Random Tangents, Take Two...

Failure to post

2009-10-12T21:29:00.002-04:00

Hm. Whoops.

Also, CBC Radio 3 has changed their player format, and now mine is gone from my sidebar. Le sigh. Revamping to come soon? Mayhaps.

Gobble gobble.

Mixtape Experiment 2009

2009-05-07T19:25:00.004-04:00

Fourth annual music mixtape "experiment" starts today, folks.

EDIT: fixed the third link so it actually goes to last year's post. Also, finished listings are 2006, 2007, 2008[fail in posting tracklist]). /EDIT

If you'd like to participate, here's what you need to do:

Post a comment with a song (including artist) or two. Make it a song that you love, or can't get out of your head, or one you think the world should know about (for good reasons. Not like, "THIS SONG IS SO HORRIBLE I MUST SHARE IT"). Quality, people.
With your song(s), post some input/fun facts/insights! I'd like to make some "liner notes" to go with the mix.
If I can't find the song, (or if you want to make my life easier), I will comment back and ask for it. Alternatively, post a link/email it to me.
After some time has passed, I'll compile the songs into a sweet playlist and share.

Aaaaaaand go!

Jokes!

2009-03-03T21:23:00.002-05:00

What happened to the magical tractor?

It turned into a field.

What does Snoop Dogg use to wash his whites?

Blee-otch

Did you hear about the red ship and the blue ship that collided?

All the sailors were marooned.

Wordle

2009-02-20T21:40:00.002-05:00

This is fun. I know there are other tools that are similar, but Wordle.net lets you generate pretty tag clouds from text or a URL.

Open Letter to Rock Climbing Wall

2009-02-11T12:27:00.003-05:00

Dear Rock Climbing Wall,

I plan on visiting you today. It's been a couple weeks, and my muscles seem to have returned to the right places, with no lasting pain, so I think it's about time. I appreciate that you made me more aware that there are indeed muscles in my shoulders and around my ribcage region. I also appreciate you being sturdy and whatnot, and not shaking with some type of twisted rock-wall laughter when I slipped, in my non-climbing shoes, and had to fall off the wall.

All of this being said, Rock Climbing Wall, I ask for a similar or better experience today. Because I even cut my super-length fingernails, just for you.

With respect,
Robyn

EDIT

p.s. I am sorry I did not actually visit today. My partner-in-climb was injured. Maybe tomorrow!

Lentil Soup

2009-02-02T00:19:00.000-05:00

I make lentil soup as a meal fairly frequently, but it's usually missing something that makes it taste really good, you know? That something extra that makes it so you don't need to add an extra pound of salt to make it taste good.

Tonight, however, was a different story. Tonight's lentil soup was tasty. Also, I properly diced an onion for the first time in my life. *pat on back*

Ingredients!

-olive oil, to cover bottom of pan (and then some)
-2 to 3 cloves of crushed garlic
-half a white cooking onion, diced
-chopped carrots, about a double-handful's worth*
-two stalks celery, chopped*
-two tomatoes, chopped into large chunks, most seeds removed
-3 tins of lentils
-water or soup stock
-salt (herbed, if possible) and pepper to taste
-coriander and paprika to taste

* usually I use enough combined carrots and celery so it fully covers the bottom of the pan/pot

Utensils!

-knives, to chop things
-wooden spoon, to stir things
-largish round pot/saucepan, within which to cook things

Recipe!

1. Sautée garlic and onions in the olive oil until almost brown, at about level 8 heat (given 10 is max heat). Stir often.
2. Add chopped carrots and celery. Cook until almost fully cooked (i.e. you can break a carrot piece in half with the wooden spoon).
3. Add tomatoes to the pot. Cook for a couple minutes, until they start looking softish.
4. Pour in the tins of lentils (including liquid) and stir immediately.
5. Add water or stock, in an amount that suits your taste. Less gives you more of a stew. If you use water, crumble two bouillon cubes in as well.
6.Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Allow the whole thing to come to a rolling boil at level 8 heat. Once it starts boiling, turn down the heat and let simmer for at least 10 minutes or so.
8. Add paprika and coriander and allow to simmer a bit more.

Ta dah! Serve on its own, or with toast, or with noodles or rice!

Knitting!

2009-01-31T15:49:00.003-05:00

Oh goodness I am going to learn how to knit. It shall be fun. It may be disastrous.

Just going to start with a scarf. Although it would be really, really awesome to be able to knit this.

Music Shopping

2009-01-26T13:33:00.002-05:00

So, I'm doing some comparative shopping for music online. And it's ridiculous!
amazon.ca has A.C. Newman's "Get Guilty" for $12.99. It's $18.99 at chapters.indigo.ca ! Six dollar difference!

EDIT: I clicked the wrong site. It's $12.99 (USD) on amazon.com, and $22.99 on amazon.ca . So there's still quite a discrepancy.

Any good concerts coming up? Joel Plaskett is releasing a new album in late March. I'm excited.

Three Confused Pugs

2009-01-11T21:50:00.001-05:00

This video entertains me to no end.

So it's 2009...

2009-01-05T13:40:00.002-05:00

Happy new year! A little late. Oh well!

Resolutions, the generalized edition:

1. Get in shape. Take some kind of fitness class.
2. Draw more. Consider portraits of people as an option.
3. Keep organized. Applies to many aspects of life.
4. Attend at least 12 concerts, to average one per month.
5. Write. This may or may not apply to this blog.

Those are the main things I've been thinking about, resolution-wise. Anywho.

The Library

2008-11-30T18:07:00.002-05:00

I received a notice in the mail the other week, informing me that this was my third notification and that I was being charged for a book I never returned to the library (WHICH I could have sworn I'd returned). I had not, in fact, received any notifications prior to this point. Also, they were going to charge me $30 to replace the book (about double what it would have cost to get it from Amazon), plus "overdue" fines.

Needless to say, I was not impressed. I checked all the places in my house where I could have had the book. Not there; I had a pretty strong memory of returning it.

So, today I went to the library and went to the shelves. They had three copies of the novel on the shelf, two of which had the same cover as the book I borrowed. I compared the bar codes to the one I was being charged for in my letter: one matched.

Thankfully, the librarians understood and apologized for the problem, and cleared the fines from my account. This has happened to me before at a different library; it kind of sucks that it happens, but both times have ended well.

