Archive for April, 2008

cutest fish ever

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Rosie the Porcupine Puffer.

need for speed

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

If you are finding your Ubuntu upgrade slow, I found it worth changing my default download server. Under System -> Administration -> Software Sources you can choose a new server. It has a Choose Best Server test, which pings all 185 Ubuntu download servers and picks the best one for you.

The default Canadian server is swamped at the moment, but the good people at Rochester Institute of Technology are the fastest for me.

this is what I’m talkin’ about, yeah

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

The Global Antigolf Movement.

i could do that

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

They are demolishing the show home at the corner of Nelson and Simcoe. They are bashing at it with a big excavator, trying to smoosh down the pile of drywall and plywood.

smalle fowles maken melodye

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Get Songbird

I like Songbird, even if its mascot has gas:

Get Songbird

SQLite Manager

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

SQLite Manager for Firefox

I like SQLite Manager for Firefox.

goes up to 13, at least

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

Got a mailing from The War Amps yesterday. Isn’t war loud enough for them already?

banjo nails from the axis of evil

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

I tried taping pistachio shells to my fingers to get those perfect frailing nails. It was, at best, a partial success.

But why axis of evil? Well, these were very fine Iranian pistachios from Rafsanjan. If we lived in the USA, we couldn’t buy them. We’d have to make do with the tasteless little California pistachios. Go Canada!

let it all hang out

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

Ontarians free to hang clothes in yards. Yeah, I couldn’t believe that it was illegal to hang out the washing in some areas either.

wind turbine raccoon sees you

Friday, April 18th, 2008

… and is unimpressed.

racoon at ripley

We encountered a raccoon last night. It was somewhat surprised to see us. Almost as much as we were to find it on top of the steps to a wind turbine.

tat, too

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Props to the older gent in the Tim’s at New Hamburg. “What’s the tattoo on your arm? I can’t make it out”, asks the server. “It’s supposed to be a panther’s head, but it’s not finished”, he replied. “I was meant to go back the next day, but I sobered up.”

snoozing squirrel

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

On our fence just now:

snoozing squirrel

new and improved

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

uh …. Calgary?

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Look, I know the Flames won last night, but that’s no excuse for all the snow we’re getting today. C’mon, it’s spring!

coast plaza = dodgy dns

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Coast Plaza hotel has a broken(ish) DNS — most web sites won’t resolve unless you hit reload about 8 million times (or use a shell loop to ping many many times). Aargh!

But it does completely block my office’s Citrix connections, so no work e-mail for me!

the cure for hockey

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

• • • •

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The above is a pictorial representation of the 11 additional pucks required so that they wouldn’t need to fight over one. Please donate generously, and you can help Canada become a world-class country with a proper sport …

someplace no place

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

In Calgary, and walked (likely illegal here) from the hotel up to a restaurant that Kenn had recommended. It’s called Oriental Phoenix, and it’s just off Barlow by Sunridge mall. (It’s really good, incidentally.)

Walking through the colossal mall parking lots, I had a real sense of ‘no place’ - this could be Lebovic Dr in Scarborough, or Liberty, MO, or Richmond, BC, or Napierville (a town with better backs of necks). What makes is what to create identical beige industrial buildings with colossal setbacks? I’ll leave this to smarter folks like Byrne or Kunstler; me, I’ve got my pho to walk off.

Sandro Perri gives you Double Suicide

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Sandro Perri sings Double Suicide [mp3].
(recorded live at Tranzac, 3 April 2008. Colin Fisher plays bouzouki and Brandon Valdivia is on snare and cymbals).

first butterfly

Monday, April 7th, 2008

Definitely summer now … Even as ice chunks float down to the Niagara Falls.

I’m slipping

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

The B-52s have had a new album out for nearly two weeks, and I don’t have it.