Money, it's a hit!

Well it may not be like the American PowerBall Lottery worth $250 million, but it is being reported this weekend that Canada has it's first multi-million dollar winner in the nation's new lottery game, Lotto Max.


Friday's winning numbers were reportedly assigned to one lucky ticket winner in Manitoba who has yet to be identified but when they do come forward, they will be walking away with a cool $50 million CDN.


Since the first Lotto Max draw on September 25, no one has been able to match all seven numbers needed to claim the jackpot until now.


Lotto Max - which replaced Super 7 - was designed because of interest from "jackpot chasers" who wanted to see bigger lottery payouts similar to those down south. Each draw the jackpot rises to a maximum of $50 million and any additional cash above that is awarded in $1 million prizes to lucky winners in separate draws.


This prize becomes the second largest jackpot ever to be won in Canada. The largest was a mere $54.3 million in the 6/49 draw in 2005. That prize was shared between 17 oil & gas workers in Camrose, Alberta.


There are a lot of things that $50 million dollars could afford you. Hell, we can think of a few good ways of spending that money pretty quick but at the end of the day, we wouldn't balk at taking a much smaller payout. Hey, even the $1 million side pots would be great…Better yet, make it $5 million, that way we've got some extra cash for a rainy day.

Start spreading the news…YANKEES ARE CHAMPS!!!

Well it all began and ended as predicted this season. That is, my beloved New York Yankees opening their new ballpark, finishing the regular season as the best team in the league and finally adding the cherry on top with their 27th World Series title.


Other predictions that came through from my earlier post at the start of the post season, my dad picking all 7 teams other than the Yanks that made it to the playoffs winning it all, the continuous switching of the team he would root for as each one was eliminated from contention. As well, let's not forget the nightly phone calls to one another to rub it in each others faces when our team(s) won.


And in the end of it all, the parade I said we would start planning can now actually happen. The Yankees beat the defending champs the Philadelphia Phillies in game 6 of the championship series 7-3 to win the World Series 4 games to 2. Hideki Matsui is the MVP with a perfect 3-for-3 night in the final game and a total of 6 RBI's.


What a great series! Sure the best team won but you have to give it to the Phillies, they are one heckuva team and made it entertaining down to the last game. So now the long wait for the off-season, then spring training followed by that short 162 game season.


We'll see you in 11 months dad, I'm already picking the Yanks, who are you taking?

FRIDAY FUNNIES: One heck of a dog trainer

"Sit," Stay," "Down," "Heel," "Shake a paw," and of course "No!" are all words that my dog can relate to. But never underestimate the brilliance of your canine friend.


The proof is in the pudding with this video as we see man's best friends walking on two legs, forming a conga line and jumping through hoops to name just a few tricks.


Dogs truly can be brilliant and are always loyal to their trainer. Enjoy this funny video to get your rainy Friday started.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Apple's new multi-touch Magic Mouse

Apple has debuted it's new wireless mouse with a much deserved update - multi-touch technology for navigation. Featuring a solid acrylic surface, the new Magic Mouse replaces the Mighty Mouse, Apple's previous wireless with a trackball.


Apple's love with multi-touch is fairly known and is already featured in iPhones, iPod Touches and Trackpads of the MacBooks. The new wireless Magic Mouse that has no buttons and no trackball is ambidextrous.


Magic Mouse carries a "seamless" multi-touch surface that covers its top area and is touted as the world's first multi-touch mouse. There's no need to worry about cords since the Magic Mouse connects to any Bluetooth enabled Mac machine wirelessly. Acting as an advanced point-and-click mouse, users can click as well as double click by tapping a finger once or twice on the top surface. Also, enabling the secondary click in System Preferences will make it function as a two-button mouse.


Multi-touch obsession takes the next step with Magic Mouse that supports finger gestures to navigate on the display. For instance, scrolling in any direction requires simply using one finger on the mouse's top surface. Magic mouse also supports "360 degree scrolling" - smooth up/down and left/right scrolling within a window, just like an iPhone and MacBook trackpads. Apple boasts of a chip that senses finger gestures and responds accordingly.



