Terra Aeronautics - Virtual vehicles for the metaverse

Zap. Thunk.
Thursday, January 30, 2003

If I may embarrass the heck out of Simon in a good-natured, but ruthless way (hee hee hee), here's a clip from a Stargate SG-1 episode, entitled "Summit". In this scene Simon plays Jarren, the lotar (first trusted slave) of the system lord Yu.

Click here to watch.

Oh, he's going to hate me for this. [evil grin]

Cubey Terra

SFU worries about student's rights
Thursday, January 30, 2003

More about the student who recieved an F on a paper for allegedly cheating: SFU paper to be re-marked, University says another instructor will be assigned if professor declines to re-grade.

Simon Fraser University's vice-president of academics, John Waterhouse, says that someone else will evaluate the student's paper if Professor Sampson doesn't re-grade it herself. Westinghouse said, "At this stage we have to worry about the student's rights in this process."

I'm not clear on this. Is he referring to the student's right to submit somone else's work as her own? And if the paper gets a good grade the second time around, who gets the course credit ? the student or the tutor?

Cubey Terra

2 comments

Hmm.... what's on TV tonight?
Thursday, January 30, 2003

According to the TV listings, Rockpoint PD is on at 10:30 on the Comedy Network. How about that? In tonight's episode, Hey Mister Taxi Driver, "Kimizu (Simon Hayama) and Tait (Jennifer MacLean) enlist the help of a taxi driver when their squad car is stolen". Sounds sufficiently wacky. I think I'll watch it.

Cubey Terra

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Oh, my heart is torn
Thursday, January 30, 2003

It's the dilemma of a million geeks: Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine or Jolene Blalock as T'Pol?

Both appear in a Star Trek series. Both wear sexy, space-age jumpsuits. Both play characters who are highly logical, yet have a softer side. Both have names that start with the letter J.

What's a poor geek to do?

Cubey Terra

16 comments

A dark threeboding
Wednesday, January 29, 2003

Maybe it's the dark, gloomy weather today. Maybe it was the surreal US state of the ~~war~~ union address last night. Maybe it was all the talk about coincidences and synchronicity. Maybe it was the sushi I ate at lunch. Maybe it's all of these things all rolled together that gives me that dark, almost foreboding feeling that's curled up deep inside my gut. Next to the sushi.

It's not completely foreboding. I'm not, for example, completely and utterly convinced that something dire is about to happen. It's more like threeboding, where I just wouldn't be surprised if something unpleasant were about to happen, because it would fit the mood.

In a couple of hours, it might ease back to a mere twoboding, where if something bad happens, you look back and say, "I kinda thought that something like that might happen," but you don't expect anything unusual in advance.

Then there's oneboding, where nothing bad happens, and you kind of expected that anyway.

But now? Definitely a melancholy threeboding feeling.

Cubey Terra

Student can't be failed
Wednesday, January 29, 2003

I'm shocked. And, come to think of it, I'm appalled too. I'm shocked and appalled. In these early stages of shocked-ness and appalled-ness, I'm not certain what the proportions are of each that I'm feeling, but I am convinced that both feelings are involved ? simultaneously, too. In some cases, I might have been shocked for a moment, then taken a breather before moving on to being appalled, then returned to being shocked again, and continued to alternate between the two until I wore myself out. This time, however, it's clearly a simultaneous attack of being shocked and appalled.

I just read this article on Canada.com: SFU professor insists an F is an F, But student can't be failed for hiring a tutor to do her work, panel rules.

A disciplinary panel at Simon Fraser University has ordered an education professor to re-grade a student's paper after she gave the student an F. Apparently, the student hired a "tutor" to rewrite the paper for an upper-level course in teaching English as a second language.

In my opinion, if you're a university student, you shouldn't be allowed to graduate unless you have a strong enough grasp of language to write clearly and effectively, especially in Arts and education. By the time you reach an upper-level course, you should know how to write competently. Hiring a service to rewrite your assignments is unethical ? it's cheating. Your grade on a paper reflects not only the ideas presented, but also the clarity and skill with which you presented them... in. Doh.

