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According to CTV, Google's top searches show what defined 2006.

Maybe what defined 2006 for younger, middle-class, Western technophiles.

From A History of Psychology in Autobiography, B.F. Skinner says:

In both my writing and my research I have fought hard against deceiving myself. I avoid metaphors which are effective at the cost of obscuring issues. I avoid rhetorical devices which give unwarranted plausibility to an argument (and I sometimes reassure myself by making lists of the devices so used by others). I avoid the unwarranted prestige conferred by mathematics, even, I am afraid, when mathematics would be helpful.

Last October, I was listening to Ken N on Radio FG and caught the tail end of a nice house track with a great vocal. I whipped up streamripper and caught the last 30 seconds or so of the song. I knew the lyrics contained the words "lonely night". I hunted and hunted. It actually gave me the idea for a book, an obsessed music freak travels the globe to find the name of a song. I found it. No more looping that 30 second clip. Repeat Michael Gray - Borderline . I'm actually a bit ashamed, Michael Gray is pretty mainstream. I thought I'd have to go to some obscure record shop in Brussels to find it.

Back in rainy London after a once again delayed flight with EasyJet.
Yesterday I spent a day seeing the amazing sights of Highland Scotland. Many snow-capped mountains were seen, a flat Loch Ness was cruised upon, and plenty was learned about the land that Clan MacKenzie once held. Definately will be making a return trip to this area of the world someday. Very friendly people and beautiful lands.
Left for London is a trip to the British Museum, the Freud Museum, some parks and palaces, and perhaps the Ministry of Sound Saturday night.

Very slow day in Edinburgh. Walked around the town in occassional showers and wind. Doing some laundry back at the hostel now. Looking forward to a trip through the Highlands up to Loch Ness tomorrow.

After a 45 minute train ride from Glasgow I made it to Edinburgh. Beautiful city with a castle right smack in the middle, overlooking on top of near vertical cliffs. The hostel is about 15 minutes from downtown with shuttle bus service. I have a 12 hour tour of the Highlands including Loch Ness booked for Wednesday.

A rather uneventful but relaxing day in Scotland. Just walking around Glasgow, lots of nice shops including several record stores. Saw numerous DJ CD systems with integrated mixers as cheap as $300 CDN. No need to buy expensive vinyl with one of these. At a food court I struck a conversation with a girl reading L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valley.Edinburgh tomorrow.

Now in beautiful Scotland, Glasgow to be exact. The day started at 4:30AM in Paris, checking out, catching the RER to Paris Gare Nord then onto Charles de Gaulle. Terminal 3 is where EasyJet flies out of, a barren warehouse with seats. The flight was 30 minutes late leaving making me worry I'd miss my London-Luton to Glasgow flight, but the consistency of EasyJet's tardiness allowed me to catch the Glasgow flight easily. If you have a short fuse, don't fly EasyJet.
Glasgow reminds me of Halifax. The streets are full of students and the atmosphere is a bit more light than the places I've visited so far, more like home. I'm staying at the EuroHostel which is located right in the middle of the action. It has nine floors, it has a hotel feeling. My room has four beds with en-suite bathroom. The bottom floor houses the Osmosis bar, word has it it is very popular. Tonight they have funk house DJ's on tap so I may make an appearance.
While things are moving along here at a tourist's pace, Radio@UPEI is hustling away without me on the ECMA's. So far the coverage has been top-notch, I'm sure they will capture some gems.
All of my gems are still trapped on my camera and mp3 player. It has been impossible to find a functional computer.

After not finding any internet access beside the 2 euro/20 min access at the hotel, I've stumbled across a whole neighbourhood of them near les Forums de Halles.
Paris didn't start out so great. A 25 euro fine on the RATP train for having the wrong ticket (always read the small print) then walking around for 2 hours in the area the hotel was supposed to be in only to find out the internet directions were wrong. I am staying in a hotel just outside of Paris in the suburb Rosny Sous Bois. For only 30 euro a night it's a steal, very basic rooms but with a tv for watching the Olympics. Purchasing a Carte Orange has given me unlimited travel in the zones between the hotel and the Ile of Paris for 20 euro.
Paris is home to the worst walkers in the world. Fast, slow, left, right, stop; it doesn't matter who is behind and for that matter you might as well blow a bit of cigaratte smoke back in their face. Paris as a city itself is not overly interesting besides the main attractions. Those which I encountered so far were the Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Musee d'Orsay, and the Louvre. Both the d'Orsay and Louvre are amazing, a good four hours can be spent at each if you pass up on the things that don't grab you. Otherwise you could spend days. I have found a new appreciation for art and have tons of pictures to upload.
Tomorrow I fly to Glasgow via London Luton.

After a short train ride, I'm checked in at the very nice StayOkay hostel in Rotterdam. The hostel has cafeteria, tv room with lots of comfy furniture, for 20 euro you get bed sheets and breakfast. Since arriving in Rotterdam, I went to the Euromast. The Euromast is a large observation tower overlooking the city and its huge port. From there I got quite a few good shots of this city, which is more North American looking than Amsterdam or Utrecht. By North American looking I mean it has large glass office buildings and wide boulevards with more traffic. Apparently Rotterdam is very international, with many of its residents being born elsewhere.

Last night I took the quick trip from Utrecht to Amsterdam to make sure I didn't miss anything there. Beside some more unreal beef shawarma, I think I saw all I needed. Getting back from Amsterdam at around 9PM I took a different route back to the hostel. On this route I discovered Utrecht's Red Light District. In about seven windows of a street no different than any other in the very residential area were seven scantly clad ladies watching their tvs. I can now declare Utrecht to be a much better spot to visit than Amsterdam. Utrecht is the real Netherlands, a student town with many beautiful canals, great shopping and all the distractions people travel to Amsterdam for; all without the filth and tourist shops on every corner.

I have a lot of media to dump but yet again the internet cafes here are very basic with access to the actual machine locked.

Paris tomorrow.