Busy busy

2008-11-10T22:00:00.002-05:00

I hate not writing things here, as I enjoy reading blogs and feel bad when I don't write anything. On the other hand, I'm being fairly productive otherwise.

Some links for your amusement:

Live Webcam on a box full of puppies
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (comic)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Digital Sand
A baby hippopotamus

Zombie Papercrafts!

2008-10-29T12:46:00.002-04:00

Zombies are a big hit these days, or at least they are in my circles. In any event: Zombie Papercrafts! They are so great, and far simpler than the Wall-E one I attempted a while back.

Autumn

2008-10-21T17:48:00.000-04:00

I had to rake leaves this weekend. I had a couple of options in the rake department, and have concluded that metal rakes are not optimal for raking large amounts of leaves. Large plastic rakes are ideal.

Also, it is FREEEEEZING outside today. That is all.

And for those who didn't know

2008-10-16T18:54:00.001-04:00

Harper. Conservative minority.

Canadians, Vote Today

2008-10-14T09:58:00.002-04:00

I'm going to keep this to the point:

Today is the day of the Federal Elections.

If you are 18 years of age or older, please go vote. It's very simple. Here it is in three easy steps:

1. Find your designated polling location
-Visit www.elections.ca and enter your postal code to find your polling location.

2. Bring your voter registration card and ID required to register at your poll
-ID to register at the poll can be found on the Elections Canada website, under “Voter Identification at the polls”. You will need to proof of your address to register at the poll.
-EVEN IF you do not have your Voter Information Card, you can register to vote with ID and proof of address. This explains acceptable ID.

3. Get to your polling station and vote!

Before you vote, learn about the different parties:
Green Party of Canada: http://www.greenparty.ca/
Liberal Party of Canada: http://www.liberal.ca/
NDP: http://www.ndp.ca/
Conservative Party of Canada: http://www.conservative.ca/
Bloc Quebecois: http://www.presentpourlequebec.org/accueil.aspx

That's all I have to say. Thank you and have a great day.

Un échange

2008-10-10T21:32:00.002-04:00

What I write on here isn't really "bloggish", I think. I just enjoy posting random tidbits and links and whatnot.
Given that, I'm thinking a change to twitter or tumblr might be in order. Suggestions?

Old school games with a science twist

2008-10-03T13:30:00.002-04:00

There is Defendoid. And then there is Acideroids. Oh my.

Polaris Music Prize Winner

2008-09-29T22:31:00.001-04:00

Caribou has won the Polaris Music Prize for their album Andorra. Time to check it out!

Mixtape Experiment 2008

2008-09-29T13:54:00.006-04:00

EDIT: Link fixed.

S0, uh, about that mixtape Experiment. From, uh, June.

Oh wait! Here it is!

*cough*

Cell phones and books

2008-09-27T22:54:00.003-04:00

I recently got a new cell phone. I'm frustrated by the fact that I can't turn a song on it into my ringtone, however apparently I can make a video a ringtone. So I might just film a song being played loudly and use that.

Tomorrow is Word on the Street in a variety of locations around Canada; I'm looking forward to getting some intriguing books for cheap! I've made some great purchases there in the past (including a $50 science encyclopedia/dictionary for $5), and it's always interesting to see who sets up. I'm guessing that my backlog of books to read will be increased tomorrow.

Webcomic discovery

2008-09-20T20:54:00.004-04:00

I happened upon "Kawaii Not" today. It's "the webcomic for cute gone bad". I have been laughing all the way through the archives, and I would wear most of the comics on a tshirt. Check it out.

Internet Fun

2008-09-17T23:19:00.001-04:00

Comment and I'll give you a letter; then you have to list ten things you LOVE that begin with that letter. Afterward, post this in your journal and give out some letters of your own.

I got "D". In no particular (but a little bit of) order:

1. Dancing
2. Deliciousness
3. Dr. Horrible (and his corresponding Sing-Along Blog)
4. DJs that are good at what they do
5. Dramatic faces
6. Deoxyribonucleic acid
7. Dreaming
8. December
9. Dinosaur comics
10. Double door entrances

In Frequent Rotation

2008-09-15T14:52:00.002-04:00

Everday - The Field
All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
Dancer - Woodhands
Goodnight, California - Kathleen Edwards
The Garden - Mirah
Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend
I Was A Daughter - Basia Bulat

Clean desk and room!

2008-09-13T23:10:00.000-04:00

Ohmygosh it is so nice.

Glorious, glorious sleep

2008-09-10T12:55:00.003-04:00

I am caught up on sleep and sleeping at regular hours and it is GLORIOUS. Sleeping is definitely not overrated. I feel so good.

In other news, I can't see my desk again. That will have to be rectified this week. There is an empty spot where my laptop usually sits, because I am getting more RAM! And the flickery screen fixed! Hurrah!

I found what looks like a delicious recipe for a rice/Italian sausage/rapini dish. I will try it out soon, I think.

If you buy any of the Polaris nominated albums from certain locations (check out the Polaris website) you get a free song download card! HMV was late in getting into this deal, but that is okay. I forgive you, HMV. You should, however, stop selling books and other things, HMV, because it is very distracting and not what I am looking for when I walk into your store.

Tangental thoughts

2008-08-27T16:34:00.003-04:00

I can see my desk! Sweet! This is definitely an improvement. The floor's a little cluttered now, but that's alright.

I'm writing a report, which is fun times.

Oh, so last week I had some "fun" with the car. Aka I got a flat, then proceeded to disengage the muffler AFTER the flat was fixed. And then I had to wait another several hours for a tow truck. Thank you to all the nice people who were there and/or helped out :) And/or understood that the lateness of said event required my sleeping in and showing up late for work the next day.

I have purple sneakers again! They are fantastic.

Now to do other important things.

Perpetual messiness, as they say

2008-08-19T21:35:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting at my computer and just looking at all the piles of stuff I have everywhere. And thinking about the piles in my room. And in a computer lab.

I'm an organized person, so the piles pain me a bit, but I need that little kick to get going. Or a large chunk of time. I think this weekend may be conducive to cleaning and tidying.

