Oh, and check out this guy's tattoo, esp. the arms. It's alternately awesome and really, really sad.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
That's Wakkie Nu Nu!
Don't ask me why, but this video reminds me of Dan and/or Dave for some reason.
Oh, and check out this guy's tattoo, esp. the arms. It's alternately awesome and really, really sad.
Oh, and check out this guy's tattoo, esp. the arms. It's alternately awesome and really, really sad.
Now What?
I was driving to work today and noticed that my Service Engine Soon light was on.
When I left work, it was on again too.
That said, the car seems to be driving fine, there are no weird noises and no odd smells or leaks. I don't want to take it into the shop and waste money if there's nothing wrong but I also don't want anything to go wrong with it.
Stupid car...
When I left work, it was on again too.
That said, the car seems to be driving fine, there are no weird noises and no odd smells or leaks. I don't want to take it into the shop and waste money if there's nothing wrong but I also don't want anything to go wrong with it.
Stupid car...
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A Niko For Your Thoughts
So after 20 very freezing minutes spent standing in line last night before midnight, I was the proud owner of Grand Theft Auto IV. Woo! I didn't play a lot of it last night but what I have played was very, very good. The funny thing is that I spent almost all of the time last night (this morning?) watching the hilarious TV shows in Niko's apartment.
Let me get up on my soapbox for a second...
< soapbox >
I was floored at the number of kids at the midnight launch last night having their parents buying them copies of GTA IV.
I'm not talking about high school students. I'm talking about Grade 6-7 kids.
While I'm loving the game, it really got under my skin that these parents would buy this game for their kids. The best comparison I could think of was:
If you have no problem letting your kids watch Reservoir Dogs, then you'll probably have no problem with them playing GTA IV. If they're too young for Dogs, they're definately too young for GTA.
This is a game that will never, EVER be played when Garrett is around. It irks me that other parents don't seem to have a problem with exposing their kids to the level of very mature dialogue in the game. I'm not even talking about the violence... it's the dialogue that should get parents locking the game up and keeping it away from their kids.
< /soapbox >
All of that said, the dialogue, though vulgar at times, is hilarious and very well written. I'll be posting some impressions of the game once I've done more than, well, going bowling and watching TV, but it is a very good game so far.
Just keep it away from the kids!
Let me get up on my soapbox for a second...
< soapbox >
I was floored at the number of kids at the midnight launch last night having their parents buying them copies of GTA IV.
I'm not talking about high school students. I'm talking about Grade 6-7 kids.
While I'm loving the game, it really got under my skin that these parents would buy this game for their kids. The best comparison I could think of was:
If you have no problem letting your kids watch Reservoir Dogs, then you'll probably have no problem with them playing GTA IV. If they're too young for Dogs, they're definately too young for GTA.
This is a game that will never, EVER be played when Garrett is around. It irks me that other parents don't seem to have a problem with exposing their kids to the level of very mature dialogue in the game. I'm not even talking about the violence... it's the dialogue that should get parents locking the game up and keeping it away from their kids.
< /soapbox >
All of that said, the dialogue, though vulgar at times, is hilarious and very well written. I'll be posting some impressions of the game once I've done more than, well, going bowling and watching TV, but it is a very good game so far.
Just keep it away from the kids!
Happy Birthday Grant!
It's my baby brother's birthday today. It's still technically the 29th, so I'm good!
I can't believe he's 28... That's crazy! I still remember him filling my Walkman's battery case with Crazy Glue back in the day... Now he knows how to blow up a bridge and put it back together again.
NOW FIX MY WALKMAN!
I can't believe he's 28... That's crazy! I still remember him filling my Walkman's battery case with Crazy Glue back in the day... Now he knows how to blow up a bridge and put it back together again.
NOW FIX MY WALKMAN!
Monday, April 28, 2008
GTA in the GTA
I've been doing my best to avoid getting SUPER excited about tonight's launch of Grand Theft Auto 4, but I just can't resist watching this commercial a few times in a row.
5 3/4 hours to go!
5 3/4 hours to go!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
That's Tight!
We've got a relatively new staff at work that I seem to spend most of my shifts with these days. He's a pretty cool guy and one of the few who is at least within a few years of my age.
That said, he's making me feel really old. He uses a bunch of slang when he talks to me that I just don't understand. I mean, I feel like I'm pretty up on the lingo of the kids these days, but when he talks to me, half of the time I have to run whatever he's saying through an internal buffer to decypher whether he's saying something is good or bad.
Why can't people just stick with 'cool' and 'awesome'? Does everything have to be 'off the chain' or 'on fire'? Does that mean it's cool? Does that mean it sucks? I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!!!
That said, he's making me feel really old. He uses a bunch of slang when he talks to me that I just don't understand. I mean, I feel like I'm pretty up on the lingo of the kids these days, but when he talks to me, half of the time I have to run whatever he's saying through an internal buffer to decypher whether he's saying something is good or bad.
Why can't people just stick with 'cool' and 'awesome'? Does everything have to be 'off the chain' or 'on fire'? Does that mean it's cool? Does that mean it sucks? I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!!!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
That Would Explain The Interest In Probing...
Last weekend, while on a trip to Brantford to see my grandparents, Garrett came up with this gem.
"Maybe the aliens put poop in my butt."
THAT'S MY BOY!
"Maybe the aliens put poop in my butt."
THAT'S MY BOY!
It's WAR Machine, Not WARM Machine... Sigh...
Soo....
I'm really excited about seeing Iron Man. REALLY excited. What's even more exciting is that at least two of the guys at work are calling dibs on taking me to see it :)
Ug... that sounds so much more romantic than it should...
Anyway, I'm definately seeing it with the guys at work at some point over the next couple of weeks. The thing is, Garrett really wants to see it too. He's got a pile of Iron Man toys, loves playing the demo of the game I have on the 360 and almost goes into some kind of fit whenever the commercial for the movie comes on, he's that excited.
Now keep in mind that he already loves watching the Spider-Man movies and that Iron Man is all about guys in giant robot suits blowing each other up, so on that front, I think he'd love it.
On the other front, Julie keeps scowling at me whenever I broach the subject.
Ah well. I think I'll definately take him to see Speed Racer as that looks fun, but in a goofy, Spy Kids-esque kind of way. I might wait until I've seen Iron Man with the guys at work first. At least that way I can vet it and it would give me an excuse to see it for a third time to see if it meets the Spider-Man movie test, by which I mean it's as good as the second Spider-Man movie.
I'm really excited about seeing Iron Man. REALLY excited. What's even more exciting is that at least two of the guys at work are calling dibs on taking me to see it :)
Ug... that sounds so much more romantic than it should...
Anyway, I'm definately seeing it with the guys at work at some point over the next couple of weeks. The thing is, Garrett really wants to see it too. He's got a pile of Iron Man toys, loves playing the demo of the game I have on the 360 and almost goes into some kind of fit whenever the commercial for the movie comes on, he's that excited.
Now keep in mind that he already loves watching the Spider-Man movies and that Iron Man is all about guys in giant robot suits blowing each other up, so on that front, I think he'd love it.
On the other front, Julie keeps scowling at me whenever I broach the subject.
Ah well. I think I'll definately take him to see Speed Racer as that looks fun, but in a goofy, Spy Kids-esque kind of way. I might wait until I've seen Iron Man with the guys at work first. At least that way I can vet it and it would give me an excuse to see it for a third time to see if it meets the Spider-Man movie test, by which I mean it's as good as the second Spider-Man movie.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Nightly Grind
Guess who is the proud new owner of a hunk of plastic that goes in his mouth at night!
Yeah, me.
I finally picked up my nightguard thing to keep me from grinding my teeth down to the stubs during the night. I'm interested to see how it goes. Granted, I think I need this little (and expensive) hunk of plastic with the shenanigans going on here.
Not only do I have that stupid dishwasher thing to deal with (they're currently trying to find another dishwasher of the same make and model to replace this hunk of junk) but this morning I woke up to find that for some strange reason, my Tim's card was declining my credit card to do the auto-reload thing.
Grr...
I even called the credit card company, who said that there were some charges on the credit card from last night and this morning when I tried loading the Tim's card via the website... which, according to the credit card company, meant that the problem was on Tim's side.
I call Tim's and was essentially told that from what they could see, no money was added onto my Tim's card so obviously the problem was with the credit card.
ARG!
I'm going to wait until tomorrow and see what's going on. If a charge ends up on my credit card but doesn't show up on my Tim's card, I'll be even MORE livid!
Granted, I should be happy that these little annoyances are about as rough as my life gets. That said, THEY'RE REALLY ANNOYING!
Yeah, me.
I finally picked up my nightguard thing to keep me from grinding my teeth down to the stubs during the night. I'm interested to see how it goes. Granted, I think I need this little (and expensive) hunk of plastic with the shenanigans going on here.
Not only do I have that stupid dishwasher thing to deal with (they're currently trying to find another dishwasher of the same make and model to replace this hunk of junk) but this morning I woke up to find that for some strange reason, my Tim's card was declining my credit card to do the auto-reload thing.
Grr...
I even called the credit card company, who said that there were some charges on the credit card from last night and this morning when I tried loading the Tim's card via the website... which, according to the credit card company, meant that the problem was on Tim's side.
I call Tim's and was essentially told that from what they could see, no money was added onto my Tim's card so obviously the problem was with the credit card.
ARG!
I'm going to wait until tomorrow and see what's going on. If a charge ends up on my credit card but doesn't show up on my Tim's card, I'll be even MORE livid!
