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2011: Not a Good Year for Daffodils (March 23)

2011-03-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

This year, it was difficult to peg one specific date for the blooming of the daffodils. On March 23, it looked like there was one that had partially come out, with other soon to follow. Then, it got cold and all the daffodils seemed to retract. Let's go with March 23 as the date. So, my history is now:

2011 March 23
2010 March 21
2009 March 23
2008 April 08
2007 March 24
2006 March 30
2005 March 31

The following photos are from 27 March:

Levels of Government Shutdowns

2011-02-20T13:58:00.003-05:00

Which will it be? I'm guessing #1.

Passport office is closed; people can't get passports.
Entry from across the border is closed to people without the local passport.
Entry from across the border is closed to everyone.
All the border guards have been laid off. Border is open to everyone.

2011 Pinewood Derby Car

2011-01-27T22:20:00.002-05:00

⋊?

2010-07-17T17:06:00.000-04:00

What's a "⋊"? It doesn't show up in Google.

⋊

Great Quote

2010-05-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

'The second "Star Wars" trilogy [...] is to the original trilogy what partially digested carrion is to "Guernica"'... -- Ted Forth (Francesco Marciuliano)

"Home" by Marilynne Robinson

2010-05-20T22:34:00.000-04:00

Have you ever read anything bt Marilynne Robinson? (I liked Housekeeping best.) I just finished the audio version of this one. All her books have more "thought" than action, though are pretty good. It says in the Amazon.com review that Jack is "one of the great characters in recent literature". In "Gilead", I got the impression that she wanted to write one kind of novel, but fell in love with the Jack character -- and this book further explores his life. I wouldn't call it "great". Still recommended, though not my highest rating.

2010 Daffodil Bloom Date - 21 March

2010-03-21T22:46:00.003-04:00

2010 experienced the earliest daffodil bloom date on record. Perhaps it was the snowier than normal winter for the area. Here's the history since 2005:

2010 March 21
2009 March 23
2008 April 08
2007 March 24
2006 March 30
2005 March 31

MyHeritage.com #2

2010-01-30T11:20:00.002-05:00

In honour of Facebook's Doppelgänger "Week". (When does the week begin and end?)

MyHeritage.com #1

2010-01-30T11:16:00.001-05:00

In honour of Facebook's Doppelgänger "Week". (When does the week begin and end?)

High Fructose

2009-12-06T19:34:00.003-05:00

Winter 1988

"Corrie eleven Boom"

2009-11-09T20:41:00.001-05:00

Did you know that "Corrie eleven Boom" doesn't return a hit in Google. I'm not sure about "Corrie nine Boom". You'll have to look up "Corrie ten Boom" yourself.

Three Recent (Audio)Books

2009-11-01T22:01:00.003-05:00

1. The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died by Philip Jenkins

This book was quite interesting. For example, I remember being taught that it was the Muslim scholarship that kept ancient Greek learning alive during the European Dark Ages. Jenkins claims that, really, it was the Christians who held the hereditary position of scribe in much of the Caliphate and Muslim lands.

Really, the book is largely about the Christian minority in Asia and Africa, especially since the spread of Islam. The decline of this minority, which began a few centuries or sooner after the time of Christ -- far earlier than Christianity was prominent in much of Europe, has been accelerating. In some places this 1800(?) year presence is being wiped out in 2009.

The book gets bogged down in comparisons with Islam, but is still worth a read.

2. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Interesting, though in some places more anecdotal than scholarly.

3. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

Boring at times, but still pretty good. Contains chapters on the the history of Norse Greenland, Easter Island, etc. Claims that the current first world is using resources at an unsustainable rate, and the rate of resource usage will increase as nations like China strive to increase their living standards/consumerism.

Author sees a strong correlation between political trouble spots and areas where population has outstripped resource (i.e. food) production. With globalisation, local problems become global.

Author claims traditions are often what allows a culture to survive, though they can definitely outlive their usefulness. (For example, the Greenland Norse didn't eat fish. Why not?)

Eric's Juliets Announce New Alternate Plaid Jerseys

2009-10-07T22:28:00.002-04:00

The New Musician, 2009 Edition

2009-08-29T21:04:00.001-04:00

Terminator Salvation

2009-07-02T18:57:00.006-04:00

I didn't see Terminator Salvation. I stopped after T2, being fully satisfied that I had seen enough. But I was surprised by some of the reviews I heard from some people at church. Basically, the people that saw it liked it. I also heard praise from more than one person that was something like, "There was no sex, and very little offensive language." Hello. What are you thinking? What are you drinking and/or smoking? I mean, they made it sound like good clean family fun for children of all ages. My concern is that it may be, well, just a tad violent. IMDB (see link above) mentions that it is "Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and language." I saw a review that said that once scene is the most-accurate ever Hollywood depiction of what it must be like to be inside a crashing helicopter.

I'm not here to condone extra-marital (or even on-screen marital) sex or foul language. But there are other things on film that I think can affect people negatively. As I said, I haven't seen TS, but I think I'd prefer the PG-13 content in Star Trek ("Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content") for myself or my kids.

Can anyone who's seen both comment?

2008 Biking Recap

2009-05-03T17:49:00.001-04:00

Bicycle: 321.02 miles
Motorcycle: 61.4 miles.

32.1 Miles

2009-04-22T19:20:00.001-04:00

I've run 32.1 miles in the past week. Boy do my knees feel it -- and both in different ways!

2009 Daffodil Bloom Date - 23 March

2009-03-24T16:42:00.003-04:00

Here's one of the few remaining traditions around here: pictures of the first daffodils of the year. This year, our daffodils seems to bloom later than others in the area. Perhaps our soil isn't as good or something. Also, there was some dispute about possible blooming the day before. But we'll stick with 23 March as 2009's official date of the start of Spring.

2009 March 23
2008 April 08
2007 March 24
2006 March 30
2005 March 31

New Personal Best

2009-02-17T21:42:00.004-05:00

1998 United States Australian Rules Football Championship

2009-02-07T23:42:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd post this photo here rather than e-mail it to some friends:

Shy Anne

2008-12-15T18:48:00.004-05:00

Sadly, since my last post, C.C. has passed away. But here's the new kitty, Shy Anne.

Candaele ("Candy") 1992-2008 R.I.P.

2008-11-21T19:33:00.003-05:00

2008 is the year of the dead pets. These photos are from 4 November 2008.

New Canon SX10 IS

2008-10-25T13:32:00.005-04:00

Here are my first out-of-the-box, completely auto mode, shots. I definitely need to spend some more time learning the camera.

No zoom:

Full optical zoom:

Full optical and digital zooms. Something went wrong with the upload, and you can't click to make it larger.

Sargeant, 1986? - 2008, R.I.P.

2008-10-24T01:22:00.000-04:00

Everything You Wanted To Know About the Ukraine (But Were Afraid To Ask)

2008-10-22T06:30:00.003-04:00

Two years ago, we learned about Hungary. Now, it's time for the Ukraine. The same comments regarding the Hungary poster pretty much apply.

My Question for the McCain/Obama Debate

2008-10-06T19:51:00.003-04:00

I hear that the upcoming debate between McCain and Obama will take questions from us "common folk" from the audience. In my opinion, most of these kinds of questions are rather weak. After thinking about it for two minutes, here is the question that I would ask:

232 years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote that all "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Assuming you agree with these sentiments, how would your Presidency best "secure these rights"?

McCain =? Bush

2008-08-27T21:43:00.001-04:00

I watched a few minutes of the Democratic convention last night -- it was about all I could take before getting bored. But I noticed that they were making a definite point of equating McCain to a continuation of Bush's administration. Phrases like "Bush/McCain" were bandied about. Of course, they are "preaching to the (Democratic) choir" as it were. But, will this work with the larger population? I'm not so sure. Voters must like Bush. After the first 4 years of being in the White House and showing the public what he was all about, Bush did better in the 2004 election than he did in '00.

McCain is apparently not popular with the conservative wing of the Republican Party. If the Democrats can convince voters that McCain is just like Bush, I'd think McCain would win.

Have You Accepted Jesus as Your Personal Lord and Savior? (or "A Rabbi Talks with Jesus by Jacob Neusner")

2008-06-15T16:40:00.007-04:00

When I saw that the book A Rabbi Talks with Jesus by Jacob Neusner was recommended by Pope Benedict XVI, that impressed me. (And, for the purposes of this review, it would probably be useful to the reader to have me on the record as being a Protestant Christian with Evangelical [religious, not necessarily political] leanings.) Based on Benny's suggestion, I decided to give it a try. At first glance, it might seem like an odd choice of writing to be recommended by a Pope. Neusner is a Jewish rabbi, and the book is basically his explanation as to why he rejects Christianity and stays with his Jewish faith.

