30th
June
2007
Hollywood has a classic example of a humourous situation: the case of the blind man who is stopped by the police while driving a car. I’m not a huge consumer of movies, but even I’ve had a chance to see this on several occasions. The stereotype. Perhaps blind people would do just as well as those who have to talk on their cell while retuning the car radio, but there is sufficient time to provide a chance for error.
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posted in media |
29th
June
2007
We are unlike our neighbours. Even though our home is deep in the suburban hills, and we could probably swing the financial side of the thing, we are one of the only families on the street to qualify as a single car household. Quite a feat, when the average in some of the houses hereabouts is more than one auto per person. My wife has a van, and I have a bus pass. Our schedules have been consistent for about two decades. Synchronicity.
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posted in environment |
28th
June
2007
I’m on a real four day weekend as of this afternoon, and after gathering up the usual suspects, we headed off for a mall crawl. Time to look at expensive model railroad stuff, expensive model automobiles (a real honey of a BMW 600 for only $120) and expensive movie memorabilia. After that much expensive looking, I was only too happy to eat some cheap Chinese buffet before returning home. Via the movie rental place. Where we chose films we didn’t know much about.
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posted in media |
27th
June
2007
The drought of Paris sightings is over. In other news… wait, according to CNN and Fox, there is no other news.
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posted in environment, media |
26th
June
2007
Wikipedia defines the mediocrity principle as the notion that there is nothing special about humans or the earth. Today offered me two different but complementary examples. Without placing myself among these others (and I’m the first to admit that I follow a path that is in the middle of the road wherever possible), I will cite them and their exemplary behaviour.
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posted in environment, Idol |
25th
June
2007
Throughout written history, beauty has been a topic of choice. We know the names of historic beauties going back to the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. We write songs and poems, even full books, on the subject. We also accept that every coin comes with two faces: beautiful and ugly. No insult value, that’s just the way it is.
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posted in pets |
24th
June
2007
The retail world has a lot of tricks up its sleeve, and one of the better ones is to sell you furniture in a box. Always check for the really tiny print: Some assembly required. Or in a paraphrase: Finished product may vary slightly from the illustration. Believe me, there is no lie being told.
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posted in environment |
23rd
June
2007
In those halcyon days before the invention of the videoconsole, we made “our fun” using that most versatile of gaming platforms, the imagination. Coupled with a few sheets of lined paper, several pencils and a teacher that was distracted by other students with more pressing needs, we were free to design gaming environments that had little to do with monsters and everything to do with towers, tunnels, carefully arranged puzzles and traps. In short, we were the masters of our own domains.
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posted in media |
22nd
June
2007
The afternoon (if I can trust the TV news) was an innocent company picnic, for a company of soldiers and their own company of family and friends. The local convention centre was turned into a playground, with a big friendly picnic and speeches from the usual faces to confirm the solidarity that has nothing to do with soldiers and everything to do with politics. Just one chapter in a day that forces the rest of us into inevitable ambivalence.
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posted in politics |
21st
June
2007
Never go to work with “this should be an easy day” as the plan du jour. The higher powers that control our destiny have a rapid response team working on that sort of philosophy. In for a quiet day, out exhausted.
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posted in environment |
