Japanese TV ranks by number of gold medals (They're probably wishing they didn't since Japan won 0 golds) so they have Canada in first place. Just checked the BBC and they rank by gold as well. Maybe it's just Canada and the US that use total medals.

We could copy the Tokyo system. Each line gets a colour and a letter. Each station gets the corresponding colour and letter plus a number as well as keeping its current name. So Kipling is B1 in a blue circle. Tourists, children and people who don't read English just need to know their...

In Amsterdam, the Madame Tussauds is next to the Royal Palace. (The royal family don't actually live at the palace but still...) In my opinion, the measure of an aquarium is the impressiveness of the main tank. Due to advances in technology for acrylic, the newer the aquarium, generally the...

Remove the giant Ripleys sign from the roof and replace it with a green roof with public access and I'll be happier. As far as aquarium sizes are concerned, all of the big ones that I've been to devote a good deal of space for performing dolphins and such. Just speculating but I can't...

In September I brought my girlfriend to Toronto for the first time to show her around the city. On the first day she asked me, completely horrified, "Who is that man and why did he ask you for money? Do you know him?" And my girlfriend has spent months backpacking around India so she's not...

I've heard this said so many times by so many different people that I've become very curious about this boycott. How do you see it actually changing the Leafs' behaviour to make them a better team? I suppose that they could spend more money on players. Of course they are already near the...

And the Tokyo St. Patrick's Day parade runs along this stretch of road. Down one side and then back on the other side.

I'd love to see the HHOF use MLG as a second location. Keep the current building just for the Cup and the displays for the players in the hall with rotating displays like the Habs 100th anniversary taking up the remainder. Move all the interactive games and stuff to MLG. Let the kids go to...

I would like a stealth mode for browsing the forum at work. Strip out the main logo, all pictures, avatars, smilies, etc. You'd have to click on a photo placeholder to actually view the photo. This would help to keep me employed.

The chart does not show that the "Olympics frequently result in a GDP decline". It shows that the rate of growth of the country's GDP declines after the Olympics as compared to the rate of growth in the year before the Olympics (when money was being spent building stadiums and infrastructure...

In Amsterdam they showed a Russian (I think) knock-off that featured a lot more nudity. It's been a couple of years so I can't really remember what it was that made me think it was Russian. I've often wondered if the JFL Gags show has a negative effect on tourism in Montreal.

This is similar to the Japanese style. A separate, water-tight room with a shower and a tub. Lots of fancy features available too. Some will keep your bath water at a constant temperature, some have a ceiling vent that will either fill the room with steam or with a dry heat so that you can...

Thanks Ronald. I was hoping to find a shot of my old apartment but no luck. I do miss the city sometimes.

I think that "two dozen" might be being generous. ;)

Pleasure Valley had one of those things. Also a waterslide and a rollerskating trail through a forest and pony rides. It's East of Toronto, not West though.

Is it time for a new aquarium rumour already? I thought we weren't due for another until early 2010.

The Listener is on TV in Japan too. I've never seen an episode but a lot of commercials.

From the Varsity Stadium thread. Classy! ;)

I took pictures of this on Saturday and was going to post them here but I haven't had a chance to download them from my camera yet. It's pretty cool but Tetsujin-28 looks way cooler. I'm going to have to take another trip to Kobe now. Oh, and Kyoto has a life-size Astro Boy ("Atom") but...