It's a nice little break, you know? Filtering through all the stuff you've got lying around, just waiting to be chucked or filed or posted. Or finding things that you forgot you had. Oh look, a cheque! (Just kidding. I knew it was there).

Busy as a bee

2008-08-17T21:15:00.002-04:00

Been very busy, but not had too much (or too much time) to blog.

I'm looking for a good recipe to use a giant zucchini in; maybe zucchini bread? I've never actually had zucchini bread.

Time for more sleeping soon; it's not overrated.

This Groove is Out of Fashion

2008-08-06T19:37:00.002-04:00

Brian Eno and David Byrne have a new album coming out: "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today". You can download one of the tunes from their website. Good times, and a throwback to the style of the Talking Heads.

I've had pasta for dinner for the past three days because I had some delicious homemade sauce and wanted to finish it. So good.

Made a trip to the library. Picked up Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' "Stardust" (loved the movie, hope to love the novel); Neal Stephenson's "Zodiac"; a novel by Mark Leyner (the title of which escapes me right now); and some movies I've meant to watch but never got around to.

Whoever said "out of the mouths of babes" got it right; children are oft quite insightful.

Someone made Dr. Horrible - the My Little Ponies version.

Intriguing stats.

Fin.

Robyn at 5

2008-07-27T18:12:00.002-04:00

I just found my school journal from when I was 5 years old. Several of the entries have made me chuckle. In particular:

May 31:
Robyn: I am green. I hop from lillypad to lillypad. I say ribbit. Who am I?
Teacher's comment: Do you have a cousin named Kermit?
Robyn: no.

Spinning Counterclockwise

2008-07-20T16:47:00.002-04:00

I've been sick the past couple of days. While being sick is no fun, I've got to say that's it's forced me to slow down a bit. Goodness knows I needed that.

Just finished re-reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; great novel. I helped someone with setting up a website. I watched "Penelope", which was cute. I made a phone call to verify a donation for an event I'm working on. I've tried to make news of Dr. Horrible spread. I've determined that my new shower does not, in fact, go below the temperature of "rather warm", and need to figure out how to change that. I've commiserated about how Watchmen doesn't come out til next March but the trailer looks amazing and I want to watch it now.

All of this at a very relaxed pace. Now to clean my room.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

2008-07-16T20:55:00.002-04:00

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog: A Joss Whedon film. First act was released yesterday; second tomorrow; third on Saturday; all are online til the 20th of July.

"A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few."

SO GOOD.

Retail Therapy

2008-07-05T22:19:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I just want to go BUY THINGS. Usually with a purpose, sometimes I'm a sucker for a sale, but whatever.
Today I wanted/needed(ish) to buy some clothes. I didn't get up until noon, so my afternoon was limited.

And it's Saturday --which means that most malls, and the stores I wanted to shop at, close at 6. You'd think that on days that I usually have free, places would stay open to take my money. Apparently not. Suckers.

Ended up with a summery skirt, all cotton and swishy-like.

Good plan

2008-06-19T22:22:00.000-04:00

They gave me glitter spray again.

Watch out world.

Mixtape Experiment 2008

2008-06-12T16:43:00.004-04:00

And now, it is the time you've all been waiting for...Robyn's third annual mixtape experiment!

You may know the drill. If not, here's what happens: post a song title (with its artist) as a comment. If you can email me the song file, or post a link, that would also be helpful. I will compile all the songs into one master playlist, the idea being that we'll get a plethora of different songs all together in one big happy mix. Don't just pick a random song; pick one you like or love or find floating through your head or the one you keep coming back to. Or something along those lines.

New for this year: include a "liner note" that you want to go along with the song. If you really don't want to, that's fine, but it's always nice to get some different perspectives on a tune.

I'll be picking a song too, and collecting from other posting sources, possibly.

Go to!

Space! and Music!

2008-06-11T23:01:00.002-04:00

It appears that when you delete all the songs in your iTunes library in order to re-transfer in from an external, it also deletes the songs in your playlists, so you have playlist names, but no song names in the playlist. Whoops!

WHICH REMINDS ME. It's time for another...*drumroll*... music mixtape experiment! Info to be posted tomorrow because I am tired now.

Los Campesinos!

2008-05-26T21:50:00.002-04:00

I didn't go to their show at Lee's, but the fellow at my local movie store did, I gathered, as he was wearing a new-looking Los Campesinos! shirt. I asked him about it, he was all "YEAH it was Awesome! Were you there?" and I was all "No", wistful-like, so he was all "oh...uh...they weren't...that good."

Which tangents to the fact that I have bought the LC! album and am looking forward to listening to it in the near future. Also I am resolving a lack of hard drive space, but have almost killed my MacBook in the effort. Onwards!

Not a Doppelganger

2008-05-18T23:53:00.002-04:00

I forgot to mention...

I was walking down Pitt St. in Sydney, on my way to a grocery store to stock up on Tim Tams before my flight home. As I walked, I glanced at the people to my sides, half in interest, half making sure I wasn't stepping on anyone's toes. All of a sudden, in glancing to my right (for you walk on the left in Australia), I happened upon a familiar face -- but not personally familiar. I did a quick double take, and in that moment, saw a characteristic hair flip and smile that I've seen on the screen in Firefly, Serenity, and Waitress.

Yes, I had just walked by Nathan Fillion. And to further prove it (because I could barely believe it), I checked and found out that there was a Serenity conference in town two days later, which he was slated to attend.

That pretty much made Sydney.

Back to it. Also, cookies.

2008-05-12T21:51:00.003-04:00

I'm back. No jet lag, which was nice; just tiredness. I'll put some photos up at a later point in time.

In other news, Tim Tams are APPARENTLY sold in Canada thru the Loblaws chain. This needs some investigation, but I've heard it from several reliable sources. And also Wikipedia.

I baked cookies tonight -- maple syrup, coconut, dried cranberry cookies, at that. They are tasty but too crisco-y. I think next time I'll add more coconut and cranberries; maybe some chocolate. They're pretty much like eating sugar in cookie form, and I would say they're "om nom nom" worthy.

Quick Update

2008-05-07T06:20:00.002-04:00

I only have 11 more minutes of internet time that I've paid for.

SO.