I understand why some students would turn to a tutor to check their grammatical and spellling. Everyone makes mistakes, and a good editor is worthless. Priceless, I mean. Yes. A good editor is priceless, but the service did much more than a bit of proofreading. Didn't the service give the same paper to two students in the same class?

No, the student shouldn't get an F. If it turns out that this student didn't write the paper or if the paper was significantly rewritten, then he or she deserves a suspension... and a severe frowning, too.

Please read Pete McMartin's opinion piece: Today's lesson is: moral relativism at SFU. He makes the same point, but far more eloquently, and I'm probably correct in guessing that he even wrote it himself.

Cubey Terra

23 comments

Attack of the hamsters
Tuesday, January 28, 2003

I don't understand. Am I missing something? Over the past weeks, there's been a rash of Google search requests for hamster pictures.

Why? Why? WHY??

Are hamster pictures suddenly popular? All I can do is sit in my corner and mutter to myself about "kids these days" while shaking my head despairingly.

Cubey Terra

Zen and the art of coffee vending machine maintenance
Tuesday, January 28, 2003

Coffee seems like such a simple concoction. Just filter some hot water through ground coffee beans and presto! You have a delicious and invigorating drink.

Then the office coffee maker came along, and an intuitive process became slightly more complicated. You needed to know where to put the grounds and cold water, how much of each to use, which switches to flip and when, and how to clean it after use. Not difficult at all.

Then came that black day in July when they replaced our trusty coffee maker with a coffee vending machine. I was suspicious from the start, and more so the first time it broke down. But at least someone was maintaining it, and so we were trading a bit of quality for the convenience of maintenance-free coffee any time.

At least for a while.

Today, we learn how to refill, clean, and maintain the vending machine, which turns out to be a lot more effort than keeping the traditional coffee pot. So... why is it again that we have a vending machine instead of a coffee pot?

I'm still eyeing that Insert Coins slot suspiciously.

Cubey Terra

14 comments

Coincidental blogging
Monday, January 27, 2003

Townie made an interesting suggestion recently. She said:

You know what I think would be incredibly cool?
I wish I could get the authors of all the blogs that I read daily and give them a subject to write about on a specific day. Maybe something as vague as "public transportation" or "stool".
I love all of my daily reads for different reasons, and I think it would be cool to see how differently they approach the same subject.

Now that strikes me as a really excellent idea. And what better topic to start off with than "coincidence"? Can you imagine if everyone wrote about coincidence on the same day? Blog readers would be going, "Oooh. That's a coincidence." Until they read this, that is.

So let's try it. In the next 24 hours, write something in your blog about coincidence.

And don't tell me that you had the same idea. I won't believe you.

Cubey Terra

Coincidence
Monday, January 27, 2003

What is coincidence? Have you dreamed of an old friend who you haven't seen in years, then the next day, you run into him or her at the grocery store?

Or for no reason at all, you wonder how your brother Bob's doing, and the next moment the phone rings... and it's Bob.

Or maybe you decide to wear a kilt to work one day, and for some reason, everyone else does too. The office is full of men and women in kilts. That one's pretty scary.

Cubey Terra

Wow. That is REALLY UGLY.
Monday, January 27, 2003

As I promised, I used the results of the Cubicle Poll to set the background colour for this site. As of the time I posted this entry, the poll results were: 26% red, 17% green, and 57% blue. In those proportions, the background colour has the RGB value of #44F196, like this:

Wow. That's really ugly. Really, people. You have no taste at all.

I think I'll put it back to olive green tomorrow.

Cubey Terra

9 comments

Insane penguins
Saturday, January 25, 2003

The results of yesterday's poll are in. The numbers show that more voters wanted to see insane penguins than any other kind of penguin.

And so, by popular demand... insane penguins:

The one on the left thinks the sky is out to get him, and the two on the right both think they're Elvis. Really, it's quite a sad sight.

