Tue 31 Oct 2006
After much prolonged agony, I got my rss feed to work with google reader. How’d I do that, you ask? I set up a cron job to download the rss feed every hour into an xml file. For some reason Google can understand how to read that file, even though it’s an exact copy of the one it can’t read. Go figure!
To the less technical members of my audience — if you didn’t understand what the above meant I’ll translate it for you: “blah blah blah”. Public service is my game!
Tue 31 Oct 2006
Short for zombie comics: zombics!
Based on a glowing recommendation from Cory Doctorow of boingboing I picked up the first volume of The Walking Dead today from Amazon. I figured what the heck, it’s only $10 thanks to the free shipping I get with Amazon Prime. It was kind of uncharacteristic of me since I’m not a big comic fan and I don’t really trust Doctorow’s judgement all that much, but c’mon… zombie comics are a golden concept.
Right from the introduction I knew this was pretty much as perfect as they come:
Give me “Dawn of the Dead” over “Return of the Living Dead” any day. To me zombie movies are thought provoking, dramatic fiction, on par with any Oscar worthy garbage that’s rolled out year after year. Movies that make you question the fabric of society are what I like. And in GOOD zombie movies… you get that by the truckload.
[...]
For me the worst part of every zombie movie is the end. I always want to know what happens next. Even when all the characters die in the end… I just want it to keep going.
I hate to sound like the dude’s agent… but if that sounds good to you then you owe it to yourself to get The Walking Dead Vol 1: Days Gone Bye. Character driven zombie epic comics — good to the last drop!
Tue 31 Oct 2006
It’s halloween today of course, and I hate dressing up. Call it insecurity or shyness or whatever, I just hate the whole procedure and have since I was a little kid. Work this year encouraged us to dress up in costume but of course I didn’t like usual.
It reminds me of a sad story from a few years ago today when I worked at an office for a reinforcing steel (rebar) company where they also encouraged everyone in the office to dress up. At the time I actually went to the effort of getting a costume this time though, but I definitely didn’t want to wear it. In fact after I drove to work I sat in my car for minutes unable to decide if I should remove my costume before I went inside or not. Eventually I chickened out and left the costume in the car and went in to find everyone in the office was very very somber.
Why? Because earlier in the day one of the people out in the manufacturing plant was killed in a gruesome industrial accident, totally unrelated to halloween of course since they weren’t costumed. But the whole time I was petrified in my car about something as petty as whether or not to wear a costume, other people were dealing with the horrible death of a friend and co-worker — many of whom would eventually quit because it was too traumatic. To think of how petty I had been while others were going through genuine problems made me feel very, very small.
But still not enough for me to wear a costume this year. I’m just lame.
Mon 30 Oct 2006
I know you’re living it up in the big city now, but those of us living on the best coast want to know what’s up with you! I’m pretty sure they have internets already in the big TO so give me the skinny on what’s new in the neighbourhood!
Sun 29 Oct 2006
By popular demand:
Sat 28 Oct 2006
I apologize dear readers for the utter lack of updates to this here weblog. Work has been utterly exhausting lately and when I get home I don’t have the energy to share interesting tidbits with y’all. Sorry!
To give you an idea of how tired I’ve been, I slept last night from 1 until 11, and then had a nap from 2 until 6. That’s screwed up, yo!
Sat 21 Oct 2006
Why I cannot for the life of me get this blog’s rss feed, a stock version of the Wordpress RSS feed, to work with Google Reader.
If anyone out there has a clue, please cluebyfour me plsthx.
Fri 20 Oct 2006
Thu 19 Oct 2006
BBC News, on Sasha Baron Cohen:
In the film, Cohen’s character Borat portrays Kazakhs as a nation of misogynists, racists and anti-Semites.
(ref)
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the humour that Ali G provides. To see his characters including Borat as making fun of the characters he portays is totally missing the point — if that were all that was it would be a really dumb show. Ha ha, look at how dumb foreigners are, ha ha.