I'm in Sydney, went on a city orientation walk/tour thing, did the Opera House thing, went to the Museum of Contemporary Art (cool piece on the Inverse Ninja Law), saw some markets and shopping centres, Sydney and Darling Harbours, went to the Sydney Aquarium yesterday, slept a lot last night, need to find another book to read as I've polished off the two I brought and am almost done the one I bought (A Thousand Splendid Suns).

Brisbane was lovely; Australia had Labour Day on Monday so Sunday was ridiculous all over the country in terms of people being out and about, possibly some pictures when I get home.

JB Hi-Fi has ridiculously wonderful prices on CDs.

Sydney is more city-like than Brisbane, more bustling, tourists, smog-like, cars and buses and monorails everywhere. Everything's within a reasonable walking distance though.

I've seen a large number of doppelgangers in Australia of people that I know in Canada, I've done quite a few double-takes.

Went to the Gold Coast again before I left Brisbane; all in all, it's been wonderful. Now my time is bleeping warnings at me; more when I get home!

Translation

2008-05-01T19:27:00.004-04:00

Lingo encountered so far:

singlet = tank top

thongs = flip flops, but also sometimes actual thongs

togs = bathing suits

hotels = pubs/bars, most of the time

Vegemite = food item similar in appearance to nutella, a by-product of beer-making

sunnies = sunglasses

tomato (pronounced toe-MA-toe) sauce = ketchup

lemonade = Sprite/7up (generally)

Whirlwind

2008-04-29T03:37:00.001-04:00

Goodness, my gracious host has made sure that I'm seeing everything, and I've only been here five days! According to the Brisbane Visitors' Guide, there is a list of things that are "must-sees" in Brisbane. Here they are:

Mt. Coot-ha lookout.

Check (at a glorious 8am after I got in from my flight).

South Bank.

Check. To be checked again upon further forays into sun-bathing.

Cultural Centre.

Check. Went to the Gallery of Modern Art (largest Modern Art Gallery in the Southern hemisphere) and the Sciencentre (Who says Science Centres are for kids? Danielle and I had a blast).

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

Plans to do this this weekend.

A trip on the Brisbane River.

Check. Took the CityCat boats.

Moreton Bay.

Whoops, I lied. Didn't do this one. I SAW the island from the mainland though.

City Botanic Gardens.

Check. Gorgeous. Imagine being on a university campus, and then deciding, "Oh I'm just going to walk 20 steps to some Botanic Gardens". Wonderful.

Mt. Coot-ha Botanic Gardens

Uncheck.

Roma Street Parklands.

Check. Walked through them today, lovely.

Story Bridge.

Check. Well, we drove over it.

Plus we went to a mangrove forest on the water, shopping in the Queen St. Mall (an open mall on the street), walked through the city, went to the Normanby...I'm having a wonderful time. Lessons into Australian lingo to be posted another time.

Down Under

2008-04-26T04:09:00.002-04:00

I'm currently in Brisbane, Australia, and it is fantastic. The weather is glorious, I've been toured around the city, went to the Gold Coast and Surfer's Paradise, everyone says hello (actually, "G'day mate")...goodness. I can see why people stay.

My flight was great, no jet lag, plus I've rediscovered that I really, really love to fly.

I'm currently trying to get an idea of Australian music, it's working out well so far. I'm compiling a list. Some Canadian stuff is popular here too, notably Tegan & Sara's "Back in Your Head".

If this all sounds like a list, oh well! I am having an amazing time. I slept for 11 hours last night, and felt, (here I quote myself), "remarkably chipper" when I woke up. I tried something called "Vegemite", which is apparently popular. It's like concentrated vitamin spread. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience. Now I have to try something called "tim tams", which is sort of like a cookie chocolate bar thing? We shall see. My cousin also taught me how to make proper risotto. Mmmm. Deliciousness.

More later!

Ups and Downs

2008-04-19T22:26:00.002-04:00

I think I just almost coughed up a lung. Delicious.

I didn't get to bake any cookies, tasty or otherwise. I did go dancing though. Fun times.

Points for Amazon, which delivered my book within two days of ordering (with free shipping!). Minus points for the monopoly that is Ticketmaster, charging $6 on top of my ticket prices. Saw the New Pornographers last week, opener was Okkervil River; rather good. NP were a little less impressive than when I saw them at WinterCity Fest, but their songs are of a different style with this last album. I was disappointed that Dan Bejar didn't get to rock out. BUT it was still pretty awesome, and totally worth it to hear Mass Romantic live with Neko singing.

Spring!

2008-04-16T20:20:00.002-04:00

I have decided that the weather is now officially conducive to being called "spring." Before writing this I checked when I've mentioned spring before, and it turns out that they were within a day of each other in 2006 and 2007. Spring started later this year.

I just feel so cheerful when it's gorgeous out, and even when it's raining it feels like a renewal. And there is currently a rather pretty sunset happening through my window.

I want to start projects, I want to clean, I want to play Ultimate, I want to bake cookies, and dance, and sing as if it doesn't matter whether you hit all the notes all the time, as long as it's fun. I am going to read now, and dance and bake cookies tomorrow.

Why WOULDN'T they?

2008-04-12T17:13:00.000-04:00

How hard did this make me laugh yesterday? So hard.

Laughs

2008-04-03T09:48:00.000-04:00

Spam emails are actually really hilarious.

No need to ask my name

2008-03-31T19:28:00.002-04:00

Randomness:

Fewer ants. YES.
Winning a Chapters gift card. YES.

I have been sort of starting to get a cold for the past five days, or thereabouts. Not fun.

Cookie baking is, I think, in my near future. Probably next week. Pretty much they are going to be delicious, maybe I will put up photos? Or if I know and see you in "real life" maybe you can eat some. It will depend on how fast I eat them, haha.

Current favourite song that I am playing rather frequently is "DVNO" by Justice. I enjoy it, makes my foot tap.

The character of Ethan Jarlewski was wearing this Threadless t-shirt in a recent episode of jPod.

This is an interesting glance at how our culture and society have changed, in what Barry Wellman calls "Cyber Times". It's a neat way to show the fluidity of experiences and how they evolve or are revolutionized, although arguably things don't "revolutionize" as much as we think. There's a long history behind most anything that exists today. Take text messaging, for example: an evolved form of email, letters, telegraphs.

And that's all from my thoughts for now.