Granted, I should be happy that these little annoyances are about as rough as my life gets. That said, THEY'RE REALLY ANNOYING!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
It Served Five Tours Of Duty In Kosovo Before Ending Up In My Kitchen
So I called the plumber today to see if/when he'd come by to put a new faucet in so we could finally use our shiny new dishwasher. Unfortunately, he wasn't around so I had to leave a message. I decided that the dishwasher had been sitting in our kitchen, still in the cardboard and plastic wrapping that it was delivered in, so I might as well unpack it and figure out where to put it.
Well, what to my wondering eyes should appear but... well, you take a look and see if you can spot the problem:
That was the first thing I saw. I couldn't believe it. So I went to move it and noticed that there was a bit of a wobble to the dishwasher. So I take another look and lo and behold, THIS:
And in realizing that there are now TWO major issues with my 'new' dishwasher, I see THIS while checking out the (ex)wheel:
Now, while the dishwasher was a floor model, it definately didn't look like that in the store when we bought it. Suffice it to say, I was a little livid, which, when coupled with my still not 100% wellness rate, didn't make for a fun call to Zellers to yell at people.
Actually, the lady there was pretty pleasant and understanding of our plight, but she has to wait until she talks to the lady at the store who sold it to us. Sigh. At least I didn't wait until the plumber showed up to unwrap it.
I'm sure the actual dishwasher mechanism works fine. It's just the metal sides (and the missing/broken caster) that need repairs. Unfortunately, it seems that it is beyond the means of the fine people at Zellers to actually repair the thing. Grr...
Well, what to my wondering eyes should appear but... well, you take a look and see if you can spot the problem:
That was the first thing I saw. I couldn't believe it. So I went to move it and noticed that there was a bit of a wobble to the dishwasher. So I take another look and lo and behold, THIS:
And in realizing that there are now TWO major issues with my 'new' dishwasher, I see THIS while checking out the (ex)wheel:
Now, while the dishwasher was a floor model, it definately didn't look like that in the store when we bought it. Suffice it to say, I was a little livid, which, when coupled with my still not 100% wellness rate, didn't make for a fun call to Zellers to yell at people.
Actually, the lady there was pretty pleasant and understanding of our plight, but she has to wait until she talks to the lady at the store who sold it to us. Sigh. At least I didn't wait until the plumber showed up to unwrap it.
I'm sure the actual dishwasher mechanism works fine. It's just the metal sides (and the missing/broken caster) that need repairs. Unfortunately, it seems that it is beyond the means of the fine people at Zellers to actually repair the thing. Grr...
Don't Use The Google Moon Tool!
I accidentally clicked on one of the buttons on my Google Toolbar today and it gave me a list of other buttons I could add to the bar. I saw one that said, "Google Moon Tool", which purported to give me new and exciting pictures of the moon every day.
I thought it sounded cool (who doesn't like a neat moon photo?) and so I added it.
I click on the button (when I finally figured out which tiny icon it was) and where does it take me? Some CellPhoneStyle.net page. No moons to be found, but there was a grumpy sick person staring befuddled at the screen for some time.
Very, very strange, esp. for something that seems to be on the up and up from Google.
I thought it sounded cool (who doesn't like a neat moon photo?) and so I added it.
I click on the button (when I finally figured out which tiny icon it was) and where does it take me? Some CellPhoneStyle.net page. No moons to be found, but there was a grumpy sick person staring befuddled at the screen for some time.
Very, very strange, esp. for something that seems to be on the up and up from Google.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Son Of Death-Cold
It's spring, so that means it's time for me to come down with some kind of funky viral infection.
It hit me mid-afternoon on Sunday. I was home sick on Monday and I knew I had to be really sick because I slept for about 4 hours in the afternoon.
I never sleep during the day (heck, I rarely seem to sleep at night)!
I was already scheduled off today but I probably would have called in anyway. The worst thing about this year's death cold is that it's not really making me cough up gunk or run a 110 degree fever. Instead, I feel like I'm drunk, only I haven't been drinking anything. Just ask Julie how incoherent I've been over the last day and a half.
I had a really strange dream that I witnessed a person getting decapitated by a car last night. I was sure that it was real (I even dreamed I watched the news reports) but nope. Doesn't seem to be something that I've been privy to.
Anyway, I'm going to bed as soon as I finish watching Cloverfield. The best part about having it on DVD is that I can skip the first 20 minutes and get right to the monster parts.
It hit me mid-afternoon on Sunday. I was home sick on Monday and I knew I had to be really sick because I slept for about 4 hours in the afternoon.
I never sleep during the day (heck, I rarely seem to sleep at night)!
I was already scheduled off today but I probably would have called in anyway. The worst thing about this year's death cold is that it's not really making me cough up gunk or run a 110 degree fever. Instead, I feel like I'm drunk, only I haven't been drinking anything. Just ask Julie how incoherent I've been over the last day and a half.
I had a really strange dream that I witnessed a person getting decapitated by a car last night. I was sure that it was real (I even dreamed I watched the news reports) but nope. Doesn't seem to be something that I've been privy to.
Anyway, I'm going to bed as soon as I finish watching Cloverfield. The best part about having it on DVD is that I can skip the first 20 minutes and get right to the monster parts.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Happy Birthday Kara!
Kara's the big 1.0 today. We had a little 'party' yesterday (Julie's parents and grandparents stopped by on the way through to Coburg) and we continued the tradition of letting our kids thoroughly demolish a chocolate cupcake on their first birthday.
I think this is my favourite shot from the event.
It's also my Grandpa's birthday today too, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! Unfortunately, I don't have a similar picture of him demolishing a cupcake...
I think this is my favourite shot from the event.
It's also my Grandpa's birthday today too, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! Unfortunately, I don't have a similar picture of him demolishing a cupcake...
Friday, April 18, 2008
Tweet Tweet
I knew that the app I was looking for existed. A little birdy sent me over to Desktoptopia and it is exactly what the doctor ordered. The wallpapers I've been having delivered to my computer dynamically have been pretty slick so far and it took about 3 seconds to download and install. Pretty sweet stuff.
Oh, while I'm at it, check out the Soul Calibur IV trailer for some pretty cool appearances by a few unexpected (if you haven't been following gaming news) guests.
Oh, while I'm at it, check out the Soul Calibur IV trailer for some pretty cool appearances by a few unexpected (if you haven't been following gaming news) guests.
A Lean, Green Jedi Machine
This should bring a smile to anyone's face. It's a 60 second version of Empire Strikes Back... very cute, esp. given that everything was built from scratch.
Happy Birthday Mom!
It's my mom's birthday today and to celebrate, she is on a train RIGHT NOW on the way to Quebec City. She just loves the poutine...
So happy birthday, Mom! The card is en route.
So happy birthday, Mom! The card is en route.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Stumbling Into The 20th Century
After over 2 weeks of waiting, we finally got our dishwasher here at Casa Del Wageros.
The annoying thing is that we still won't be able to use it until next week when the plumber, who is currently experiencing a mild outbreak of Ebola or Hanta Virus, will hopefully be able to reconstitute his liquifying internal organs and stumble over here to put a new faucet in so that we can hook this baby up.
Goooo Portable Dishwashers!
The annoying thing is that we still won't be able to use it until next week when the plumber, who is currently experiencing a mild outbreak of Ebola or Hanta Virus, will hopefully be able to reconstitute his liquifying internal organs and stumble over here to put a new faucet in so that we can hook this baby up.
Goooo Portable Dishwashers!
Do The Mario!
I saw this over at Buttonmashing.com and thought it was pretty cool.
Ah, the fun people get into with RC cars and empty beer bottles.
http://view.break.com/487616 - Watch more free videos
Ah, the fun people get into with RC cars and empty beer bottles.
http://view.break.com/487616 - Watch more free videos
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Changing The Wallpaper
I was wondering if anyone out there knows of a program that I can use that would automatically change my desktop wallpaper on a daily/hourly/whateverly basis. If I could jack that into a photo feed or one of my photo directories on my computer, all the better.
I know you can get screensavers that dynamically update the images... there has to be something for desktops.
I know you can get screensavers that dynamically update the images... there has to be something for desktops.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Quotable Garrett
"My favourite pet is a chicken. A pink chicken."
"Cooper told me at church that pink is for girls but I like pink and I'm a BOY!"
Garrett's going through a pink phase. First it was Princess Peach all the time in Smash Brothers, now he's talking about everything being pink.
Sigh.
"Cooper told me at church that pink is for girls but I like pink and I'm a BOY!"
Garrett's going through a pink phase. First it was Princess Peach all the time in Smash Brothers, now he's talking about everything being pink.
Sigh.
Zoomp!!! Phump!!!
The Clone Wars movie trailer was leaked sometime this weekend (and taken down pretty fast by Youtube) but you can still see it here.
The scary thing is that this looks like it might be better than all three of the prequel movies. The fact that it's mirroring the Gendy Tartovsky animated Clone Wars series helps immensely.
Garrett might be a little too young for the sheer mind-blowing awesomeness of Iron Man this summer but he and I are definately seeing this and Wall-E.
Speaking of Star Wars, this image that I found on Extralife was too funny.
The scary thing is that this looks like it might be better than all three of the prequel movies. The fact that it's mirroring the Gendy Tartovsky animated Clone Wars series helps immensely.
Garrett might be a little too young for the sheer mind-blowing awesomeness of Iron Man this summer but he and I are definately seeing this and Wall-E.
Speaking of Star Wars, this image that I found on Extralife was too funny.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
If A Tree Lands On A Violinist, Does It Make Radio 2 Listeners Cry?
This is an awesome story about one of the world's best violinists busking in a busy Washington D.C. metro stop. The story is about how art is appreciated and whether the average person will recognize great music out of the usual context of a concert hall.
It's a very interesting read and, once again, something I found over at the incomparable Dubious Quality.