The Magic Mouse is certainly clever, but the question remains as to how well it will work in day-to-day usage. Will the multi-touch features enhance the desktop experience, or will they annoy users and get in the way?


Magic Mouse comes with new iMacs and also sells separately for $69 CDN today.

2010 Olympic and Paralympic Medals Unveiled

The world got an early peak on Thursday at the medals to be awarded at both the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.


The medals are based on two large master artworks of an orca whale (Olympic) and raven (Paralympic) by Canadian designer/artist Corrine Hunt. Each of the medals has a unique hand-cropped section of the abstract art, making every medal one-if-a-kind.


Another unique touch to the design, compared to medals of the past, is the actual form of the medals themselves. Their unique contours are said to be inspired by the ocean waves, drifting snow and the mountainous landscape found in our region and throughout Canada. The Olympic medals are circular in shape while with Paralympic medals are a squared circle. Their weight varies between 500-576 grams depending on the medal making them among the heaviest medals in the history of the games.


Perhaps the most creative part of these gems is the materials used to construct them. Vancouver metals giant Teck Resources has recovered materials from recycled TVs, computers, cellphones and keyboards that might have otherwise ended up as e-waste. The use of smelted cathode ray tube glass, computer parts and circuit boards are combined with metals from other sources to produce the weighty mass.


The medals have a durable blue, white and green synthetic ribbon that carries the name of the games, Vancouver 2010, and the Games' motto, "With Glowing Hearts," in both English and French.


The medals were produced by the Royal Canadian Mint for the first time since 1976 and have a collective worth of about $1.8 million based on current metal prices.


I believe these are probably the nicest medals we have seen produced for the Games in several years. The fact that each design has a distinct portion of the orca or raven artwork make these unique to each athlete and sure to stand out for many years to come.


To see more pictures, click here.

NEW MUSIC REVIEW: Corey Crowder

Georgia native Corey Crowder is developing an original sound with his unique fusion of country, jazz and folk. His newest album is a fine example of a mature, big production that is a lot more rootsy, country/blues oriented that his earlier recordings.


Crowder has a smooth, but soulful voice that is easy on the ears, and his song writing is top notch. He can be classified as a Nashville version of Jack Johnson or John Mayer with laid-back songs that celebrate the simple things in life. But he didn't really begin to explore his southern roots until the last few years.


His first serious music project was launched in 2001 when he began recording acoustic-pop demos and playing shows across Georgia. In 2005, Crowder released an 11-track acoustic full-length album called "Learning to Let Go - Home Recordings" which garnered a rather large following when various songs were aired on several episodes of MTV's The Real World. Since then, he has been constantly touring across the US, performing at many college campuses and small live venues picking up momentum and a solid backing band along the way.


In 2008, Crowder and band entered the studio in Seattle to record what would become their first real produced band album called "Gold and the Sand." The songs have a strong country feel but tend to be so by way of production and instrumentation more than actual composition. The album has definitely moved this artist into more of an original sound combining his southern influence with hints of jazz and folk of a modern age.


All in all, Corey Crowder is an excellent artist that anyone who likes a blend of diverse styles will be sure to enjoy.


Check out his myspace page to hear some of his tunes: www.myspace.com/coreycrowder


Here is his most recent release "Look How Far We've Come"

All the single babies!

Move over Beyonce, there's a new babe in town! Cory the baby is giving her a run for her money with some sweet dance moves on the ever popular hit song "Single Ladies."


Cory now has his own website featuring his dance videos amongst others as well as pictures, a biography and links to his own facebook and twitter sites.


Cory is also now famous around the world for his choreography receiving news coverage from many global news stations.


Have a look at this cute and funny video to get you going on this Friday morning. It'll be sure to put a smile on your face to start the weekend.


Check out his website: www.singlebabies.com