It’s more true to say that Cohen is a master of the art of trolling, that is to say creating great controversy just for the sake with people who don’t know better. To the people who know better it’s funny to see the reactions of those not in the loop, because we know we’d probably be just as taken in. That’s also the basis for hidden camera shows, though of course Cohen mixes more offensiveness into the batter.
The real crux of the humour in the show is that Cohen shows just how much common folk in the US and UK are willing to take so long as he portrays himself as an outsider. He does horribly offensive things and is treated like a child because his victims assume that his differences provide him with an excuse for the things he says as does. Instead of standing up and saying “hey that’s wrong you jerkoff” as they ought to, they’ll condone it as if his outsider status gives him immunity from the responsibilities of being a good person.
In this way, the character of Borat doesn’t make fun of Kazakhstanis any more than Ali G makes fun of people from Staines. The joke’s not on them, but it’s on us.
Mon 16 Oct 2006
Mon 16 Oct 2006
I know I’ve made fun of Toronto a lot recently, but that’s only because you’re moving away and I’ll miss you. But look on the bright side: you’ll be able to drink in pub washrooms!
Sun 15 Oct 2006
Today I went to one of my all-time favourite spots, Bons Off Broadway. It’s exactly as described here, saving me valuable seconds of having to describe it to you.
If only it was $2 beer day (aka Tuesday), then we could have had the megatraditional $5 breakfast-n-beer combo. As it was, $4.50 for breakfast-n-coffee ain’t half bad, considering it comes with two eggs, lots of sausage and hash browns and four half-slices of toast. I left a US dollar as a tip.
I need to find a place that is remotely as good as this in Seattle.
Sat 14 Oct 2006
I just watched a truly wonderful movie a few moments ago: Trailer Park Boys: The Big Dirty. Being a longtime fan of the show I have to admit I was kind of skeptical going in about how it would be, but since I was in Vancouver I had to see it this weekend regardless of my concerns.
Totally blown away. I think it’s the finest work they’ve done, better than any of the seasons thus far in my opinion. They toned down their shtick slightly for the more mainstream audience I think, and while that could have been a recipe for disaster I think it actually helped
make the downs more down and the ups more up.
Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles: keep on keeping on, dudes.
Sat 14 Oct 2006
The dude at the front desk gave me the keys to room 301, but when I got there it told that room 301 was permanently closed and I had to go to a different room.
Thu 12 Oct 2006
The phrase “guilty until proven innocent” conveys horrible images of trials in authoritarian countries like the USSR or China, where the accused has to prove their innocence. The sad part is, it’s impossible to prove innocence in nearly all cases. Enter on stage right, Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper! Not just for the USSR or China anymore, coming soon to a Canada near you!
The sentiment of the bill, trying to keep repeat sexual or violent offenders off the streets is a worthy goal. However that is absolutely no excuse for the sort of authoritarian precedent this sets for Canadian law. The “three strikes” law where you are automatically jailed for life on your third offense isn’t ideal either, but at least in that case you don’t have mock trials of people trying to prove they are not dangerous. How on earth is one to prove they are not dangerous, anyhow? The concept is truly absurd.
People who said “what’s so bad about Harper?”: I told you so. Now we finally see the wolf that has been hiding in sheep’s clothing for so long, and it’s just as bad as the naysayers feared.
Wed 11 Oct 2006
Today was desk-moving day at work. I now have a truly awesome view overlooking the water. Right now it’s sunset against the backdrop of the mountains and it’s very pretty.
And now just like at home, I can see a 76 station. My entire life revolves around 76 signs. Now you know.
Tue 10 Oct 2006
It’s very intense, very strange. Much different than my previous jobs and I have to admit I wasn’t fully prepared for the entire experience. Things move a lot faster, both for better and for worse, and you really can’t be relaxed or complacent about anything.
Mon 9 Oct 2006
This weekend I’m heading up to beautfiul British Columbia, specifically the Vancouver part. It will be my first time on Amtrak since the fabled sewer train experience, though that was on a totally different train line so I’m not expecting any problems. It will also be the first time I use my green card as an entry permit. Exciting!
Mon 9 Oct 2006
Last night saw the realization of what should have been obvious: your actions do not occur in a vacuum. That is to say, your actions (or inactions) have consequences for other parties, and if you try to anticipate those consequences you can influence the future behaviour of other parties.
For example: let’s say you name three countries as the “axis of evil”. Let’s suppose then you attack one of those three countries without provocation, and you’ve already used up any potential leverage from sanctions against the remaining two. These actions, whatever their merit may or may not be, cause a wholly predictable reaction — the remaining two countries will have to do whatever it takes to prevent you from invading them as well.
It is not shocking in the slightest that North Korea and Iran are developing a nuclear arsenal. In fact if you consider their perspective it is the only logical action they can take. So when President Alracistasshole of Iran claims to be pursuing a pacifist nuclear program, he’s either lying or insane for not doing the one thing that could prevent a future invasion.
This is not to justify the morality of North Korea’s nuclear program — fact is I’m scared out of my wits that such a crazy person has access to a nuke. Just that if world leaders had considered the logical consequences of how their actions would be received this problem could have been avoided. When you back someone into a corner you give them a reasonable way out, and when you take extreme action you give a very clear explanation of why you acted this way.
If your actions are predictable than the other parties can know what steps they can and cannot do to avoid negative consequences for themselves. But if your own actions are unpredictable, say by invading countries based on false evidence for short-term political gain, the other parties have to assume the worst
of you and prepare for such. This is not complicated, indeed it is quite obvious. Yet again and again we return to the same situation where truly unfortunate situations present themselves that did not have to be, in fact should never have been.
Fri 6 Oct 2006
Thu 5 Oct 2006
Wed 4 Oct 2006
Wed 4 Oct 2006
Tue 3 Oct 2006
If it’s opposite day in oppositeland, that means that it’s just like it is here.
Tue 3 Oct 2006
A Russian version of the studio’s Perfect Strangers debuted last week on Russian channel Ren TV.
The show, about a country bumpkin who moves into the big city apartment of his urban cousin, has undergone a few changes to better reflect the local audience.
The mismatched roommates originally named Larry and Balki have become Ivan and Andrei. In the first episode, Andrei arrives from a remote ex-Soviet republic and insinuates himself into the Moscow apartment of his cousin, Ivan. (ref)
Tue 3 Oct 2006
Skippy, Oh Skippy.
How you skip, how you skippy.
You had a balcony.
We had hamburgers,
which you made.
With your hands!
Skippy… Oh, Skippy.
How you skip… skip: so skippy.
You went to UBC.
Chilled with meg and me,
As it should be.
Skippy, skip of skippy,
Skip and me makes we.
You guessed and won a prize.
So wonderful are your eyes,
much more than other guys,
defeated all disguise.
Skipping not the skippy,
the skip of the USS Skip P.
Mon 2 Oct 2006
In this otherwise unremarkable bbcnews entry, a word that is often used to describe something political is instead used literally.
A special prize to the first one to comment with the word in question. It’s not that hard.
Mon 2 Oct 2006
Went to see an Allergist this morning… one of the things they do is to test your airflow. They do this by getting you to take the deepest possible breath and then exhaling as quickly and completely that you can.
Even though I was sitting down when I did this, I pretty much passed out from doing this. Thankfully this was not an unexpected result and the dude was there to stop me from falling over. Then I had to do the same thing twice more a few moments later, yay! The second and third times weren’t quite as bad, luckily… but it’s still a really horrible way to start the day.
Now you know.
Sun 1 Oct 2006
The word “terrorism” no longer means anything at all. Perhaps it used to mean something, at least I thought it did… but no longer. Leftists attribute it to governments like the US and Israel. Right-wingers attribute it to anyone who opposes them. And now it seems that Putin has taken the bizarre step of attributing it to a neighbouring country simply because they apprehended his spies.
It’s been on this road for a while now, but it’s finally official: terrorism now joins the rank of fascism and simply means “we don’t like them”. RIP, “terrorism”.
Sun 1 Oct 2006
"I am not, nor have I ever been, a fish."
