Back of the Class

I came across this really amazing website, with link after link of more amazing websites, and 3 hours later, I thought “Now, what was it I originally wanted to look up?”.
It’s so easy to get “lost” on the internet - it truly is a maze of information, sometimes useful, sometimes useless.
So, here’s the link - keep going, to next page and next page. search and enjoy some really cool stuff, and post your comments and share what sites you found interesting.

So many of us, head out on day trips into the woods, hiking or to the mountains, snowboarding, skiing or whatever and neglect to tell family and friends where we are going and when we are expected back.

This has hit home the past couple of days when we heard about a 25-year-old female Japanese student who went snowboarding in Whistler on Thursday and her homestay family only became concerned about her whereabouts on Sunday when she did not return home for the weekend.

Ai Ito, a Japanese student studying English in Whistler, was headed on a solo run. You could call it shear bad luck that her school was closed for the Good Friday holiday and her home-stay family thought nothing was unsual because Ito sometimes stayed overnight with friends.

She wasn’t reported missing until Sunday, when an immediate search was launched, but that delay may not bring the positive result we wish for.

Her family has since arrived in Whistler from Japan, but hope is fading fast as temperature have dropped to -12 to -15 in that part of the search area.

We pray for a miracle and her safe return.

I just realized that for many people Spring Break starts tomorrow afternoon, and for some people that is a frightening thought, for others a welcome break from early mornings, packing lunches, rushing kids off to school, hassling with homework, and schlepping them to or from extra-curricular activities. For us older folk, its a welcome break from our work or studies, time to catch a breather and perhaps do some fun stuff in slighter warmer weather.

You can spend a day at Science World and /or Imax, the Aquarium at Stanley Park, take a ride on the skytrain to New West Quay, go up Grouse Mountain or take the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay. A day trip to Bowen Island is always great - perhaps take your bikes for some exersize too.

Don’t forget Monday is St Patrick’s Day and you can check out the 5th Annual Parade on Granville Street Sunday, March 16 at 11 am.

I was so fascinated to see these photo’s of Dubai and how it has exploded in growth in the past few years, so I thought I would post this. Seems like a great destination to visit.

Dubai in 1990

in 2003…

and in 2007!

and the tourist attractions……

The Burj Dubai. Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be complete by 2008.
At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it will easily be world’s tallest building when finished.
It will be almost 40% taller than the the current tallest building, the Yaipei 101.

Palm Islands
The Palm Islands in Dubai. New Dutch dredging technology was used to create these massive man made islands which are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space. Three of these Palms will be made with the last one being the largest of them all.
Upon completion, the resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other facilities. It is expected to support a population of approximately 500,000 people.

Many Jazz lovers are mourning the untimely death of Jeff Healey, a Canadian guitarist, singer and songwriter who died of lung cancer on Sunday, aged 41.

Healy lost his sight as an infant and developed a unique guitar style, forming his first band at 17, performing his passion for old-time jazz, playing the trumpet and clarinet.

The Jeff Healey Band was formed in 1985 and signed with Arista Records in 1988 and released the Grammy nominated album, See the Light. He earned a Juno award in 1990 as Entertainer of the Year.
He leaves his wife, Christie and two children aged 13 and 3.