David Barnes’s new book What’s Weird? arrived today. It’s lovely.
David has an — unsurprisingly — unusual youtube channel and an etsy store. One of his prints hovers above my desk, and an original runs on my work desk.
Category: goatee-stroking musing, or something
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don’t overcomplicate your sloth party …
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I ♥ D19
We go to Phở Vietnam a lot. Catherine probably tires of my attempts to sneak a durian shake onto the order list instead of her usual choice, but really, what can be wrong with a drink that’s made of everyone’s favourite cow-poop-smelling spiny fruit?
So tonight, I thought I’d order it for real. I was very pleasantly surprised. Instead of a beverage with a barnyard reek, it had a delicate flavour, with sweet high notes like a citrusy cantaloupe. I’ll definitely order it again; it’s not one side short of a D20.
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not for spooky sounds
I finally got one. A real Moog Music one, too. For cheaper than a kit, even. Yes, a theremin; everyone’s favourite hand-wavey, LC circuit beat-frequency wobbly noise thing.
Playing anything recognizable is a way off yet. For now, I’m just vastly amused by the sounds it makes when you turn it on and off.
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a ham i am!
I just got my amateur radio license. If you’re unlucky enough to be on the 2m and 70cm bands around Toronto, you may just find me as VA3PID. The 3 is, of course, silent …
I guess that (so far unsuccessfully) futzing around with the small digital transceivers with Arduino made me look up some radio things, then I read this article on MetaFilter. It made me realize that unless new hams get on the air, the hobby will die, and the radio spectrum will be reallocated.
Passing the test wasn’t that hard, but did take a bit of dedicated reading. No morse code is required for the Basic Amateur Radio Operator Certificate, and if you get more than 80% in the multiple choice test, you can use the HF frequencies below 30 MHz. Since the pass mark is 70%, I thought it worth the extra effort.
I slightly overbought on the study materials. I got:
- HamStudy Basic, plus the RAC Operating Manual (plus a year’s membership to the RAC)
- Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide
While it’s possible to download the question bank from Industry Canada, or use the quaint Windows-based examiner program, I thought I’d work from a book. Both will likely do pretty well, but neither is perfect:
- Both books need to work on their proof-reading.
- Mathematical symbols, superscripts and subscripts are easy to typeset these days. Don’t miss them out.
- They need to be fully metric, as trying to remember weird factors to convert fractions of a wavelength to feet is annoying. I’m a mid-career engineer, and I’ve never had to use anything but metric.
I passed the exam on Tuesday night, and had my callsign listed by Friday. I have a cheap but adequate Wouxun dual band HT. This should be fun.
Quaint, huh? Industry Canada's Windows-only examiner software -
roti frenzy, part II
After several months closed, the Jamaican restaurant at 224 Adelaide St W has reopened as Caribbean Taste. It’s the same folks (Robert & Wendy, from Tropical Desires on Old Weston Rd) cooking as before, and it’s still able to provide a life-changing roti experience. -
Main Steak House Deli
We’d been to Schwartz’s before, and the line and the crush and the noise just wasn’t worth it. Across the road is the Main Steak House Deli, which was supposed to be as good, and way less crowded. So we went in …
Whoa! Tender peppery meat, killer poutine, crispy pickles and cold beer. We ordered in hesitating French, then the server yelled the order in English to the kitchen.Looks like not everyone’s billing workflow understands accents:
Outside, we saw meat resting in the window, bejewelled with peppercorns:
We’ll be back the next time we’re in Montreal. -
♡
(Arduino + LoL Shield + hand drawn 14×9 GIFs [
,
, and 
] + this) -
the white details on a white background are a bit hard to make out …
A house down the road does these very intricate snow sculptures:
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Emily’s castle cake
My sister-in-law makes very nice cakes.
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just hope I didn’t get a wee girl’s christmas present by mistake
This arrived today:
A bright pink EMUS soprano ukulele from Empire Music. I’m confused — not merely because I’ve never known Canada Post to deliver on a Sunday, but:- I haven’t ordered from Empire since 2007
- I have a ukulele already
- I’m relatively unlikely to have ordered a pink one.
It actually plays quite well — but where did it come from?
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aah! my eyes!
Seems that Shangri-La Toronto wants to surround their building with a bright magenta billboard. This is the view from my office:
It’s so bright everything vaguely reflective on my desk appears to be pink. I’ve made a couple of calls to the City of Toronto – Sign By-law Unit and Toronto 311 and await developments. -
ecofont: somebody drilled out a font
Ecofont claims to help you save ink (and not mass, like drilled out bike bits). The approach is the same:
Both of my printers have ink-saving settings that avoid this horror. Plus, y’know, with print to PDF, who wants paper? -
for perfect hotel sleeping …
- ensure that the ventilation system sounds like an idling Morris Minor
- insist that the alarm clock has a brightly-backlit display that won’t turn off, and is curved, so light will leak out no matter what you block it with
- smoke alarms must have a flashing LED bright enough to cause retinal POV trails.
Yes, Downers Grove Doubletree Guest Suites, I’m talking about you.
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now that’s a loaf
Been discovering the joys of Poondy Bread, the nearby Sri Lankan bakery. Their bread is awesome, with a great egg crust and a challah-like sweetness.But this loaf takes the cake. Two colossal slices. As big as your head.
