Gus Digital

I have signed it, you should too!

Update: Based on their Facebook page, this site has been blocked by Rogers (no surprise here), but you can still access the site via a webproxy. When I did and looked at their blog, it looks like the they have a new DNS and will need about 48 hours for it populate.

It also looks like Rogers might be caving in and saying you can use any data plans now and any voice plans. I wonder then if the $7/month unlimited websurfing would work then.

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I have been using WordTwit plugin from Brave New Code for a few months now, but ever since I’ve upgraded to FireFox 3, I have been having problems with it.

For those that do not know, WordTwit is suppose to send a Tweet message on Twitter letting everyone who follows you know that you have a new blog entry.

Alas lately it hasn’t been sending out any tweets when I have added a new blog post.  I get the following error instead:

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/gusdigi/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordtwit/wordtwit.php on line 31

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/gusdigi/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordtwit/wordtwit.php:31) in /home/gusdigi/public_html/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 694

Granted I’ve asked people on Twitter to help, but have gotten no response yet, so I’m asking anyone out there again if they can help me out on this one.

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I just can’t get over how great this weekend’s weather is holding out.

As I write this I’m sitting on my deck, enjoying a nice lemonade as well as enjoy this great 26C degree weather Vancouver is having.  It has long been waited by everyone in Vancouver and you can just see the people out and enjoying this wonderful sunshine.  Some are just playing friesbe in the park, others are enjoying a great picnic, and others yet are enjoying some of the free jazz music during the Jazz Festival.

Yesterday a couple of friends of ours dropped by and drove us to what will be their new place in West Vancouver’s Seaside Slopes Village.  The home is right near a running brook with an amazing view of the ocean and little islands that make up the bay.

From their they suggested dinner, but I was alittle thrown off when they suggested heading to Bowen Island for dinner to enjoy some Clam Chodder at a restaurant. Now normally I wouldn’t do something like this, but the weather was just so f’n awesome that we jumped on the next available BC Ferry and headed to the Island.

The trip from Horseshoe Bay to the island is about 20-30 minutes depending on how full the ferry is. The beauty is spectacular, words cannot describe the beauty here in BC and we seem to take it for granted many times.

On our arrival to the restaurant, I won’t mention names as I’m not a food critic here or Restaurant review as Raul is and I just can’t remember the name of it. It took about 10 minutes to get a drink order in.  Also our waitress let us know that the cooking staff is new and things would take alittle longer to prepare.  When she returned with our drinks and we proceeded to order, she let us know that they ran out of fries and they were not serving the Mediterain Chicken.  At any rate we ordered the Clam Chodder (which was my first time trying it and thoroughly enjoyed it), and the fish and chips (aka fried yams). All in all the dinner was great and our friends took the bill.  WOW.

We then walked along the board walk at the pier for a few minutes as we waited for the ferry to take us back to the main island.  I don’t think I could ever live on an island here in BC.  You are too depended on the ferry service, not to mention that most stores close down at 5pm! UGH.

On our return we were greeted by the newest BC Ferry, the Coastal Renaissance as seen below in a short video.  This thing is HUGE and would be nice to try her out one day.  This Ferry celebrates the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Today so far has been a far quiet day and I have napped, relaxed and just plain taking it easy. Hopefully we will head to a movie shortly and enjoy the evening.

Here is hoping you are enjoying your weekend and the weather is holding up in your area.

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Last night Russ and I attended a performance of Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo during their stop here in Vancouver. Corteo is an Italian word which means “cortege” - a funeral procession.

The story revolves around a dream of a clown.  This clown dreams of his funeral, and we the audience are all there.  The funeral takes

place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us. The music, by turns lyrical and playful, carries Corteo through a timeless celebration in which illusion teases reality.