It's a very interesting read and, once again, something I found over at the incomparable Dubious Quality.
At least notL33T isn't dirty...
I know this isn't new, but it's too funny not to pass along. It's a list of inadvertently bad domain names.
There are even worse ones over here.
1. A site called “Who Represents” where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is:
www.whorepresents.com
2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at:
www.expertsexchange.com
3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at:
www.penisland.net
4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at:
www.therapistfinder.com
5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company:
www.powergenitalia.com
6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:
www.molestationnursery.com
7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always:
www.ipanywhere.com
8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is:
www.cummingfirst.com
9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:
www.speedofart.com
10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at:
www.gotahoe.com
There are even worse ones over here.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
SBCG4AP
Have you noticed something around the internet lately? An increased smell of burnination? The cries of millions of Lappy486's suddenly going silent?
Well, have I got news for you.
Strong Bad, star of Homestarrunner.com, my once weekly, now every so oftenly visited favourite website on the whole internet, has a game coming out on the Wii! It's called Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People (or SBCG4AP).
In talking about the game today, I've realized that I haven't really visited the site since about the time I was on leave with Garrett. The really odd thing is that most of the people I've talked to about it also stopped visiting the site around late 2004, early 2005. Strange...
I need to go catch up on all of the Strongbad E-mails and other nuttiness on that site.
Well, have I got news for you.
Strong Bad, star of Homestarrunner.com, my once weekly, now every so oftenly visited favourite website on the whole internet, has a game coming out on the Wii! It's called Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People (or SBCG4AP).
In talking about the game today, I've realized that I haven't really visited the site since about the time I was on leave with Garrett. The really odd thing is that most of the people I've talked to about it also stopped visiting the site around late 2004, early 2005. Strange...
I need to go catch up on all of the Strongbad E-mails and other nuttiness on that site.
Halva Nice Day
The deli at one of the local grocery stores had samples of halva the other day and I had to pick a slab of the stuff up because it was so good.
Halva is one of my guilty pleasures that I have every so often as a special treat. As delicious as it is, I can't eat too much of it or it goes from being a yummy treat to being just disgustingly sweet. It's definately a treat one should eat in tiny slivers.
This find got me thinking about another treat from my childhood that I can't seem to find anywhere. Does anyone know where on earth I can find a bag of pfeffernüsse (go umlaut!)?
There was a store that my mom used to buy them from when I was younger but I don't think I've seen them outside of that store in Sarnia. You'd think I could find these yummy cookies around the GTA but noooo...
Halva is one of my guilty pleasures that I have every so often as a special treat. As delicious as it is, I can't eat too much of it or it goes from being a yummy treat to being just disgustingly sweet. It's definately a treat one should eat in tiny slivers.
This find got me thinking about another treat from my childhood that I can't seem to find anywhere. Does anyone know where on earth I can find a bag of pfeffernüsse (go umlaut!)?
There was a store that my mom used to buy them from when I was younger but I don't think I've seen them outside of that store in Sarnia. You'd think I could find these yummy cookies around the GTA but noooo...
Holy Pain, Batman!
This must have hurt... a lot...
Thanks to Extralife for the linky. Click on the picture for the full size shot (to the face).
Thanks to Extralife for the linky. Click on the picture for the full size shot (to the face).
Exorcise Your Pot Rights
I had a very odd day yesterday at work.
To start off, unbeknownst to me, one of the workers from another house got it into his head that I was evil incarnate and decided to have a prayer vigil for me so that my taint wouldn't spread throughout the house. I've never met the guy and don't even know what his name is, but I'm honoured that I somehow inspired such revulsion that he'd try to cleanse my filthy spirit from a distance. I think I was working on the May schedule at the time.
When I found out about this spiritual intervention later in the afternoon, I couldn't stop laughing. It didn't help when one of my co-workers told the guy that I used to play Dungeons & Dragons and videogames. I think they were just trying to rile him up at that point though :)
The other strange thing was that I got into a very impassioned arguement about the proper way to scrub pots and pans. It was a soak or no-soak, steel wool vs. elbow grease kind of debate that went nowhere fast and boggled my mind the entire time I was in the middle of it.
I swear that there are days when things are just so surreal that you can't help but laugh.
To start off, unbeknownst to me, one of the workers from another house got it into his head that I was evil incarnate and decided to have a prayer vigil for me so that my taint wouldn't spread throughout the house. I've never met the guy and don't even know what his name is, but I'm honoured that I somehow inspired such revulsion that he'd try to cleanse my filthy spirit from a distance. I think I was working on the May schedule at the time.
When I found out about this spiritual intervention later in the afternoon, I couldn't stop laughing. It didn't help when one of my co-workers told the guy that I used to play Dungeons & Dragons and videogames. I think they were just trying to rile him up at that point though :)
The other strange thing was that I got into a very impassioned arguement about the proper way to scrub pots and pans. It was a soak or no-soak, steel wool vs. elbow grease kind of debate that went nowhere fast and boggled my mind the entire time I was in the middle of it.
I swear that there are days when things are just so surreal that you can't help but laugh.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
One Small Step
Yay! Youtube is working again, so behold! Kara walks!
(Don't forget to turn up the volume for even more inspiration!)
(Don't forget to turn up the volume for even more inspiration!)
Video Footage!
I actually have some footage of Kara walking and I cobbled together a little video for it tonight but, go figure, YouTube is down. I did send it to a couple of people and will hopefully have it up on the net shortly.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
It's Like The Bellagio But With More Bile
How does something this cute:
produce more vomit in one day than Linda Blair in The Exorcist?
Every time either Julie or I come near Kara today, she ends up drenching us and any furniture near us in puke. It hasn't been fun...
The annoying part is that she's otherwise in fine form and good spirits. She'll be walking around or crawling somewhere or slapping Garrett on the head and then she'll cough and the floodgates open.
Sigh.
I'm hoping she gets whatever is in her out of her and doesn't spread it to the rest of us!
produce more vomit in one day than Linda Blair in The Exorcist?
Every time either Julie or I come near Kara today, she ends up drenching us and any furniture near us in puke. It hasn't been fun...
The annoying part is that she's otherwise in fine form and good spirits. She'll be walking around or crawling somewhere or slapping Garrett on the head and then she'll cough and the floodgates open.
Sigh.
I'm hoping she gets whatever is in her out of her and doesn't spread it to the rest of us!
What The Frak?
Last night saw the glorious return of the best show on TV, Battlestar Galactica. I quite enjoyed the first episode of the season and while it kind of sucks that this is the last season, I'll be happy if they wrap the show up properly instead of having it drag on too long (like X-Files) or end before it should (like Firefly).
For a recap of the first three seasons in 8 minutes, check out the video below.
For a recap of the first three seasons in 8 minutes, check out the video below.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Upgrade In Progress
Go figure. Just like with Garrett, my return to work has sparked the upgrade process in Kara to migrate from her old software (Cruising v.1.5) to a new and exciting OS (Walking v.0.5). She was taking a few steps on Wednesday night (when I was at work, of course) and yesterday and today has seen her moving even further before landing on her butt.
I've tried filming her walking but, as usual, the second I get the camera out she reverts to her old crawling ways. Sigh. Hopefully I'll get something on the weekend.
I apologize for the severe lack of updates this week. I've been working evenings every day and I have to go in for a 12 hour shift today (blarg). I'll try to post a bunch of pictures and stuff tomorrow.
I've tried filming her walking but, as usual, the second I get the camera out she reverts to her old crawling ways. Sigh. Hopefully I'll get something on the weekend.
I apologize for the severe lack of updates this week. I've been working evenings every day and I have to go in for a 12 hour shift today (blarg). I'll try to post a bunch of pictures and stuff tomorrow.
I Shall Call It... GHIBLAR!
This is a pretty sweet little movie (not sure if it's pre-rendered CGI or a tech demo) that I just stumbled upon today. It's like Pixar had a baby with Studio Ghibli.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
The Triforce Of Awesome
I can't believe I hadn't heard anything about the Legend Of Zelda movie that's coming out next year. Man, it looks awesome.
The cool thing is that Garrett was able to identify pretty much every character in the trailer without the sound on. Who says you don't learn anything from videogames (specifically Super Smash Brothers)?
The cool thing is that Garrett was able to identify pretty much every character in the trailer without the sound on. Who says you don't learn anything from videogames (specifically Super Smash Brothers)?
Monday, March 31, 2008
Save Me From The Workday!
The rumours are true. My vacation starts today.
What's that? You hear that I'm going back to work today? Well, that's true. I meant that my vacation from the kids starts today :)
I've had lots of fun with the kids over the past three months but the frightening thing is that I kind of miss going to work and being involved in the zaniness that pervades the group home (and adult conversation... I miss adult conversation that doesn't involve babies or baby related topics).
I'm interested to see what has gone on while I've been away (probably a lot) and what has changed (probably not very much).
Today should be an interesting day as it will be Kara's first day at the babysitter's with no Mommy or Daddy around. But Garrett will be there, so I'm sure she'll adjust.
About the only thing that I wish I'd been able to do before going back to work was to read a few more books and finish Lost Odyssey. I was hoping to wrap up Lost Odyssey last night but I was too busy trying to wrap up a bunch of the sidequests over the past two nights. The upside is that I'm going to end up finishing this JRPG with almost 100% completion, which is a rarity for me when I play JRPGs. If you've got a 360 and liked games like Final Fantasy, you should do yourself a favour and play Lost Odyssey!
I also hoped to finish Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, but while I didn't, I came pretty close. I'll probably wrap it up over the next evening or two.
But I digress.
