I took a moment to take the photos needed to make a panorama of the falls. Here’s a very small version of the panorama, the full version is 236 megapixels:

We visited the casino and had a great time spending $12 and winning back $2. We were a little startled when we found out that the parking cost more than our gambling though! Our final stop before we headed home was another surprise – the butterfly conservatory. Desi and I walked around the paths about three times, chasing after the butterflies for photos, and just enjoying the tropical environment in the dead of winter. I got some great photos, and Desi too!

Some of the butterflies were extremely colourful, and the the photos turned out great. Desi and I were talking around and pointing out the most colourful ones, especially the wings on this one:

We really enjoyed our visit to the butterfly conservatory, and noticed some nice hiking trails in the area. This is probably a place we’ll go back to in the summer! Here’s another photo, and the gallery below:

And I’d like to take a moment and thank everyone for all of the comments you leave on my blog. I read every one and look forward to them always. Thanks so much!

Oh, and I’ll have photos from New Years Eve soon – just need to get the film developed. Yep, I shot two roles of film for New Years Eve. Nothing digital.

We then went out to shop for souvenirs, to the internet café, and I think I decided to call my grandparents during the day at some point – just to say hi. I think I tried to get ahold of a few people, but some weren’t home. Desi did the same, but only got ahold of Geri to say goodbye.Before we knew it much of the day had passed and we were on our way to a concert!

Nasi had told us about this concert and asked if we wanted to go, which we certainly did. The concert I can only really describe as an orchestral rock variety hour. So much fun!

The concert was very well done, and had little skits in between the musical performances. The musical performances were great and fully orchestrated with performers and musicians. Definitely one of the most interesting concerts I had ever been to. Desi even translated some of the lyrics for me.

Here’s the crew that went to the concert! The unfamiliar faces are Mitko and Mariela, good friends of Nasi and Nasko (Nasko’s taking the photo – great job!):

We had a great time, and after the concert Desi bought some freshly fried mini doughnuts to try – and they were delicious. Nasi and Nasko were kind enough to drive us there and back, and we would see Nasi again on the next day – our final day of adventure.

Here’s a photo of the amazing table spread:

The party happened to fall on October 31st, one of my favourite days of the year. In Bulgaria, Halloween is not a celebrated holiday so dressing up was new for Desi and her family and friends. The results were great though, and here is a shot of Desi dressed up as Marilyn Monroe:

And here is a shot of everyone that dressed up:

The evening was wonderful, and I got many compliments on my costume, as did Desi. One of the best Holloweens ever for sure! Oh, and of course here the photo of this year’s pumpkin:

More in the gallery below:

Here are my favourite shots:

This photo was something of a fluke, but I was quite happy with the results:

And some people were very…. enthusiastic?

Needless to say, people really got into it! More pics in the gallery below.

For my birthday this year, Desi surprised me with tickets to see Def Leppard, Poison, and Cheap Trick at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. We were a little late getting there so we missed Cheap Trick, but from what I am told, we didn’t miss much.

The concert was really quite good, we were thoroughly rocked. Desi had gotten us some of the best seats in the concert, about 20-30 feet from the stage and perfectly center. We only had Desi’s cell phone camera to share the experience, so here’s a small taste:

All of the hits were played, and we really enjoyed the performances. The members of Def Leppard are all around 50 years old, but their age certainly doesn’t show on stage.

Desi and I really enjoyed ourselves, and I’d like to thank her here for the wonderful birthday surprise. Thanks so much!

I went to see the fireworks display at the Barrie lakeshore tonight. It was raining up to a half hour before the show was supposed to start so it almost didn’t happen. Things cleared up quickly, and the show started exactly on time at 10pm. I wasn’t disappointed.

There were many great pics, its very hard to choose a favourite. Here is a gallery of my favourite 9 shots from tonight. Happy Canada Day everyone!