True Story of the Day

2008-03-22T16:24:00.002-04:00

Best summed up by this personally customized image:

St. Patrick's Day Mixtape

2008-03-17T21:19:00.002-04:00

There has been some confusion as to the actual St. Patrick's Day this year; it was technically observed (by the Roman Catholic Church) on March 15, due to this week being Holy Week.

But, in the spirit of celebration, I suppose, I made a St. Patrick's Day Mixtape for today, the usual St. Patrick's day. All the tunes are by Irish artists.

Download from here.

Tracklist:

1. Rolling in the Ryegrass – Caoimhin O Raghallaigh
2. I Don't Like Mondays – Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats
3. Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
4. Streams of Whiskey – The Pogues
5. Wild Child – Enya
6. Eve, The Apple of My Eye – Bell X1
7. C'est La Vie – B*Witched *
8. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
9. Dueling Bagpipes – The Chieftans
10. Trying To Pull Myself Away – Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova & The Frames
11. Chocolate – Snow Patrol
12. Linger – The Cranberries
13. Blown A Wish – My Bloody Valentine **
14. Who Died And Made You Elvis? – Stiff Little Fingers

*Had to include some 90's girlband stuff for fun.
**I don't like MBV. They only got a place because they were big in the Shoegaze movement and inspired a lot of bands that I like.

3/14 1:59

2008-03-14T10:40:00.002-04:00

Happy Pi Day to all!

I am extremely excited for this year's Pi day, as I have lots of Pie collecting/making/consumption planned, and also it is Friday. Pi Day on a Friday! How witty.

Apparently Kate Bush sings a song called Pi in which she recites digits of Pi (and also messes up the order).

Sweet

2008-03-10T11:43:00.001-04:00

Happy International Day of Awesomeness. I am celebrating by being awesome.

Also, Happy Birthday Chuck Norris.

Lightbulbs

2008-03-04T21:14:00.000-05:00

How many hipsters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

You mean you don't know?!

I'm free?

2008-03-03T10:16:00.001-05:00

Randall Munroe said it, so it must be true, right?

"A generation seraphically free from taint of personality"

2008-03-01T15:17:00.003-05:00

Science fiction is rather important to me, as a genre of literature. I don't mean the campy, sell-by-the-millions fluff SciFi (although, to be fair, I'm not really sure how you would qualify that. Plenty of the good stuff has sold well. And I think we all enjoy some fluff, no matter the genre, every once in a while). In any event, I mean the SciFi novels that do justice to literature, and deserve to be called literature. Stories that look at society and create a commentary that makes you stop and think, or stories that stand the test of time in their applicability. Stories that predict or shape the world culture and development.

One such story that has recently quite impressed me, particularly in terms of its applicability, is E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops". It was written in 1909 - nigh on a hundred years ago - and some of the issues he deals with are just as, if not more so, relevant today as they were then. I won't spoil it, but I highly suggest you read it if you have a bit of time. Me, I'm going to go do some work. Enough screen-communication for now.

The Customer

2008-02-26T23:55:00.002-05:00

Tales of when the customer is not always right. Good for a chuckle.

You've probably seen it already...

2008-02-25T22:21:00.002-05:00

...but this is probably the most controversial comic I've ever read.

Internet Hard Drive

2008-02-24T21:31:00.003-05:00

I'm doing a fair chunk of reading on cyberspace, privacy, anonymity, etc. etc. I'll probably post some articles at a later point (i.e. once I've actually fully read all of them), but in searching through Wired I came across this article, which brings up some thoughtful points on the lack of permanence on the Internet. It especially hit me because a couple of articles I wanted to save a copy of disappeared in the last couple of days (due to annual updates that wipe old articles). Hm. Slightly disconcerting...like losing a library.
Sometimes I think about my links, too...they'll probably be gone sooner or later. Heck, this blog won't exist at some point, I suppose.
Back to reading.

Silence

2008-02-23T18:09:00.001-05:00

Whew. I finally stopped being lazy and looked at the CBC Radio 3 player code again. So now it doesn't autoplay and cause potential awkwardness and headaches by music randomly blasting.

New favourite toy/tool

2008-02-22T23:05:00.003-05:00

While someone was using my laptop (I'm not going to name names), my MacBook, they launched a number of windows and programs, didn't know how to close them, and left. This would typically be much to my chagrin, however, somehow she launched Speech commands. Oh my. I have found my new favourite Mac tool/function/toy, methinks.

30-second later EDIT: AND you can get it to tell you knock knock jokes! ("tell me a joke")

Add it to the list

2008-02-06T00:19:00.000-05:00

Latest reason why I love xkcd: limericks.

One of note:
A dying mosquito exclaimed,
"A chemist has poisoned my brain!"
The cause of his sorrow
Was para-dichloro-
Diphenyl-trichloroethane.

Now, to write my own.

Cheerful Celebrations

2008-01-28T22:07:00.001-05:00

While other things are commemorated today, I choose to recognize the following:

Bubble Wrap (R) Appreciation Day!
-I love bubble wrap. I have yet to meet an individual who does not at least enjoy bubble wrap. This fellow is fairly entertaining (though his spelling error in the text that keeps popping up makes me cringe a little. EDIT, PEOPLE).

Happy Birthday Lego Brick!
-It is the Lego brick's 50th birthday.

That is probably all of the postings for today.

Wii Apps

2008-01-28T18:59:00.000-05:00

Carnegie Mellon Researcher Johnny Chung Lee has developed a new application for the Wii: a virtual reality head tracker. It's startlingly realistic, and shows a great application of a technology criticised by some. And, as he pleads for near the end of the video, maybe Wii game developers will make use of the idea for some new games.

Gorgeous art, hilarious lines...

2008-01-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

...what's not to love? Dinosaur Comics lead me to The Abominable Charles Christopher. It's wonderful. I particularly love the skunks in panel 6 of this comic.

Stimulating conversations

2008-01-20T01:15:00.000-05:00

I think I've found the solution to awkward social situations where you don't really know what to talk about: cheese.

