Picture this

A few days ago we played pictionary. It's a damn good thing I have a chalkboard in my room, so we all gathered round and played. Here is the photo evidence.



Jerry Springer








Christopher Walken








Road Trip


Jungle Fever

My roommate then redrew a postcard on there and now I can't ever erase my chalkboard.

Sunshine, it's cold out.

New amazing singer. His name is Adrian Orange and his band is Thanksgiving. I've only heard one song but I'm sold. The one song I've heard can be found here (just keep scrolling til you find it, "ageism").

This afternoon I sneaked off to the mall to go pick up some SLR photos I had taken since summer. It was quite the hassle to get to the mall, and I would like to say that almost getting run over by a car reversing on to me and waiting for the crowded bus was worth it, but the photos weren't spectacular. In fact, based on these, I think I might be slanted. Here are some of them.

This one is from summer, when I went up to a friend's cottage and we climbed a tower.

Attempting to: be artistic / finish the roll of film.

see above.

they looked so sad.

This is the cactus I got for my birthday. I got it because of this photo:

The story behind this is the only time I was ever seen sitting on those rocks outside the house was when I was caught eating the cactus back there. Now this wasn't taken in frosty Canada, but rather where cactus can prosper outdoors all year round (i.e. where I was born) so there was evidently enough cactus there for me to be seen there more than once. Maybe that's where my herbivourous habits come from.

So to make up for all those slanted photos.

When I got home, the locks had been changed. A pleasant surprise.

In other news, I have added links on the side bar there on your right.
Also, email vs. letter vs. bird behaviour research - here.

Amazing graffiti art.

recounting what happens when...

Person: Franz Ferdinand is on SNL tonight.
Me: nice.
Person: yeah I'm excited, I've never heard/seen him before.
Me: it's a band...
Person: oh..
Me: Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and that began WWI
Person: huh.

This was a half rowdy weekend and some injuries were sustained, mainly by me, of course. Some liquor just goes down way too easy. I didn't get very much reading done, well not news anyway, but I did manage to get quite a bit of leisure reading, which I got mocked for because it's a "nerd book." Pff..Some people don't know fun when they see it. I'm probably one of those people.
I also managed to do something I can't do while sober: send a text message. It was sent to a friend of mine because I realised at midnight Friday night that I had forgotten her birthday the day before...the thing is, she lives in Switzerland and I have no idea in what language I sent the message.

On the news this morning I learned very little about the happenings of the world. Bloggers are apparently allowed to run wild on CNN (this is the only almost suitable news channel available, because CTV makes things like "Celine wants another baby" a headline).

Here is a postcard I recently received. My friend is going to be studying near there.






I think this is the castle which was the basis for Cinderella's castle... I also think Ludwig was the guy who built all the ridiculous castles around Europe - including Versailles near Paris... I could be quite wrong about that one.

Also, my roommate told me that I would really enjoy mail art. I probably would.

daft punk played at my house, my house

Today, I walked past the front door into the living room and the mat in front of the door slid towards me and stopped at my feet.

Apparently I have been so out of touch that my roommates miss me. This is strange to me.

Phthong is a word.

I just got a crap load of photos printed because there is some sort of promotion going on where they are super cheap.

I miss sitting on the back porch with a pot full of green tea and reading. I wish we had a back porch out here, or any porch for that matter. Anyone want to get me a covered porch so I can sit on it and read?

Here are 6 things you have probably never thought of.

For some reason, I have had this perpetual feeling of invasion.

A Wonderful Day in the Neighbourhood

I have almost entirely evacuated my room for studying out in the living room on the wonderful brown corduroy couch. There are piles of books and papers and dictionaries surrounding my chair. My roommate sits opposed to me with just a laptop, a few sheets and a pen. I feel so inefficient.

Three different tests are taking place this week. I'm excited, are you? Anyway, enough rant about the arbitrary life I lead... you want to hear some good things. or interesting things. or nothing at all.

Pretty Things are a very nice 60s guitar band. But no one has offered me any good music yet. I am bored with my music.

This is an interesting article. Here is my favourite exerpt.
"On the island where the tiny human remains were found, researchers have also found evidence of giant rats and little elephants. "

I watched a documentary about uncovered skulls on the Discovery Channel. There was an abnormal skull, with eyes close together and a large head. They were confused as to what species it was (i.e. Human or a predecessor) because it is dated to have been alive at the time humans were around. The head was of a 5 or 6 year old child. The scientist said that they didn't think it was alien, which seems like a rather obvious conclusion to me, and not even an option for a scientist. However, the scientist went on to say that they were contemplating the idea that the skull could perhaps be a hybrid of a human with an alien. I was then really doubting the quality of documentaries that the Discovery channel airs. In case you were wondering, they were shaped skulls.

