Royal Ontario Museum

December 17th was the one-year anniversary when Jack Flacco: The Official Site went live. In celebration of this milestone, I will present the Top 5 Most Popular Freedom Friday posts of 2013.

But before anything else, allow me the gift of your attention to thank you for supporting me during 2013. This certainly has been a year of surprises, for sure. For instance, if you’re curious as to how many views and visitors I had this year, you can read this week’s Monday Mayhem post for site statistics. Also, in keeping with my wanting to express gratitude, I wouldn’t have thought my book would have been the success it is today without the help of my review team and all those who paid me kind words after its release. Thank you so very much, folks!

Onward. When choosing the Top 5 Most Popular Freedom Friday posts, I first wanted to present them based on amount of views. The more I thought of it though, more it didn’t make sense. For instance, a visitor may pop into the site and hit the same post several times within the day. I didn’t think it fair, considering there could have only been two visitors for that day and a hundred views.

Next, I thought I’d use comments as the benchmark. You know, the more comments a post has, the more popular it is. Again, I didn’t think it represented a good way to measure popularity given I can comment on my own post a dozen times and push it ahead on the popularity scale.

No, what I used is the number of “likes” a post has garnered throughout the year. It will not only present a fair representation of popularity for a post but also prevents users from gaming the system with multiple “likes”.

Okay, now for the list. You’ll notice that for third place we have a tie. Other than that, it’s straightforward. Are you ready? Here it is.

The Top 5 Most Popular Freedom Friday posts of 2013:

Canada’s Wonderland Water Fountains

My Favorite Things—“For a long time, photography has inspired me to travel great distances, survive sour weather and mangle my body into weird positions all in the expectation of capturing that perfect shot. Today, I hope you enjoy this edition of Freedom Friday because today, I’d like to give you a tour of my favorite subjects. As…” ~86 likes
Dinosaur Paws

Royal Ontario Museum—“During this year’s spring break, my family and I skipped the idea of going to the Ontario Science Centre and decided to hit the Royal Ontario Museum instead. It was a cold and dark morning, raining to no end, and we thought it great if we could be in among history. Besides, I wanted to…” ~79 likes
A path to the foot of the woods

Autumn Photography—“Every autumn I go on safari. Not really. I treat it as a safari, though. I pack my camera in my satchel, slip on a warm jacket, and head for the woods. What am I hunting, you may ask? Trees, leaves, nature—anything really to depict this glorious season we call fall. And that’s my Freedom…” ~77 likes

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls—“Recently, my family and I took a trip to Port Colborne, a small town west of Fort Erie, half-an-hour away from Niagara Falls. Due to the nature of the trip, it was only for a couple of days, we traveled most of the time in and out of the car, and in and out of…” ~77 likes
Thunder and Lightning Storm

My Dark Secret—“I have a secret. A very deep and dark secret. It’s the kind of secret that would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Yet throughout the past year, holding my tongue, I never thought it possible I could ever admit to having this secret. This is my Freedom Friday…” ~71 likes
Avocado & Lemon

Avocados—“Did you know avocados are a fruit? I didn’t know that for a long time. Much like tomatoes, they have a seed inside. According to science, that’s what makes it a fruit. In cooking, however, it’s a different matter. Served in delicious savory meals, chefs define it more as a vegetable. Avocados also provide an…” ~69 likes

That’s it! Thanks for a great first year here at JackFlacco.com. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be back next week with more posts for your reading pleasure. Have a great weekend!

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, now on sale.

Do you have a favorite Freedom Friday post you’d recommend to your friends?

During this year’s spring break, my family and I skipped the idea of going to the Ontario Science Centre and decided to hit the Royal Ontario Museum instead. It was a cold and dark morning, raining to no end, and we thought it great if we could be in among history. Besides, I wanted to include the trip for my Freedom Friday series.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is located in the heart of Toronto (100 Queens Park). Since I’ve been there numerous times with my wife, the kids needed a refresher of our good ol’ fashioned Canadiana history. Besides, I wanted to see the dinosaurs.

We live in a small town, an hour’s drive north of Toronto. We opted to take the car halfway then take public transit the remainder. Public transit in Toronto goes by the name of the TTC (a.k.a. Toronto Transit Commission). Some studious young folk affectionately know it as “Take the Car” or “The Red Rocket”, on account the buses and street cars are red. I’ve always loved the TTC and there might be issues, as with any public transit system, I still trust the system to carry my family from point A to point B.

When we arrived at the ROM, the first thing we did was hit the dinosaur exhibit. I mentioned I like dinosaurs, didn’t I? The kids get a kick out of it as well. It was a special exhibit only open for spring break, and we wanted to take advantage of it. It was an extra cost to admission, but the entire exhibit was worth seeing.

Something new the organizers did this time around was introduce colored lighting to its exhibits. I don’t remember seeing that with any of the exhibits of the past. Nevertheless, it made the displays pop. Also included were creative backdrops set in the correct period. I especially had fun viewing the volcanic settings for the dinosaurs; they made the tour all the more enjoyable.

Next up, we ventured from the dinosaur exhibit to the food court in the building. Surprise overtook me when I realized they had gluten-free items available for my wife to eat. It made me a happy man. Happy wife, happy life. I went for a large salad while the kids had burgers and fries.

Once we finished our meals, we headed over to the Gallery of Chinese Architecture. We stayed for a bit, examining the beautiful clay pottery and ornaments. It was great seeing how history has been kind to these wonderful pieces.

Our last stop was upstairs in the Canadian section. This has always been one of my favorite sections of the museum. I guess I’ve never been afraid to admit I’m Canadian, and am proud to know our history is rich with culture. But this time, we skipped the cultural section of the exhibit and browsed through Canadian wildlife instead.

Did you know Canada has about 200 species of mammals, 630 species of birds and that Canada’s beaver is the second largest rodent in the world weighing up to 60 pounds (South America’s capybara’s up to 100 pounds)? Fascinating, really.

With all that information in our heads, we decided to call it a night and head back. It was still raining, dark and gray, but I like those days and it made the evening all the more enjoyable when we got back to our nice, cozy home.

Have you ever been to the museum? What is the most fascinating thing you’ve seen?

Tag: Royal Ontario Museum

Anniversary Week—Part III

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