Seriously. I've used it many times, and you can actually go off on some great tangents and learn things about people, hence leading to perhaps more "relevant" topics. But that part doesn't really matter, right? [edit: note sarcasm]

Personally, I love cheese; I used to be lactose intolerant so I can really appreciate it now. There are so many varieties, flavours, textures, methods of consumption (fondue, on a cracker, straight up, in a sandwich, on pizza, etc.)...the only cheese I've eaten that I truly do not enjoy is blue cheese. I've given it a fair shot on a number of occasions (even some Gouda shot through with blue cheese) and I always end up wildly searching for the nearest beverage or edible foodstuff. Blech. I think the most interesting kind I've had was Gjetost, which is a brown caramel-ish goat cheese. Not unpleasant, but definitely a unique flavour.

And that's my cheese spiel for the evening.

Partial List

2008-01-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

Among other "New Year's resolutions" that I've made, I have resolved (happily) to listen to more Canadian music. As such, I have now embedded a CBC Radio 3 player on the right hand side of this blog. I have not yet learned how to make it not auto-play, as change the code from "true" to "false" apparently did not work, so be warned that you will be serenaded every time you visit this blog. Unless I decide to change it. Which is more than possible. The playlist is currently their top 100 songs of 2007.

Other resolutions/plans:
-be more disciplined in getting things done. I'm pretty organized, I just sometimes get distracted. Which is not always a bad HEY LOOK IT'S SNOWING
-read at LEAST one book for fun every two months.
-cook more. Learn how to cook more interesting things. Please give me recipes if you have any good ones. I can share my recipe for lentil soup!
-take up the clarinet again.
-write for fun, more often.
-write more "meat and potatoes-y" blog posts. Maybe. The one-line posts won't go away.
-attend lots of concerts.
-have a wine and cheese party.

and hey! I did a bunch of stuff from my last list!

Happy New Year

2008-01-05T11:50:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year and all that jazz. I have to things to say and do, but first I get to fix router issues. woohoo!

Random Slogan Generator

2007-12-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

Picked this up off of Meg, bound to bring hours (?) of endless entertainment. Or at least until it starts reusing slogans. Type it your word and watch slogans be generated.

My favourites so far:
(for the "word" "deliciousness")
-"You've got questions. We've got deliciousness."
-"Four out of five dentists recommend deliciousness."

random ones:
- "Ennui-lickin' good."
-"Have a break. Have an apple."

and so on.

S'now Joke

2007-12-24T12:26:00.000-05:00

Turns out that weather warning was warranted...snow came down in buckets. I drove to the theatre in it anyway (after the snow had stopped). THAT was fun. However, it was worth it, because I finally saw "Once". Wonderful. It did, however, convince me to stop reading so many plot summaries before I go see a film that I want to see. Knowing what was going to happen killed a bit of the experience.

I'll be doing lots of family/friends/Christmas/birthday/celebratory stuff over the next week. And a lot of sleeping. And reading. A friend of mine loaned me more of the volumes/books of "Y: The Last Man", which is awesome.

Looks like we'll have a white Christmas too. I'm excited to go tobogganing...I haven't gone in years.

Snow joke: Two snowmen are standing in a snowy field. One says to the other, "Do you smell carrots?"

Merry Christmas!

Snow

2007-12-15T17:06:00.001-05:00

I love Environment Canada. Such a positive, gentle method of delivering the weather forecast. Check out their winter weather warning for today:

A NEAR-CRIPPLING SNOW STORM WITH HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW AS WELL AS SOME ICE PELLETS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. THIS IS A WARNING THAT DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.

A MASSIVE WINTER STORM IS ABOUT TO STRIKE MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ONTARIO WITH NEAR RECORD SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. LATEST ANALYSES INDICATES THAT THE DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS MOVING INTO WESTERN TENNESEE PRECEEDED BY A BURGEONING AREA OF MODERATE SNOW WITH SOME FREEZING PRECIPITATION EXTENDING NORTH TO LAKE ERIE. THE LOW WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE LOWER GREAT LAKES AND INTENSIFY RAPIDLY AS IT REACHES OHIO SUNDAY MORNING THEN TRACK ACROSS NEW YORK STATE INTO NEW ENGLAND SUNDAY NIGHT. THIS STORM TRACK WILL PLACE MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ONTARIO DIRECTLY UNDER THE BRUNT OF HEAVY SNOW. A FEW CLAPS OF THUNDER ALONG WITH BURSTS OF VERY HEAVY SNOW ARE ALSO LIKELY. PATCHY AREAS OF SNOW HAVE AFFECTED PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO TODAY AS WELL AS A LAKE SNOW BAND MEANDERING ACROSS TORONTO. THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THIS BAND MAY INTENSIFY THIS EVENING OVER TORONTO GIVING LOCALLY 5 CM OR MORE. THE BRUNT OF THE MAIN SNOW EVENT WILL BEGIN THIS EVENING IN THE SOUTHWEST AND RAPIDLY ENVELOP ALL REGIONS EAST TO OTTAWA IN THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF SNOW AS WELL AS STRONG WINDS CAUSING BLOWING SNOW ARE EXPECTED. FREEZING RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE NEAR LAKE ERIE. WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 30 CM ARE EXPECTED IN MOST AREAS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. SOME LOCAL AMOUNTS OF 40 CM OR MORE ARE QUITE LIKELY IN A FEW AREAS BY SUNDAY NIGHT..ESPECIALLY FROM THE WEST END OF LAKE ONTARIO AND EASTWARDS INTO FAR EASTERN ONTARIO. SIGNIFICANT BLOWING SNOW IS EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THE HEAVY SNOW DUE TO STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS GUSTING TO 60 KM/H WHIPPING UP THE FRESHLY FALLEN SNOW AND CAUSING WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY NEAR LAKE ERIE FOR A FEW HOURS OVERNIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING AS MILDER AIR PAYS A BRIEF VISIT ALOFT. ICE PELLETS ARE ALSO QUITE POSSIBLE GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM GRAND BEND TO NEAR TORONTO AND EAST TO CORNWALL. THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE PREPARED TO CHANGE PLANS ACCORDINGLY TO AVOID UNNECESSARY TRAVEL DURING THIS STORM. THIS MASSIVE SNOW STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE NEAR-PARALYZING CONDITIONS AS ROAD TRAVEL ON ANY UNPLOWED STREETS MAY BECOME NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE ON SUNDAY. ALL MOTORISTS WHO MUST TRAVEL ARE URGENTLY ADVISED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION AND PLAN FOR MUCH EXTRA TIME TO REACH THEIR DESTINATION. THERE IS A HIGH DEGREE OF CERTAINTY WITH THIS STORM AS THE CONCENSUS OF WEATHER MODEL DATA IS VIRTUALLY UNANIMOUSLY FORECASTING THIS EVENT. ENVIRONMENT CANADA CONTINUES TO CLOSELY MONITOR THIS SITUATION. THE WINTER STORM WARNINGS WILL LIKELY BE EXPANDED NORTHEAST ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE REGIONS THIS AFTERNOON.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST PUBLIC FORECASTS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

Not that I don't appreciate the weather warnings at all. They're just entertaining to read, at this point.