(Photo credit: South Pole Diaries 2001, UNSW)

Cubey Terra

Pickles and mozzarella
Friday, January 24, 2003

munch munch munch munch munch munch munch....gulp

Since my TV returned to me, I've been thinking about how much the box affects my diet. I'm a snacking kind of guy. I can't watch TV without sneaking over to the cupboard, and while I'm sneakily searching for something to fill that little second supper corner, I wonder why I'm sneaking at all when I don't have a roommate. Well the tree in the corner often gives me a bit of a guilt-trip when I eat too many Miss Vickie's potato chips, but I can never disguise the crinkle of plastic followed by that distinctive potato chip munch-munch-munch-gulp.

The potato chips are an easy choice when I have them, but more often than not, I sneakily arrive at the cupboard to find nothing that one would define as a classic snack food. That's when one must become a creative snacker.

What should I snack on tonight? Peanut butter and celery? Cream cheese and celery? Cheese melts? Leftover penguin? Miso soup? Instant oatmeal? A boiled potato? Um... I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here. And I've had several bad experiences with those barrel-scrapings. The tree in the corner insists that I should avoid ingesting anything that I have to scrape off another object, but it takes several attempts for me to learn from my mistakes.

Aha. Pickles and cheese. There's something magical about the combination of cheese and pickles. In particular, real mozzarella and kosher dills. Mmmmmmmmm. And a great thing about the pickles and cheese snack is that, unlike Miss Vickie's, the crunching won't drown out the dialogue on TV.

What's that? Oh.

The tree in the corner says I should get a life. F--- off, tree.

Cubey Terra

7 comments

Vancouver
Friday, January 24, 2003

It's grey out. Very grey. Wet. Cold.

Why can't it snow? I'd love to see some of the white stuff falling from the sky and piling up into little drifts on the ground. Then people would emerge from their homes and workplaces to wonder at how the streets have transformed from wet to winter. And the snow plow driver would run to the city's only plow and get to work, carving a passage through the streets' thick blanket. And?

Hell, I think it's going to rain again tonight. Vancouver never gets any good snow.

Cubey Terra

10 comments

When (penguin) searches go terribly wrong
Friday, January 24, 2003

I seem to be one of the Internet's foremost experts on penguins, according to the search engines. Here are some of the penguin-related search requests I've had:

naked penguins
phobias penguins
photos of chubby penguins
lear about penguins
roast penguin recipe
penguins insanity
funky penguins
penguin belly ring

At least there were fewer requests this month for pictures of naked people.

Cubey Terra

12 comments

48% of remaining BC forest to be destroyed for cash
Thursday, January 23, 2003

Admittedly, that might be an alarmist headline, but that was my first impression when I read this article on Canada.com: B.C.'s forests open for business: minister. Stan Hagan, who holds the Orwellian title of "Minister of Sustainable Resources Management", announced today that almost half of British Columbia's remaining forests are now designated for commercial interests. This means logging and mining, primarily ? two of the most destructive of industries.

With this decision, the provincial government is launching a massive attack on the environment. Conservation no longer fits into government plans, as Hagan stated that "to create parks it will have to come out of the working forest and there will have to be justification for it". Well I'm thrilled that we now have safeguards to prevent people from protecting an irreplacable part of the earth's ecosystem. Now we have to come up with bloody good reason why the forests shouldn't be destroyed.

If you care at all about the world's rainforests, even if you don't live in BC, send an e-mail to Stan Hagan, BC Minister of Sustainable Resources Management, and tell him what you think of his anti-environmentalist legislation.

Here are some facts and figures about BC rainforest.

Cubey Terra

A good drink makes you refresh
Wednesday, January 22, 2003

I'm almost certain that I've linked this site before, but even so, it's good enough to link again.

Many, many more from www.Engrish.com.

Cubey Terra

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Feeling kinda wacky for an okonomiyaki
Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Mmm. Pancakes. After all that talk about breakfast foods, I began to think seriously about pancakes. And the most serious of all pancakes is the okonomiyaki ? a Japanese pancake. If you've ever tried one, you know that it's the most delicious and complicated pancake ever invented (that I know of). Click here for a recipe and photo.

