Among the artifacts were a few scribbled notes and I recognized the handwriting. Chris McLaren was a film major who worked for us in the early ’80’s, a skinny kid who wore black clothes and spiked hair and had an intense interest in Alistair Crowley, Roman Polanski, the Illuminati and role playing games. Even when you were face to face… Read more →
Month: February 2009
Friends of my youth, a last adieu!
Reading last night about the death of Philip José Farmer, it occurs to me that the authors whose stories are part of my memories of early days, and who got to make impressions on me when I was much more malleable–and thus had a greater effect on my life–are a limited resource. And one that will only run out faster… Read more →
Aside
Still so busy that it hurts. However, not too busy to have a laugh reading some entries in the “Simple English” Wikipedia.
A Few Quick Words on Soundtracks.
I require another 72 hours between now and Tuesday morning, please. Baring that, let me make a very quick post and get back to the salt mines. On the weekend I had a chance to watch All Hat, the adaptation of Brad Smith‘s “modern day Ontario western“. I generally like Smith, and I liked the book, so I figured it… Read more →
Possibly I Am Just Sappy
Very rarely does one of those “ten photos, each with a paragraph of text” photo features in one of the major papers make me tear up–I want to say never, but my memory is not the wondrous thing it once was“Tho’ much is taken, much abides” so that might be a bit of a reach. It’s moot anyway, since this… Read more →
Excuses, Excuses
And that really says all that needs to be said on the subject without risk of boring you with my job-talk, except perhaps to say that this week isn’t looking likely to be any better.. Bless the bus slogan generator for encouraging brevity in cliched posts. Before I leave though, I can’t resist one more: Read more →
White Lily
The one-armed man walks into a flower shop And says: What flower expresses Days go by And they just keep going by endlessly Pulling you Into the future Days go by Endlessly Endlessly pulling you Into the future? Read more →
Email Client Questions and Rants
So, I’m thinking it’s time for me to change my personalWork is not up for grabs, and it requires Outlook, but since I can’t both be connected to the work network and the outside world at the same time I’m not sharing work and personal stuff–they are different profiles. Actually, I rarely use the thick client for work email, living… Read more →
Aside
Boy, I wish I had been running WinSplit Revolution for a couple of years now–essentially since I first got the widescreen monitors. What a handy tool. Essentially it’s a little app that intercepts configurable hotkeys and uses them to map windows into specific screen coordinates–it makes the process of working with many open windows easier. It’s the first “leave it running all the time” tool I’ve added to my toolkit in quite a while. And it’s donationware. Yay.
Now I need to find an equivalent for my Ubuntu boxes.
To treat with excessive leniency, generosity, or consideration
I was not particularly indulgent with the Catholic Church and Pope Inquisitor, when I last discussed plenary indulgences on here. (Quoting Hitchens doesn’t count.) I see that the indulgences are newsworthy again, with some discussion this week of a piece in the Times. I’m mostly amused that part of the point of the piece is that most Catholics apparently don’t… Read more →
Observational Items
I believe that it is not hyperbole to say that the existence, even in conceptual form, of the Chompr is the final clear sign that Western society has slipped completely into decadence. First of all, if you can’t hold a sandwich in your hand, you shouldn’t be trying to eat it. Second of all, you should be able to engineer… Read more →
Aside
While I am less enamoured with the idea of the bacon explosion than the rest of the internet, I admit to an unhealthy curiosity about the idea of a bacon chocolate bar. Of course, the odds are better of my buying an amusing bacon t-shirt than actually trying either of those. And while all this bacon stuff amuses me, some people will take it Just Too Far, Man.
Today’s Brilliant Quote
Spotted on Jonathan Carroll’s blog today: “The secret of life,” said sculptor Henry Moore to poet Donald Hall, “is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the most important thing is—it must be something you cannot possibly do.” Yes, I quite… Read more →
Things I Have Learned Today
1) The best tool for cutting carpet is actually the “sheepsfoot” serrated blade on a Leatherman Charge xTi. No need to buy a special blade. 2) A quite good tool for getting tackstrip off the floor is actually a decent quality butterknife. The flexibility and thin edge of the blade make it easier to get the blade under the strip… Read more →
Rae’s Open Letter To Harper
And now, from the This-Is-The-Best-Thing-I’ve-Read-All-Week department, an open letter sent by Bob Rae to Stephen Harper. Just let me quote two little bits, which should be enough to get you to go read it. First, from the beginning: I am writing you in my former role as Deficit Poster Boy and Punching Bag. This title was bequeathed to me by… Read more →
