So, I keep spotting these amazing caterpillars around my neighborhood, but cataclysmic events (for the caterpillars, at least) keep preventing me from taking pictures, so here’s a couple of quick photoshops.
The first one, a huge green caterpillar, which was nearly the length of my hand, probably 5 inches long, was crawling along on the sidewalk [...]
Entries from August 2009
Caterpillar Cataclysm
August 25th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Drawing, Observations
Tags: Caterpillars·trauma
Natasha’s Big Food Adventure
August 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Observations, Ottawa
Natasha’s been participating in an online community called “Ottawa Foodies“, from which she’s been picking up all kinds of excellent dining recommendations and reviews of local food shops. She managed to snag an invitation on Sunday to the (1st?) Ottawa Foodies meetup, and so she cooked her heart out Saturday and Sunday morning so we’d [...]
Tags: basil·cherry tomato·Condo·Kent·Natasha·Ottawa Foodies·Patio·pesto·plum·Rooftop·tart
Lego Star Wars
August 21st, 2009 · 3 Comments · Review
I’ve been working my way through my brother’s PS2 game collection in my spare time. A few weeks ago I started playing “Lego Star Wars”, which I had some apprehension about (it sounds like a ridiculous idea), but I put it in my playstation to amuse my cousins, and discovered that it’s really fun! The [...]
Tags: Lego Star Wars·PS2·video game
The Power Cord Blues
August 20th, 2009 · No Comments · Frustrations
I’ve got the “Power-Cord Aint Properly Supplyin Juice To The Internet Router Bluuuues”. Or more specifically, “The Reds”. Two nights ago the power light on our 2Wire router went red, which according to the manual means the power adapter is shot.
It seems like just a plain vanilla 6 volt DC power adapter – which begs [...]
Tags: 2wire·Bell·blues·power cord·red light·router
Microwave Exorcism
August 10th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Frustrations, Observations
There were some electrical system upgrades going on in our building a few weeks ago, and although we unplugged all the sensitive electronics, the microwave was left attached to the wall, and became possessed by evil spirits.
Every so often while we’d be drinking tea in the living room or reading in the office, the control [...]
Tags: microwave·spirituality
Tune Up
August 6th, 2009 · No Comments · Observations
A few days after the car went in for an oil change, it was time for Jay to go for his tune-up at the doctor’s. My physical was pretty routine (I’m still 5′8″ & 3/4, despite 15 years of stretching to try to break an even 5′9) but it turned out I was overdue for [...]
Tags: blood test·booster·diphtheria·measles·mumps·rubella·tetanus
Canadian Stats
August 5th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Frustrations, Observations
On a bit of a stats kick, I decided to go browse over the tables at Statistics Canada, and ran into a surprising amount of data that you have to pay for. The data is not particularly expensive ($3 for the tables I was looking at) and I’m sure it’s full of juicy numbers… but [...]
Tags: data·for fee·statistics·StatsCan
Guardian Data Store
August 5th, 2009 · No Comments · Observations
Through Jeremy Thorpe’s excellent visualization experiments blog blprnt, I found the Guardian Data Store, a repository of Google Spreadsheets full of fascinating data. They’ve got a smattering of subjects available, from world population totals to pop music charts, and in many cases the data is broken down into subcategories of very useful fine grain and [...]
Grands Feux
August 4th, 2009 · No Comments · Ottawa
I’ve gotten to see way more than my fair share of fireworks this year – St. Jean Baptiste from our balcony, Canada Day when the whole neighborhood seemed to be packed with roman candles, the International Competition in Montreal was timed just right to let us catch Australia’s tremendous show from the Vieux Port, and [...]
Tags: fireworks·Grands Feux·Lac Leamy
Bobby McFerrin Science Lecture
August 3rd, 2009 · No Comments · Music
I stumbled into this very cool video of Bobby McFerrin (the “Don’t worry be happy” guy) demonstrating the power of collective musical expectations – playing the audience’s brainsĀ like a piano. Super neat.
I’ve always been a fan of his musical experimentation – but you rarely hear about him unless you’re looking. I wish he had [...]
Tags: Bobby McFerrin·Music·psychology·video