Also, okonomiyaki rhymes with all kinds of interesting things. I bet you could write oodles of poetry on the subject.

Anyway, my stomach insists that I make one for dinner tonight. Here is my quandry: what to put in it? What do you think? Visit the Cubicle Poll on the left to cast your vote.

Oh, and this is my way of saying that I have nothing to blog about today.

Okonomiyaki update

Well, I'm just about bored enough to do this. I dropped by T and T Supermarket for some supplies, now I have all the stuff I need:

Bonito shavings. They look a lot like wood shavings, but they're so light, they'll blow away if you're not careful. A bonito, apparently, is a dried fish.

Instant dashi powder. Makes a clear fish-based broth.

Dried shrimp.

A jar of kimchi ? suey choy in a spicey sauce.

Mayonnaise. I wanted to pick up the brand with the Kewpie doll on it, but couldn't find it.

Okonomiyaki sauce.

Shiitake mushrooms.

Suey choy cabbage.

Other more ordinary ingredients include: fresh salmon, flour, ginger, and eggs. Time to get to work.

Time passes...

Cubey Terra

E-mail from chunkylover53@aol.com
Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Whoo hoo! Homer finally answered my e-mail. He says:

Are you sending me spam?

Mmm... spam...

-- Homer Simpson

Cubey Terra

3 comments

Cubicle bananas
Tuesday, January 21, 2003

As River Selkie pointed out in her blog, the common banana is in serious danger of becoming extinct because they have no viable seeds. People have "interfered with them", in the words of a co-worker. The same co-worker revealed that it's possible to obtain seeds for dwarf banana plants, and thereby help ensure a bananaful future.

It occurs to me that, if we were truly serious about saving the banana, all cubicle dwellers everywhere should cooperate and set aside a corner of their workspace for a dwarf banana plant. And then, when the economy collapses for lack of bananas, and civilization falls into ruin, we could step in and save the world with our private supply of the pulpy fruit.

If that works out, we could do the same for the ringtailed lemur. Surely we can save a corner in our cubicles for a lemur or two. We could feed them dwarf bananas.

Arctic wolves, too, are becoming a little sparse. They're too big to fit in the corner, but if we gave them a cubicle of their own, we could feed them banana-fed lemurs.

Cubey Terra

My craving for quality Dutch hash
Tuesday, January 21, 2003

As I sit here over a bowl of oatmeal, a thought strikes me. Actually, I'm not so much over the bowl of oatmeal as I am in front of it. Or am I behind it? That's a difficult preposition.

Anyway, I was thinking, why am I eating this? And then I thought, why am I writing about this in my blog? Then I paused for a moment and pressed Enter a couple of times to start a new paragraph.

Unlike my health-conscious brother, who's getting a little behind in his bloggings, I can't stand oatmeal. I don't know why. Maybe it's the texture, in part. It's kind of like that paste mix that used to be a part of every art project in elementary school. The kid next to me ate some of it, which was truly repulsive. I bet he was all blogged up for days.

And in part, it's the lack of any identifiable flavour. Unless you add cinnamon, sugar, apples, or raisins (which, in oatmeal, can be easily mistaken for boiled bugs), it's like eating a whole bunch of pasty nothing. How can anyone make this stuff a regular part of their day?

Sausage McEvil

I should hardly criticize, I suppose... lately, my regular breakfast has become the grease-soaked "number 4 meal": the dreaded Sausage McMuffin, a puck-like object that they call "a hash brown", and black coffee. No kidding, it is just oozing with grease (as am I after I eat it). By the time I get to my cubicle, the bag has a large spreading stain, and the napkins are almost as tasty as the greasy puck they were wrapped around.

And if I can go off on another tangent, how can they call those pucks "hashbrowns"? Real hashbrowns are a flavourful pile of deliciously fried potato chunks. Not a deepfried potato-matter puck!

