything except
bicycle equipment.

I took the time to read the Highway Traffic
Act. It doesn't have much to say about bike
racks, but has plenty to say about bikes.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Statutes/English/90h08_e.htm

Have a look
if you like.

Reading the law is interesting to me. I get
to see what is still considered important
now. Of course, I wanted to make sure we
would not get into any official trouble
using a bike rack. Now *that* was hard to
figure out.

This computer I'm using has one of LG Electronics
combination DVD and CD writer. 

I like this unit. It is painless.

On a Duron 950, it has no problems
making 600 meg CD in 6 minutes. 

It comes with Roxio software. I thought
that may be a problem, as I'm so used to
Adaptec's suite. I've also played with 
Nero burning ROM. 

This doesn't have cartoons, but does have
big buttons. You do the file drag thing, like
the other programs. The record button 
is a Red Round Icon. After pressing it, it
just does its stuff. Trundle Trundle Burn Burn.

And then it is done.

That's all I know.