Blog
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Slap A Number On Me
There’s an old joke in cycling that says if you want to slow some guys down, just slap a number on their back. Because on the weekend club ride they’ll attack and drop you on Lands End, or put the boots to you up the Malahat. But enter them in a race and they’re pack…
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Robert Fripp is Still Cool
Achewood makes mention of Robert Fripp today. The title text (hover mouse over comic) is pretty good: “Robert Fripp is the kind of guy who makes the hardest chord possible when getting his picture taken.” Ya, Fripp is that cool. Take him any day over, say, Joe Satriani.
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Keep the Oil In
As a teen I worked with a chef (and bike mechanic) named Marcelo, and over lunch one day he passed on this culinary axiom: The better something tastes, the more likely it’s got a lot of fat in it. This took a while to sink in. I mean, I don’t watch what I eat. I…
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Online Gaming Ad Network Launches
Had another article submission posted to Slashdot today: Wynken de Word writes “‘In a move that could open a new vista of possibilities for advertisers, New York-based Massive Inc. today announces the launch of the first ad-serving network for video games. The company said it has so far signed game publishers UbiSoft, Atari, Universal and…
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Gone Fishing
Yesterday was sunny and warm. Today is windy and rain. So we’re going fishing in Sooke. Back from fishing. Shawn was supposed to pick me up, then we’d meet Mark at the Colwood Timmy’s. But Shawn went to a kegger night before. His straight forward, 5am email: Can not drive . Cannot go . So…
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Fine Felt Stetson
I’ve never taken the #14 bus further than downtown, when in fact, for $2, you can take it across the freakin’ province. By the time I got to the birthday party in View West—er Vic Royal—or is it Esquimalt?—I was ready to chuck my dinner down the stairs of the double-decker, so motion sick was…
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Streets: A Grand Don’t Come For Free
I relate well to white rappers. I really liked the debut Streets (Mike Skinner) release and at first I was a little uncomfortable with his latest release, A Grand Don’t Come For Free. It sounded, well, like a draft work for a final product, less pumped and fat (well, except maybe “Twat” and “Fit”), more…
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On Gastronomic Sin and Adulthood
In reflecting recently on food and its counterpart, eating, I have formulated two ideas: to eat is an eternal sin, and that the Western right of passage to adulthood involves cooking your first turkey. Whether you “eat to live” or “live to eat,” one’s philosophy for food is mere annotation when our species, in general,…
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William Shatner’s New Album
“More than 35 years after the release of his debut solo album, William Shatner teams up with Ben Folds to create Has Been, a surprisingly pop-driven, lyrically potent collection of songs written by the duo. With the exception of “Trying,” co-written by Folds and novelist Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy), “Real” by Brad…
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2004 Vancouver Island Open Squash Championships
October 1-3 Cedar Hill Squash Club My first squash tournament and I won a match (3-0) but lost two (4-1, 3-2) in the Mens C Category. Winning was good, loosing to a twelve-year-old was almost inspiring, but man I should have won that last match. If you’ve played either sport, FYI: Mens C in squash…
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Victoria Squash Club – Lesson 1
Summary
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Hurricane Ridge
I boarded a ferry to the United States on Saturday morning and rode my bike up a mountain to Hurricane Ridge with a friend. We got back by dinner time.
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Gmail Invites
I have a few. Those interested, email me.
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Kryptonite Locks Open with Bic Pen
This has been going around online for a few days now, but I just found out you can pick a Kryptonite bike lock with a bic pen. You remove the cap from the end of the pen and insert it into the circular key entry in the lock, wiggle it a bunch and it opens.…
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Into Each Generation a Fan is Born
Will Xander finally wake up to Cordelia’s feelings? Who exactly is Angel (a good vampire?), and will we find out why he’s so hot and mysterious? And what exactly happened to the high school gymnasium in L.A. that blew it up (did I miss the feature film)? And man, if Giles got it on with…
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Happy Birthday
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New Squash Shoes
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Kites and Powerball
Recovering from the Best Potluck Party of 2004, I spent my Saturday with two friends flying kites (a kite boarding trainer and a regular two-line control one) and competing for the top score in Powerball: Preparing the Kite Board trainer after fixing one of its many string snaps, a consequence of bad knots, beginner control…
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Ken Jennings Secret
kottke.org, among others, is reporting some insider info about all-time Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings: Warning: spoilers. I received a tip about Ken Jennings this morning which I have pasted below in black-on-black text. Read the spoiler.
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Weekend Update: Moving, tomatoes, Gmail
Completed the annual move-the-girlfriend-to-North-Van this weekend: two car loads from Victoria and one U-Haul truck from storage. It’s actually a lot easier to move someone out of a storage cubicle than in. And her new two-bedroom basement suite in Upper Lonsdale is pretty sweet: new fridge and stove, very spacious, good lighting, lots of windows,…
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A Year Ago Today
A good friend of mine recently embarked on his first backpacking trip. Got me thinking about my trip, which I started exactly a year ago and took me to England, Greece and the Middle East. My first travel entry from Sept. 4, 2003.
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Sept. 2004
Robot the Robot Habibi Motors Flip Flap plant Seahorses Swanksigns Ken Jennings Secret
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Squash BC for Beginners
An email, with response in CAPS, I sent last week to the governing body for competitve squash in BC. Helpfull if you want to get into competing, and an interesting exercise in website usability: Hi there, I’ve been playing recreational squash in Victoria for a year now and I’m thinking about entering competitions this fall.…
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Dinner and Wildlife
After a nice ride around the waterfront this evening I was watering my landlady’s plants (she’s gone to a “fabric arts” fair on some Gulf Island for a few days). So as I’m watering these young geraniums or whatever, still hanging in some plastic support bag, this insect, or so I thought, comes leaping out…
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Water Slides: Serious Fun
A few weeks ago the Girlfriend took me on a surprise outing to the All Fun Recreation Park in Millstream, just outside Victoria. I used to ride/drive by this place, nestled in an active gravel pit, on the way to mountain biking, before the new subdivision and golf course put an end to it (the…
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The Sound of shoulders snapping
Watching some quality CBC Olympic coverage on the TV this eve, 4am in Greece, and they (CBC) featured a Sounds of the Olympics segment, which was a real treat, the most incredible sound coming from a weight lifting competitor who just barely got the bar above his head until his left arm kinda wobbled and…
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Maya Angelou
There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.
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Galileo
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.
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Japanese proverb
Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.
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Henry David Thoreau
A man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of life getting his living.