"Media flocked to the trial like perverts to a Britney Spears fan site" - a&e guy.

There was a lot of tv watching a few days ago. I apolgoize for all the references.

If I put all my poems together, I'd sound like Beck

I'm not an artist in any shape, size or form, but I pretend to be. And because of the recent holidays, I was inspired to make a rabbi out of Lego.


















Roommate J was inspired to make me out of Lego. There are three things wrong (well two depending on opinion) with the figure Can you spot them? Maybe you will win a prize.

Here is some life information that you may or may not want to hear (my guess is that it's the latter):

Roommate J also had this crazy idea about buying the good TP, and it was a marvelous idea. Though it was no classy TP like this one.

I flipped through old (2-3 years old) magazines recently and saw advertisements for bands and albums that I recently discovered and love.

Tea is still the greatest thing that has ever been. Coffee is included in that.

I am lacking good new music. The random stuff that made it onto my water buffalo (my mp3 player) is not as good as I'd hope it'd be. I need to get the audio books in there. Someone please send me some music.

I began a new hobby which I don't think will last.

Take care of yourselves, all of you.

UPDATE: somehow I missed showing you all this wonderful contraption.

Review

Anyone who knows me, knows that I procrastinate like hell (isn’t that where this blog came from?) but I also manage to get things done miraculously. Right now there are about four different things that need to get done for various times of the day, but here are some thoughts from the weekend spent at home:

- The car smelled like guavas, a scent I hadn’t experienced in over a year and even then it was from a canned juice.
- On the bus, it was like we were old friends and I don’t even know her name, but I did promise her that I would write and post about the ridiculous voyage we had and the term “self-googler” that was coined along the way
- We bonded over vintage t-shirts and how now the only worth of an anti-drug t-shirt campaign is sarcasm
- Wanting to photographically capture the feeling of an afternoon spent happily with family
- Discussions left unresolved, life questions we could no answer, mainly because they were only clear in our heads, I remembered why I hate that he lives on the other side of the country – those moments where we related our entire lives and how they were together an dhow they were apart
- Finding that stationary is the hardest instrument to find. Postcards as well. Envelopes to hold these things too
- A haphazard good-bye

The weekend was very enjoyable over all, but involved no Thanksgiving dinner spiel, my family doesn’t do that. I did however find out that the rest of my family is going on a wonderful little trip to the old country in April for my uncle’s birthday/holidays, but I don’t get to go because it is exactly when I have exams. There have been promises of a make-up trip for me, though I don’t think I’m ready to go back yet (having been there somewhat recently).

After my return, my room looks even more like a wasteland, I should put away some books because clearly, none of them are being read.

In other news, get me one of these.

Longer than I meant it to be

So I came across this article and thought I'd share. I thought a book was literally thrown at people, but it is just about this book. This incident reminds me of what happened about six months ago when I was walking home from my first exam. I agreed to answer questions for a survey for a book, which began with questions about evolution versus creationism (he actually did not write down that I believe in evolution) which ended up being about my religious beliefs and beliefs about an after life, etc. It was a pretty interesting debate until in the heat of the argument the survey-guy yelled out "I just want you to accept Jesus into your life" (or something similar) to which I lost it. At least my yelling at him for that comment discouraged others from answering their questions. I was absolutely appalled not only that in 2005 someone would be standing on the corner trying to convert me to his beliefs, but also that in 2005 someone could be so ignorant about other worldly religions and speak about them as though he had mastered their teachings. He had every right to ask me those questions and debate with me, just no right to tell me what to believe. Clearly, that whole event still bothers me for so many reasons, but I shall stop here.

