Ricky Martin’s Blog

photo by rapidgamer03.
Well as I mentioned in my earlier post Boxee Beta and apple TV I have not had cable or Satellite service since moving back to Canada which will be almost a year now. The only stumbling block I have found as well as many others is when it comes to live sports there is a bit of snag depending on the sport you follow. how do I get around this for the world cup? Well there is a great article over at lifehacker that list where you can find all the streaming online for the world cup.

Well luckily CBC in Canada is streaming all the games live online, and the quality is great, the only issue I have is doesn’t quite work with my apple TV unfortunately. But as always there is a solution.

I use my Laptop which has an HDMI out port and I hook it up to my flat screen with an HDMI cable, and problem solved.

This solution works great, and I used the same setup during the Olympics which were broadcast by CTV in a similar fashion.

And if you have a problem with the sound of the vuvuzela’s you can follow this link to an engineer who created a filter for it, I have not had a chance to try it out.

Well with everything going on lately staying in shape and exercising has been low on the priority list. But now we have decided to stop the excuses and get back into the routine. Right now the plan is to exercise in the mornings before work.  So the first challenge to be able to accomplish this goal is to get up at a time that allows us to complete a workout and still have enough time to get ready for work, a tough balancing act for many.  So right now we decided to be able to accomplish this we will be getting up around 5AM, this is a big change especially for my wife, I can manage with a few hours of sleep, I used to do it all the time working at the airport, getting up at 4AM and going to bed at midnight or later. But my wife on the other hand has a hard time without enough sleep, so the challenge for us is to get to bed at a reasonable time to be able to get enough sleep.

So right now this is the first challenge just getting into the rhythm of going to bed at a decent hour, and getting our bodies used to it. next will be the workout schedule.

We will be re-visiting the P90X workouts. we had done them several years ago, the beauty of them is you can do them at home, you don’t need much equipment if any, and they are fairly intense. With that said the drawbacks are the commitment you have to make, basically your working out for an hour to an hour and half for 6 days a week, which is more than most people are used to, especially if you have not done any exercise routine for quite some time this can be a challenge in itself to stick to it, and is probably one of the reasons why many people quit the program early on.

Right now the plan is to start things off on Saturday….will let you know how we do.

well as fallout from the 2010 Olympics comes to a close an interesting story about a little bet that was had between the heads of Canada and the USA. It is great to see that we can get along so well, for someone who has spent time on both sides of the border and has many friends on each side this was a great thing to see.

Basically as the stories explain there was a bet between President Obama and Prime Minister Harper on the outcome of the Gold medal Mens hockey game, depending on who won the loser would have to deliver a case of beer from the respective country to the winner. So as the stories seem to be a little inconsistent as to what is to be delivered basically Prime Minister Harper should be getting a case of Yuengling lager from Pennsylvania which is reported to be the oldest brewery in the USA, I can actually say I have tried it and it is not bad, better than Bud or Bud Light, sorry

On another note there was another bet between the the White house Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Dimitri Soudas, spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister. As the outcome of that bet he had to wear a Canada hockey Jersey on Camera for one of his briefings. you can read the US NEWS Version of the story here or the Canadian Version here for both sides of the story.

Well the Olympics have started. And I am proud to say they are in Canada and more specifically Vancouver. Both Karen and I liked Vancouver a lot when we were there. Just happened that the situation at the time was not great which is why we left.

I really enjoyed watching the opening ceremonies on Friday. One of the things l liked the most was the poet. His poem really hit home and really captured a lot of what makes Canada Canada.

Looking forward to seeing the men’s hockey. As for the women’s hockey don’t think there will be much competition except maybe from the USA but after the first game that they had an 18-0 win and set an Olympic record for most goals in a game, I think it is a safe bet they will get a medal.

Here is The medal Standings (This should update as it changes):

And to keep up on the Ice Hockey action here is the Schedule and the results: