Category: Miscellaneous

I’ve been discovering the joys of podcasts lately; the new version of iTunes is really handy for getting new content. I should mention that even if you don’t have an MP3 player like an iPod, you can still listen on your computer.

There is one podcast in particular that I really love. It’s the CBC Radio’s program Quirks and Quarks. I highly recommend adding their feed. (http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/quirks.xml)

This week the topics ranged from Australian Spiders that eat each other during copulation to how biologists are creating real life chimeras, and as well the ethical and moral questions that come along with such endeavors. They also talked about Chickadee speech patterns and how radiation, something that is known to cause cancer, can be used to treat it. It’s really fascinating stuff.

I’d like to expand my podcasting palette, so if you’ve got a good podcast please leave a comment with the feed.

My brother was about to throw out an Austin Powers “The Spy Who Shagged Me” baseball cap that my mom has been saving around the house for awhile, but instead I decided to sell it on ebay. If you want a great hat, you better get in on this auction!

After reading a post I saw on BoingBoing.net I decided to take an MIT Weblog survey.

This is a general social survey of the greater weblog community being conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our goal is to help understand the way that weblogs are affecting the way we communicate with each other. Specifically we are interested in issues of demographics, communication behaviors, experience with weblogs and other technology, and the meaning of various types of social links within the blogosphere.

If you have a blog and you want to participate, click the image link below:

To satisfy the computer geek inside yourself, here is a neat preview of things to come from Microsoft. It’s a fascinating look at some of the things RSS will be doing in the near future. I think it will create a drastic and wonderful change in the way most people use computers.

(via Channel 9)

Summer has started and the days are already starting to get shorter – how disappointing. I drove to Medicine Hat this morning and spent the day with my family. Gary was here and together we bought the supplies for printing designs onto blank tshirts. We never made any yet though, because this afternoon we got distracted watching a couple episodes of Band of Brothers; also I couldn’t think of a good idea to print.

Gary had his new camera with him, and the photo above was taken with it. I was hoping to take a few pictures while I am here (and I still am), but so far I’ve only taken a couple and nothing really amazing to anyone that isn’t a direct relative. But since I brought it up, here’s one of Gary too.

I took my camera out with me this morning. Deep in my heart existed a hope that something fantastic would happen, that I would be there documenting the historic moment when a UFO fell from the sky crashing into the local FutureShop on my little Kodak DX3900 Digital Camera and then everyone would love me!

Unfortunately the UFO failed both to materialize and then crash. That’s okay though, people tend to like me anyway.

So I’ve decided to go somewhere I’m guaranteed to have some subjects, but where am I going? Well as Bill Murray in The Life Aquatic said, “You’ll have to tune into part II. I don’t want to give away the ending.” I guess you’ll have to check back tomorrow.

A seemingly impossible thing happened today. The painting I’ve been thinking about doing for months now, finally happened. But that’s not the impossible thing.

I decided to read some more of Anna’s book, “Middlesex”, while I waited for the primer to dry. It’s one of those books where you can’t wait to get back to it, but at the same time you dread the fact that you’re racing through it so fast that soon it will be over. Suddenly there came a rustling from the other side of the house. It sounded like someone was on the stairs. Must’ve been the toilet just topping itself up, I thought to myself.

I had a roommate about a year ago that believed someone or something haunted this house. How silly I thought, it’s just an old house; old houses creak and twist under their own weight. It’s probably just the wind.

The toilet moaned again. Or was it? I knew that my house is 100% apparition free. There are no such things as hauntings, there is always a reasonable explanation. Another pause, then more noises. I put my book down and peered down the hallway. There was nobody in my house – this I knew because both the doors were locked. Shuffling in the living room. Oh !@#%&.

“Hello?” I ventured, “Is anybody there?” I knew I would feel silly after I discovered the obviously logical explanation, but nervously I grabbed a chair to defend myself against whatever interloper happened to be in my home.

As I rounded the corner, there in my living room was a small terrified bird feeling trapped inside this old house. She smashed herself against the glass terrified of what I might do to her. I opened the door and the small creature set herself free. Goodbye my little bird, I said as the beautiful sparrow flew into the sky. I have no idea where that bird came from.

Having such a visitor is supposed to be a good omen; a signal that something good is about to happen to me. It reminded me of someone else I used to call “My Little Bird” and whom I also set free. Of course if she ever wanted to visit me she would be totally welcome, because she’s my best friend.

This morning I finished packing up my stuff and returned my motorcycle. I bought one final shirt and jumped into a cab.

Thailand has a tax for people leaving the country. You have to pay 500 bath if your flight is international or they don’t let you leave. I had worked my money down to the cent but ended up having to get more money changed for my overly heavy bag fees and the aforementioned “leaving” tax. GRRRR.

I loved Thailand and was surprised at what a treat Malaysia was to return to. I met up with Jon at GXM Studio – he’s been so great to me – and he let me stay at his place.

We met up with a couple of the Canadian girls from the University Wednesday afternoon and had a great time hanging on the beach. We went for supper together and I had some roasted Duck. It was extremely spicy to say the least – I, unfortunately, am not great at eating really spicy food. Luckily I was able to share a little bit of Kelsey’s not-so-spicy leftovers.

That evening I saw things that blew my mind. I guess it’s fair to say that there are a plethora of prostitutes in Thailand. On Wednesday night I think we found the epicenter. I was glad to have been there with the Canadian girls because the “ladies of the night” seemed to leave us alone while practically jumping on every other guy that walked down the street. The thing that was kind of surprising is that the girls didn’t look like the typical prostitutes you would see in films, they looked like any other Tai girls with normal amounts of makeup and pretty standard looking dresses (IE. not something you’d go to church in, but nothing that would shock you at the bar either). Also of note was the fact that they were fairly good looking girls. A lot of older, “less handsome”, white males were making the rounds, some sitting down with a girl others just coming in and walking out with a “friend” in only a few minutes.

The thing about the prostitutes there, is that some of them are men. Or more accurately – “were men”. There are a ton of lady-boys in Thailand, men who apparently wanted to become women and so they did. Dave and I didn’t seem to have any problems picking them out (it didn’t seem very difficult) but the girls weren’t as quick to spot them as we were. Once we started pointing out the ones with really large hands, shoulders, feet, and adam’s apples, they started to get the basic pattern.

There are so many things to write about… I hope I can remember them. I’m going to try something new, see how you like it.

motor bikes
fast
fun
convenient
beach
sun
waves
a few topless
sand
salt
breeze
lunch
vegetarian
suits
custom
inexpensive
Armani
mini golf

karma
ticket
dave
police station
lady boy
uncomfortable
staring at me
certainly not female
hookers
yelling
laughing
waving
wrong side of road
no problem
evening drive
relaxing
elephants
bedtime
sleep