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| Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 | | 12:27 am |
Fast food
Boy, changing my diet sure has been easy. When I was working downtown, I ate out for lunch 5 days a week, and about 3 of those meals would be from fast food restaurants. But in the last six months, I've probably eaten fast food fewer than ten times. It doesn't hurt that making proper meals at home is a lot cheaper than restaurant food. | | Saturday, August 15th, 2009 | | 4:46 am |
Hypothetical Situation
Suppose you saw an elderly man, shabbily dressed, wandering the streets in the pouring rain. He doesn't seem to have any destination or business. If you were a police officer, wouldn't you go over and say hello? Ask him if he's lost, or cold, or needs help? When he claims he's Bob Dylan, but doesn't have any ID, you might reasonably suspect that he's mentally ill. So, you give him a ride back to where he says he's staying, and when someone verifies that he is, in fact, the real Bob Dylan, everybody laughs at you. Why? Should a 24-year-old cop be expected to know what a musician looks like, 45 years after he peaked? I mean, I've heard of Bob Dylan, but I have no idea what he looked like in the 60s, let alone today. And frankly, he's not that big anymore. At 29, I only recognize two songs from his greatest-hits album, and if they hadn't been on the Forrest Gump soundtrack, it would probably be zero. From the same era, I recognize about half a dozen songs by the Rolling Stones, a handful by Elvis, a dozen by Simon and Garfunkel, and at least 30 or 40 by the Beatles. You can blame society for not popularizing songs that couldn't be easily commercialized, but you can't blame young people for not knowing him now. He wasn't arrested, tased, or otherwise hurt, so I don't see what the big deal is. | | Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | | 7:47 pm |
Melts in your hand, your mouth... yeah, pretty much anywhere.
So what's the deal with Smarties? Here's the thing: Smarties were invented in England in the year 1882, and became a popular candy. In 1954, M&Ms (an American brand) started using the slogan "melts in your mouth, not in your hand". Skittles and Reese's Pieces didn't exist in 1954, so a slogan like that is pretty obviously a glove-slap in the face of M&Ms main competitor, Smarties. Since then, Smarties have had 55 years to reform, and still they refuse. Like the big three automakers, they bury their heads in the sand and believe that these uppity foreigners are engaged in folly, that candy that doesn't stain your hands like a kindergartener's is just a fad, and that customers will eventually return to their crappy traditional product. Get with it, Smarties. You're making Edsels in a Prius world. | | Thursday, March 19th, 2009 | | 2:36 pm |
Riddle me this: Last month I had my teeth cleaned, which took about 25 minutes of scaling with a hygienist who has a four-year degree. Cost: $121. Today I had to get a filling replaced (it popped out while I was flossing). That took about 70 minutes with a dentist, who has at least a 6-year degree, plus a dental assistant, who has at least a one-year diploma. Cost: $119. What kind of sense does that make? | | Monday, January 26th, 2009 | | 11:43 am |
"Respect the Office"
You would often hear Americans say that if people didn't like George Bush, they should at least respect the office of the president. You can hear people saying the same thing about Prince Charles - he's a bit of a goofball, but you should respect the tradition or ... something. How about this one: "If you don't respect the tyrant, you should at least respect the institution of tyranny! Surely we can agree on that." | | Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | | 5:27 pm |
Back to the Future
Over the holidays, I watched the Back to the Future movies, and it's interesting to see how the predictions they made about the year 2015 are turning out: ( Read more... ) | | Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | | 10:49 am |
Three words I can never use
There are a few words that I will never use, because everybody thinks they mean the opposite of what they actually do. Here are three: Inflammable - Unlike inactive, injustice, invisible, and a thousand more words, inflammable doesn't mean the opposite of flammable. They both pretty much mean combustible. Peruse - a lot of people think that perusing something means glancing over it, skimming it, or reading it in a leisurely way. It actually means to study something very carefully. Drone - People talk about "cubicle drones", "mindless drones", and "Borg drones", as if these people were hard-working slaves, devoting all their effort to someone else's benefit. Actually, drones in a real bee hive, wasp nest, or ant colony have the cushiest job in the place - they're the only males, and they do nothing but have sex with the queen. Drones don't gather nectar, make honey, defend the nest, or sting anybody - female or neuter workers do that. | | Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | | 3:50 pm |
