While Ottawa was having trees uprooted by a freak windstorm, Natasha and I were at the Scotiabank Place arena watching “Stars On Ice” – a bunch of Canadian figure skating phenomenons showing off their moves. I recognize that figure skating is not a very macho event to attend, but I’ll admit that I’m fascinated by [...]
Entries from April 2009
Stars On Ice
April 28th, 2009 · No Comments · Observations, Ottawa, Review
Tags: Figure Skating·Jeffrey Buttle·Joannie Rochette·Kurt Browning·Sasha Cohen·Stars On Ice
Boom Blox
April 26th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Review
I’ve been really enjoying playing Boom Blox since picking it up a few weeks ago. I like that the overall game is relatively simple (Most of your time is spent throwing baseballs at stacks of Jenga bricks) but that with just a few block types they’ve made some really interesting and complex puzzles that are [...]
Tags: Boom Blox·Wii·Wiimote Issues
Colliding Particles
April 25th, 2009 · No Comments · Review
There’s a really cool documentary series called “Colliding Particles” being filmed around the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider – you remember – the particle smasher that was supposed to suck us all into a black hole last summer according to the doomsday predictions. (The good news is that pie on either side of the [...]
Tags: colliding particles·documentary·LHC
Revenge of the Mummies
April 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Observations, Ottawa
Natasha, Sherri and I went to check out the Egyptian mummies at the Museum of Civilization last weekend. It was a really great exhibit – lots of interesting artifacts and well presented displays. I really liked the displays of early glasswork and faience – they made some really incredible crafts in a very short period [...]
Tags:
Bluesfest
April 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Ottawa
I’m very excited about this year’s Bluesfest lineup! Depending on my schedule I’m pretty sure I’m getting a full 12-day pass, most nights showcase more than one artist I’m interested in seeing. I’m especially excited about Chris Smither’s awesome acoustic soloing – I’m going to try to get him to sign my guitar. He’s got [...]
Tags: baader-meinhof·bluesfest·Music·Ottawa
Bonnie Bassler’s Amazing TED Talk
April 10th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Observations
Here’s another incredible TED talk that really jumpstarted my imagination – this one about the chemical signalling that bacteria use to communicate and launch attacks on host organisms. The applications for her research are huge – this could lead to a new kind of antibiotic treatment, and down the road we could be managing bacterial [...]
Tags: bacteria·Bonnie Bassler·squid·TED
It’s a Basil!
April 8th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Observations
Growing plants is one of those small miracles that we so often take for granted. It only becomes more miraculous as you try to apply science to understanding it – that a little black nugget you drop in some dirt can become a swirling symphony of solar-powered self-replicating gene expression … mindblowing. Let’s hope this [...]
Positive Reviews
April 6th, 2009 · No Comments · Review
So my dad accused me of being unfairly negative in my last set of movie reviews – he made a case for “Next” which I’ll grudgingly concede was based on a clever premise, but Starksy and Hutch I’m not bending on.
Just so I don’t get a reputation for being mean in my reviews… a few [...]
Tags: reviews·Scarlett Johansson·woo woo!
Seedy Saturday
April 4th, 2009 · No Comments · Observations
I spent the afternoon with dirt up to my elbows repotting some of our houseplants and getting an early start on our balcony garden. The seed starter tray is planted with Thyme, Sage, Dill and Sweet Basil, and I have a couple of larger pots that I started Tiny Tim Tomatoes in. I’m hoping that [...]
Quick Reviews
April 2nd, 2009 · 1 Comment · Review
I need to save you from watching bad movies!
Next: Meh. Ewww, Nicholas Cage and Jessica Biel as a couple. A quick check in IMDB shows that he’s nearly 20 years her senior – while Julianne Moore, who’s actually really intelligent, beautiful, two years older than him and deserves to be in a better movie, is [...]
Tags: bad movies·reviews