Mon - September 5, 2005

We want our CBC! 


I flip on the radio in the bathroom, and Tom has tuned it to some AM talk radio station (because the labour-disrupted CBC Radio 1 is insanely boring). First the host pronounces "grouse" like "gross," as in,"We're grossing about gas prices." Then he and whoever is with the announcer start comparing gas prices here and in Atlanta, one arguing they're the same, the other that it's cheaper here. But neither one has figured out in advance the relationship between litres and US gallons (not Imperial). So finally they give and conclude: "What we're saying is, it sucks!"

What insight! What wit!

Never thought I'd miss Andy Barrie this much.

So, if you were a CBC radio listener, what are you listening to during the disruption? 

[Hopefully the comment link works. I've read reports that blog commenting is breaking across the Internet due to spammed messages.] 

Posted at 12:36 PM      

Wed - May 18, 2005

Is Belinda the new Hillary?


Hillary Clinton is a lightning rod for over-the-top criticism in the US. The Conservative party in Canada may have found a new target in Belinda Stronach. Lately the decorum in Ottawa has been hitting new lows on a daily basis, but what was said yesterday about Belinda has really crossed a line. And I think it's the gender line. Male politicos are rarely denigrated in the following way.

'She sort of defined herself as something of a dipstick, an attractive one, but still a dipstick, with what she's done here today. She is, at the end of the day, going to paint herself as something of a joke.' - MPP Robert Runciman
"I said that she whored herself out for power, that's what she did," said Tony Abbott, a Conservative member of the Alberta legislature. "To me, what it is, it's a little rich girl basically whoring herself out to the Liberals," he said.
That metaphor was echoed by Maurice Vellacott, Tory MP for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin. "Some people prostitute themselves for different costs or different prices," he told the Regina Leader-Post. "She sold out for a cabinet position."
"I've never really noticed complexity to be Belinda's strong point." - Stephen Harper
And she was called "vacuous" and an "airhead" by an right-wing analysts on CBC's The National

Posted at 08:47 AM      

Mon - April 4, 2005

Am I no longer a feminist?


I thought this was hilarious from the pages of the Toronto Star.
The following was number 2 on the list of "Eight ways to alleviate guilt from playing video games" by Ben Rayner:
"Every time you kill a hooker, donate $1 to local women's shelters.

The rest of the list isn't online, just the main story about video game excess. The other seven ways weren't nearly as funny.
(login as: danshack49@yahoo.ca - password: 123456)

Posted at 08:35 PM      

Sat - March 26, 2005

Happy Easter from Mr. Solid



This hasn't helped Grace with her fear of bunnies.

Posted at 05:45 PM      

Thu - February 17, 2005

Half-DOA


I just received the package at work today containing the Sony MDR-EX71SL headphones that I ordered on eBay. So, this should be a happy story. Alas.

Here's the back story. Late last year I won an iPod from the Pepsi online contest. I never really knew if I would actually want an iPod. iPods always seemed to be overpriced, and I never thought I would actually purchase one. So, instead I earned one with 400-some-odd entries. So, the iPod entered my life.


Fifteen gigs of clutter in my iTunes quickly loaded onto the little gizmo. Then I found out that having over 3,000 songs and hundreds of artists can be a problem. More work. Organize, create playlists, correct artists' spellings and fill in the genres for each song. Lots of work. Most of all the songs from the last three years of burning, legally and less-legally downloading eventually gained some semblance of order.

So what does one get for all that effort? Probably the best radio station that I've ever listened to. (Sorry Alec). Because I chose it all myself. My typical strategy has been read a review about music that interests me, and then download a few songs. Over and over. So, I now have a really solid collection of indie/alternative rock that is loaded on the iPod. Everything was great except the original iPod headphones are a bit of a pain and only sound okay. My grand idea was to get something a little better--hopefully without spending too much money.

That lead to a typically obsessive research mode to find affordable yet sonically good iPod headphones. I considered various models from Apple, Sennheiser, Shure, Koss and Sony. Other brands are out there, but I don't have the budget to put over $100 into headphones that some people seem to have. I decided on these little Sony earbuds, and then went on to finding them for less than the $70-80 that seemed to be the going rate. That's where eBay came in. A pair located in Toronto showed up for auction. I waited until the last minute to bid and got them for US$27. Plus shipping. Plus tax. Which translates to about fifty bucks Canadian. A bargain. If they work.

Today was a busy day at work, so I had to wait until the end of the day to try them out after UPS delivered them. I put on Mad World by Gary Jules from the Donnie Darko soundtrack. It's a well recorded song, that should show if the headphones were any good. The left phone plugged into my ear, I started hearing the big sound the reviews referred to. The right one went in and I heard nothing. My heart sank. Jiggling and plugging and unplugging did nothing.