And now we get to the real reason why I'm blathering on about breakfasts. I finished my bowl of oatmeal, and I still feel like I haven't eaten breakfast. If only I lived next to the Dutch Wooden Shoe on Cambie. Some smoked salmon hash-n-eggs would truly hit the spot right now.

Cubey Terra

You came back...
Monday, January 20, 2003

I tried to get you out of my life, but you came back again. How long have I been without you? Fifty-four days? Yes. Fifty-four days.

Yesterday you came back of your own accord, expecting to resume our relationship where we left off. But no. It's all changed now, hasn't it? How can I ever look at you in the same way? How can I find the same comfort in your gentle glow and melodic voice? I've changed too. I learned to live without you, because I had to.

And yet there you are again, waiting oh-so-quietly in your familiar spot in the corner of my livingroom. I know you. You want me to pick up the remote. You want me to turn you on.

I know, I know, I used to watch you for hours. But I got over it. I don't need Buffy. I don't need Enterprise. I don't need the dozens of pointless sitcoms that flicker across your face. Now I'll watch those things only if I choose to do so. You have no more sway over me. If you want to sit there, fine. But know this: I'm beyond you.

Cubey Terra

11 comments

A country road. A tree. Evening.
Monday, January 20, 2003

ESTRAGON: (giving up again). Nothing to be done. *

Cubey Terra

Dear Fox Entertainment,
Sunday, January 19, 2003

Are you out of you freakin' minds? What's this I hear about The Simpsons being extended until 2005? The show is a tired, lifeless husk that you should put to rest already. The world doesn't need 360 episodes of The Simpsons. People already say "Doh" and "Mmm, doughnuts" far too much.

But no, you can't let it go, can you? You money-grubbing bastards have to squeeze a few more dollars out of the show. Just sell a few more books, t-shirts, stuffed dolls, and miscellaneous garbage with the Simpsons family printed on it. If you're really serious about the Simpsons memorabilia, you could go the route of Hello Kitty, and get into the adult toy market. Marge's hair does look a little suggestive, if you know what I mean.

And hey, why not arrange an appearance by Dubya? That'll boost the ratings. He's the only serving US president who hasn't appeared on the show (and besides... I hear that he can be paid in bananas).

Please don't misunderstand, I am a Simpsons fan. I used to watch The Simpsons avidly ? more often than I used to watch Star Trek, if only for the fact that The Simpsons shows three or four times a day on several different channels. Now I'd rather chew my leg off while plummeting from a great height into a pit full of rabid lemurs than have to see Homer become buddies with another Hollywood celeb. I'm serious. I'm making arrangements for the lemurs at this moment.

Sincerely,
Cubicle Dweller

Cubey Terra

Q
Friday, January 17, 2003

Have you ever noticed the amazing redundancy of the word "queue"? I'm fascinated by that word.You'd think it could be spelled with fewer vowels. Like none, for example. Just the letter Q.

But no, it cleverly starts off with a Q then sneaks in a U-E combination. And it doesn't stop there either. It repeats the U-E again... and quite frivolously, in my opinion.

Q.

U-E.

U-E.

It's like the second U-E is just tacked onto the end in case the reader isn't fully convinced of its Q-ness.

Queue. Queue. Queue. Queue. It's fun to type too.

I think I'll try to use it several times in conversation today. Maybe I'll talk about it with the next person in the bank machine Q.

Cubey Terra

19 comments

If you're here looking for 'chunkylover53@aol.com'...
Thursday, January 16, 2003

Over the last few days, my web site traffic has just about tripled. Why? Two reasons.

First, I mentioned Premier Campbell's arrest in Maui. Google now considers me a leading authority on the subject, and sends people here looking for Campbell mug shot t-shirts.
Second, I foolishly mentioned that Homer Simpson's e-mail address was "chunkylover53@aol.com". I've had dozens of request for that alone. Doh!! If you're reading this to find out what the scoop is on Homer's e-mail, then according to Darren, who e-mailed me today, there's an autoreply set up on that account to send back "Hello Internet Nerd". My mesage just bounced, to my great disappointment. I would have like to get in touch with Homer, but I'm sure he's a busy guy now that his e-mail's public knowledge.