However, Neusner does this in a very respectful way. As he might say, "Some of my best friends are Christians"; he shows great respect for Christians and their teachings. Neusner explains his disputes with Christianity by imagining himself within the world of the Gospel of Matthew. (He uses only Matthew.) He places himself at the Sermon on the Mount, as well as other locations in the gospel, and discusses his reactions to its teachings.

The title of the book may sound provocative. Indeed, there are discussions with Jesus, but the replies from Jesus are brief and mirror other statements in Matthew: Neusner takes care to avoid putting words into Jesus's mouth.

A few years ago, as I was driving, I saw a sign that queried the traveler, "Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour?" I'm not sure how common this question is in the wider world, but in the religious circles I frequent, the question is so common it's (almost?) a cliché. With this in mind, I tried to think of an odd way of responding to the question. What came to mind was, "No, but I've accepted Jesus as my collective group Saviour".

To the Evangelical (Protestant) Christian, this response sounds odd and almost funny. But I think it strikes at the heart of one of Neusner's main objections. He sees himself as a member of "Eternal Israel", of the same family as Abraham and Issac, Rachael and Leah. As such, he is looking for not just a personal relationship with God, but also direction in the here and now regarding how to live as a member of eternal Israel.

There were other objections as well, but I found this one the most striking. Overall, I found the book to be highly interesting. For the most part, my past discussions with Jews haven't dealt in detail with religious beliefs. I'm sure that reasons for this include the fact there isn't a lot of proselytism in Judaism, and also that being "Jewish" is largely a cultural identity to some people. So, the book was educational to me in its portrayal of Jewish religious beliefs.

I'd recommend it to Jews, Christians, and people interested in learning more about Judaism and Christianity.

Firefighter in Training

2008-05-10T13:50:00.004-04:00

One thing they do these days when kids take a class trip to a fire station is to explain all the equipment that a firefighter/fireman wears. In part, this is because they want kids to not hide and run away when one is trying to rescue the child from a burning building.

To the left, you can see:

Boots
Heavy Coat
Gloves
Fire Hat
Breathing Oxygen Backpack

He's not wearing the special fire pants in the photo.

This is a couple of weeks after the trip, and that's a lot more than I would have known at that age!

2007 Biking Recap

2008-04-14T22:23:00.002-04:00

I bicycled and motorcycled a lot less in 2007 -- I ran instead. I bicycled (on my main bike) only 194 miles, and motorcycled 126 miles.

2008 Daffodil Bloom Date: 8 April

2008-04-08T22:24:00.007-04:00

For the past few years, I've taken pictures of daffodils the first day that they bloom, and record the photos and date with my blog. This year is no exception. I guess you could consider it my own little personal record of one aspect of climate change or lack thereof. I'm sure that there are variables besides local climate, but here are the dates I've recorded for the daffodil bloom:

2008 April 08
2007 March 24
2006 March 30
2005 March 31

It looks like the trend is reversed, at least for this year.

O-Bee, 1989? - 2008 R.I.P.

2008-03-31T22:07:00.001-04:00

The Red of Courage by Stephen Crane

2008-03-10T22:04:00.004-04:00

I never had to read The Red Badge of Courage for school or anything like that. I seem to remember it being mentioned in an episode of The Brady Bunch, but I couldn't find anything with a quick visit to Google. It tells the story of a young Union Army recruit as he goes into his first battle. It seems to do a good job of showing what the battle (unmentioned, but supposedly Chancellorsville) must have been like for an infantryman. We learn about the overview of battles from history books, but for someone in the trenches (sometimes literally) without the hindsight of history, a battle involves a lot of waiting and a lot of getting shot at, but little understanding of the plans of the generals.

I was surprised how "psychological" the book was. The story is largely about the feelings of its main character, the fictitious Henry Fleming. In some ways it seemed to be "too psychological". A large part of the book is Henry wondering how he would respond under the pressure of battle, and whether or not he'd have the "courage" to stand. This isn't to say that it's not normal under the circumstances, but the mood swings are fast and furious. There's a lot of "He felt great. No, he felt miserable. No, he was master of the world" or whatever.

Three stars.

Dress Up Day

2008-02-29T18:02:00.000-05:00

I wasn't quite sure what was up with the Scottie Pippin jersey. I guess it came from the neighbours.

How Canadian Are You? (Quiz)

2008-02-16T10:31:00.001-05:00

Here's a little quiz. This sort of things get old quickly, but I thought it was worth a blog post.

You are 91% Canuck!

You rock, you are an almighty Canadian through and through. You have proven your worthiness and have won the elite prize of living in a country as awesome as Canada. Yes I know other countries think they are better, but we let them have that cuz we know better than they do, eh?

How Canadian Are You?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

2008 Pinewood Derby Cars

2008-02-07T21:05:00.000-05:00

After taking a year off, we're back in the Pinewood Derby groove for 2008.

Where have you gone, Gary Gabelich?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

2008-02-04T21:45:00.001-05:00

I saw Cry, the Beloved Country in the library and picked it up. It was one of those "I've heard of the title, but don't know anything about it" selections. I thought it was famous for something, but wasn't sure what.

The book is set in South Africa in the middle of the 20th century; after WW2, but before apartheid became official government policy. It tells the story of a rural black Anglican priest, Stephen Kumalo, and his journey to the "great city" of Johannesburg. He travels there in search of his younger sister and his adult son. Both of them moved to the city from their small village, and little had been heard of them since.

The book contains a look at life in South Africa. However, it also contains themes that have been common amongst all peoples undergoing industrialization. What happens when one way of life (the traditional South African village) is damaged, and what does the city and modern society offer as a replacement? Thinking about it, one of my favourite novels is No Great Mischief, where one of the themes is the collapse of the extended family in modern society. The same themes are examined here. Either this is fertile ground for a novelist to write a great novel, or perhaps it's just a theme I enjoy seeing explored.

One site has Cry as the #101 English-language novel of the 20th century. I say it's better than that. 5 stars.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

2008-02-02T01:42:00.000-05:00

Have you felt that the recent novels you've read all seemed to be missing something? I mean, did you ever think, "That book was OK, but it sure could have used some more good, old-fashioned cannibalism"? If so, then The Road is for you.

The Road tells of the post-apocalyptic journey of a father and his son. And, it must of been a doozy of an apocalypse: in addition to other problems, apparently virtually every living thing on the planet has died, except for a handful of people. The only mention of non-human life in the book was a few mushrooms and a stray dog. So, ones options are, shall we say, limited.

The focus of the book is the relationship between the father and son. It's well-written, and is the type of book about which a reviewer might say, "Though the darkness, one sees such a spark of beauty." Don't believe that. This is the most depressing piece of fiction I can recall. It seems to me that it's more likely to mess with your mind in a negative way than it is to uplift the reader.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

2008-01-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

This is Hosseini's second novel of Afghanistan. My review of his first is here. Like some books, it is difficult to write a synopsis of the plot of A Thousand Splendid Suns without potentially givnig too much away. I'll try to err on the side of not giving away spoilers.

The book tells the story of two Afghan women, Mariam (b. 1959) and Laila, who is 19 years younger. Mariam is a country girl who's considered an inconvenience to her family and is married off to man (Rasheed) in Kabul who's perhaps 25 or 30 years her senior. There (eventually) she meets Laila, and after a slow start, their relationship blossoms.

The book has sections from Mariam's point of view, and sections from Laila's. As far as I can tell, it tells the story of "typical" middle-class women in Afghanistan through the days of the monarchy, the Soviet invasion, the anarchy leading to the Taliban, and beyond. In addition to nastiness outside the home, nastiness inside the home is also explored. One point the author makes is that there are always innocent casualties when violent acts are performed (some more subtle than others).

The book was gripping, but I found a few sections to be more disturbing than I normally prefer. I recently read something by Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) who (I'm paraphrasing) said he doesn't understand people who like to see sad movies (or read sad books, I assume). Adams believes that feeling sad is very close to feeling bad. That is something he tries to avoid, and doesn't enjoy. For me, parts of Suns were like that, more so than Kite Runner.

I'd also say that Suns has more of a feel of "real life" to it. By this, I mean that not everything revolves around resolving past mistakes. Sometimes, past wrongs can't be righted. I can still see things Hosseini added to make the novel "work", but less so than the last book. I'll also give this one four stars out of five. It's different than Kite Runner, though I haven't decided if it's better or worse.

Draw a Picture of a Person Holding a Bird

2008-01-02T23:38:00.001-05:00

Or, if you allow me to rephrase it slightly, draw a picture of a bird being held by a person.