I'll probably end up spending my whole first shift just reading 3 months worth of communication book entries :P
What's that? You hear that I'm going back to work today? Well, that's true. I meant that my vacation from the kids starts today :)
I've had lots of fun with the kids over the past three months but the frightening thing is that I kind of miss going to work and being involved in the zaniness that pervades the group home (and adult conversation... I miss adult conversation that doesn't involve babies or baby related topics).
I'm interested to see what has gone on while I've been away (probably a lot) and what has changed (probably not very much).
Today should be an interesting day as it will be Kara's first day at the babysitter's with no Mommy or Daddy around. But Garrett will be there, so I'm sure she'll adjust.
About the only thing that I wish I'd been able to do before going back to work was to read a few more books and finish Lost Odyssey. I was hoping to wrap up Lost Odyssey last night but I was too busy trying to wrap up a bunch of the sidequests over the past two nights. The upside is that I'm going to end up finishing this JRPG with almost 100% completion, which is a rarity for me when I play JRPGs. If you've got a 360 and liked games like Final Fantasy, you should do yourself a favour and play Lost Odyssey!
I also hoped to finish Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, but while I didn't, I came pretty close. I'll probably wrap it up over the next evening or two.
But I digress.
I'll probably end up spending my whole first shift just reading 3 months worth of communication book entries :P
Saturday, March 29, 2008
I Hope This Bandwagon Is A Hybrid
So, today is Earth Hour Day.
There's a new poll up to see if you're going to be turning your lights off from 8-9pm tonight.
We decided to commemorate Earth Hour early by turning all of our lights off from 2-6am this morning. Frankly, I'm thinking of going the Greenco way (the second video in the top row) tonight...
There's a new poll up to see if you're going to be turning your lights off from 8-9pm tonight.
We decided to commemorate Earth Hour early by turning all of our lights off from 2-6am this morning. Frankly, I'm thinking of going the Greenco way (the second video in the top row) tonight...
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Happy Birthday James
It's James' birthday today! According to ancient Mayan calendars (which were carved to commemorate his tricentennial back in the mists of prehistory) James is slated for a day off of work to celebrate!
Unfortunately, that day isn't today. Oh well. I'll think of you while I'm enjoying (ha) my final official day of parental leave tomorrow. Sigh.
Unfortunately, that day isn't today. Oh well. I'll think of you while I'm enjoying (ha) my final official day of parental leave tomorrow. Sigh.
It's Not Too Late For A Birthday Present!
You know you want me to have this chair...
The scary thing is that this thing is real. I saw it on a few TV shows last week.
The scary thing is that this thing is real. I saw it on a few TV shows last week.
They May Be Evil, But HOW Evil?
Tim put a link to a story about Bell 'shaping' the download speeds for users on ISPs that lease Bell's DSL network access. While I'm not going to argue about Bell being evil (though compared to many other telecoms, they're downright saints in my book), I'm of mixed feelings about the throttling. Most of it happens during peak times and it's bittorrents that are affected for the most part. Now, there are some stories about stuff like the new CBC bittorrent service being really borked over Bell and Rogers and if that's happening in off-hour times, that's just wrong.
Most of the end-user experience won't be changed though. I kind of feel for the independant ISP who can't fulfill some of their promises to their customers but it's kind of like complaining that the fountain in the hotel lobby isn't working during the middle of a drought. Bell provides the water, so to speak, and if they need to stem the flow so that everyone can have optimal surfing/generic usage vs. several bittorrent users draining the available resource, I'm down with that.
And frankly, I'd rather deal with something like throttling, which is a little annoying some of the time than hard bandwidth caps, which are annoying ALL of the time.
I'm still surprised that independant ISPs are around these days as they seem to be going the way of the dodo... while this move won't make life easier for them, I'm sure that most of the people doing bittorrent and P2P sharing on the ISP linked in that article aren't sharing opensource/creative commons things, so they should stop their whining and be thankful that we haven't adopted the proposed Canadian DCMA that has been bandied about for a few months... yet.
Most of the end-user experience won't be changed though. I kind of feel for the independant ISP who can't fulfill some of their promises to their customers but it's kind of like complaining that the fountain in the hotel lobby isn't working during the middle of a drought. Bell provides the water, so to speak, and if they need to stem the flow so that everyone can have optimal surfing/generic usage vs. several bittorrent users draining the available resource, I'm down with that.
And frankly, I'd rather deal with something like throttling, which is a little annoying some of the time than hard bandwidth caps, which are annoying ALL of the time.
I'm still surprised that independant ISPs are around these days as they seem to be going the way of the dodo... while this move won't make life easier for them, I'm sure that most of the people doing bittorrent and P2P sharing on the ISP linked in that article aren't sharing opensource/creative commons things, so they should stop their whining and be thankful that we haven't adopted the proposed Canadian DCMA that has been bandied about for a few months... yet.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Dead Fantasy 2
Remember that Dead Or Alive vs. Final Fantasy movie that was out a little while ago? Well, the second part is up now! Check it out!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Pssst... Today's The Day
Yes, you can start the party now. I've survived another trip around the sun (barely).
To commemorate this occasion, Garrett showed me his new trick... he taught himself how to pee standing up. Unfortunately, he didn't read the part in the manual that mentioned that he should aim for the toilet bowl and not my pile of Maclean's magazines. Sigh.
To commemorate this occasion, Garrett showed me his new trick... he taught himself how to pee standing up. Unfortunately, he didn't read the part in the manual that mentioned that he should aim for the toilet bowl and not my pile of Maclean's magazines. Sigh.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Speaking Of The Hulk...
The HD trailer for the new Hulk movie is up.
Bonus points if you can name the street that the showdown between The Hulk and The Abomination takes place on.
Bonus points if you can name the street that the showdown between The Hulk and The Abomination takes place on.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Bell Good? Hulk No Smash? Oh Well...
Just a little update on my stupid Bell situation. It turned out that we were getting the long distance plan for the $9.95 that was quoted to us. It's just that due to the rather byzantine way that the Bell is laid out and the fact that some of the info, like the fact we get $5 off of the bill due to bundling, is not shown on the e-bill, it looked like we were paying more than we should when in reality everything was fine.
That little tidbit out of the way, I went on to talk to someone in the Internet department about the $20 activation fee on our bill. I was all ready to get my CSR stomping boots on and dance an Irish jig on some poor sap when they came onto the phone and said, "Oh, that activation fee shouldn't be on there. You've been credited the amount on your next bill."
I was kind of disappointed that everything went so smoothly. Ah well. It was nice to not have to play mind games with the reps, even if they did try to upsell me on call display while I was talking to them.
That little tidbit out of the way, I went on to talk to someone in the Internet department about the $20 activation fee on our bill. I was all ready to get my CSR stomping boots on and dance an Irish jig on some poor sap when they came onto the phone and said, "Oh, that activation fee shouldn't be on there. You've been credited the amount on your next bill."
I was kind of disappointed that everything went so smoothly. Ah well. It was nice to not have to play mind games with the reps, even if they did try to upsell me on call display while I was talking to them.
It's Still Two Days Away!
An open letter to the world:
Dear World,
Thank you for once again throwing me a big party for my birthday. I just wanted to point out a few tiny mistakes with the current plan:
1) My birthday is not on March 17th. It's March 19th. This happens EVERY year.
2) My favourite colour is not green. I'm a little more partial to red, purple and blue, though I do love a cool phosphorescent green.
3) Why do I never get invited to any of these big parties? I keep seeing people out and about every March 17th, but my invitation has never arrived. What's up? You can't have an early birthday party for me if I'm not there!
4) I like to consider myself a nice guy and all that, but I think calling me a saint is going a bit far. There are also a few issues with the myth that has been started about me and my alleged sainthood that I would like to address:
(a) Error 1: I like snakes.
(b) Error 2: I am not dead, which I think is prerequisite for sainthood.
(c) Error 3: My name is not Patrick.
I think that's about it. Hopefully this will make its way up the chain of command to whomever is in charge of these things and next year we'll see my birthday celebrations happening on the right day.
That said, whoever thought it was a good idea to serve lots of Guinness today deserves a medal. Mmm... Guinness.
Dear World,
Thank you for once again throwing me a big party for my birthday. I just wanted to point out a few tiny mistakes with the current plan:
1) My birthday is not on March 17th. It's March 19th. This happens EVERY year.
2) My favourite colour is not green. I'm a little more partial to red, purple and blue, though I do love a cool phosphorescent green.
3) Why do I never get invited to any of these big parties? I keep seeing people out and about every March 17th, but my invitation has never arrived. What's up? You can't have an early birthday party for me if I'm not there!
4) I like to consider myself a nice guy and all that, but I think calling me a saint is going a bit far. There are also a few issues with the myth that has been started about me and my alleged sainthood that I would like to address:
(a) Error 1: I like snakes.
(b) Error 2: I am not dead, which I think is prerequisite for sainthood.
(c) Error 3: My name is not Patrick.
I think that's about it. Hopefully this will make its way up the chain of command to whomever is in charge of these things and next year we'll see my birthday celebrations happening on the right day.
That said, whoever thought it was a good idea to serve lots of Guinness today deserves a medal. Mmm... Guinness.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
It's Still Worth The Drive To Acton
After swimming today, Garrett & I stopped in at that most venerable of Acton institutions, Tim Horton's.
But before we did that, we stopped at The Olde Hide House... or The Hide House... or The "We Used To Sell Leather Before We Went Bankrupt" House. I picked up a new pair of leather gloves for next winter and had a look at some of the furniture. It's sad that a leather chair, even with the cheaper price and 40% discount, will still cost upwards of $800-1200. Yeesh.