So if you arrived here looking for Gordon or Homer, you're barking up the wrong tree. But feel free to browse around the site.

Cubey Terra

9 comments

Puzzling penguin perfomances perplex passing people
Thursday, January 16, 2003

If you like penguins, or if you're just bored, have a look at this news article from Yahoo: Calif. Zookeepers Perplexed by Penguins.

Thanks, Emese, for the link!

Cubey Terra

Rockpoint PD, tonight at 10:30
Thursday, January 16, 2003

Once again, don't forget to watch Rockpoint PD tonight at 10:30 on the Comedy Network. That is, if you get the Comedy Network, watch Rockpoint PD. Otherwise, um... watch something else.

And if you don't have a TV, you could do something else. Read a book, for example. Or go for a walk. Talk to a loved one. Or something. For crying out loud, what am I, your social planner?! Figure it out on your own!

What was that? I'm a hypocrite for telling you to watch a show when I have no TV myself? I can't believe you would suggest such a thing! Trust me, if I had a TV, I would watch nothing but Rockpoint PD every night... if it were on every night. Oh, and the Daily Show, which is on right after Rockpoint PD. That's good for a laugh. And maybe Buffy and Enterprise too. But that's all, because if you watch too much TV, you'll turn into a nut who gets into arguments with himself. You will! It's true!

What? You watch VIP? Oh for?... I don't even know where to start with that. You obviously have absolutely no taste in TV at all. That's it. I'm not talking to you anymore.

Cubey Terra

A lesson in the etiquette of serfdom
Wednesday, January 15, 2003

I couldn't get anywhere near the bank. I just couldn't do it. Since CIBC began closing its branches, the remaining ones seem to be in places without any convenient parking. This is a serious problem if you want to make a credit card payment.

For fifteen minutes this morning, I circled block after block trying to find a parking spot. Around and around I went shouting curses at parked cars, but there was nothing for me but no-stopping signs, taxi-only stops (full of taxis), and bus stops full of people experiencing deja vu as I circled around for the millionth time.

Then I understood my mistake. You can't drive to the bank to make a payment. They prefer you to approach from a distance on your hands and knees.

Cubey Terra

2002 Worst Manual Contest
Tuesday, January 14, 2003

Technical Standards, Inc. has posted the results of the 2002 Worst Manual Contest. My favourite is the Sliding Bicycle instruction sheet, in which it states, "Discharge the product by the way of the opposite installation sequence" and "Be careful not to let your fingers got squeezed, when installation and discharge".

Thankfully, my manuals didn't show up in the list of winners this year.

Cubey Terra

Optimists live longer
Tuesday, January 14, 2003

News flash! This just in: "The happy truth: Optimists live longer". A study conducted by Boots drug store indicates that highly optimistic people live 7.5 years longer than pessimists, on average.

That figures. I always knew that my negative attitude would catch up to me in the end. Bloody optimists.

Cubey Terra

3 comments

Virtual tourist, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Earth
Monday, January 13, 2003

I stumbled across this link today: a "virtual tour" of Vancouver (it's really just a collection of 360� Quicktime photos). I'm sure it will be mildly interesting to someone who's curious about what Vancouver looks like, and dead boring to those of us who live here. But there it is anyway.

Oh, and conspicuously absent from the photos are the homeless people and squeegee kids on the streetcorners. They deceptively sanitized the subject matter before taking the photo.

Cubey Terra

3 comments

Evil has a shiny head
Monday, January 13, 2003

I made the sad mistake of seeing Star Trek: Nemesis yesterday afternoon. I really don't know why I did it ? I knew quite well that it would be a huge disappointment. I suppose it's probably force of habit. I've seen every Star Trek movie in a theatre, even Star Trek V, in which Kirk defeats a god in a battle of logic. When a friend and I saw STV, it was so completely unpopular that the normally busy theatre was virtually empty. We felt like Siskel and Ebert, getting a private screening. Needless to say, we gave it two thumbs down.