Someone I know commented that when a child of some friends was in Kindergarten, the teacher noticed that the child had artistic potential by what she drew.

Here are some entries in the competition:

I'm not quite sure if the misunderstanding in the last one was intentional.

Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

2007-12-27T22:29:00.000-05:00

Tears of the Giraffe is the second book of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and the third that I've completed. In addition to the initial book, I've done The Kalahari Typing School for Men.

In short, I liked this one the best of the three. It seemed to have the best blend of detective cases (which is made to seem easier, I'm sure, than it is in real life) and relationships. I'm not sure if I'm getting used to the characters, or if it really was better.

Still, it's more "light" than "heavy" reading, but that doesn't make it bad. Also, if you're interested in the series, I recommend reading the first book first. Three stars out of five.

This News Makes Me Mad

2007-12-27T22:21:00.000-05:00

I won't bother to make an effort to expand on these thoughts, but news of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto angers me moreso than just about any news story I've heard for quite a while.

Browns Uniforms

2007-12-22T10:16:00.001-05:00

Kellen Winslow made some comments that the Browns would have new uniforms for 2008, and they might be something like what the Denver Broncos currently wear. The assumption is that this is completely false, in part because NFL teams aren't supposed to change their uniforms more than once ever 3 years, and the Browns made minor tweaks for 2006.

But, here is one fan's nightmare concerning what could happen:

(Did Romeo go on a diet?)

And, if the Browns did finally add a helmet logo, I suppose this is the best that they could do:

Personally, I'm not opposed to minor tweaks here and there, as long as they keep a "traditional" look, and they don't look like something that was trendy in the late 1990s. The Browns have been tweaking their uniforms for as long as I've been a fan; I don't see there being one set uniform that they need to keep.

Even though orange-brown-orange has been more common, I prefer the brown-orange-brown pants stripes:

I don't mind the occasional orange pants:

The orange jerseys were OK. I especially like the 3-D block effect on the numbers, and wouldn't mind them adding that to the white and brown shirts.

Did the Browns ever have white shirts and orange numbers, or is this a colourised version of a b&w photo?

Check out this apparenly early (1950s?) version of orange jerseys:

vajoe.com 2008 US Presidential Candidate Calculator

2007-12-09T23:26:00.000-05:00

From http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html, I got the following. I'm not sure I truse these any more than to say that then can be used to generate potentially interesting conversation. What did you get?

Your Results

Based on your responses, your top candidate for 2008 is below.

Your Top Match
Texas Representative Ron Paul (R) 88.46% match

Your Other Top Matches

Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (D) - 56.73%
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo (R) - 53.85%
Arizona Senator John McCain (R) - 50.00%

Middle of the Pack

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson (R) - 49.04%
Businessman John Cox (R) - 46.15%
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) - 46.15%
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) - 45.19%
Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D) - 44.23%
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) - 42.31%
California Representative Duncan Hunter (R) - 38.46%
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) - 34.62%
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden (D) - 33.65%
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) - 25.96%

Bottom of the Barrel

New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) - 25.00%
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd (D) - 24.04%
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) - 20.19%
Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) - 18.27%

Playing With My Camera's "Colour Accent" Mode

2007-11-12T19:37:00.000-05:00

Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

2007-11-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

It's difficult for me to decide what to write about Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI. On the one hand, it's deep, but it's not that deep. There were times where it was difficult to follow while driving in city traffic and not also smashing into the car in front or me, but this doesn't mean that it's too difficult for anyone of moderate intelligence to follow, especially when reading a paper copy. On the other hand, it's also not definitely not light fluff.

The book focuses on the teachings of Jesus from the time of his baptism, until before the triumphal entry. That is, he leaves out the "infancy" narratives, as well as the other "Holy Week" events like the Last Supper, Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Resurrection, etc. Benny says that this is because he has been working on this book for quite a while, and has been devoting most of his free time to it. Not knowing how much time (of any sort) he has remaining, he wanted to publish this part now and work on the second volume as time allows.

It's had to say where to begin. The book goes into great detail on subjects such as Jesus' connection with Old Testament Law, his baptism, transfiguration, Sermon on the Mount, parables, etc. For example, the Pope expounds at great length on each phrase of the Lord's Prayer. Two other points he makes are:

Jesus didn't bring universal peace or prosperity. So what did he bring? He brought God.
There are correlations between Moses and Jesus, which I won't begin to describe in this review.

As a non-Catholic, I thought it was interesting to hear the Catholic side of things. I may have missed some things, but there wasn't much I would disagree with.

In conclusion, I don't not recommend it, but I also hesitate to recommend it strongly. A Hindu friend of mine mentioned that he read the Gospel of Matthew, really enjoyed it, and gained a greater appreciation of Christianity from it. Regarding the Pope's Jesus of Nazareth, I'm undecided if the reader of this review, my Hindu friend, or I would be better off reading this book of just reading, for example, the Gospel of Mark or Luke. So, while it is pretty good, read the Bible too.

The Pope recommends A Rabbi Talks With Jesus by Jacob Neusner. I plan on giving that one a try.

My 2007 Baseball Awards Ballot

2007-10-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

Like last year, it looks like I'm too late to vote in the Internet Baseball Awards. Anyway, here are my votes:

American League Most Valuable Player

1. NYA Alex Rodriguez
2. NYA Jorge Posada
3. DET Magglio Ordonez
4. TB Carlos Pena
5. BOS David Ortiz
6. DET Curtis Granderson
7. CLE Victor Martinez
8. CLE C.C. Sabathia
9. CLE Grady Sizemore
10. CAL Vladimir Guerrero

You can't argue with ARod. It's always a challenge to decide how much to value defence, but if Big Papi played 3B with the same skill as Rodriguez, my vote would still have gone to ARod. My impression was that VMart was the most valuable Indian. Honourable Mention: Brian Roberts, Mike Lowell.

National League Most Valuable Player

1. NYN David Wright
2. ATL Chipper Jones
3. PHI Chase Utley
4. FLA Hanley Rameriz
5. MIL Prince Fielder
6. COL Matt Holliday
7. SD Jake Peavy
8. FLA Miguel Cabrera
9. STL Albert Pujols
10. SF Barry Bonds

Unlike the AL, I'm sure you can argue with Wright. And, unlike the AL, all of the batters listed above have somewhat comparable stats. Even Barry Bonds on-based .480 (wow!) in 126 games. I've heard Holliday considered to be a favourite for the award, but the question is, how much does playing in Denver inflate his stats? But, even if they put up the same numbers in neutral parks, I'd go with Wright over Holliday due to his defensive position. Honourable Mention: Jimmy Rollins.

American League Cy Young Award

1. CLE C.C. Sabathia
2. CAL John Lackey
3. OAK Dan Haren
4. CLE Fausto Carmona
5. BOS Josh Beckett

When it comes to choosing a Cy, I tend to favour high IP and low ERA. Sabathia lead the majors in IP, so that's a good place to start. Is there a correlation between high IP and future arm trouble? Will his arm fall off? Considering October, maybe it already has. It felt strange not voting for Johan Santana, but I had Beckett edging him out for 5th. Joba Chamberlain was almost worthy of consideration, believe it or not, giving up 1 ER while striking out 34 in 24 innings.

National League Cy Young Award

1. SD Jake Peavy
2. ARI Brandon Webb
3. LA Brad Penny
4. ATL Tim Hudson
5. ATL John Smoltz

I don't think many will argue with the choice of Jake Peavy. Webb looks to be an obvious choice for #2. After that, it gets murky. Penny, Hudson, and Smoltz all look pretty close to me, along with Roy Oswalt and Aaron Harang.

The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith

2007-10-25T23:05:00.000-04:00

Considering my thoughts on The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, it might seem strange that I picked up the audio version of The Kalahari Typing School for Men when I saw it it the library. I suppose that there is a lot of stuff at the library that I know nothing about, so I thought I might as well go with something I knew wouldn't be horrible, instead of something totally random.

Maybe I'll do that sometime -- walk in and randomly select an audiobook.

Anyway, Typing is number 4 in the series. Rather than focusing on individual cases, Typing focuses more on relationships:

Mma Ramotswe is still engaged to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni.
Mma Ramotswe's assistant, the single Mma Makutsi, meets a man who seems too good to be true.
Mma Ramotswe's main case of the book, Mr Molefelo, is looking to correct wrongs he committed in the past.

Overall, the book seemed to have less of a "life in Botswana" flavour, but had more of a story and was more of a journey with people you know. Though slightly different in focus than No. 1, it was about as likable. I'm surprised I only gave that one two stars. I'll give this one two and a half stars out of five.