Book thrown at proponents of Intelligent Design
13:01 06 October 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Celeste Biever

"Devastating" early drafts of a controversial book recommended as reading at a US high school reveal how the word “creationism” had been later swapped for “intelligent design”, a landmark US trial scrutinising the teaching of ID heard on Wednesday.
The early drafts of the book Of Pandas and People, was used as evidence to link the book to creationism, which it is illegal to teach in US schools.
“ID proponents have said for years that they are not creationists,” says Nick Matzke of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California, which is advising 11 parents who are suing the school board of Dover High School in Pennsylvania for incorporating ID into the science curriculum. “This proves beyond a doubt that this is simply a new name for creationism.”
ID proposes that life is so complex that it cannot have emerged without the guidance of an intelligent designer. The schoolÂ’s board voted in November 2004 to encourage students to consider ID as an alternative to evolution and recommended Of Pandas and People.
The parents claim this is a veiled attempt to bring creationism into the school. They are suing on the grounds that it has been ruled unconstitutional to teach anything in US schools that does not have a primarily secular motive and effect on pupils.
Trojan horse
The early versions of the book were displayed to the court by expert witness for the plaintiffs and creationist historian Barbara Forrest of the Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. She suggested that they were strong proof that ID is indeed creationism by another name.
Forrest compared early drafts of Of Pandas and People to a later 1987 copy, and showed how in several instances the word “creationism” had been replaced by “intelligent design”, and “creationist” simply replaced by “intelligent design proponent”.
“Forrest’s testimony showed that ID is not a scientific theory, but a Trojan horse for creationism,” said Eric Rothshild of Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Evolving drafts
Matzke, who was at the trial, points out that the “switching” of the words is also suspicious because of its timing, which came just after the US Supreme Court’s decision on 19 June 1987 that it was unconstitutional to teach creationism in schools.
The names of the drafts alone are incriminating, he says. The first draft, in 1983, was called Creation Biology, the next is Biology and Creation, dated 1986, and is followed by Biology and Origin in 1987. It is not until later in 1987 that Of Pandas and People emerges.
His comments infuriated John West, of the Discovery Institute, a think tank based in Seattle, Washington, that supports ID, but which has declined to testify on behalf of the defence in the trial.
West says that Forrest, author of a book called Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The wedge of intelligent design has used the drafts selectively and “cherry picked” the pages shown.
Attempts to discredit Forrest as a witness, by the defence lawyers from the Thomas More Law Center, in Ann Arbor, Michigan were not upheld by the judge.
Misconstrued creationism
West says that Of Pandas and People, while supporting ID, does not promote religion but rather leaves open the question of whether an intelligent designer lies within nature, or outside it. But he admits that the book states: "This is not a question that science can answer."
He says that while the timing of the changes in the drafts may not be a coincidence, this does not mean Of Pandas and People is a religious book. “If they did drop out the term creationism, [it is] because people may have misconstrued it,” he says.
Forrest will continue to be cross-examined by the defence's attorneys on Thursday. A full report on the trial at its completion will appear on NewScientist.com and New Scientist print edition.

No Comment

Write off the cuff
In the not-too-distant future when you see someone impatiently tapping their sleeve while waiting for a flight , they might in fact be writing a letter of complaint to the airline company.
German electronics company Infineon Technologies reckons the main reason wearable computers have yet to take off is that there is no simple way to use a keyboard for text entry. The solution, according to Infineon, is to fit a keyboard into a jacket during manufacture.
The garment can be woven from ordinary cloth. The arm of the jacket is then interlaced with a criss-cross of thin insulated wires, with the insulation etched away at spots corresponding to the keys of a keyboard layout. When a low voltage is fed through the wires, touching the pads bridges the wires underneath, turning the sleeve into a keyboard.
To protect the keyboard from wear-and-tear and washing, the overall area is sealed with insulating polymer. The woven wires would be connected directly to the rest of the electronics, which would either be embedded in the lining of the coat or carried somewhere on the body.

Boys with broken bicycles make me sad

The other day we made our way to WalMart because Henrietta the morbid egg cooker was doing a half-assed job. We took Stewie the irresponsible, day dreaming roommate and managed to pick up Cat, the dilly-dallying, fun having friend on the side of the road. After about 25 minutes, we managed to lose both of them. Stewie was found by the cosmetics wandering around aimlessly. I circled the store several times, passing by insane amounts of people who seemed perplexed as to why I was in such a rush, with no success. We told Stewie to stay put by some sort of pastry by the front doors and split up to find Cat, who had apparently been wandering around looking for us. I hate WalMart and its low, low prices.

This weekend has been filled with wasting time and no work. That makes it very similar to every other week in the past, I suppose.

There has been much talk about writing the last few days, both stories and poems (and music, but I have nothing to say about that). It makes me want to write...But I'm not a very good writer and I am also not particularly original, which does not make for very good writing. Someone convinced me to post something I did write, I wrote it over about a week in the summer during free time at work. It needs serious editing, but here it is. You might notice its resemblance to another text, upon which it is based. Formatting has been fixed (Thanks for posting it IR). And remember that I admitted that I'm a terrible writer and such, so I'm not going to be held accountable for this.