When they moved the Star Trek movie "franchise" (bloody money-grubbing Hollywood producers) to the TNG cast, I tolerated Star Trek: Generations because it was a novelty, and because we got to see 1.) the complete destruction of the Enterprise (again), and 2.) a bridge landing on Captain Kirk ("It was... fun. Oh my?"). I even enjoyed several scenes in the Borg movie. And for my loyalty, they punished me with Insurrection, whose title is fuel for all kinds of naughty jokes.

As an aside, couldn't they find the budget for a set that's at least somewhat believable? The rustic little town looked like cardboard and a lot of freshly laid turf.

Anyway, yesterday I gave in and saw Nemesis. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone (it probably spoils itself, so it won't matter), but it looks to me like they based the movie on a minor plot point from Austin Powers. Picard has his own evil mini-me. I'm afraid I just couldn't get beyond that. And then they filled the movie with so many stupid inconsistencies with the Star Trek series and events that entirely ignore the laws of physics that it just didn't hold together at all.

So that's it. I've had it with this Star Trek thing. I renounce my trekoholism, and will now lead a healthy, normal life.

Cubey Terra

chunkylover53@aol.com
Sunday, January 12, 2003

Okay, on tonight's Simpson's, Homer very clearly said that his e-mail address was chunkylover53@aol.com. So I tried to drop him a note, just to say hello... and the message bounced!

I'm never going to believe anything Homer says again.

Cubey Terra

Primitive penguin art
Sunday, January 12, 2003

Cubey Terra

4 comments

One word, so little time
Sunday, January 12, 2003

Have a look at the One Word website. Given a seemingly random word, you have only sixty seconds to write something using the word as a theme. As it says on the website, "don't think. just write."

(Thanks, River Selkie, for the link.)

Cubey Terra

2 comments

Premier Campbell arrested in Maui
Saturday, January 11, 2003

Photo taken by Maui police (from Canada.com website)

Today's article on Canada.com gives a taste of what the future holds for Gordon Campbell.

BC's premier hasn't been a popular guy. In fact, I can't remember any BC premier who has been less popular. Considering the goofy politics in this province, that's saying a lot. Since he was elected, his government has torn the health care and education systems to shreds, and at every turn seems to spare no effort to make deep cuts that affect only the poor, elderly, or disabled. How many times have protestors burned his effigy? Not a good situation in a career where popularity is the key to success.

Then on Friday, while on vacation in Maui, he was charged with drunk driving. I honestly feel sorry for him. The media sharks are already circling. This article doesn't hesitate to point out that "While in opposition, Campbell often called for cabinet ministers to resign if they faced conflict-of-interest investigations or criminal charges." One stupid mistake (in addition to the billion stupid mistakes as premier) and the media will tear him to shreds. If he's convicted, he could be fined and lose his license for a year. Isn't that enough punishment for a first offense? Do we really need to tear him down for a misdemeanor?

Well, maybe something good will come of this. If they take away his license, maybe we'll see more money spent on our pitiful public transit system.

Cubey Terra

Rockpoint PD, tonight
Thursday, January 09, 2003

Don't forget to watch Rockpoint PD tonight on the Comedy Network at 10:30.

From comedynetwork.ca:

Misfiring tazer guns, fork- wielding newlyweds, rampaging raccoons and pugilistic mascots are just some of the "high-pressure" situations Rockpoint's "finest" are confronted with daily. Led by the ambitious and impatient, Sergeant Grace Harris (Catherine Lough Haggquist), this motley crew of peace officers muddle through their shifts bored by paperwork and stymied by procedure. Constables Mike Edwards (Randy Schooley) and Burt Cooper (D. Neil Mark) rely on "gut instincts" and "hunches" -- a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Meanwhile, rookie Constable Rita Tait (Jennifer McLean) tries the patience of her experienced partner, Constable Sam Kimizu (Simon Hayama). Supervising the squad is the morally bankrupt and politically out-to-lunch Inspector (Jon Raitt).