Gorilla Warfare

2007-10-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

When I was young, I would hear news reports about gorilla attacks on villages in Africa, or bouts of gorilla warfare in various places. This scared me. I mean, what if some gorillas escaped from the zoo and decided to attack my house?

I was reminded of these past fears today when I saw a BBC report that an Indian politician died after being attacked by monkeys.

Primates == Scary.

Another Football Player?

2007-10-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

High Temperature Athletic Training

2007-10-10T19:30:00.001-04:00

Consistently run, work out, or whatever, when it's, say, 25 to 30C (77 to 86F). Of course, you shouldn't over-exert yourself in high temperatures, or low temperatures for that matter. Then, when the temperature falls to 10C (50F), you may be surprised that you're suddenly faster.

Will You Be My Friend?

2007-10-03T22:07:00.000-04:00

My Internet time sink of the week is Facebook. Do you have an account there? I created one and am now up to a massive count of 5 friends. I didn't know I had that many.

And it does seem to have the potential to be an addictive time drain, which is, I assume, what advertisers and Wall Street are looking for. There are numerous little applications that you can add to your site depending on your interests. I'm having fun adding pins on a map listing all the cities and towns in the world that I've visited, though I can't say it's all that productive.

Anyway, I don't expect to do a whole lot with my site, and I won't link to it here. But if you have a Facebook account, go ahead and send me a message through it.

Running a Marathon

2007-09-23T21:46:00.001-04:00

I've never run a marathon, and the odds are that I never will. I had never even run the distance of a marathon in a week. Until yesterday, that is. I guess you could say that I completed a marathon in about 164:30:00, with lots of rest, sleep, and work breaks in between. If I run that distance next year in 6 days, and do it the following year in 5, maybe I'll be ready to do it in one day around 2013.

Is it the Mormons? The JWs? Worse, it's the Phone Company!

2007-09-22T14:44:00.000-04:00

As I was running last night, I saw a few pairs of people walking around the neighbourhood with information, going door-to-door. They were all dressed in white shirts and dark pants. I wondered if they were the Mormons or the Jehovah Witnesses going around. Instead, it turned out to be the Phone Company. Or more precisely, independent contractors trying to get me to sign up for Phone Company services. In my case, their catch was to try to get me to sign up for high-speed Internet service. I thanked the lady for stopping by and asked if she could leave me some literature about the service for me to go over and contact them if I'm interested. Of course, this couldn't be done -- I had to sign up immediately or not at all. This effectively ended our the need for discussion, though we did chat for a while until the nice lady realised that I meant it when I said that I wouldn't sign up on the spot.

Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich

2007-09-19T21:56:00.000-04:00

Someone I know is a fan of Evanovich and will read anything she puts out. So, when I saw one of her works available in the audiobook section of the library, I thought I'd give it a try.

I was not particularly impressed, though it got better as it went along.

The story involves everyone's favourite bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. It's nearing Valentine's Day, and her old pal Diesel shows up. A "relationship expert" has been arrested and skipped bail. Diesel makes a deal with Plum: if she fills in for the relationship expert, playing Cupid for her clients so that they'll find true love in time for Valentine's Day, Diesel will let Plum bring her in and get the bounty. So, the possibilities for slightly risqué humour abound as Stephanie travels between lovelorn characters. There's a small bit of a mystery or crime/suspense aspect to the story as well, but not much.

The book is short so I don't see the need for a long review. I hear that Evanovich's "Numbers" books are better and some of her fans weren't thrilled with this one. I'll give it two stars out of five, but I was considering a lower rating.

Have the Stock Markets Been Depressed Since 2001?

2007-09-18T22:32:00.001-04:00

I've heard from more than one person lately that the stock markets have not done well since 11 September 2001, that they're afraid of investing in stocks because of the risk of another terrorist attack on the United States, and so on. I certainly wouldn't want to advise anyone to invest in an instrument that they're not comfortable with. However, when I hear such blanket assertions made about the stock market or baseball statistics, I wonder what the numbers really say, and decide to look it up.

I'm going with the most-recognized US market index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

10 September 2001 Close: 9605.85
18 September 2007 Close: 13739.39
Cumulative Annual Growth Rate Over this Period: 6.12%

I used the handy Excel XIRR function to compute this value. I don't think I've been able to compute this kind of math on my own since I was 18.

But what do the numbers show? What should the reader think of a 6.12% annual growth rate? Well, it is lower that the supposed long-term historic average. But on the other hand, I don't think it should be considered dismal. It seems within the expected historic range for a 6-year period, though I am not checking it against 6-year rolling returns. Maybe when my kids are a little older, I can give them assignments like this.

If you want to guarantee a better return than 6%, well, let me know how that can be done.

Cheerleading Pic

2007-09-16T22:00:00.001-04:00

On Losing Weight

2007-09-16T18:26:00.000-04:00

For better or worse, my weight has been fairly stable. If I make a moderate effort to watch what I eat, I don't easily gain weight. The down side of this is that, like many of us, it wouldn't hurt me to lose 5 kg or 10 lbs (OK, or more...). Unfortunately, losing weight isn't easy for me and I like food too much to make it happen.

I say this because, when seeing relatives like my parents or some siblings that I don't see daily or even weekly, I'll be told that I look like I'm losing weight. Or maybe I'll be asked if I lost some weight. They could have some "large" impressions of me, and seeing me brings them back down to size; I don't know.

Anyway, I had thought that this was just some kind of honest question. However, it's happened so much without corresponding weight loss that I am starting to wonder about it. Is it just some kind of polite greeting? Am I just being told, "You're not as fat as I thought you'd be"? Am I being rude (in my family at least) if I don't ask people if they'd lost weight in return?

Anton's Chekhov's Short Stories

2007-09-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed my collection of Chekhov's short stories. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, as he was, after all, my favourite Star Trek character. To me, they seemed to have some of the feel of "real life" to them, which stands in contrast to other 19^th century works I've read. Chekhov isn't trying to answer questions about life. If anything, he's trying to raise them.

This lead to an interesting discussion with a Dickens fan, who seemed to like the structure of a Dickens novel, with its good guys and bad guys, beginning, middle, and end, morality, etc. Chekhov isn't like that at all. And, according to my friend, his style of writing was quite an innovation.

From my brief readings on the topic, there are two types of Chekhov stories: those in which nothing really happens in the end and those on which something does. One story that I liked was The Beggar, which can be read here. I won't say which of those two types The Beggar is. Actually, it isn't clear to me.

I may be forgetting someone, but at this point, I'll say that I think I liked Chekhov's stories better than anything I remember which was written in the 1800s. I recommend his works fairly highly, but I can see how some folks might not enjoy it as much as I did.

OK, Here's a (Sort of) Football Picture, too

2007-08-27T20:12:00.000-04:00

First Day of School 2007, and New Backpacks

2007-08-27T19:57:00.000-04:00

The soon-to-be new preschoolers also need backpacks:

Turtle Boy!

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

2007-08-26T22:24:00.000-04:00

Housekeeping is a novel by Marilynne Robinson, the author of Gilead. If I understood the hype around Gilead correctly, fans of Housekeeping waited a quarter of a century for Robinson to come out with her second novel. After reading Housekeeping, I can see why her fans were eager for more.

Housekeeping is set in and around a fictional town and lake named Fishbone in Idaho. However, as a reader who ain't never been there (they tell me it's nice) with regards to Idaho, a little bit of research shows that Lake Fishbone seems to bear similarities to the real Lake Pend Oreille, meaning that the town is likely Sandpoint. (Sure enough, that's where Robinson grew up.)

The book tells the story of Ruthie and her sister Lucille, through the eyes of Ruthie. When the girls are orphaned, they move in with their grandmother. Then, after she dies, they eventually have their aunt Sylvia as a guardian. Their relationship with Sylvie forms the main plot of the book. Sylvie had lived as a "drifter" after moving away from home, and it remains to be seen whether or not Sylvie's "housekeeping" will be stable enough to meet the needs of the girls, and the expectations of the community.

And that's just it. Sylvie can be in tune with the beauty of nature, but what good is that? The book is beautifully written, and full of phrases and interesting ways of putting things that make you think. (For example, "his mortal and professional careers ended...") Themes include water, resurrection, life, loss, and memory. Like the lake, at times it can be deep, but that's what the pause and rewind buttons are for.

One other theme that I saw in the book was the whole idea of civilization, or at least society. Who is civilized? Does it have anything to do with keeping a house? Who isn't? What attitudes does civilization view as a threat, and how does it react to such perceived threats?

I really enjoyed this book. It may compete with Mercy Among The Children as my favourite fiction of the year. It's not light reading, so stay away if you prefer fluff. But I think it's worth the effort. Four and a half stars (out of five).