At least it's nerdy?

2007-12-12T20:02:00.001-05:00

I had made a sort of promise to myself -- that I would never post an "lolcat"...but I enjoy this one far too much:

The list

2007-12-08T15:34:00.000-05:00

Things to do/see/buy/etc. If you have any other suggestions, go nuts.

-~~make keyboard wallets(one so far)~~
-~~send a few things in the mail that I need to send~~
-write/essay/something about the nature of internet and sociology (loose idea at this point)
-make more flexahedrons/kaleidocycles
-~~purchase or at least listen to the entire "In Rainbows" album~~
-see the films ~~"once", "Juno"~~, "The Darjeeling Limited", "Enchanted", "The Golden Compass", "Margot at the Wedding", "Lars and the Real Girl"
-~~get my hair cut~~
-~~make a birthday music playlist (I am open to suggestions here)~~
-listen to Stars' ~~"Heart"~~ (just purchased), and the two albums I have also just purchased, by the Great Lake Swimmers
-do something to my room so it is not so empty/bare
-plan attendance at concerts (anyone good coming up/making waves that I should be looking into?)
-~~eat more sushi (recently discovered!!)~~
-finish floppy disk bag
-~~generally nerd it up~~

I need to DO more things. Reading and blogging and whatnot is all very well, but I'm feeling a very strong pull to be productive. That said, I'm cleaning up this desk and making some wallets.

50 Answers

2007-12-02T00:29:00.000-05:00

John Campbell (of Pictures For Sad Children and other projects) answers 50 Questions. In comic form.
YES.

EDIT:
This one's my favourite:

"Why do we communicate via e-mails and LJ comments even though you live in the next room?"

"The response is either panic or "COOL!" "

2007-11-22T20:28:00.000-05:00

So, in discussing phobias today, Arachnophobia was brought up.

And, in addition to that, we discussed the Goliath bird-eating spider.

First of all, with a name like that, you know it has to be something pretty crazy.

This spider can have a leg span of up to 12 INCHES. And it eats birds. Holy crap. Good thing I'm not arachnophobic. Sorry if you are and you just read this.

That Guy at the restaurant

2007-11-14T15:13:00.000-05:00

I can totally see T-Rex being That Guy at the restaurant. The whole thing makes me go "awwwwwww..."...then give a guilty giggle at T-Rex's total working of the situation, like I'm in on the whole thing.

FreeRice

2007-11-11T00:02:00.000-05:00

"Free Rice"...an online "game" where, by improving your vocabulary, rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

My "is this legit?" radar went up, but upon checking, it seems to be! It's linked on the main WFP site, it's been blogged about and reported on...so go learn some new words and donate some (free) rice!

Halloween: A list

2007-10-31T15:38:00.000-04:00

Disappointments:
-The end of Stylus. It was a good run. I haven't been reading it as much as of late (I only discovered that the Stypod was gone a few weeks ago), but Stylus helped keep me in the loop. Cheers.

Onto the more hilarious occurrences:
-Saw a guy dressed as Mario (of Nintendo fame). This would usually just be alright, but he was riding his bike and loudly singing the Mario Brothers Theme song.
-Two fellows dressed up as JT and the other guy from the SNL "Dick in a Box" skit.
-Watching a random passing guy look extremely freaked out as a friend discussed the dilemmas of a wedgie.

I'm sure I'll have more by the end of the day.

Sweet nectar

2007-10-14T20:56:00.000-04:00

Here's a joke that I was just told:

Q: What did one photon say to the other photon?
A: I'm sick and tired of your interference.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-10-08T21:28:00.000-04:00

Enjoy your turkey! or tofurkey.

Also, enjoy the disgusting summer weather?

Jewelry for the scientist in you

2007-10-05T16:38:00.000-04:00

Alex pointed me to these. Awesome.

Makes sense to me.

2007-10-05T10:24:00.000-04:00

The situation.

The logical question to ask.

I crack myself up.

2007-10-02T20:26:00.001-04:00

I'm reading up on the primary visual cortex (aka Striate cortex)...and I thought of a joke:

What's a Striate cortex neuron's favourite pickup line?

"What's your preferred stimulus orientation?"

I'm actually dying of laugher right now. I am such a nerd.

I might explain it later, but I'm laughing too hard right now.

CAFKA

2007-10-02T19:29:00.000-04:00

I had the privilege of checking out CAFKA (Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener & Area) this weekend as it wrapped up. It's a biennial event, where various forms of art are situated around the Kitchener-Waterloo area at different establishments. This year's theme was CAFKA.07: Haptic.

I checked out the art at Kitchener City Hall, mostly because I had read an article about Stelarc, who is, well, very convinced that the body is obsolete. His piece is called the Prosthetic Head, and is essentially his head, projected 3D onto a screen, that will have a conversation with you as you type your words into a keyboard. It's run on a number of algorithms he's written for it. It also has voice recognition, but currently only for the artist Stelarc (as opposed to the head). It was spookily realistic most of the time, got confused a few times...it asked another person if they could help get a boyfriend at one point, and claimed "he" was a female...then backtracked. I talked to it about robots and physics. It was fun.

(if you navigate through the CAFKA site, you can read about it; can't get a direct link)

Anyways, there were a ton of neat exhibits, including an automated bubble-wrap popper, a "Personal Living Unit", and a huge braille billboard reading "READ ME" (the point of which being that the people it's targeted for can't actually read it, as it's on a billboard).

This is the kind of art I love. Truly.

