Richard Florida’s blog often points the way to some very interesting stats, but it’s rare to see a cross-border comparison like this: the percentage of obese adult population, broken by down state/province/territory.

Of the 50 + 10 + 3 regions, Canada would represent the six least obese, and eight of the top ten. I’m rather surprised by this; I didn’t think the lifestyle differences were that pronounced. I guess it’s because I tend to compare Canada to the northeastern US states, and that map gets decidedly more orange/brown as you move southeast (except for Florida, where all the Canadian retirees are bringin’ up the average!).

[tags]richard florida, obesity[/tags]

Another hot day, another evening sitting on the balcony and drinking cold beer with friends. After a day of work and watching football, another couple came over last night. The intention was to either make dinner or go out, but we ended up gorging ourselves on the delicious cheeses they brought: a powerful scotch cheddar, an amazing peppercorn something or other, and a Riopelle de l’Isle. Between that and the perpetual beer we were stuffed and didn’t need dinner, though we did walk down to Solferino around 9:30 to cool off.

This morning we grabbed some breakfast and then spent way too much time (and money, no doubt) at MEC picking up stuff (clothes, mainly) we need for hiking in BC.  It’s stinking hot again today, so walking home at high noon wasn’t nearly as pleasant as walking there at mid-morning.

All that done, I shall now go watch Germany beat up on Poland and them spend the rest of my evening wishing I didn’t have to work on MBA nonsense. But I do.

[tags]riopelle de l’isle, solferino, gelato, mec, euro 2008[/tags]

Stop hiding!

It’s been a great weekend so far. It’s been fun having Nellie’s friends around, though they’ve been off gallivanting about the city most of the time so I’ve had plenty of time to myself too. Today, for example: they’ve all gone off to Niagara for god-knows-what. Yesterday one went to visit nearby family while another went shopping with Nellie (following a shopping trip of my own…stupid Harry Rosen private sale). On Friday they went to the zoo, as you can see above. Click the flamingos to see some other great pics Nellie took.

While they were out last night enjoying some Korean barbecue I stayed home and relaxed, read and finished watching A Mighty Heart (imdb | rotten tomatoes) which reinforced my love for all things Michael Winterbottom. It wasn’t until this morning that I remembered last night was Modernmod‘s last night spinning at the Mod Club or I might’ve gone.

Today was a brootiful spring day in Toronto. While it’s still pretty windy up this high I spent some time out on the balcony, and left all the doors open so the wind could pound through. The cats especially seemed to enjoy sitting by the screen door and letting their fur ruffle in the breeze. However, the girls will soon get home and my quiet, fun weekend will come to a close. I’ll wake up early tomorrow and start a week that includes long meetings, an MBA assignment and a trip to the dentist.

Those birds have the right idea. Time to hide.

[tags]harry rosen, a mighty heart, korean barbecue, mod club, toronto[/tags]

The other night at the pub talk turned to laminated lists. You know, the top five celebrity lists that are so set in stone that you may as well laminate them.

I realized recently that I could never laminate mine. You never know what could happen. After being #1 on your list for some twelve years someone could, oh I don’t know, marry a skeezy old French dude for his money. Or something.

If I were to write up a list right now, it’d probably look something like this. In no particular order:

• Scarlett Johansson
• Jennifer Connelly
• Tina Fey
• Parminder Nagra
• [TBD; position recently vacated by Ms. Hayek]

Lots of candidates for that last spot, but those four are in a league of their own.

[tags]laminated lists, scarlett johansson, jennifer connelly, tina fey, parminder nagra, salma hayek[/tags]