I asked about what the status of the store is and the word is that they are definately closing the Toronto and Vaughn stores and depending on how the sales go over the next 6 weeks, they'll hopefully reopen the Acton store with a smaller selection. Oh well. If you're looking for a new leather coat, they're on sale for 40-60% off, but they're still pretty pricey.
But before we did that, we stopped at The Olde Hide House... or The Hide House... or The "We Used To Sell Leather Before We Went Bankrupt" House. I picked up a new pair of leather gloves for next winter and had a look at some of the furniture. It's sad that a leather chair, even with the cheaper price and 40% discount, will still cost upwards of $800-1200. Yeesh.
I asked about what the status of the store is and the word is that they are definately closing the Toronto and Vaughn stores and depending on how the sales go over the next 6 weeks, they'll hopefully reopen the Acton store with a smaller selection. Oh well. If you're looking for a new leather coat, they're on sale for 40-60% off, but they're still pretty pricey.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
BELL!!!!
If anyone from Bell ever calls to change your various plans around, for the love of all that is good and holy, document EVERYTHING.
We got a call early February and both upgraded our Sympatico and changed our long-distance plan so that we'd be on a new plan that cost us $9.95/month for unlimited anytime calling in Ontario instead of the hobbled $7.95 first-rate plan that we could only use in the evenings and weekends.
I get the bill today and they've charged us $14.95 for that plan! GRR!! They also charged us a $20 activation fee for the upgrade to our internet service that wasn't mentioned at all during our conversation with the agent.
What irks me is that I asked for a follow-up e-mail or letter from Bell about these changes and to this date they still haven't sent me anything. I kind of wish that someone had been in the billing center today because I've been in such a foul mood about everything that I was hoping I could vent on some poor sap in their office. Oh well. I'll have to wait for Monday to resolve but heaven help me if they try to stonewall me.
I had a problem with Bell a loooong time ago due to someone on the phone telling me one thing and the billing department charging me for something else and there is no way I am letting them slide this time around.
We got a call early February and both upgraded our Sympatico and changed our long-distance plan so that we'd be on a new plan that cost us $9.95/month for unlimited anytime calling in Ontario instead of the hobbled $7.95 first-rate plan that we could only use in the evenings and weekends.
I get the bill today and they've charged us $14.95 for that plan! GRR!! They also charged us a $20 activation fee for the upgrade to our internet service that wasn't mentioned at all during our conversation with the agent.
What irks me is that I asked for a follow-up e-mail or letter from Bell about these changes and to this date they still haven't sent me anything. I kind of wish that someone had been in the billing center today because I've been in such a foul mood about everything that I was hoping I could vent on some poor sap in their office. Oh well. I'll have to wait for Monday to resolve but heaven help me if they try to stonewall me.
I had a problem with Bell a loooong time ago due to someone on the phone telling me one thing and the billing department charging me for something else and there is no way I am letting them slide this time around.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
How To Rationalize
The frightening thing is that I was THIS close to grabbing one of the 360 HD-DVD drives at Wal-Mart on Tuesday as it's only $50. Unfortunately, the free movie deal is done, otherwise it'd be more than worth getting.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
GIANT BUNNIES FROM MARS!
I took the kids down to Georgetown Mall to see Max & Ruby. I didn't expect it to be quite as insane, crowd-wise, and should have probably aimed to arrive earlier than 10 minutes before those big creepy bunnies took the stage.
As it was, I ended up putting Garrett up on my shoulders and held Kara in my arms while trying to take pictures with the camera from behind a wall of adults who didn't seem to understand that it was a show for LITTLE KIDS. I was telling some of the other parents (who were telling their kids that they'd have to just listen to the music) to just send the kids up to the front and elbow the adults out of the way. Thankfully one mom did just that and her brood opened up an area that had enough room for Garrett to watch the show. I saw this grandmother sitting right at the edge of the stage area with a shopping cart taking up spots that could have fit about 5 kids, easy, just so her granddaughter could sit in the little seat at the top. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the fact that the shopping cart was there until after the show when people were clearing out. Sigh.
It was a fun little show and Kara loved it. Garrett seemed to like it but he kept complaining about the fact that Max and Ruby didn't talk to him.
One thing I did learn was that there is no way I'm going back to the mall for the other events that are going on this week. There's a science show and display tomorrow that I'd love to go to but it was just too chaotic. I'll just take the kids down to Mountsberg for the annual trip to the sugar bush. Mmm... Maple syrup!
As it was, I ended up putting Garrett up on my shoulders and held Kara in my arms while trying to take pictures with the camera from behind a wall of adults who didn't seem to understand that it was a show for LITTLE KIDS. I was telling some of the other parents (who were telling their kids that they'd have to just listen to the music) to just send the kids up to the front and elbow the adults out of the way. Thankfully one mom did just that and her brood opened up an area that had enough room for Garrett to watch the show. I saw this grandmother sitting right at the edge of the stage area with a shopping cart taking up spots that could have fit about 5 kids, easy, just so her granddaughter could sit in the little seat at the top. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the fact that the shopping cart was there until after the show when people were clearing out. Sigh.
It was a fun little show and Kara loved it. Garrett seemed to like it but he kept complaining about the fact that Max and Ruby didn't talk to him.
One thing I did learn was that there is no way I'm going back to the mall for the other events that are going on this week. There's a science show and display tomorrow that I'd love to go to but it was just too chaotic. I'll just take the kids down to Mountsberg for the annual trip to the sugar bush. Mmm... Maple syrup!
One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others
A fabulous No-Prize for the person who can identify the item that doesn't belong in this picture.
An even fancier No-Prize for the person who comes up with the funniest caption to explain why it's there.
An even fancier No-Prize for the person who comes up with the funniest caption to explain why it's there.
PicLens
I found this cool plug-in via Buttonmashing and I have to say, I'm very impressed.
Piclens is a plug-in for your browser (it autodetects which browser you are using... it was seamless on Firefox) and basically turns photo sites into 3D-image walls. It's pretty sweet.
Piclens is a plug-in for your browser (it autodetects which browser you are using... it was seamless on Firefox) and basically turns photo sites into 3D-image walls. It's pretty sweet.
The US Election: Pokémon Style
Saw this on one of the boards I visit and thought it was pretty cool. Enjoy!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Garrett: Snow Ninja
Garrett got all bundled up yesterday to allegedly help me shovel out the cars but in reality, he just wanted to have fun in the snow. Kids these days.
How deep was the snow? That deep. You can see that the snow basically filled our front yard to the top of the fences which are a good 3 1/2 - 4 feet tall. The backyard isn't much better. I think the snow is up to the top of our BBQ.
Here's a little video of Garrett trying to make his way around the yard. And no, he doesn't have a cheese fetish. He hasn't quite figured out that our camera does video.
Princess PEACH... Or How Garrett Became A Gamer
Garrett has fiddled with my old Gameboy Advance SP off and on for a little while now but sometime over the last couple weeks he seemed to adopt it as his new best friend.
Sadly, Garrett asked me to take a picture of him and his gameboy. Sigh.
All he liked to do at first was get Mario up on Yoshi and then run them both into a pit and laugh at them. Then, one day about a week ago, my boy done made me proud. I was sitting at the computer, likely working on yet another blog post, when I hear a familiar sound in the background. It was the Level Complete song from Super Mario World!
Garrett had finished a level all by himself! WOO!
Ever since then, it has been a rare day when Garrett hasn't spent a bit of time playing HIS Mario game. This is the kid who used to tell me to turn off the video games.
So yesterday, after digging ourselves out of the giant pile of snow in our driveway, Garrett and I drove down to EB to pick up Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. We had a blast playing it when we got home but I noticed a trend. When we fired up the game, Garrett was playing as Yoshi, which was fine as he loves that little green dude.
Then something started to happen. Garrett played a match as Princess Peach and then she became his go-to character for the rest of the afternoon. What made this particularly funny was the fact that I had a couple of friends over yesterday afternoon (who shall remain nameless) and Garrett kicked their butts TWICE IN A ROW... WITH PRINCESS PEACH! A 3 3/4 year old beat two 30-somethings WITH PRINCESS PEACH!
(That's why they're remaining nameless.)
What's really sad is that Garrett was trying to say he was feeling sick today so he didn't have to go to the babysitter (he goes every Monday). Why was he sick? He wanted to stay home to play more Smash Brothers with me. He's 3 3/4 years old and he's already trying to fake being sick to stay home to play videogames!
THAT'S MY BOY!
Sadly, Garrett asked me to take a picture of him and his gameboy. Sigh.
All he liked to do at first was get Mario up on Yoshi and then run them both into a pit and laugh at them. Then, one day about a week ago, my boy done made me proud. I was sitting at the computer, likely working on yet another blog post, when I hear a familiar sound in the background. It was the Level Complete song from Super Mario World!
Garrett had finished a level all by himself! WOO!
Ever since then, it has been a rare day when Garrett hasn't spent a bit of time playing HIS Mario game. This is the kid who used to tell me to turn off the video games.
So yesterday, after digging ourselves out of the giant pile of snow in our driveway, Garrett and I drove down to EB to pick up Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. We had a blast playing it when we got home but I noticed a trend. When we fired up the game, Garrett was playing as Yoshi, which was fine as he loves that little green dude.
Then something started to happen. Garrett played a match as Princess Peach and then she became his go-to character for the rest of the afternoon. What made this particularly funny was the fact that I had a couple of friends over yesterday afternoon (who shall remain nameless) and Garrett kicked their butts TWICE IN A ROW... WITH PRINCESS PEACH! A 3 3/4 year old beat two 30-somethings WITH PRINCESS PEACH!
(That's why they're remaining nameless.)