Calendar of Events
Here's a list of a few things I'm looking forward to: July 1, Canada Day July 4-13, Street Performer's Festival July 28, White Knight 2 rollout (Mojave) July 29 - Aug 6, SpaceX launch Aug 1-2, Rocket Racing League exhibition Aug 8-24, ignore Olympics Aug 11-15 SIGGRAPH conference Aug 29-Sept1, skip Symphony under the Sky Sept 8, new episodes of Terminator Sept 16, new episodes of House (not really looking forward to that so much) Sept 22, new episodes of Heroes (same as House) Sept 29, new episodes of Chuck Oct 24-25, XPrize cup, Lunar Lander Challenge Oct 31, complete exercise goals (100 crunches/50 pushups in a row, plus more) Nov 4, Republicans steal election Early 2009, new episodes of Battlestar Galactica Aug 2015, Kent Hovind released, not rehabilitated at all Are there any important events, concerts, etc. that you think should be added to my list? | | Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 | | 5:41 pm |
Burger Size
These days, the smallest regular burger you're likely to find at most places (not off the kid's menu or value menu) is a quarter-pound. That means that the meat patty, before cooking, weighed 16/4 = 4 ounces. Last week I mentioned to Shawn that the size of McDonald's original burger was much smaller - about the size of Wendy's Junior hamburger. He doubted me, so here's the info: "Small" burgers: McDonald's Original Burger: 1.6 ounces, 333 calories (from 1955) Wendy's Junior Cheesburger: 1.7 ounces, 320 calories (from 2008) Standard fare: McDonald's 1/4 lb w/cheese: 4.0 ounces, 510 calories (Royale avec fromage) Burger King Whopper: 4.0 ounces, 670 calories Harvey's Angus Burger: 4.0 ounces, 530 calories Signature Sandwiches: Wendy's Baconator: 8.0 ounces, 840 calories A&W Papa Burger: 8.0 ounces, 720 calories Carl's Jr. 6 dollar Burger: 5.5 ounces, 1010 calories (actual price: $3.95) Pigwiches: BK Triple Whopper: 12 ounces, 1230 calories Wendy's Triple Burger: 12 ounces, 980 calories Hardee's Monster Thickbgr: 11 ounces, 1420 calories (108 grams of fat, defibrillator on standby) My favourite items are the Wendy's Jr. Bacon-Cheeseburger (280 calories w/o mayonnaise) or the Grilled Chicken Go Wrap (210 calories w/o honey-mustard sauce). | | Thursday, February 28th, 2008 | | 3:31 pm |
Study: Telus Bill Too High
EDMONTON - A new study has discovered that city residents are paying too much for basic land-line phone service. The investigation involved a survey of one man's latest bill, which ran to the princely sum of $28.17, despite not including call forwarding, call display, voice mail, or even a long distance package. "If I tried to call Calgary, it wouldn't connect." said Oliver resident Astro Cricket. "My service is cut to the bone, so it's impossible to pay less. But 28 bucks is still freaking outrageous". In these financially uncertain times, there are many opportunities competing for Cricket's $28.17. "I could almost get basic cable for that much, if I had a TV. Or, if this hadn't been a leap year, I could have played a game of Killer Instinct every day this month." Other wistful ideas for using the money include buying six Strawberry Sunshine smoothies, despite being too stingy to actually buy the luxury drinks. "Sure, if I didn't have to give that $28 to Telus, I'd just throw it on the pile, but it's the principle of the thing." | | Monday, February 11th, 2008 | | 5:03 pm |
"What's that you say?" "I said the pop machine's really loud!" "The cop latrine's getting plowed?" "I SAID THE POP MACHINE'S REALLY LOUD!" "Sorry, I can't hear you over the pop machine." I bet pop machines waste a lot of energy. I just recently came to this conclusion because there's a TV in our breakroom at work, but it's nearly impossible to hear because it's directly above a pop machine, and that thing makes more noise than any refrigerator I've ever seen. Whereas a normal fridge or freezer has a gentle hum that's easy to ignore, all the pop machines that I've been noticing recently make about as much noise as an idling sports car. That suggests to me that they must be pretty inefficient. And why not? The vendor that owns the machine typically doesn't pay for the power - it's plugged into whatever wall outlet is nearby, which typically means the customer is paying for the power, rather than the seller. So the customer wants to save power but can't, and the seller can save power but doesn't want to. Of course I'm ignoring the waste of refrigerating something that doesn't spoil, since I think it's allowable to spend energy just to make something taste better. I just don't want us to waste more than we have to. | | Thursday, January 31st, 2008 | | 3:37 pm |
My opinion: Torchwood is too gay
