I live near a drive in. This is something that I have taken for granted most of my life. It wasn't until university that I realized that there aren't many other drive-ins still in existence — only two in this province if my memory is correct. So most people that I know now, have never been to a drive in.

But with my family it is different. We have all been to the drive in and that is exactly what happened last night. The way that the drive-in works is you pay by the carload. So if you have 7 people in the car it is the same price as if you go alone. And on the weekend that price is $15. It is only $12 during the week — but either way it is usually cheaper than going to the regular theatre. The big caveat to packing your car full is that you have to watch the movie from your car. At first glance it all seems simple, but there are other factors. First of all, they play two movies per night. You listen to the movie via your FM radio (there is an AM station available if you need it). The shows start at 'dusk' so you have to figure out what that means — however it is usually too light out still when they start the first movie.

Also during the first movie, the mosquitos are usually out in full force, so you want to keep your windows closed. The stereotype of the couple making out in the car at the drive-in with the windows steamed up might come to mind — and it should, because if you try to fit two plus adults (or large children) into a car that is off with the windows up, you are going to find out all about it. Since you are in your own car, you can bring what ever junk food, etc. you want with you. Add this to the closed quarters and it can worsen the heat in the car. Picture a thermos of tea perhaps.

You also can't put your headlights on during the show — or you are regaled with horns because the light can wash out the video. During the intermission 50's era cartoons play as potentially 100+ people rush to the bathrooms and canteen. The food is really expensive — more so than in a regular theatre, but you can get a hamburger if you wanted.

Despite all the joy this sounds like, the drive-ins suffer. You wouldn't have known it last night though. Last night was a triple header — that is three movies (for the same entrance fee) and if you stayed until the end, it meant a 3:15 AM departure. Last night there were more cars there than I have ever witnessed — 217 is a number I heard and they were arriving well into the first movie.

The last thing I will say about the drive in is that the movies which play are typically recently out of the main theatres — last night for example was Bewitched followed by Mr. and Mrs. Smith and finally Rebound. All were very enjoyable. As much as I enjoy going, sitting in the car for three movies is a daunting task. Fun, but daunting :)

I ran around today trying to get my paperwork for the Erasmus Mundus program in order. I had filled out my accommodation form, but I wanted to make a copy of it, and then scan it. Plus they wanted two ID sized photos included with it — so that was a trip to Walmart. And top it all off with a trip to Mailboxes Etc. to send the hard copies with UPS. For far too much money.

Still no progress on the visas, but it is likely I will be heading westward on a roadtrip later this month so if I need to apply for something in person in Montreal or Ottawa, I should be able to. Until then I will continue the paper chase.

It was put together on far too short notice, but it almost worked. My brothers and I were going to go on a one night camping trip to Dollar Lake on Wednesday night — and I guess you could say that we did. Peter, Devon and I drove to Halifax to get Adam and then we headed out and found ourselves a campsite. We then went swimming at the the public beach part and had just bought some firewood when we decided that we should probably pitch the tent while it was still light out. So I got it out of the car and opened it to discover it wasn't the tent I had thought it was. OK not a problem, it was actually a bigger tent than I had expect, which was OK because it would be a tight squeeze with the four of us.

However it wasn't long before we realized that despite having the bigger tent, it didn't have any poles. Well this was a bit of a concern. I definitely broke a cardinal rule because I didn't check the tent before we left. Still — we were determined that we would be able to deal with this somehow. So we went swimming again. This time to a deserted campers beach. It was nice, but not as nice as the other beach and before long it started to rain lightly. So we decided to head back and before we even got back to the road the skies opened up and it started to pour. So we ran back to salvage what we could at our campsite. All three of my younger brothers had decided to leave their bags sitting by the picnic table. And the firewood was soaked.