Out of the 3 Cirque Du Soleil’s that have made it to Vancouver, this by far was very enjoyable to watch. The stage is also slightly different than the other two pervious shows.  The main stage cuts right through the audience and we become a mirror image of each other.  Even during the beginning “clown” performance, just before the big show begins, both sides of the audience recieve similar performances.

Russ and I had front row seats this time around as I wanted to get up and close to be able to see the performances.  I think we might have been too close as we really had to stretch our necks to see the aireal acrobats.  I don’t believe there is a bad view point at all under the big top.

The Acrobats are just amazing to watch. The Aerial Straps, totally amazing, the Bouncing Beds, just plain fun, the Chandeliers, breath taking, the Cyr Wheel, amazing, the Tightwire, wow new respect for the hula hoop, and the Tournik just to name a few.  I don’t think any of these athelets have an ounce of fat on them.  Turly amazing to watch.

The music is poetic.  A combination of French, Spanish and Italian was heard.

I recommend you catch this show if you haven’t already.

The show is here in Vancouver until July 20th and then heads to Calgary from July 31 - August 31 and then Ottawa from September 24 to October 12.

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I have been back to Vancouver only a few short days and I already feel like I’m missing alot of events that are going around the city provided by fellow bloggers.

On Monday I missed the SteakCamp that was arranged by Raul right after he got a challenge from the Buzz himself to review a restaurant on Hastings.  As I just got back to work that day and I had a busy day at that I just wanted to go home and just relax and not think about anything.  From what Raul has written up looks like it was a great success.

On Tuesday Raul was also arranging a small “dry run” Vancouver Blogger meet up, which I also missed.  As there didn’t look like a lot of bloggers would attend and I was having a bad day at work, I decided to just head home and walk Junior to release some of the stress from the day.

This morning I ran into Rebecca on my way to work and she asked me if I was attending the Freshbooks BBQ at Redwerks which Colleen had organized.  Since I just heard about it this morning and I’m still in my work clothes (business attire can suck), I won’t be attending it either.  I had some sad faces when I said I woudln’t attend (sorry Colleen), but I will make it up to everyone at the next event.

On that note what is the next event?  It better not be on Friday night as I will be at Cirque du Soliel’s Corteo performance.

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As the summer is under way (though you wouldn’t know it with the weather here in Vancouver or Toronto for that matter) my thoughts go onto summer songs. These are songs that are catchy, fun, and just reflect summer as a hole.

When I was in Toronto last week I was listening to my old radio station, Z103.5, and they were playing Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl”. This song is so catchy I just love it! I think this will probably the song I’ll remember for the whole summer (sorry Madonna).

Below is her video!

What can I say but Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

I’m not sure if it’s playing here on the radio stations in Vancouver, but if it’s not, it should be!

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In just a few short hours I’ll be boarding a plane and heading back to Vancouver. I can’t believe that this trip back to visit my family has come to an end. Where has a week gone?

Last night we all went out as a family group to the Mandarin Chinese Buffet restaurant here in Woodbridge. The food was great for a buffet and since Vancouver doesn’t have any left (at least that I am aware). It was nice to be able to relax and enjoy a huge buffet that ranged from all the Chinese food fare, to some sushi (not as good as Vancouver’s), and some North American favourites like pizza and roast beef.

It was great to have the family all together and everyone getting along. The only person that wasn’t there was my eldest nephew Adrian who’s soccer team was playing in Windsor that day. Luckily he will drive both my sister and I to the airport today and I’ll get some time with him.

Overall the trip was relaxing. I really didn’t have an agenda except to relax and hang out with the family. This week allowed me to set up the internet for my parents (let’s hope the keep it up), took 2 of nephews to the see “The Incredible Hulk”, got to spend Father’s Day with my dad, got to go shopping with my mother (even though we bought nothing), hung out at my sister Maria’s pup in Brampton (The Ivy Bridge), got to see my niece’s Amanda’s new home, got to hang out with my sister Gladys at her place and enjoy a nice mate and Spanish pastries, got to connect with some old friends and work colleagues. All in all a great time.