So, now I'm in the midst of one of those not-so-great sales experiences. I've e-mailed the seller. Hopefully I'll either get my money back, or a replacement pair that works. We've had good luck so far with eBay--maybe this will work out also.

(T)

Posted at 10:59 PM      

Sat - November 6, 2004

Willow - R.I.P.


We were shocked last night by the death of Maria's hamster, Willow. She was found curled up in the corner of her cage, still in the nest mounded around her. We don't know what happened. There were no symptoms preceding her sudden death. She was a sweet hamster, and was loved by all.


We got her about seven months ago from Petsmart. She was very always healthy and active. Today we held a small ceremony and laid her to rest in the back yard.

Posted at 12:00 PM      

Thu - September 2, 2004

Microsoft has Rage against the Mac?


Today msn debuted their music download site to compete with the iTunes music store from Apple.
I spotted this on the Alternative music page. It might still be visible at their beta site.


But, I'm sure it's probably just a coincidence.

Thanks to access to a US credit card, I've bought a few songs at the iTunes store (it's not out in Canada yet.) I also have some gift certificate cards at a Canadian music site -- Puretracks -- but they don't allow Macs to access the site.

Most music I evaluate comes through Acquisition. It's the best software to find music with. My strategy is to read reviews (Pitchfork), download and listen, buy tickets to see the bands I like, and then purchase a CD directly from the band at the show. Every once in a while, somebody in the band will autograph the CD. Downloading has actually caused me to spend more money on music on new music than before. But I might be strange.

Posted at 10:21 PM      

Sat - January 31, 2004

I hate cars!


So the kids are 100 miles away at Scout camp, and the clutch on our car has just died.

This is the second time this has happened. Fortunately, we recently extended the warranty, including coverage for car rental. CAA has just towed off the car, and I wait to see what Tom drives home in. So the girls aren't stuck in Aurora, in the snow, in the woods. We will arrive!

On the good side, now we have a good excuse for not cleaning the basement as we had planned. On the bad side: the basement really needs cleaning.

Posted at 02:49 PM      

Fri - January 30, 2004

Neighbourhood signage


An in-depth look at the "THOSE WHO DON'T CLEAR THE SNOW -- SHAME ON YOU!" sign in front of our house

THOSE - Whoever the anonymous poster of the sign was, they were either raised in a religious setting (King James era) or really get off on reading city by-laws.
WHO DON'T - There are three sets of people who have sidewalks near where the sign was posted. One is us. By the time the sign was posted, we had already shoveled twice in the snowstorm. The day of the biggest snowfall I shoveled before leaving for work. During the day, and then at least fifteen centimeters (six inches) fell before I arrived home from work and saw the lovely sign. The people who live south of us are a guy at least in his sixties, and his daughter. She has some sort of impediment in her legs causing noticeable limp. To our north, there is an elderly couple with a daughter or two living with them some of the time. The granddad sometimes tries to shovel light snows, but I'm always worried that he's a bit old to be doing it.
CLEAR THE - It had been snowing all day, very hard. From The Star, 'Councillor Jane Pitfield, who chairs [Toronto city] council's works committee, noted that with 9,500 kilometres of streets in Toronto and 6,000 kilometres of sidewalks to clear, not every neighbourhood will be plowed as soon as some residents might like. "People need to be patient and understand that everything is being handled on a priority basis."' The roads still weren't fully clear today, two days after the snowfall. Sidewalks that were previously cleared are getting covered again with flurries and blown snowdrifts.
Toronto by-law 530-1999 section A states: "Every owner or occupant of any building must, within 12 hours after any fall of snow, rain or hail has ceased, clear away and completely remove snow and ice from any sidewalk on any highway in front of, alongside or at the rear of the building." It was still snowing when the sign was posted, so the time limit wasn't close to expiring.
SNOW - About 30 centimeters (almost a foot) of snow fell during the storm. It was the biggest snowstorm in several years for Toronto.
SHAME ON YOU - I guess it takes a certain amount of guts to put up a message like this. Even if one doesn't have the guts to sign it. There is a certain air of rudeness to behaving like this in a neighbourhood. I'm sure it's frustrating to tread through snow drifts to get where you are going, but everyone in Toronto had a rough time getting anywhere the day the individual put up the sign. There were over 700 traffic accidents. People where stranded downtown. So, I'm sure walking up a sidewalk sucked too. But it's winter! Snow happens!
I have a strong feeling that the person who expressed their opinion on the post probably doesn't even have the responsibility of clearing a sidewalk. Perhaps they should have considered putting their efforts into something constructive like offering to shovel a walk for some of their elderly neighbours -- instead of sticking up a rude and shameful sign.
.:TAE

Posted at 12:56 AM      

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