Signatures include:

• Tommy Tallarico (Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Metroid Prime, Advent Rising)
• Jack Wall (Myst III, Myst IV, Splinter Cell, Jade Empire)
• Hideo Kojima (Creator of Metal Gear Solid)
• Yuji Naka (Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog)
• Elijah Wood (Actor, Lord of the Rings, Sin City)
• Marty O’Donnell (Halo, Halo 2)
• Nolan Bushnell (Pong, Atari, Chuck E. Cheese)
• Toby Gard (Creator of Lara Croft & Tomb Raider)
• Bill Roper (Warcraft)
• Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia)
• David Jaffe (God of War)
• Dweezil Zappa (Guitarist)
• Doug Tennaple (Earthworm Jim, The Neverhood)
• David Perry (Earthworm Jim, Aladdin, Enter the Matrix)
• Chris Stone (Dragon’s Lair)
• Richard Jacques (Headhunter, Outrun)
• Lorne Lanning (Oddworld Inhabitants)
• Bill Brown (Rainbow Six)
• Michael Giacchino (Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, The Incredibles)
• Nathan McCree (Tomb Raider)
• Gary Coleman (Actor)
• Laura Karpman (Everquest II)
• Christophe Heral (Beyond Good and Evil)
• Tom Salta (Ghost Recon 2)
• Vince Desi (Postal, Postal 2)
• Jason Hayes (Warcraft III, World of Warcraft)
• Gerard Marino (God of War)
• Tim Larkin (Myst)
• Laurie Robinson (Advent Rising, Video Games Live Vocal Soloist / Performer)
• Benoit Grey (Jaws, Video Games Live Orchestrator)

There are some big names in there for sure. Although I’m sure many people reading this are not as into video games as I am, imagine many of your favourite artists getting together to sign a poster, and then giving it to you. Thats how I feel when I look at it, now hanging on the wall in my room.

Thanks VGL! This is probably the best part of my video game collection to date, whcih is saying quite a bit!

I’ve attended every performance they have done in Ontario so far.

Actually, more than that. I’ve volunteered to help out at every performance in Ontario. On March 13th and 14th they performed in Kitchener, where I helped out by running their costume contest and worked as a photographer. This grants me full backstage access and the ability to sit anywhere in the concert hall I’d like, which is simply amazing. So I spent my evenings last weekend taking photos of something I was passionate about, and filled my 16GB memory card twice. Here’s one of my favourite photos from the show:

Needless to say, it was a sold-out show both days.

The conductor, Jack Wall, is a video game composer himself. His recent success was with the Xbox 360 and PC game Mass Effect, one of my favourites from last year. He also did a lot of the music in the Myst series of games, among many, many others.

Tommy Tallarico, the main guitarist, is quite accomplished as well. He’s done a lot of composing himself (Earthworm Jim, Advent Rising to name a few) but also was a co-host on the G4/TechTV show Electric Playground.

The music was performed by Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. One of the best performances I’ve been to! They always use the local orchestra to do the performance.

Splitting Adam was touring with the group this time. They work for Electronic Arts and had a song featured in the game Need For Speed: Undercover. Great tunes from these guys as well, I wish them the best of luck!

All in all, it was a great show. There were a few new segments I hadn’t seen before, but even the older ones were great to hear again. Each show they always play a different set from their list of 30-40 different segments so it’s always something different. You’ll find a larger selection of photos below, and if you want the whole set of “keepers”, you can grab ‘em here (warning: a lot of photos). I’m not sure when they’ll play next in the area, but I’ll be sure to help out. Always a blast!

P.S. Almost all of the concert photos were taken at ISO 3200 or ISO 6400. I am extremely impressed with my cameras performance at these settings!

I’ve got to say that it was far above my expectations. You could really connect with the performers and many of the songs were quite moving. Sometimes funny and sometimes emotional, my first experience going to a musical was amazing. I recommend anyone looking for an afternoon or night out (they have shows at 2pm and 8pm) to definitely check it out. Thanks so much James! James got some free tickets that he couldn’t use, so we put them to good use.

Afterwards, we drove a block or two away to The Keg Mansion, where they served me the biggest steak I have ever eaten. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of this, but I do have a photo of Desi and I after dinner in the lounge upstairs. Cute couple, eh?