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

2007-08-21T21:45:00.000-04:00

The Inheritance of Loss is more difficult than most books to sum up in a brief review. Set in the 1980s, at first, the main character seems to be Sai. She's an Indian teen who becomes an orphan when her parents, among the first astronauts in the Indian space program, are run over by a bus in Moscow. (That seems a little contrived to me.) Sai is forced to move in with her grandfather, a retired judge living in the Himalayan foothills near Darjeeling. The judge becomes a main character, as does his poor cook, and also the cook's son Biju, who's an illegal immigrant in New York. Minor characters are also studied in greater detail than in many books.

Sai's love interest is is Gyan, an ethnic Gorkha (Nepali) who becomes involved with the Gorkhaland National Liberation Front (which, I assume most non-Indian, non-Nepali readers will have never heard of).

The book could be described as beautiful, with lots of slices of the reality of life in the post-Colonial era. The experiences of Indians are looked upon (or at least Desai's views of them). For example, while there are exceptions, Biju is assumed to be the common-man Indian emigrant. Without a green card, he has a tough time of it in New York, leaving the reader to wonder whether or not America is all that it's cracked up to be. Where is ones home after all?

If the book has a flaw, in my opinion, it's the time spent with the GNLF. I suppose a novel needs to have some extra conflict introduced. But to me, the slices of life were so vivid and compelling that this wrinkle hardly seemed to be needed.

Despite winning the Man Booker prize, it seems to have more than the normal share of negative reviews over at Amazon.com. As of this writing, it's rated at three stars out of five. I'll do better than that and give it three and one half stars. However, Desai can do better.

UK Climate Change Protesters at Nuclear Plant

2007-08-20T18:59:00.001-04:00

I don't really know much about this story beyond the headline, but here's an article. Just the headline make me wonder if the protesters are for or against climate change.

There is a lot of negativity surrounding nuclear power, but if you wanted to increase CO₂ emissions, wouldn't one way be to ban nuclear?

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

2007-08-13T22:50:00.001-04:00

This book should be subtitled The Ramblings of a Grumpy Old Man Who Is Unhappy With the State of the World. It was published in 2005 when Vonnegut was 82. At least "Kurt's up in heaven now", or at least he wants me to mention this. (Read the book to know what I mean.)

Actually, for an atheist and humanist, he talks about God and Jesus a lot. One interesting point was that he'd rather see Christians pushing for wider display of the Beatitudes (see below), rather than the 10 Commandments. I can go for that.

The book is US-Centric and rather short. I'm not sure I'd want to pay the full price for it, but if you can pick up a copy from the library, it isn't a bad introduction to Vonnegut's late-life views. Slaughterhouse Five was better. So was Back To School. Two and a half stars out of five.

And, here are the Beatitudes. Vonnegut suggested that it would be nice to see the one concerning the Peacemakers in the office of George W. Bush.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God
Matthew 5:3-9 [NIV]

The Rocket Runner?

2007-08-12T15:57:00.001-04:00

Here are a few photos from yesterday's rocket launch. From reading The Kite Runner a while ago, I had the feeling that if I caught a (parachuting) rocket in the air, I should get to keep it. I did catch one, but gave it back to the 10-year old when he asked for it. (I'm looking forward to reading A Thousand Splended Suns).

We also brought along my old little one:

No parachte and small size makes it go high and fast, but it's difficult to see and find. It didn't land very far from the launch pad.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

2007-08-09T22:09:00.001-04:00

The Spanish Civil War. It's not really well-known or studied around here. I suspect that there are probably a few reasons for that:

With names like the "Republicans" and "Nationalists", it's hard to remember who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.
With one side backed by Stalin and the other by Hitler and Mussolini, was there even a "good" side and a "bad" side?
As this was a prequel to a main event of World War II, it is overshadowed in most memories and our history books.

Anyway, Bell tells the story of the fictitious American Robert Jordan, who's a Spanish instructor from the University of Montana and in Spain fighting with the Republican (Communist-backed) side. Jordan is a demolition expert, and he is given the task of meeting up with a guerrilla band in a Nationalist- (Fascist-) controlled area and blowing up a bridge.

Much of the story involves the interaction of Jordan with members of the band in preparation for the coordinated assault on the bridge. Pablo, the band's leader, is a troublesome character. He seems to have lost his will to fight, and Jordan and the reader can't tell whether or not he can be trusted. And, when Pablo finally commits an act from which there can be no forgiveness, suddenly, all is right in their relationship, at least for a while.

Then, there's Jordan's love interest, Maria, who may exist more to make the story more suitable for Hollywood. (I'm looking forward to seeing Ingrid Bergman in the role.)

The narrative point of view seemed interesting and somewhat unconventional. It was third person, mostly focusing on Jordan's thoughts and actions, including long "conversations with himself" that make it more of a first-person account. But, it also had a few parts away from Jordan and from the point of view of other characters. These made the book seem inconsistent.

The book does a good job of showing the uncertainties of war. However, I thought it was too long. The asides were too numerous and also too long. I would have preferred if Hemingway had stuck to the story.

It's considered a classic, and I can see how literary types would really enjoy it. Others in my book club also didn't care for it, though I'm not that negative. It has good parts and bad. I suppose I'm neutral about it, though I may try another of the author's classics.

No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.

-- John Donne

In-Progress Vacation Photos

2007-08-04T17:26:00.000-04:00

I love having internet access in a hotel room, though posting photos at this point is probably more amusing to me than to anyone else. We haven't been to the wedding yet. I'll probably post more photos of the weekend later at my other site.

At Least I Didn't Cut Myself

2007-08-04T10:26:00.000-04:00

When packing for a weekend trip, there is always so much to remember to bring along. This time I forgot my electric shaver. So, this morning when grocery shopping for breakfast, I picked up "more primitive" shaving supplies. It's been many years since I've shaved with a blade. I'm sure my speed would improve with experience, but it sure took a long time. I can't see preferring that to my old, dull, electric shaver. At least I didn't cut myself.

Are You LinkedIn?

2007-07-29T22:55:00.000-04:00

I recently got my second invitation for someone else to link to me at LinkedIn.com. What's the deal with this site? Can someone explain it to me? Is it useful? It seems to me that people enter a lot of personal information, which must be valuable to someone. Also, it seems to make unsubstantiated and unverifiable claims, such as, "If you fill out this section, you're 3.1 times more likely to get a job offer."

So,

Are you registered with this site?
What good has it done?
Do you want to be connected to my site or vice versa? (Are such relationships commutative?)

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

2007-07-24T21:53:00.001-04:00

Wharton is an author who I've heard of and thought I probably should read, so I picked up the short (4 CDs) audio edition of Ethan Frome.

The novella is set in rural Starkfield, Massachusetts ("where it's always winter!") near the turn of the last century, though the bulk of the book is a long flashback to 20 years before the present. In the short opening, the narrator meets the impressive but crippled and unapproachable Ethan, and tries to piece together his history and the cause of the "smash up" that left him in his physical state.

This is yet another one of those "evil, controlling, hypochondriac wife" stories, and 20 years previously, Ethan finds himself married to one. When his wife's cousin Mattie arrives to help out around the household, Ethan sees another side of womanhood and longs for her. Wharton is a master at building the tension. I can just imagine post-Victorian (Taftian? Wilsonian? Georgian (V), I suppose) ladies reading this and wondering if or when Ethan and Mattie will get together.

Wharton, however, paints Ethan as basically a good man. When his wife decides to send Mattie away and bring on another hired girl, Ethan feels trapped. He longs to run away with Mattie, but can he break his vows to his wife and leave her destitute?

Like the last book, this one seems to be geared more towards the female side of the reading audience. It's not bad, especially if you like hypochondriacs and tension of the sort described above. Recommended, but not highly.

Runaway by Alice Munro

2007-07-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

Runaway, a collection of stories by Alice Munro, won the Giller Prize for 2004, which was reason enough for me to pick it up when I saw it in the library's audiobook section. The stories are:

Runaway - Carla seems trapped in a bad relationship. Can she escape and where does she belong?
Chance - Juliet meets a stranger on a train.
Soon - Juliet returns East to visit her parents with her child.
Silence - Juliet is estranged from her adult child.
Passion - Grace meets her fiance's older brother and her life takes an turn that's not ordinary but not surprising.
Trespasses - 10-year old Lauren doesn't seem to have many friends, except for the hotel cleaning lady.
Tricks - Robin's life reaches a turning point. We check in 30 later to see how it turned out.
Powers - Nancy's friend Tessa is an unusual girl. We check in 40 years later to see how she turned out.

