--- spoiler alert -- you have been warned -- spoiler alert ---

Just came out after seeing The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, and it certainly brings back memories from our holiday in Toronto Canada last year.

Culver [Toronto] University, the Bioligy University and more importantly that time when we were walking thru the PATH (Toronto's pedestrian network) and walking onto that so-called 'Critical Incident' set.

I can remember us walking thru those turnstyle doors, American Eagle shopping bags and my fiancee Michelle in-tow, then being presented with that dramatic scene outside. In front of us stood the large dome entrance flanked to the left by a New York fire truck, to our right the NYPD; with the building in front flanked by US Army troops armed to the teeth, guns going off and a director screaming to get us off set.

The blurb was that they were filming a pilot for some new US crime tv series called 'Critical Incident' similar to CSI, in reality after seeing the finished product it was in fact the newly realised Incredible Hulk. The scene in question is where the abomination is created, a real freak of nature and bad medicine and a total headache for our hero Bruce Banner.

One guess which ED it is, and no it's not the horse ;-)

Ok, these aren't the best of shots but it does prove Toronto's one amazing city and home to some of the nicest people; plus it's cheaper to shoot there than NY. So on that note, let's have a stroll around to see what other delights can be seen in the film.

Doubling up as big green's home. Toronto University is an awesome sight to behold and has been used in many other films (Good Will Hunting), the architecture and history embedded within these walls has brought us such things as the first pacemaker, the chemical laser and the extraction of insulin.

It's actually broken up into several blocks and is home to some of the brightest minds on the planet, with regular features in Newsweek.

Strolling thru campus crossing Queens Park, it's such a relaxing place to visit but really needs a good day to explore thoroughly.

If you wander you may see Leslie Nielsen's photo on one of the buildings, he studied at Lorne Greene's Academy of Radio Arts before winning a scholarship to New York.

The huge Robards library is built in the shape of a peacock, and stands 14 story's high; housing rare works and first editions it provides the facilities for young minds to take flight.

Awesome stuff, still can't believe our luck!

I'm probably wrong and everything, but last night I got an update of Firefox 3 thru the Synaptic package manager on Ubuntu Hardy and now it sort of looks like it's out early.

Any ideas?

Google users in the United Kingdom will notice today that we "turned the lights out" on the Google.co.uk homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. As to why we don't do this permanently - it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display. However, you can do something to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

• Earth Hour

What a flight we had last night, finally touched down into Heathrow Airport close to midnight coming back from our little jaunt together in Greece.

Went to visit Michelle's sister Lynsey Clark, the SuperModel working for Nikos Takis's modelling school, quite an experience, glad she's doing well and her new boyfriend seems like a decent catch; hope this one's a keeper, nice guy!.

Thought I'd write a few things down to make the next flight a little easier, can't hurt.

Ear Popping

Once airbourne, the aircraft has to climb altitude fast to ride the jetstream and fly faster on less fuel; neat but all that ascension messes with the air-pressure in your ears.

To fix this try chewing gum on takeoff and again on landing, the constant chewing motion helps alleviate the pressure build up and stops your ears from aching; they should pop releasing the trapped pressure.

If it's really bad try pinching your nose, close your mouth and then breathe out. The air should rush thru to your ears equalising the pressure.

Seating

Nowadays you can check-in online which allows you to choose where you sit.

Personally I like to sit near a window so I can look out but not right next to it, like an unfortunate William Shatner from Twilight Zone; so I opt for an aisle seat usually.

Also when flying economy you don't get much leg-room so try choosing to sit by an emergency exit. You'll get more room to stretch out and won't have to worry about people putting their seat back in front of you.

I've flown quite a lot and tend to opt for seats at the front of the plane, at the back and on the wing you tend to really feel the noise.

Good Crew

A lot of people don't like flying because it's too scary or they've had some really bad experiences, to be honest I have to agree, when it gets bad you've really got to grin and bear it. If the plane hits a storm you can really feel the motion, but thankfully your pilots counter this with some responsible flying and plan ahead to avoid such trouble-spots.

It's a tough job to be a pilot and takes years to master so when you grab your bags from the overhead locker, spare a thought for the guys and girls making sure you get home safely; it might be their job but they really deserve a big hug sometimes for all that hard work.

So when you walk off that plane passing the captain, co-pilot, crew, stewards and stweardesses, say a little thank you for a job well done; they so deserve it!

Where Next?

Even before we touched down we're already planning our next vacation, Michelle wants to complete our 'World War' journey by visiting the Somme, we did Normandy two years ago visiting the first days of the d-day invasion and seeing where my grandfather stepped off on D+2.

I want to go back to San Francisco, haven't been there since I was little and really want to explore some more, may need more than 5 days ;-)

All the best and happy flying,

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet!

...and now here's that episode I talked about, classic!

Today me and Michelle went to see The Sound of Music, really good highly recommend it. You may cringe as soon as you hear 'that' song but get past it, really good!

(Summer Strallen pictured with my fiancee)