Top Spins

2007-10-02T18:48:00.000-04:00

...of the past little while:

Take Me to the Riot - Stars
Two Step - Dave Matthews Band
Everlong - Foo Fighters
True Patriot Love - Joel Plaskett Emergency
*When Your Mind's Made Up - Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová & The Frames
*Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy - Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová & The Frames
We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives - Los Campesinos!

plus various tunes by The Arrogants, Joel Plaskett, Stars, Knock Knock Ginger, and Two Hours Traffic

*from the soundtrack to the film "Once".

Once

2007-09-22T21:34:00.000-04:00

A while back, I saw the film "Once" advertised, and noted that it was playing, at the local independent movie theatre. I didn't think too much of it at the time.

It recently came highly recommended by a friend, and, much to my dismay, it's no longer playing in my surrounding area. I downloaded the soundtrack today...it's amazing. I've barely had time to give it one listen-through, but the passion in some of the songs is heart-breaking.

Stars of the film are Glen Hansard of The Frames and Marketa Irglova...both are musicians and are essentially the soundtrack.

For your listening pleasure, Glen Hansard of The Frames and Marketa Irglova performing "When Your Mind's Made" up, from the film "Once":

Update

2007-09-18T09:04:00.000-04:00

-Learning a 2 minute coordinated dance, then having to assist in the teaching of it to about 800 people, then watching said group of 800 people DO the dance, is one of the greatest and craziest experiences ever.

-The other day I completed a career matchmaking test online (through Career Cruising). These were my top 10 careers, based on a preference quiz of about 90 questions:
1.High School Teacher
2.Elementary School Teacher
3.Early Childhood Educator
4.Dentist
5.Dental Hygienist
6.Professor
7.Acupuncturist
8.Optical / Ophthalmic Lab Technician
9.ESL Teacher
10.Picture Framer
I love how it's about half teaching-related, half med-related. And then: Picture Framer.

-I have lots to say about Facebook. But I think that I want to actually write a long, coherent piece about it, not a blog post.

-If you haven't read it, I highly, highly recommend reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. I would call it "literary science fiction". It's very beautiful, and very sad.

-I want/need to read "Spook Country" by Wiliam Gibson, and "Axis" by Robert Charles Wilson.

-"In Our Bedroom After the War" by Stars is a lovely album, insofar as I've listened to it.

That's all for now.

Daft Hands

2007-09-10T17:46:00.000-04:00

While some people sample Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", others take it and give a helping hand (or two).

The games all the cool kids are playing

2007-08-27T18:59:00.000-04:00

I give you:

Line Rider

and Double Wires.

Check out the Line Rider videos on YouTube...they're both awesome and a little scary that people devote that much time to it.

In Dance Mixtape mode

2007-08-19T20:30:00.000-04:00

I'm not a hardcore fan, but I enjoy watching "So You Think You Can Dance". I've been searching out some of the music from the routines, and this is one of my favourites as of late:

The music is "Are You the One?" by the Presets.

Beyond the hype

2007-08-16T21:26:00.000-04:00

Actual good novel:

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde...featuring Dodos, characters in works of literature coming to life, time travel, and quite the villain.

The Hype

2007-08-07T19:22:00.000-04:00

I am so SICK of Harry Potter.

Yes, I read the seventh book.

I watched the fifth movie last night.

The hype over this franchise is driving me nuts. The cheese factor has been upped, it's...eugh. I'm just glad it's done, though there were some pretty good moments in the fifth movie...the final fight scene was neat, and some of the acting was rather good. I think I've just had enough of watching/reading about Harry descend into this whole fear encasement thing, shallow, freaky breathing throughout the whole movie; Hermione's smart girl/"oh Ron" things; I still like Ron's character though.

Anyways.

Also:

2007-07-31T22:08:00.000-04:00

It had better be sunny tomorrow.

I watched "Sunshine" this evening.

Production

2007-07-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

I just finished making a bag out of floppy disks.
That's a bit of a lie; I need to attach the strap still, and work out a better hinge than the wire I'm currently using. It's still pretty sweet.

Apparently the new Safari browser is excellent. I need to look into it.

Any recommendations for cover songs? and/or remixes? I need a few for a mini project.

That's all for now.

Bands/artists to check out:

2007-07-21T23:22:00.000-04:00

Knock Knock Ginger (myspace)
Band from Waterloo, Ontario. Excellent poppy songs. Highly recommend "Love Renee".

Malajube (myspace)
Band from Montreal, Quebec. Don't know too much about them, just that I need to check them out some more.

The Cat Empire (myspace)
Band from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. LOVE the song "Hello". Must check out more.

Mark Ronson (myspace)
Originally from London, England. Recently released an album called "Version", with a variety of song covers. Highly recommend the cover of Radiohead's "Just", and its music video.

Two Hours Traffic (myspace)
Indie/pop band from Charlottetown, PEI. Good stuff. Check out "Stuck for the Summer".

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

2007-07-19T20:42:00.001-04:00

Tech stuff

2007-07-11T19:39:00.000-04:00

the iPhone's out...but will it blend?

Also, true story: a friend handed me her cell phone to see the teeth marks her dog put into it...but all I could think was "I wonder what this looks like on the inside?"

I'm still trying to decide what that means.

Reading

2007-07-11T19:33:00.000-04:00

I've been on a Douglas Coupland kick lately. I've read "Hey Nostradamus", "Microserfs", and I'm currently working on "jPod". I love his style; it incorporates today's technology and things we take for granted into a weird and wonderful reading/art experience.

I've also started getting into comic books...current series-in-progress are "Fables" by Bill Willingham and "Y: The Last Man" by Brian K. Vaughan. I'm really enjoying the latter so far.

And, speaking of sci-fi, William Gibson has a new novel coming out.

Ba dum csh.

2007-07-02T22:33:00.001-04:00

Why does a seagull live by a sea, and not by a bay?

Because then it would be a bay-gull.

oh dear.

Keyboard Wallet

2007-06-24T17:02:00.000-04:00

Ta dah!

This project was largely inspired by this. I modified their design to suit Canadian $$ a bit better, plus I added more card-holders.

I took apart two old keyboards; I found this process oddly satisfying.

This was the target material:

I found that using a paper cutter was far easier than the exactos that were suggested.

It's holding up well, just added a little more packing tape today. Cheers!