So, there are a few common themes:

All of the stories have to do with a woman's (or girl's) relationships.
In addition to "Runaway", some other stories have that theme; thus it's a good name for the collection.
In a few (the Juliet trilogy, Robin, and Grace) we come back later to see how things turned out.

All-in-all, it's not bad. I thought the Juliet sections were the least interesting, and she got three stories of the eight. In it, she encounters a Christian pastor who seems so incompetent that Munro's apparent stereotype made me upset with her. But it turned out that he may have had a reason for acting as he did, and as her saga ends with an interesting point on parenting, the reader is left to wonder if the pastor was right after all.

If I had to choose a favourite, it might be either Trespasses or Tricks.

As it's a book about women and their relationships, it would, of course, be most interesting to someone who is, well, interested in that kind of thing. Still, it was less a "Romance Novel" than was A Student of Weather, which I selected because it was a Giller Prize finalist in 2000.

I give Runaway 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

4H Clothes Project - "Ready, Let's Sew!"

2007-07-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Coats of Arrms

2007-07-14T00:16:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had to make a coat of arms, like for a school project or anything? I never had. I also know next to nothing about heraldry.

For some reason, tonight while running, I had an idea for a coat of arms. This is probably overly complex and in violation of the normal heraldic rules. I won't describe the components; they all may be obvious, or maybe not. Also, when they saw me working on this, my kids wanted to make their own, which they began before bedtime. When they complete them, I may post them here.

I used what may be called "primitive" tools to draw my design, and was it was intended to be a quick prototype. (It's been years since I've made this kind of little art project.)

Are My Golf Clubs Legal?

2007-07-12T22:52:00.001-04:00

I try to go golfing once or twice every decade or so. One of these occasions is scheduled for Sunday. I took a look at my golf clubs and wondered if my 3 wood and 5 wood were legal. They're not titanium. They seem to be made out of some sort of unidentified light, fibrous material.

MillionCount.com

2007-07-12T22:44:00.000-04:00

Check out millioncount.com (within a month or two of this post). The person who forwarded me the link said "THIS IS SPECTACULAR." I'm not sure about that; I haven't made up my mind yet. I suppose if it's for a good cause...

Three Cats

2007-07-07T10:35:00.001-04:00

The artist at work:

Overnight Guests

2007-07-06T20:47:00.000-04:00

Interestingly, considering my last post, it's just me and the boys tonight. The rest of the family has gone. The question is, will I be able to handle it?

I've already been asked my views concerning bed time. My philosophy is that I am most concerned about my own bed time. If I am trying to sleep and am awakened, I won't be very happy. So, it would be wise to avoid loud voices, crashes, explosions, etc., after that time.

And, here's looking at the world through fly's eyes:

Hospitality

2007-07-04T22:40:00.000-04:00

"Practice hospitality" - Romans 12:13b

For the past two summers (2005, 2006) we hosted a short-term (4 months and 1 month) international exchange student. While we found it quite enjoyable, we didn't sign up to participate in the program again this year. Thinking about it, one reason (though not the only) is because, as our family grows, our house seems to be growing smaller, making it more difficult to imagine adding another resident, and committing a bedroom for that purpose.

One thing we'd like to do is to be able to practice hospitality as the verse states above. We'd like to be able to host a short- or long-term exchange student. We'd like to be able to more comfortably host parents, in-laws, or foreign or domestic travelers for some period of time. Of course, we can still do that now to some degree, but not to the extent that such visitors deserve.

So, this raises the question, should we get a new house? Would you be more likely to stay here overnight if we had more space?

And, the $100,000 question: Does anyone have an extra $100,000 or so laying around that we can use for such an upgrade?

The Jungle by Upton "Axl" Sinclair

2007-07-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

Opening Launchcast Music:
Dafür Ist Das Leben Zu Kurz by Nena

The famous quote about The Jungle by its author is "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." This is obvious from reading it. While it does describe Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus' time in Chicago's Packing Town and the conditions therein, it's a lot more than that. Jurgis also spends time as an unemployed homeless bum, a steelworker, a wandering hobo, a farm machinery factory worker, in jail, on a railroad construction project, as a Republican party operative, and more.

Sinclair certainly gives a detailed look at life at the turn of the previous century. Most striking to me is the lack of any sort of (small-s) social security. If a worker is injured or loses his job, his entire family may lose their house and face starvation.

Jurgis' life goes through its ups and downs, with more downs than ups, until the conclusion of the book, where he is introduced to the concept of "Socialism". To today's ears, Sinclair's "Socialism" most closely resembles Communism. With "Socialism", life finally has meaning and things are looking up for our hero.

The entire work needs to be taken with a grain of salt and taken for what it is, a piece of political propaganda. But, as long as that is kept in mind, I found it to be highly interesting, though perhaps too long. Highly Recommended.

Closing Launchcast Music:
Ricky by "Weird Al" Yankovic

Bringing the Museum Piece Out of Retirement

2007-06-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

My wife had been having trouble with her mobile phone lately. It didn't seem to pick up the network of our provider and was always in roaming mode, but not working well and generally being ineffective. There are a lot of ways I could solve this dilemma, but I'd like to do it in a way that doesn't cost a lot of money and doesn't contractually tie me to any service provider for a longer period of time. Since we don't have a landline phone, getting my wife a working phone was the biggest thing I wanted to accomplish. And yes, one possibility might be to build some redundancy into our network by getting a landline again.

As for the possibility of spending money, just to run a diagnostic on the phone would cost $35. That should be free -- as far as I know, the problem isn't even with the phone. But apparently, mobile providers offer phone service for low prices and try to earn all their money on additional "services" like this one. Or, I could but a new phone from them for at least $150. Or, I could wait until August and get $75 off the price of a phone from them. Or, I could buy a phone on eBay.

But, as I said, my first goal was to get my wife a working phone. They'll switch numbers between phones for free. I was going to switch her number to my phone and then deal with the non-working phone in "Phase 2" of the solution. However, to transfer numbers between phones, a third "dummy" phone is needed. Enter old phone that we were lucky we kept. We got rid of that maybe 2 1/2 years ago because the screen no longer worked. I plugged it in and the screen worked. So, instead of having the non-working phone, I transferred my number to the ancient Samsung 8500. We'll see how long that works. I'm thinking eBay is the next option, if this one doesn't work out.

Athletic Road Trips With Sticks

2007-06-17T16:27:00.000-04:00

Until Friday, it had been quite a while since I've gone on a road trip to participate in a team sport that involved the use of sticks. Previously, it was in my lacrosse-playing days. This time, the sticks are more correctly called "brooms" and the sport was curling.

It was an overnight "Mini-spiel", where 4 teams from our club played a game Friday night and Saturday morning against teams from the host club. It included a dinner Friday night -- choices were filet mignon or some fancy shrimp dish -- a reminder that I'm not playing lacrosse anymore. Friday night lodging was free and provided by members of the home club, and we had a cookout lunch on Saturday after the games. Another indication we weren't playing lacrosse was the sushi at the cookout.

All-in-all, it was a great time, and we got to meet some wonderful people. I hope to do it again, but not real soon. My current plan is that I might enter a full bonspiel in January.

Curling-wise we did OK. I played second. Going into the 8th (final) end of the Friday night game, we were up by 2 and had hammer. We somehow gave up 4 to end up losing, 9-7. Then, on Saturday morning, we were up by three going into the last end with hammer. This time we scored three more to make the final 9-3.

I didn't fully understand the tournament scoring. In terms of games, we lost, 6 games to 2. But then they also did something where points were totaled as well as ends won. (I'm not sure I agree with adding ends to points. Would you rather win two 1-point ends, or one 3-point end?) Anyway, there were three awards: The overall cup, which our club didn't win, as well as a small trophy to the highest scoring team for each club. We ended up winning that. Since we have no club trophy case for it, our skip probably should have received it. But, because I mentioned that I have never won anything before (which isn't really true) he let me keep it, at least for a while. See below. I'm so excited! :-)

Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell

2007-06-11T22:39:00.001-04:00

As I was in the library looking at the available audiobooks, I saw a woman who had the appearance of a frequent visitor to that section. I asked her for her advice. She said that her blind mother-in-law frequently listened to audiobooks, and she selected them for her. Two authors she suggested were John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell. Since I was familiar with Grisham, I went with Cornwell.

The book I selected was Isle of Dogs, and it turned out to be an abridged version. I don't know how long the actual book is, but I listened to 5 CDs whereas a "normal" novel might contain between 9 and 14 CDs.