I will miss my family as I head back to Vancouver, but we are planning a new family gathering in Argentina in January. It will be awesome to see that happen!

Once again thank you Mom & Dad, Maria and Danny, Gladys and Carlos, Amanda and Ernie, Justin, Steven, Samantha, and Adrian for being family. I love you all so much!

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Today Mother Nature was in a good mood and bless Toronto with some great summer weather (finally).

On that note I decided to head into the heart of the downtown core and stopped in at our work office for a bit. It was funny to run into my boss and a new worker who was here being trained. I got to chat with some old colleagues, ones I’ve known from the time I worked here in Toronto for them. I spent about 1/2 hour there and then headed on my trek to the Distillery District.

The Distillery District is an area just east of the downtown city core which was pretty much abondoned for some time, but since I left (7 years ago), they have rebuilt this area into something interesting. The Distillery was;

founded by brother-in-laws William Gooderham and James Worts, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery grew to become the largest distillery in the world (in 1832). Set on 13 acres in downtown Toronto, the forty plus buildings constitute the best preserved collection of Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America. The Distillery District is a national historic site.

It is Toronto’s only pedestrian village. From the brick lined streets to the European piazza styled areas, The Distillery District is a postcard draw

The Distillery also contains many galleries and artist shops as well as many restaurants and European inspired coffee shops.

The Distillery is located east of the downtown core between Parliament Street and Cherry Street and south of Mill Street and North of Gardiner Express Way.

If you are in the neighbourhood I suggest you check it out for the afternoon. Wear sensible shoes as the streets are all brick lined and are fairly uneven.

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I haven’t blogged as much as I thought I might, but hell I’m on holidays and just wanted to relax.

Yesterday I hoped on the VIVA which took me to Downsview Station and from there I took the TTC getting off at Museum to walk through the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Now I haven’t been there in years! I think the last time I was there was during a school trip. The ROM is going through some renovations and they have completed most of it. The front entrance I have to say doesn’t impress me. It is suppose to resemble a crystal structure and I find it just doesn’t work. I’m wondering if they are trying to use the same principles as the Glass Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris. Either way I don’t think it works very well.

At any rate the Museum was still fun to walk through it.

They have the usual exhibits I remember, the Dinosaurs, the Egyptian, but also have some new exhibits from Asia, both Korean and China, and some African artifacts as well.

They also have a new touring exhibit from Darwin - Evolution Revolution. Showing you more behind the man himself and how he came up with some of his Evolution Theory. They also had some live tortoises and iguana.

Overall it was a fun couple of hours that was spent, but I think the $20 charge to get in is alittle over priced.

I later spend dinner with a friend of mine, who used to live in Vancouver and has been in Toronto for 3 years now. He was in the process of putting a bid on a new condo and I got the chance to see what might be his new digs! I’m impressed with what I saw and the prices here are far cheaper than Vancouver. The only expensive item are their condos fee here. OUCH much higher than Vancouver’s.

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I’m finally on the grid (thanks to my niece Amanda who has internet at her place) and I’m able to post some photos on my Flickr page as well as blog a little.

It’s funny how dependant you can get when you are not on the internet. My cell phone only goes so far. Maybe when the iPhone comes to town I’ll be able to access Wordpress.

Today is Father’s Day and I had the chance to actually spend it with my father for the first time in many years. Even when I was here in Toronto before, my father was working in Mexico. This feels great since I actually can’t remember the last time I’ve spent Father’s Day with my dad. Happy Father’s Day - Dad!

We actually headed out of the city with my brother-in-law Danny and his two sons to watch my nephew Steven go-kart racing. This little kid surprises me with his ability to drive and race a go-kart. I’m actually surprised to have seen everyone who was there racing from the youngest to the oldest. Though Steven didn’t finish very well, it was fun to have the time to have seen him race through his warm up laps, time trial and then final race

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