Cubey Terra

Orange shirt, purple jacket
Thursday, January 09, 2003

It's difficult for me to think back to that fateful day. Such painful events are best left in the past, forgotten forever. Sometimes, however, they drift back from the dark shadows of memory to be relived again.

I don't remember the exact date, but it happened many years ago, back when I was just starting out in university. The day was a chilly day in autumn, when leaves fell relentlessly to the ground and just sat there stubbornly until the rain soaked them through and they were trodden into a pulpy mess by the hundreds of students trudging from class to class under the protection of their umbrellas or purple Gore-Tex™ jackets. That was a very long sentence.

And "a very long sentence" was exactly how a great many of the students felt about their time spent as undergrads. For years on end, we suffered unrelenting study and unpleasant food made by irritable old ladies in the cafeterias.

On one particular wet, chilly day, I woke, dressed, grabbed my jacket, dashed out the door to the bus stop. It wasn't until I arrived on campus that I happened to look down at what I was wearing. Colours clashed like armies fighting to the death. I stood in shock, just staring at the vicious contrast between the orange shirt and my purple jacket. With a trembling hand, I clasped the jacket tight at the neck, obscuring the orange completely.

I hid in the actors' greenroom for hours. I even missed another philosophy lecture ? although I have to admit, I was looking for a reason to miss it anyway. That's when Catherine, an actress, entered and found me still clutching my jacket.

"What's with the hand on the collar?" she asked, frowning.

"You don't want to know," I said.

"No, really, " she prodded, "what is it?"

"I... I...," I stammered and Catherine rolled her eyes. "I made a tragic mistake this morning, Catherine." I opened the top two buttons, revealing the shameful orange underneath. Her eyes went wide in disbelief.

"Oh my god," she smirked, "That's truly awful, Steve. Here, let me help." She rummaged in her bag for a moment and produced a ballpoint pen. Very carefully, she wrote on the back of my hand, which again clutched at my collar.

"There," she grinned. "All fixed. See you in class." She put away the pen and dashed upstairs to the classroom.

Tentatively, I read the back of my hand. It said, WARNING. FASHION FAUX-PAS COVERING HAND.

Never again will I wear an orange shirt with a purple jacket. Never again.

Cubey Terra

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Penguin
Wednesday, January 08, 2003

It has come to my attention that my site is lacking in penguin-related content. Allow me to rectify this problem:

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That is all. Thank you and have a pleasant evening.

Cubey Terra

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Cubicle Dweller's Stickynotes to Self
Wednesday, January 08, 2003

Most of us learn from our mistakes. I, on the other hand, am doomed to repeat my mistakes endlessly, because I keep forgetting what I learned. That's why I'm compiling a list of Cubicle Dweller's Stickynotes to Self. Although I'm sure some of these could apply to someone else, I'm writing these rules for myself. I don't expect anyone else to consider following these.

Here they are...

Be excellent to one another. I'm stealing this bit of wisdom from the most excellent Bill and Ted. (I suspect that they're plagiarizing that Jesus guy, but they phrase it so well.)
Never buy anything that you wouldn't mind losing. I'm guilty of breaking this rule repeatedly, so it merits listing near the top. It applies to cars, televisions, computers, stereos, and any other cool gadgets that you don't necessarily need. For example, don't put yourself into debt to buy a sports car, if losing it will cripple you financially. Accidents (and car thieves) happen.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be. It's funny few people are aware that this line was spoken by an addle-brained old man in Hamlet. Nonetheless, it's good advice. Feel free, however, to give away your money if you find a good charitable recipient, but look a gift horse in the mouth. A gift of money always has strings, be they extremely subtle ones.
Don't wear a purple jacket with an orange shirt. This happened to me only once over ten years ago and it left unforgettable scars.

I have a lot more stickynotes to myself. I'll share them as I discover them.

Cubey Terra