After listening for a while, I noticed all the reviews for this book say that it is bad. Cornwell is apparently "America's bestselling crime novelest", though in this one, she tries her hand at dark humour. The book involves a state trooper and the head of the Virginia trying to track down a serial killer and a band of "road pirates" who board semi tractor-trailers. There's also the blinding and senile governor and a cast of characters with really strange names, such as Unique First, Major Trader, Windy Breeze, and others. Everything is such a caricature that there is a limited feeling of reality about the whole thing. When my recording malfunctioned and I missed the last 7 minutes of so of the novel, I didn't feel that bad about it. Everyone seemed so unrealistic that it was easier than normal to not care about missing the conclusion. Maybe I'll pick up a print copy and read the last few pages sometime. Or maybe not.

That said, it's not all bad. Maybe it's like cotton candy for the mind. It did hold my interest, though I may be slightly embarrassed to admit it, and when I missed hearing the ending, it was quickly forgotten. I still need some real nutrition.

Two stars (barely) out of five.

Biking in the Land of Plenty

2007-06-09T21:34:00.000-04:00

It was about time for the kids to move up to bigger bikes, so my wife went garage sale shopping today and picked up a couple of bikes for a total of $17. They had the idea that it would be nice to paint them, so I spent a good bit of the day disassembling the bikes for painting and then putting them back together. I had nothing to do with the neon green colour selection.

It's amazing to me how cheap used bicycles can be purchased. Sure, they're not in the greatest shape, but they're ridable. The point I'm trying to make is that, compared to walking, a bicycle is a big improvement, and it's amazing to me that people are practically giving away that transportation upgrade. Sure, part of it is that bikes are more toys that transportation.

Along those lines, I'd consider getting new higher-quality domestic bicycles for the kids, but it's hard to make that $250 (or more) purchase when a cheap, used, imported model costs $8.50. Not only does it show the challenges domestic manufacturers face, it makes me think about the economy of the future. One would hope that, in future years, mankind will be able to meet more of individuals' basic needs like food, shelter, and bicycles. So, if you want to sell something as more than a commodity, you'll have to make it better than anyone else. It's not enough to sell a good bicycle. You'll need to sell a great one, to those specialized buyers that are looking to buy a great one.

Also, I always have trouble with photos with that fence in the background. I think the camera likes to focus on the fence and not the foreground.

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

2007-05-31T22:18:00.000-04:00

As the image shows, the book Freakonomics is subtitled A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. In it, Levitt answers such questions as

What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
How was the Klu Klux Klan like a group of real estate agents?
If drug dealing is so profitable, why do most crack dealers live at home with their mothers?
What was the real reason for the drop in crime in the United States in the 1990s?
Are swimming pools or guns more dangerous to children?

There are also sections on parenting, baby names, and probably some areas that I've forgotten. Basically, the authors look at data to answer questions.

As for swimming pools vs. guns, the authors claim that approximately 100 times as many children in the United States die in a swimming pool accident than die in a gun accident. This was really small section in the book. Regarding the other sections, the authors use data to show how

We can detect cheating by sumo wrestlers in tournaments and by teachers giving high-stakes standardized tests.
The Klan and real estate agents used information to their advantage, and how Stetson Kennedy used information to help reduce the influence of the Klan (and not in a way that you might guess, if you're not familiar with the story).
The organization and finances of one drug-dealing street gang shows that big money was made by some, but the average dealer made around $3.30 per hour.
The major drop in US crime was due to a reason you might not expect. Also, other possible explanations for reductions in crime are explored.
Parents may be obsessing over areas that might not make much of a difference to their children's development.

I also found the section on names to be interesting. The book discusses the fact that there are some names that seem to be only used by blacks, while others are much more commonly used by whites. For example, using the common last name of Williams, what can you surmise about the backgrounds of the fictitious Jake Williams, Dashawn Williams, Molly Williams, or Shaniqua Williams. And what, if anything, do these names predict about their bearers prospects for success?

Basically, I thought the book was great, and I highly recommend it. It's probably not for everyone, and it has its critics. But if you like to ask questions about why people behave how they do, and if you like to wonder about what kinds of things make a difference and what kinds of things don't, then this book is for you. Five stars out of five.

What's on Your Gravestone?

2007-05-30T22:17:00.000-04:00

I saw an interesting gravestone recently*. As you can see, it contains a name, birth and death dates, and the "common" gravestone symbols of a train engine and a tow truck. I am not an expert on the subject, but I don't remember seeing anything like it, which is why I snapped a picture.

I've seen nature scenes before. Military service designations are common, and I don't think it's unusual for even the complete agnostic's stone to have a religious symbol. But nothing says "second half of the 2oth century" like a tow truck. I wonder how it will look to future generations.

I remember reading Phil Niekro's autobiography. In it, he said something like, "My parents taught me the things they held most dear. My mother taught me faith in God and a respect for others. My father taught me the knuckler." Likewise, a gravestone is a limited slate to display what is most important to you. I can't say that I have given much thought to what I want mine to display, and I don't intend to consider that subject now. However, things like a computer or the logo of my favourite sports franchise are not the first items that come to mind.

I certainly give them credit for their honesty.

* - Let me say that no disrespect is meant towards the deceased or his family. I do not know them and have blurred out identifying information. If you know the deceased or his family and are offended by this post, ask nicely (and fill in the blanks) and I'll remove the photo.

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien

2007-05-22T21:24:00.000-04:00

The Silmarillion is a collection of tales encompassing the entire history of Middle Earth, from the creation of the world to the end of the Lord of the Rings saga. (However, this last bit is in the form of a three-minute epilogue.)

Tolkein can be a master storyteller. When I was in high school, I read The Hobbit at a quicker pace than any other book of that size, though I admit that I never read any of his other works before Silmarillion.

As a bit of explanation, the book is named after the Silmarils, which are three jewels of near-infinite value, beauty, and power. Much of the book revolves around their loss and attempts to regain them.

Unfortunately, the good bits are far-between. The book does contain a history of the dark lords Morgoth and Sauron, all the various lines of elves, and all kinds of neat things like that. But it also has boring genealogies and brief mentions of minor characters who appear once and are forgotten. And, there are all kinds of descriptions of geography, and lots of stuff only a fanboy could love.

It's a shame because, as I said, there are good bits. But I don't remember being so happy to get through a work. And yes, this includes the Faul kner. If you're the kind of person that likes to dress up as a Hobbit and go to fan conventions, this book is for you (but you've probably already read it). Otherwise, stay away. One star.

Professional Asset Management

2007-05-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

For reasons that I won't get into, I have a retirement account valued at about $10 associated with a former employer. They have been persistent in asking me to sign up for some kind of "Professional Asset Management". Normally, I would say that this kind of thing is definitely not for me, and I prefer to manage my own accounts. However, I figure that I can afford to let a "professional" manage this account and see what happens.

Usually, the killer with these kinds of things are the fees. They charge a "maximum of 0.45%" of my account per year. Long-term, this would make a definite impact in the returns of an account. However, considering the value of the account, they will be charging me somewhere between 4 and 5 cents. Per year. They're working hard to get my money. I'll let 'em at it.

Seriously, maybe I'll learn something by watching what they do. Or maybe I'll get a nasty letter from somewhere about it.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

2007-05-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

When I started Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, I had no idea what the book would be about. The cover of an old painted door may be fitting, but it didn't do much to explain the basic themes of the book before I began.

Anyway, Gilead is set in the fictitious town of Gilead, Iowa, in the southwestern part of that state. The basic premise is that the year is 1956 (or was it '52?) and 76-year old John Ames knows he won't live much longer due to problems with his heart. Ames married late in life and has a 7-year old son. Aware that he won't live to see his young son reach adulthood, the book is a series of letters to his son that he intends him to read as an adult.

Ames is a Christian pastor, and he's at least the third generation of men in his family to have that calling. There are Christian themes throughout, as well as references to 19th and early 20th theologians. He starts off describing his thoughts on life, his father and grandfather, and his childhood. His grandfather was active on the abolitionist side in Bleeding Kansas and related events. This part of history is largely forgotten, but it was certainly a critical historical event, whose legacy affects a good deal of the book.

However, Ames' recollections are interrupted by the return of his friend's son, Jack Boughton, who comes back to Gilead after being exiled for years. Jack's past and Ames' knowledge of it causes him great concern. Why is he here? What does he want? And will he cause Ames' family harm after he's gone? So, a large part of the "letters" to Ames' son involve descriptions of current events, rather than thoughts on life and his past.

Discontinuity Alert: At one point, Ames says something like, "I'm still old enough to remember the Depression". Assuming he's talking about the Great Depression of 1929 to ~1939, that seems like an odd thing to say. Would someone in his 70's really think it worthy of mentioning that he's old enough to remember what happened in his 50's? To use US politics as an example, wouldn't this be like someone born in 1921 stating in 2007 that he was old enough to remember the days when Ronald Reagan was US President?