What's really sad is that Garrett was trying to say he was feeling sick today so he didn't have to go to the babysitter (he goes every Monday). Why was he sick? He wanted to stay home to play more Smash Brothers with me. He's 3 3/4 years old and he's already trying to fake being sick to stay home to play videogames!
THAT'S MY BOY!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
It's A-Me!
Scott over at ExtraLife is doing a series of geeks.
I thought this one was rather fitting.
I thought this one was rather fitting.
Pictures From The Timeshare
We went up to the timeshare in Thornbury last weekend (Sun-Tues) and while the weather was less than spectacular, we still had a great time swimming in the pool and relaxing. Plus there is a great little coffee place in town. They import coffee from their plantation in Zimbabwe and roast it in Thornbury and man, is it ever good.
Anyway... On with the pictures!
Sadly, this is probably the best picture of Julie & Kara that I took. Sigh.
Ok, this one wasn't taken at the timeshare, but it does show how well Kara is standing these days. I'm sure she'll be walking before I head back to work.
Garrett & Kara liked to look out at Georgian Bay. There were a few army helicopters that flew back and forth during the day on Monday and it was always a game to try to see if we could find them before they zipped past.
Anyway... On with the pictures!
Sadly, this is probably the best picture of Julie & Kara that I took. Sigh.
Ok, this one wasn't taken at the timeshare, but it does show how well Kara is standing these days. I'm sure she'll be walking before I head back to work.
Garrett & Kara liked to look out at Georgian Bay. There were a few army helicopters that flew back and forth during the day on Monday and it was always a game to try to see if we could find them before they zipped past.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
A Step Towards Madness And Fame
I found a site a few days ago that lets you make comics without having to have a lick of artistic talent.
Here's my first creation!
Here's my first creation!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
We've Got Gas
When we got home from the timeshare this afternoon, we noticed a guy walking from house to house doing the Direct Energy thing. Thankfully he didn't bug us as we were busy unloading the car and hauling the kids in and we figured that was that.
So about 2-3 minutes ago, the doorbell rings. Who is it?
A DIFFERENT guy from Direct Energy. At 8:45pm.
I didn't even give him a chance to do his spiel. I just said that we'd already seen a guy in the parking lot and told him we were ok.
"Oh, that was John. He didn't cross you off the list."
"That's ok. We're already on a plan."
"Oh... Who with?"
"I don't know. I just know we're on a plan."
"What's your rate?"
"I. DON'T. KNOW. We're ok though. Thanks."
"But I have been helping out your neighbours and..."
"We're on a plan. We're ok. Thanks."
He just sort of gave me this funny look and his eye got kind of twitchy. I thought he was going to try to punch me or stab me with his pen or something, but he finally seemed to get the hint and say, "Ok then," and walk away into the inky blackness...
Sigh.
I felt bad for the guy this afternoon as most of the people were at work. This guy tonight though...
So about 2-3 minutes ago, the doorbell rings. Who is it?
A DIFFERENT guy from Direct Energy. At 8:45pm.
I didn't even give him a chance to do his spiel. I just said that we'd already seen a guy in the parking lot and told him we were ok.
"Oh, that was John. He didn't cross you off the list."
"That's ok. We're already on a plan."
"Oh... Who with?"
"I don't know. I just know we're on a plan."
"What's your rate?"
"I. DON'T. KNOW. We're ok though. Thanks."
"But I have been helping out your neighbours and..."
"We're on a plan. We're ok. Thanks."
He just sort of gave me this funny look and his eye got kind of twitchy. I thought he was going to try to punch me or stab me with his pen or something, but he finally seemed to get the hint and say, "Ok then," and walk away into the inky blackness...
Sigh.
I felt bad for the guy this afternoon as most of the people were at work. This guy tonight though...
This Is Your Brain On Patapon
I am very glad that I have headphones or else I think this could be my fate.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Taxonomic Trouble
I was talking with someone from church last week and they were telling me about someone they knew who was a vegetarian.
Here's the catch:
They don't eat vegetables.
What do you call a vegetarian who doesn't eat vegetables? I think they only eat fruit and potatoes.
It's like a super vegan or something...
Here's the catch:
They don't eat vegetables.
What do you call a vegetarian who doesn't eat vegetables? I think they only eat fruit and potatoes.
It's like a super vegan or something...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sneaky Hubby
Saw this story over on Dubious Quality.
This guy is even sneakier than I was when I convinced Julie that Garrett was a great name for our son. He was able to build an entire cottage in his backyard without his wife finding out until it was finished.
Hmm....
This guy is even sneakier than I was when I convinced Julie that Garrett was a great name for our son. He was able to build an entire cottage in his backyard without his wife finding out until it was finished.
Hmm....
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Garrett's Favourite Song (of the moment)
To further prove that I should not be left alone with my children as I am warping their minds, I currently have this song on perma-loop in my car and Garrett has been seen humming it to himself while playing with his cars.
Sing along!
Sing along!
Bajumbo moi noi noi jecker
Dabatto bunkergait jun jun
Nora juerue-rotto pura-pura petto
Puraret dum dum
Papuranoi noi noi jecker
Dabatto bumperget tum tum
Ora poerketino bookeran tan-tan-so
Bokeretyo kyenturanai mimani unlalhood-cha-la
Terra hooki-ra pishi-to diki-ra poody-to
Seni-kidi koseibo....
Kokorenkyo kyenturanai mimani unlalhood-cha-la
Terra hooki-ra shinshi-sho tusura haijiki yo
Bajumbo moi, noi noi jecker
Dabatto bumperget jun jun
Nora juerue-rotto, rokorolo-petto
Pura-purarun dum dum...
Papuramoi noi noi jecker
Dapatto bumperget tum tum
Ora poerketino bookeran tan-tan-so..
No More Coffee
I won a free coffee on Roll Up The Rim yesterday. I should stop buying Tim Horton's coffee from now on so that my win percentage from this year is an impressive 33%.
Yeah... that's going to happen.
I wish they had Roll Up The Bagel or something as I've been eating bagels almost every day from Tim Horton's for the past two weeks. I think I'm done my bagel binge for a bit though. They're just not tasting good anymore. It's just that they are very yummy (when you're not eating them on a daily basis) and when I'm driving around with the kids in the morning, they're a quick and easy breakfast or lunch.
Yeah... that's going to happen.
I wish they had Roll Up The Bagel or something as I've been eating bagels almost every day from Tim Horton's for the past two weeks. I think I'm done my bagel binge for a bit though. They're just not tasting good anymore. It's just that they are very yummy (when you're not eating them on a daily basis) and when I'm driving around with the kids in the morning, they're a quick and easy breakfast or lunch.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Who's On First?
Sometimes talking to Garrett is like recreating an old Laurel & Hardy sketch.
Garrett was sitting there holding a Spiderman car in his hand that's the same colour as his pants.
"Hey Garrett. That car in your hand is the same colour as your pants."
He looks at Cars playing on the TV.
"No, the car in your hand."
He holds up his empty left hand and looks at it, turning it over to see what I'm talking about.
"NO, the other hand... the car in the other hand."
He puts the car down and looks at his now-empty right hand.
Sigh.
He eventually clued in, but man...
Garrett was sitting there holding a Spiderman car in his hand that's the same colour as his pants.
"Hey Garrett. That car in your hand is the same colour as your pants."
He looks at Cars playing on the TV.
"No, the car in your hand."
He holds up his empty left hand and looks at it, turning it over to see what I'm talking about.
"NO, the other hand... the car in the other hand."
He puts the car down and looks at his now-empty right hand.
Sigh.
He eventually clued in, but man...
The Old Yeller Of Cars
Julie got the bill for all the repairs today. $360 or so. Blarg.
When the technician says that your tranny fluid smells bad, that's not a good sign. She ended up having to get her transmission fixed and the gearshifter lubed up, amongst other costly procedures. I think they also topped up the halogen fluid in her headlights and retorqued the trunk.
When the technician says that your tranny fluid smells bad, that's not a good sign. She ended up having to get her transmission fixed and the gearshifter lubed up, amongst other costly procedures. I think they also topped up the halogen fluid in her headlights and retorqued the trunk.
Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon!
If you have a PSP and like quirky (and cheap) games, today's the day for you.
It's Patapon day!
I can't wait to send my army of spear-wielding eyeballs into battle with the beat of my war drum.
Plus it's only $20, so you can't go wrong there.
It's Patapon day!
I can't wait to send my army of spear-wielding eyeballs into battle with the beat of my war drum.
Plus it's only $20, so you can't go wrong there.
Stuck In The Parking Lot
For another update on Julie's car, AKA the Crapmobile, she drove to work this morning and the check engine light came on. Not a good sign.
Maybe we'll be getting a new car/van/hovercraft soon! Yay!
I hate the Kia... did I mention that?
Maybe we'll be getting a new car/van/hovercraft soon! Yay!
I hate the Kia... did I mention that?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Stuck In The Snow
Julie was driving home from small group in Mississauga tonight and stopped to get some milk.
When she got back in her car, it wouldn't start no matter what she did. The tow truck came by about a half hour later, put the car in neutral, started it and charged her $60.
Sigh.
First my car goes bananas, now the Kia is starting to act up.
At least we all got home in one piece tonight. The roads were really nasty in Mississauga though not nearly as bad out here. There was a pretty bad accident on the 401 near Milton though... but that happens on the nicest days of the year too, so no surprise there.
When she got back in her car, it wouldn't start no matter what she did. The tow truck came by about a half hour later, put the car in neutral, started it and charged her $60.
Sigh.
First my car goes bananas, now the Kia is starting to act up.
At least we all got home in one piece tonight. The roads were really nasty in Mississauga though not nearly as bad out here. There was a pretty bad accident on the 401 near Milton though... but that happens on the nicest days of the year too, so no surprise there.