By draping our tent fly over the back of the car's trunk hatch we managed to create a shelter of sorts as we struggled to get things back into the car in a reasonable order. You would think that we were planning a week away with the amount of stuff we brought. But we got it in the car and decided that with everything (including the ground) wet — and without knowing how long the rain would continue — we would head home. And so that ended the would be adventure of the brothers' Bate camping trip. It was certainly fun the little time we did get in. I don't think the four of us have ever done anything together without our parents before. It was an experience to say the least.

While I doubt I will make another site devoted to it like I did before, the road trip that I am planning to take with my father is no less exciting. Clearly it will be a different experience, but the route is quite similar.

Along the way Chris and Mike are obliging with a place to sleep and their expertise about their respective cities. I am planning on picking up my Digital SLR camera today and want to take plenty of photos while on the trip. I want to make sure the camera will be a good one to take to Europe so I can capture all the cool sites that continent holds.

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a new Digital SLR camera. By no means am I am expert photographer, but I certainly plan on learning a lot more about it. Right now I am just learning the ropes with this thing. I have been reading a lot of photography magazines and I think that I made a good choice with the Digital Rebel XT (pictured below)

As with any new digital camera, one really needs to sit down and play with it before deciding if it really fits. So far I am loving the speed and power that this camera possess along with the simple and easy to use interface. Granted, I am fairly comfortable with most technology, a easy to use interface still goes a long way with me. Oh yea... and the 8 megapixels don't hurt either.

I will be taking this camera with me on my trip to Ontario next week to really get a chance to see what it can do. I will have a link up shortly to the photo gallery of that trip. If I am satisfied with the camera, I will obviously be taking it with me to Europe when I go. Expect many more cool photos in the future as I explore the creativity of photography.

One of the shots I got off this morning was of our cat. In this picture he looks a bit sleepy, but that is because I barged in when he was just waking up and snapped the photo. I'm sure if he were a human, I would have gotten a small beating for that. :) [Note: The photo above was obviously not taken with my new camera. That was taken with my old Toshiba.]

The big 20. Welcome to the world of twenty-something. :)

Just to let you know that my updates will be sporadic because I am on the road now. You can follow (more or less) the road trip at ColinBate.com

Easy for me anyway. I put a call into the Irish Embassy to enquire about a student visas and they told me that all I need to do is check in with the police when I arrive in Dublin and have my passport and documents proving I will be attending school there. They will then stamp my passport and I am good to go. No application process, no lengthy wait period, just a simple easy task that I don't need to worry about until I get there.

Still trying to sort out the mess that the Greek and Spanish impose on this whole process.

Just to let you know that my dad and I returned home safely yesterday afternoon. Right now we are going through the whole post-road trip laziness where we don't want to deal with updating our travelogue or getting the photos online. I guess I shouldn't speak for my dad, but I am certainly feeling that way. :)

One thing of particular note that really doesn't mean too much to anyone but me is that I was in the only Apple store in Canada last Thursday (the 18th). It is located in the Yorkdale Mall and despite the odds, I made it out without buying anything. My dad wasn't as lucky. However it was a nice Mac zen-like experience.

The photo gallery from my recent road trip is online.

I have just finished uploading my recent additions to my desktop wallpaper. There might be a couple more arrive in the next couple of days so you can keep checking back. If you have any requests you can send those to me.

The cat was sitting next to me just a couple of minutes ago. He wasn't doing anything but sitting there like cats tend to do when he started flicking my leg with his tail. That was when I started thinking wouldn't it be weird to have a tail? This muscular protrusion from the bottom of your back? Obviously we'd have to rethink chairs and modify clothing but aside from that it is simply hard to imagine what that would be like.

Just want to wish Sarah all the best on this the anniversary of her birth. :)

I just hope that the camping trip we are taking for the birthday goes well and it doesn't rain too much.

Just a reminder that season one of House comes out on DVD today. Futureshop.ca has it for $53.99, Amazon.ca has it for $53.19 and Chapters.ca has it for $48.97.