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Candidates Forum at the U of L

This is a bit old since it happened almost two weeks ago but I wanted to link to Jenn Prosser’s summary of the candidates forum at the University of Lethbridge.

She highlights my question to Jim Hillyer about the controversial fighter jets that the CPC is planning on purchasing. I think it’s funny that conservative supporters ask how the NDP can possible afford the millions of dollars it will cost for their social programs but I have yet to hear one questions the approximately $30 billion that will be slated for these jets. (It’s approximate because they haven’t told the public how much it will actually cost — some estimates predict it will be twice that price).

Check out Jenn’s great description of the night: A funny thing happened.

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Roger Ebert on TED

I’ve been a reader of Roger Ebert’s blog since he started writing it. Most of his posts are about as profound as it gets. Reading his stories ranging in diversity from his own history and childhood to the loneliness of isolation he feels from those that leave comments on his blog, one is left with little doubt why the famous critic was drawn to journalism — he’s an amazing writer.

When he lost his lower jaw to cancer in 2006, he lost the ability to eat and speak. However, he certainly didn’t lose his voice. In this moving talk from TED2011, Ebert and his wife, Chaz, with friends Dean Ornish and John Hunter, come together to tell his remarkable story.

Hit play or watch Roger Ebert’s talk on TED.com.

Somewhat (but not really) related: Roger Ebert has been entering the New Yorker’s cartoon caption contest almost weekly since it began and this week, he is a finalist for the first time. (New Yorker link).

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The Bad Review Revue

Yogi Bear: “Yogi Bear may be smarter-than-the-average bear, but his new live-action-animated-mix flick is dumber-than-the-average-movie. Dumb with a capital D.” — Gary Wolcott, Tri-City Herald

The Rite: “You know what isn’t terrifying? Mules. Also not terrifying: mules with red eyes and baleful expressions. … It’s an extremely literal-minded and reverent horror movie (almost appropriate for a Catholic-school day trip) but never especially scary. Unless mules terrify you.” — Keith Phipps, AV Club

The Dilemma: “Is it too soon to pronounce something ‘the worst film of the year?'” — Daniel M. Kimmel, New England Movies Weekly

The Green Hornet: “There’s never been a worse superhero than the Green Hornet. … His qualifications for the job seem to be: 1. Having a limitless supply of money. 2. Having a side-kick that does all the work.” — Josh Jackson, Paste Magazine

No Strings Attached: “After the intensity of ‘Black Swan,’ it’s sort of jarring to see Portman in something as vapid and and inconsequential as this. Kutcher? It’s not quite so jarring.” — Stephen Silver, The Trend

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Money, Money, Money

This American Life LogoAs I’ve mentioned previously, This American Life has been presenting an ongoing series about the financial crisis and the economy. Below is a list of the relevant entries so far. I recommend you listen to them all.

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2010 Visitor Statistics

These are my Google Analytics stats for 2010.
visitor stats line graph
Here’s how the visitors got here:
visitor stats pie chart
Of those that got here via referring links, here are the top ten sites that brought them here most often:

  1. stumbleupon.com
  2. facebook.com
  3. www3.telus.net
  4. google.com
  5. de.wikipedia.org
  6. en.wikipedia.org
  7. fxp.co.il
  8. images.google.com
  9. digg.com
  10. desgraciashumanas.blogcindario.com

Almost all of the top 50 search results were related to backmasking. Here are the top ten:

  1. stairway to heaven backwards
  2. backmasking
  3. songs played backwards
  4. stairway to heaven
  5. jeff milner
  6. backmasking songs
  7. jeff milner backmasking
  8. backmasked songs
  9. stairway to heaven backwards lyrics
  10. back masking
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Year in Review 2010

Another year has come and gone. This year has been a good one. Some highlights for me include:

  • Some great parties.
  • Caught the Olympic spirit as the torch came to Lethbridge.
  • Falling into a couple of different (somewhat dramatic) relationships; sometimes in less than ideal circumstances.
  • Created some cool electronics
  • Finishing off another Major at University, providing me with the credentials to apply to the U of L’s Faculty of Education.
  • Travelling to Trois-Rivières, Quebec to learn French for the summer — there was a terrorist bombing my first week there!
  • Getting accepted into the Education Faculty and completing a teaching practicum in Hays, AB!
  • My brother and his wife had a baby — my first niece, Natalie Jane.

It was a good year but I’m hoping that in 2011 I’ll have more opportunities to travel the world. I don’t think I even left Canada this year! At least I went back to Quebec and that’s almost like visiting another country.

Happy New Year!
2011 (all rights reserved)

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Stairway to Heaven Backwards in HTML 5

I’m in the process of updating my backmasking page into HTML 5. That means I’m (trying to) use your browser’s built in audio playing abilities using the <audio> tag.

So far I’ve only updated the Stairway to Heaven clip, but I plan to go through them all.
Update: I’ve finished creating HTML 5 versions for each song. See the bottom of this post for individual links.

Unfortunately not all modern browsers support the proposed specifications (I’m looking at you Internet Explorer). I’ve tried to fix this by using an embedded Flash audio player for those that have out of date or non-future proof browsers. The irony of switching out of Flash and still being forced to keep Flash is not lost on me.

Please do me a favour by letting me know in the comments if the audio doesn’t work on the browser you’re using. It now works on the iPhone!

Here are the individual links (for permalink / bookmarking purposes):

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