Garfield Minus Garfield
Found this via Unshelved today.
"Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?
Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb."
Monday, February 25, 2008
Don't Talk Back To Darth Vader
This video has been making the rounds lately but it's just too cute not to share.
I should make one of these only I'll get Garrett to tell his theories about the current state of the Marvel Universe (and Batman). It's eerily similar.
I should make one of these only I'll get Garrett to tell his theories about the current state of the Marvel Universe (and Batman). It's eerily similar.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
How Small We Are
I saw this over on Evil Avatar and figured I should share it. It's quite humbling to see how small our little blue ball is when you have it laid out as simply as this video does.
If you skip to 1min 55sec or so, that's where things get really interesting.
If you skip to 1min 55sec or so, that's where things get really interesting.
New Camera! New Camera!
Hooray! We finally got a new digital camera. The HP camera that we had been using for the last few years has been driving us nuts so Julie picked up a new Canon at Shopper's using her points. I don't think it actually cost us anything out of pocket and we also got a 1GB memory card and a battery charger with it.
Now I can finally retire the camera that has been held together with duct tape and rubber bands (seriously).
Here are some of the lovely photos we took over the past day or two.
He does whatever a spider can. Namely, eat 3 times his body weight and run around a lot.
You can see every little dribble of drool now!
Now I can finally retire the camera that has been held together with duct tape and rubber bands (seriously).
Here are some of the lovely photos we took over the past day or two.
He does whatever a spider can. Namely, eat 3 times his body weight and run around a lot.
You can see every little dribble of drool now!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Only In Canada? Pity...
I swear, this country is the only place where a news story like this can occur and not be a joke or typo.
I've been wanting to use this gif for a while. I finally have a story that fits.
Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn has apologized for a joke he's not sure he made, responding to a complaint from a politician who didn't hear it.
I've been wanting to use this gif for a while. I finally have a story that fits.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Merc With The Mouth Sightings
Well, this news just made my day. Well, the fact that my grandma is out of the hospital and seemingly fit as a fiddle made my day, but this made the comic-book-geek segment of my day.
Deadpool, AKA my absolute favourite superhero (and that's using the term hero very, very loosely) in the whole wide world, is going to be in the upcoming Wolverine: Origins movie. And to make things even better, Ryan Reynolds is slated to play him.
From Wikipedia:
Woo! If any actor could pull off the type of crazy that is required to do Deadpool justice, I think Reynolds is the one to do it. I'm just curious if the film version of Deadpool will know that he's in a movie the same way that the comic book version knows that he's in a comic book. Just please, for the love of all that is good and holy, don't make him into the Ultimate version of Deadpool. Yarg.
On a sadder note, this week also marks the final issue of Cable & Deadpool. Sigh. On the other hand, the Wolverine vs. Deadpool fight is still going strong in Wolverine: Origins (he's trying to kill Wolverine with a piano, for crying out loud!) so I'll still have some Deadpool action to keep me going until he gets his own book.
So if you do go see that Wolverine movie when it hits and a crazy guy who can't seem to be killed steals the show, you can join the Deadpool fan train with me!
Deadpool, AKA my absolute favourite superhero (and that's using the term hero very, very loosely) in the whole wide world, is going to be in the upcoming Wolverine: Origins movie. And to make things even better, Ryan Reynolds is slated to play him.
From Wikipedia:
"Nicknamed the "Merc with a Mouth", Deadpool is a high-tech mercenary known for his wisecracks, black humor, and satirical pop-culture references. Like the X-Men's Wolverine, Deadpool is the product of the Canadian government's paramilitary Weapon X program, although his place of birth is unknown. After Weapon X cured his terminal cancer by implementing a regenerative "healing factor" extracted from Wolverine, Deadpool is left disfigured and mentally unstable."
Woo! If any actor could pull off the type of crazy that is required to do Deadpool justice, I think Reynolds is the one to do it. I'm just curious if the film version of Deadpool will know that he's in a movie the same way that the comic book version knows that he's in a comic book. Just please, for the love of all that is good and holy, don't make him into the Ultimate version of Deadpool. Yarg.
On a sadder note, this week also marks the final issue of Cable & Deadpool. Sigh. On the other hand, the Wolverine vs. Deadpool fight is still going strong in Wolverine: Origins (he's trying to kill Wolverine with a piano, for crying out loud!) so I'll still have some Deadpool action to keep me going until he gets his own book.
So if you do go see that Wolverine movie when it hits and a crazy guy who can't seem to be killed steals the show, you can join the Deadpool fan train with me!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Bland As The Driven Snow
I was poking around today and came across a pretty funny site.
Stuff White People Like.
Sadly, it's very, very true.
One of my favourites is the Standing Still At Concerts entry.
That goes double true for Canadian concerts!
Stuff White People Like.
Sadly, it's very, very true.
One of my favourites is the Standing Still At Concerts entry.
"...When white people go to concerts at smaller venues, what to do they do? They stand still! This is an important part of white concert going as it enables you to focus on the music, and it will prevent drawing excess attention to you. Remember, at a concert everyone is watching you just waiting for you to try to start dancing. Then they will make fun of you."
That goes double true for Canadian concerts!
Hooray For Family Day!
How are you spending your Family Day long weekend?
We spent yesterday cooped up in the house because it was too icy to really go anywhere. We made it to Tim Horton's on the way to church but that was as far as we could go without feeling like we were going to die.
We spent the morning today cleaning the house and basically vegging out (everyone slept in this morning... except me, of course).
I'd hoped that I'd be able to have a Rock Band rock & roll session this weekend but alas, that dream seems to be dead. I'll have to wait until next weekend or so. Sigh.
Garrett has started playing with my old Gameboy Advance SP. He likes to make Mario jump in the holes and, in his words, make Mario "scream like a girl."
Sigh.
Little poll up on the side ---->
We spent yesterday cooped up in the house because it was too icy to really go anywhere. We made it to Tim Horton's on the way to church but that was as far as we could go without feeling like we were going to die.
We spent the morning today cleaning the house and basically vegging out (everyone slept in this morning... except me, of course).
I'd hoped that I'd be able to have a Rock Band rock & roll session this weekend but alas, that dream seems to be dead. I'll have to wait until next weekend or so. Sigh.
Garrett has started playing with my old Gameboy Advance SP. He likes to make Mario jump in the holes and, in his words, make Mario "scream like a girl."
Sigh.
Little poll up on the side ---->
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Words Of Wisdom From Cartoon Land
So Garrett & I are watching this cartoon called "Kappa Mikey" (which is actually pretty funny for a big anime fan like myself) and this line is uttered, which I think is the most accurate line uttered, ever.
"What is golf but mini-golf without the tiny windmills, tiny waterfalls and tiny lighthouses? Golf is not real golf. The only real golf is mini-golf."
Truer words were never spoken, my friends.
"What is golf but mini-golf without the tiny windmills, tiny waterfalls and tiny lighthouses? Golf is not real golf. The only real golf is mini-golf."
Truer words were never spoken, my friends.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Drunken Garrett Says, "Happy Valentine's Day!"
Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Wager for the decorations and other V-Day supplies! They arrived today.
And thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Grace for the cards!
Nobody Likes My Poll
I made a new poll up the other day and only two people have voted. Sigh. By the way, I saw that a narrow margin decided to retain their Canadian vote in the last one I had up.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up!
Ouch.
I slipped on the ice in the parking spot next to my car this morning. I had just let Garrett out of the backseat and was starting to walk up to the house to put the diaper bag away when my feet both just went sideways and I landed on my right shoulder and hip.
It hurt at first (Garrett spent some time both laughing at me and trying to replicate the fall for himself, though he never succeeded) and then went away for a bit... until mid-afternoon.
Now my shoulder is REALLY FRACKIN' SORE!
At least I wasn't carrying Kara at that point!
I slipped on the ice in the parking spot next to my car this morning. I had just let Garrett out of the backseat and was starting to walk up to the house to put the diaper bag away when my feet both just went sideways and I landed on my right shoulder and hip.
It hurt at first (Garrett spent some time both laughing at me and trying to replicate the fall for himself, though he never succeeded) and then went away for a bit... until mid-afternoon.
Now my shoulder is REALLY FRACKIN' SORE!
At least I wasn't carrying Kara at that point!
The Cake Is Still A Lie
This is a pretty neat rendition of the best song to come out last year.
Here's the original.
Here's the original.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Rockstar Curling?
I kid you not.
Tim, maybe you can get something in the works for the next EBC fundraiser :)
Sex, drugs, guitars — and curling?
The Toronto Star reported Monday that NBC has acquired exclusive rights to launch 10 episodes of a proposed television show called Rockstar Curling.
Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, apparently closet curlers, are among the megastar rockers being courted to host it.
Tim, maybe you can get something in the works for the next EBC fundraiser :)
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Gaming Rundown
I haven't really ranted and raved about games lately so I figured that I'd do a quick rundown of what I'm working on and what's worth playing according to me.
Professor Layton & The Curious Village
This just came out today for the DS and I can't wait to spend the rest of the evening losing myself in the puzzles. It's got a great sense of style, the animation is done by Studio Ghibli of Princess Mononoke fame (only with a very European feel) and the puzzles have been cobbled together by some sadistic 300 year old Japanese professor with a penchant for breaking minds. I've only done the first 6 puzzles but there have been a couple tricky ones already. I'm scared about the ones later in the game!
No More Heroes
Just getting a copy of this game is worth a post in itself (I'll probably do this later in the week) but suffice it to say, it was worth the drive to Kitchener. If you have a Wii and want a very stylish, very crude but very fun ode to videogames, you must try this game out. Plus it's the closest you'll get to having a lightsaber game for the time being. Of course, if you hated Killer7, stay far, far away.