Overall, it's pretty good. For me, it was a book to be read in small pieces -- it's 256 pages, but for some reason it seems longer. I mentioned that there are Christian themes throughout, as you would expect from a pastor's thoughts on his life and on life in general. However, I doubt there is much here that would offend a non-Christian. I would recommend it to anyone, but not highly. Three stars out of five.

This Year's Dance Costumes

2007-05-16T19:53:00.000-04:00

Who designs these?

Relative Concert Tickets Prices

2007-05-13T22:23:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what it means, but Rush tickets cost a lot more than "Weird Al" Yankovic tickets, by a factor of maybe 2 1/2. But Weird Al tickets still cost more than Pat Benatar tickets.

I'm trying to think up something snazzy to say involving song titles but I'm drawing a blank. If you want to be hit with Pat Benatar's best shot, it won't cost you the big money of a Rush concert. Just don't go callin' in sick the next day

Bleeding Heart (Liberals?)

2007-05-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

(Of the Genus Dicentra)

Backyard Kickball

2007-05-09T22:18:00.000-04:00

Changing the Country's Tastes in Fast Food Sandwiches

2007-05-09T21:46:00.000-04:00

Through a round-about way, I am on the list of product testers for a local market research firm. I think they do all kinds of research, but I've only been involved in the "Fast Food Sandwiches" department. This evening, I went for the second time this year to test and give my opinions on a new sandwich idea for a major fast food chain.

You sit at a little private desk, a sandwich appears through a sliding door. You eat it and then enter comments and answer questions on a computer.

Tonight's concept was a mushroom bacon double cheeseburger. It was rather large, I thought. I'm not much of a fan of mushrooms, so they didn't really add to the experience as far as I'm concerned. But the biggest problem, as I saw it, was that the drippy cheese sauce. It was kind of messy -- I can't imagine enjoying eating that sandwich while driving after picking it up at the drive-thru. Plus, the suggested price of more than $4 seemed (more than) a little high for a fast food hamburger, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, I think it's kind of neat to get to try a new food product and give my comments on it. I might willingly do it for free. The fact that they give you $20 for your time makes it a nice way to spend 30 minutes.

Next time, maybe I'll try to sneak a photo of the concept! (And run the risk of ruining such a gig? Think again!)

Thoughts on the Uncle I Never Knew

2007-05-08T22:36:00.000-04:00

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

I last saw you when I was three or four,
I long had the gold Matchbox my cousin gave me.
I saw him thirty years later,
but I didn't see you.

He had lived alone for years,
Had been dead for days before he was found.
Had disowned his sons and his first brother, my father.
Or (let's be frank) was it the other brother he hated,
Leaving him to deal with the wretched house and the estate?

What troubled you so? Was it always like this?
I can only guess.
The cerebral aneurysm of your young wife,
(The aunt I never knew)
Surely, one likes to think he's not controlled by his circumstances,
But that couldn't have been easy.

As a claim to fame, you were the man with one name,
(I hear that the cops didn't see the humour in that.)
Interestingly, M² was one of the gentlest people I've ever met.

I'd send a card, but where should it go?
Is anybody grieving?

For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

K²: 1937-2007

Sites Blocked at Work

2007-05-03T23:07:00.000-04:00

Recently, at work, I wanted to convert some nroff files to html. (If you've never heard of nroff, you may want to skip this post.) I have nothing against nroff exactly, but I kind of consider it obsolete (is it really?) and make it a point to not learn it. So, confident that this is a problem that has been solved before, I went to Google and entered "nroff to html". The top site was the roffit tool by the kind and generous Daniel at http://daniel.haxx.se/projects/roffit/. When I clicked on that link (try it, especially if you're at work, and let me know if you can connect) I got a message (thankfully I no longer get the big red stop sign) saying that the site was blocked because it is a "Hacking" site.

Since this was something I felt I needed to do my job efficiently (I mean, I could have taken a few days or whatever to learn nroff and make my own converter), I was puzzled. I found another C program that claimed to do the job, but it didn't really work well for me. I called the first line computer support at work and asked what the process was for getting a site unblocked. I was given the procedure, but also advised that it was rather unlikely that I would be permitted to download and execute code from an internet site that was blocked by the automatic system.

Hacking can mean various things in different circles, so I can't be sure what meaning was intended by the web filter at work. One meaning is "Unauthorized use, or attempts to circumvent or bypass the security mechanisms of an information system or network." This, of course, begs the question of whether hackers are are people who like to convert nroff files to html. Or, do hackers pepper the web with perl scripts with hidden malicious code, for their own nefarious purposes? (They may do that too, but I trust the security and permissions of our UNIX boxes at work.)

As for solving my original problem, let's just say that it no longer is one.

Early Returns: Le Parc Ben et Jarry is in the Lead

2007-04-28T12:12:00.000-04:00

For this season, the Dave Spiwack league is down to 10 teams and has moved over to ESPN. Coming up with a good team name is always a challenge. This year's team is Le Parc Ben et Jarry. After winning the league title for the past two seasons, I didn't have high expectations for the year. But as of now, I'm in first. There's a long way to go, but I'd rather be looking down than up.

While I'm at it, I'll show a photo of the league home page. This is what you get when the owner of Hugo Chavez Ravine is the league commissioner:

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

2007-04-27T22:15:00.000-04:00

What do you get when you mix Charles Dickens and William Faulkner? You might be surprised, but the answer is Harriet Beecher Stowe in the form of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Published in 1852, Cabin apparently galvanised anti-slavery opinion in the Northern United States on the eve of its Civil War. As it was the second best-selling book of the 19th century (guess what was #1) it might be good to gain familiarity with it.

The book's title character is a Kentucky slave who is sold "down river" (every slave in the Upper South's worst fear) to Louisiana. As a sub-plot, it tracks the progress of George, Eliza, and their son: slaves who are attempting to escape to that land of freedom, British Canada, by way of the exotic port of Sandusky, Ohio. George and Eliza are tracked by bounty hunters and helped by Quakers along the way. I tended to find these sections more interesting than those that focused on Tom, even though they became few and far between.

Regarding Tom's owners, the infamous Simon Legree only appears in the last quarter of the book. His first stop in Louisiana is at the St Clare mansion, which, if memory serves, is the longest section of the book. There, he becomes the personal friend and attendant of the St Clares' young daughter, Eva. In the tradition of a Dickensian heroine (or did Stowe come first?), Eva is nothing but purity and goodness, whose only flaw is a poor physical constitution. Eva's mother Marie seems to be the literary role model of the self-centred hypochondriac, which is also seen in Faulkner's Sound & Fury.

At the St Clares', Tom's life seems pretty good by the standards of the slaves of the day, and the reader (or listener) has plenty of opportunity to hear from Augustine St Clare, who seems to be the most interesting and realistic character in the book.

Good things can't last, of course, and Tom eventually winds up on Legree's plantation, setting up the final showdown between good and evil and all that.

The book is interesting in several ways, including what one can read into the author's views on slavery and racial issues. From Stowe's occasional, but repeated racial stereotyping, it's clear that one can be against the legality of slavery and still be completely against the legal or moral equality of the races. I've seen it claimed that Cabin was the source of long-lasting stereotypes of former slaves, but I wonder if she was just reflecting the existing views of the time.

As almost an epilogue, African colonisation is discussed, and favourable press is given to the thought of transporting ex-slaves to Liberia (where they apparently can become American-Africans). Of course, I have the hindsight of 155 years of history that Stowe didn't have, but I don't think that experience of Americo-Liberians (or Africo-Liberians) was as rosy as predicted at the time.

What would you consider to be the worst aspect of slavery? It Stowe's eyes, it apparently was the internal slave trade, which resulted in the breaking up of families.

Also, the term "Uncle Tom" has developed a specific meaning in United States English. As a man of strong character who stuck to his principles and morals at great personal cost, Uncle Tom was definitely not an Uncle Tom.

The book's a little long and doesn't quite flow the way a modern novel would. Some readers may not enjoy the prominent place Christianity is given. It does have its ups and downs, but overall I give it a Recommended rating.

Swingset Photos

2007-04-23T22:44:00.000-04:00

Two New Additions to My Reading Inbox

2007-04-23T22:23:00.000-04:00

Despite the fact that items seem to enter it quicker than they leave, I added two books to my reading list today. When walking into the library, I usually walk right by the little section of discarded books for sale. Today, I stopped and took a look. It's $1 for paperbacks and $2 for hardcovers, so the cost isn't bad, but it's above trivial. There were some interesting selections. I bought these two:

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I think someone (was it DFV?) recommended this one.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I assume I'll love it or hate it.