Torchwood is a Doctor Who spinoff, based on the premise of a government agency that fights aliens in the present day. This so-called "Doctor Who for Adults" is based in Wales, so if you consider Doctor Who to be too London-centric, Torchwood is even more implausibly Cardiff-centric. But that's not the point, nor is the weak character development, lame scripts, overacting, or overabunance of violence. The main problem I have with Torchwood is that it's too gay. Created by gay producer Russell T. Davies and starring gay actor John Barrowman (playing the the omnisexual Captain Jack, a con-man from the future, where apparently "monosexuality" is extinct), every single episode explores gay themes. Among the regular cast, there is no character who hasn't had a same-sex experience. Even guest characters rarely get away without some same-sex action. The idea of a future in which everyone is bisexual doesn't bother me, but the overwhelming fixation on these themes does. The show reminds me of that animated classic, Captain Planet. Theoretically, a show involving elemental superpowers, flamboyant villians, and teenage drama has a lot of potential. Voices by LeVar Burton and Whoopi Goldberg should just sweeten the deal. Unfortunately, every episode is propaganda telling kids to recycle, avoid polluting, and so on. That's a fine message, but you can't really enjoy the show if every event is a "teaching moment". I see Torchwood as exactly the same sort of Public Service Announcement - however edifying, any story or character development is secondary compared to The Message. Edit: last night's episode wasn't too gay - just one session of man-on-man frenching - but the rest of the story didn't gain much from the restraint. There's an overplayed heroic sacrifice, and some other stuff happens, but how the writer thought that would qualify as a story is beyond me. | | Friday, December 21st, 2007 | | 4:44 pm |
Would you like a little cheese with that whine?
Man alive, what a terrible month. I nearly killed myself trying to get my main project out the door before Christmas, and I didn't even succeed. The 12-hour days, noisy co-workers, and my new 4-plex "cubicle" just about crushed this camel's back. According to my calendar, I only used 3 vacation days so far this year. Fortunately this year is over, but there's more of the same to come in January. Christmas will be no holiday either - I have about 15 chores to do before the 25th, none of which are easy. I would say that almost the only good thing to happen to me this month is Wendy's new Grilled Chicken Wrap - 250 calories (210 without the yucky honey mustard) and quite a succulent meal. | | Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 | | 3:43 pm |
Futurama: Bender's Big Snore
Holy smokes, this latest entry in the Futurama series was awful - nearly unwatchable. While watching, I kept checking to see how long the movie was, in the hopes that it would be over soon. ( No spoilers ) | | Monday, November 26th, 2007 | | 1:41 pm |
Shaka, when the walls fell.
There are some cliches I love, because they're such a fast way of expressing exactly what you mean. One of my favourites is "sour grapes", i.e. convincing yourself that something you can't have is actually undesirable, so you wouldn't want it even if you could get it. Does anyone know if the opposite idea has a name? I'm talking about a situation where you're committed to something, and you convince yourself that you're better off than you actually are. Like, if you bought a bad car, and because you're stuck with it now, you delude yourself into thinking it's a good car, rather than admit you made a bad decision. | | Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 | | 10:49 am |
Glowstick at 365+ days
Last October I bought a couple of glowsticks from the halloween supplies at Save-On-Foods (2 for a dollar), bent them to start them glowing, and played with them for a while. After I got bored I chucked them in the freezer to slow down the reaction rate and save them for later. I thought that keeping them cool when I wasn't using them would keep them fresh, but I had no idea that a product with a usual lifespan of about a day could last more than a year in the freezer. When I warmed them up last night, they were glowing so dimly that I had to turn off the lights and let my eyes adjust to see them, but they were still glowing. I bet that if I didn't have a self-defrosting freezer that warms up periodically, they would last even longer. | | Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 | | 9:47 am |
My first-ever banning!
I've been on the Internet for about 12 years, and I've been posting to forums for maybe 5 years, but I've never been banned from a site before. Yesterday, I was banned from Feministing.com after only posting about 5 comments. It wasn't that I said anything particularly outrageous, but I was accused of being a sock puppet.( Read more... ) | | Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 | | 5:34 pm |
| | Saturday, September 1st, 2007 | | 2:57 am |
| | Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 | | 11:00 am |
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