Sins Of A Solar Empire
I've only started working on this on over the last day or two but I am afraid of how much of my time it will suck up once I really get into it. It's a mixture of 4x galactic conquest (like Civilization) with Real Time Strategy controls (like Warcraft or Command & Conquer). I spent a bit of time on my first real game last night and found it to be very deep yet very user friendly. Of course, I got into a bit of a stalemate with the computer as I had occupied all of the solar systems except the one that AI controlled. I couldn't get into that system because he had about 400 ships waiting to blow me to pieces if I poked my nose in and he couldn't get out because I had blockaded all of the jump points and would take out the few ships he could send through at a time... sorry... getting nerdy there...
Suffice it to say, it was very satisfying and I've barely scratched the surface, let alone played online against my other SoaSE playing friends.
------------
And that's it for now. I've been plunking away at Burnout: Paradise and Rock Band as well, but I'm stuck on a couple songs in Rock Band and I can't seem to drive more than 5 feet in Burnout without wrapping my car around a tree. That said, I did have a really cool crash yesterday when I drove my little sports car underneath a bus and was able to drive it away, albeit in a much flatter state...
Lost Odyssey comes out this week and looks to be a great Final Fantasy knock-off in the best possible sense of the word. This will be Mistwalker's chance to wow me as I was really disappointed in Blue Dragon, though I'll probably try to finish that game off sometime soon.
Professor Layton & The Curious Village
This just came out today for the DS and I can't wait to spend the rest of the evening losing myself in the puzzles. It's got a great sense of style, the animation is done by Studio Ghibli of Princess Mononoke fame (only with a very European feel) and the puzzles have been cobbled together by some sadistic 300 year old Japanese professor with a penchant for breaking minds. I've only done the first 6 puzzles but there have been a couple tricky ones already. I'm scared about the ones later in the game!
No More Heroes
Just getting a copy of this game is worth a post in itself (I'll probably do this later in the week) but suffice it to say, it was worth the drive to Kitchener. If you have a Wii and want a very stylish, very crude but very fun ode to videogames, you must try this game out. Plus it's the closest you'll get to having a lightsaber game for the time being. Of course, if you hated Killer7, stay far, far away.
Sins Of A Solar Empire
I've only started working on this on over the last day or two but I am afraid of how much of my time it will suck up once I really get into it. It's a mixture of 4x galactic conquest (like Civilization) with Real Time Strategy controls (like Warcraft or Command & Conquer). I spent a bit of time on my first real game last night and found it to be very deep yet very user friendly. Of course, I got into a bit of a stalemate with the computer as I had occupied all of the solar systems except the one that AI controlled. I couldn't get into that system because he had about 400 ships waiting to blow me to pieces if I poked my nose in and he couldn't get out because I had blockaded all of the jump points and would take out the few ships he could send through at a time... sorry... getting nerdy there...
Suffice it to say, it was very satisfying and I've barely scratched the surface, let alone played online against my other SoaSE playing friends.
------------
And that's it for now. I've been plunking away at Burnout: Paradise and Rock Band as well, but I'm stuck on a couple songs in Rock Band and I can't seem to drive more than 5 feet in Burnout without wrapping my car around a tree. That said, I did have a really cool crash yesterday when I drove my little sports car underneath a bus and was able to drive it away, albeit in a much flatter state...
Lost Odyssey comes out this week and looks to be a great Final Fantasy knock-off in the best possible sense of the word. This will be Mistwalker's chance to wow me as I was really disappointed in Blue Dragon, though I'll probably try to finish that game off sometime soon.
Grammar Grumps
I had a few word related things that were bugging me today but this one has been driving me nuts for a week or more, if only because I can't seem to figure out which is the right way to write this.
Is it yours or your's? As in, "That pen is your's."
Sigh. My brain must be turning to mush.
Is it yours or your's? As in, "That pen is your's."
Sigh. My brain must be turning to mush.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
The World's Saddest Snowmen
Garrett and I had fun making snowmen today, but they're pretty sad looking. The snow was starting to fall apart while we worked on the second one, which is why it's so short :P
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Brock Gets Grumpy: Issue #983
It's been a while since I really got worked up into a good froth about stuff around here, so behold!
First off, there's this case, which elicited both a laugh and a sigh from me when I read it.
I just don't know what to say... if you read the article, everything about it just boggles the mind. Plus I really hate it when people get off with nary a slap on the wrist, mental illness or not. Put some kind of conditions on them.
Moving on.
There was a case before one of the Children's Aid Societies around here that made me want to slap everyone too.
There's this kid who was born in Canada to druggie parents... I think they're dead or something. Anyway, he's been in a foster home since he was 10 days old. They want to adopt him. CAS wants to send him to the slums of Brazil (not sure what city, but probably Sao Paulo) to live with his Grandmother who has not initiated contact with him at all BUT she's his last blood relative.
And the host of the radio show (the wishy-washy Leslie Roberts, also of Global News) was arguing with people who thought that was a monumentally stupid idea because if we didn't let him go to the slums instead of staying in Toronto with a relatively well-to-do family, that would be practicing economic discrimination AND WHERE WOULD IT END?!
It's like people have stopped having the capacity to think in specifics these days and everything is about generalizations.
Forget about how it will affect this particular kid. Worry about the hypothetical kids that might or might not be affected in the future.
He even had the gall to say, "well, if it's bad for him to be with his poor grandmother, why not start pulling kids out of poor homes here in Canada?"
Thereby missing the point completely...
Sigh.
First off, there's this case, which elicited both a laugh and a sigh from me when I read it.
Crown prosecutors will be at the Ontario Court of Appeal Thursday trying to designate sexsomnia as a mental illness after a man was cleared of sexual assault due to the rare sleep aberration.
I just don't know what to say... if you read the article, everything about it just boggles the mind. Plus I really hate it when people get off with nary a slap on the wrist, mental illness or not. Put some kind of conditions on them.
Moving on.
There was a case before one of the Children's Aid Societies around here that made me want to slap everyone too.
There's this kid who was born in Canada to druggie parents... I think they're dead or something. Anyway, he's been in a foster home since he was 10 days old. They want to adopt him. CAS wants to send him to the slums of Brazil (not sure what city, but probably Sao Paulo) to live with his Grandmother who has not initiated contact with him at all BUT she's his last blood relative.
And the host of the radio show (the wishy-washy Leslie Roberts, also of Global News) was arguing with people who thought that was a monumentally stupid idea because if we didn't let him go to the slums instead of staying in Toronto with a relatively well-to-do family, that would be practicing economic discrimination AND WHERE WOULD IT END?!
It's like people have stopped having the capacity to think in specifics these days and everything is about generalizations.
Forget about how it will affect this particular kid. Worry about the hypothetical kids that might or might not be affected in the future.
He even had the gall to say, "well, if it's bad for him to be with his poor grandmother, why not start pulling kids out of poor homes here in Canada?"
Thereby missing the point completely...
Sigh.
Monday, February 04, 2008
New Poll!
I put up a new poll inspired by this news story from CBC.
I've got people in both the Republican and Democratic parties that I'd be happy to vote for if I had the chance. I also have people in both of the parties that scare me.
Given the choice of voting for the people down south, some of whom are quite inspiring vs. the tools we have to choose from up here... well... I'd almost be willing to give up my ballot in the next Canadian election to make a decision in the US of A.
I've got people in both the Republican and Democratic parties that I'd be happy to vote for if I had the chance. I also have people in both of the parties that scare me.
Given the choice of voting for the people down south, some of whom are quite inspiring vs. the tools we have to choose from up here... well... I'd almost be willing to give up my ballot in the next Canadian election to make a decision in the US of A.
Geocaching With A Stylus
This is an interesting 'game'. There's an island in Japan that is about 4 kilometers in circumference. On this island are a lot of clues and puzzles that you have to solve to find a treasure.
Rather than using a GPS unit, you need to use a special piece of software and the DS.
Very interesting...
Rather than using a GPS unit, you need to use a special piece of software and the DS.
The free game is open to Nintendo DS owners with the means to travel to Enoshima, a small island (4 kilometers in circumference) in the town of Fujisawa about 50 kilometers south of Tokyo. After picking up the free software, players are sent off to interact with their DS and move about the island in search of clues, which are obtained through both the physical environment and the game console. The game makes use of the DS’s wireless capabilities, and at certain key locations on the island where players obtain clues, the on-screen scenery matches that of the physical surroundings. Players can locate the treasure after obtaining all the pieces of the puzzle and putting them together to solve the mystery, which the developers claim is no easy task.
Very interesting...
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Ever Dance With The Devil In The Pale Moonlight?
I was flipping around tonight looking for a cartoon to watch with Garrett before bed as the Treehouse lineup on Saturday evening sucks worse than a leaky space suit in a black hole. I ended up on Teletoon (which usually has some animated movie on Saturday) and a movie was on with Michael Keaton and it looked familiar but I couldn't place it...
Then in walked Jack Nicholson.
Garrett started flipping out.
"IT'S THE JOKER, DADDY! THE JOKER! Where's Batman? Where's Two-Face?"
That's when I had to break the sad news to Garrett that, yes, Michael Keaton IS Batman.
I think it broke his little heart. That said, he loved the last 20 minutes of the movie.
Then in walked Jack Nicholson.
Garrett started flipping out.
"IT'S THE JOKER, DADDY! THE JOKER! Where's Batman? Where's Two-Face?"
That's when I had to break the sad news to Garrett that, yes, Michael Keaton IS Batman.
I think it broke his little heart. That said, he loved the last 20 minutes of the movie.
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