Edward Muybridge Revisited

Fun to watch, but further proof that

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.

See here.

Classic Year End List

To think of Tony Montana battling it out with Lara Croft, or SuperMario speaking with Mr. Monopoly...

I'm still full...

I think my belly might actually be distended... Phew.
It's the second time in a month where I've eaten over 16 ounces of steak in one sitting. I wouldn't recommend sitting near me for a while.

More national nonsense

Wow. I'm crankier about this than I thought I would be. Again, AC quoting Forsey:

"Some people think that we should be willing to swallow any kind of nonsense in order to 'preserve the unity of Canada.' I am not interested in a Canada that would be just a splash on the map, with a six-letter word scrawled across it. The only Canada I want to preserve is a Canada that can do something: for its own people, for the hungry two-thirds of the world, for the survival of the planet; not a phantom that can only watch helplessly as we all tumble down a steep place to destruction."

Ok, but what about Canada as a Nation?

Andrew Coyne punishing the NCR's gasbags:

The hollowing out of the national idea -- of a vision of Canada as a coherent national entity, capable of acting with a single national purpose -- is now complete. We are well on our way to Belgiumhood, and that suits our political class just fine.
On this, as on so many other questions, the “Quebec consensus” is a fraud.

But fine: some Quebecers think they are. People are entitled to believe what they want to believe. Quebec nationalists are entitled to argue that Quebec is a nation all they want. But somewhere, sometime, somebody has to put the other proposition: that Canada is a nation; that Quebecers are a part of that nation; that they have as much or more in common with other Canadians as they do with each other. Ordinarily, I would expect my prime minister, at least, to do that.

But my prime minister did not do that. My prime minister could discourse at length on his profound conviction, never voiced until now, that Quebecers are a nation, but never once could he say that Canadians are -- only bark out meaningless applause lines like “Canada is the greatest country in the world.”

..."this can only fan the flames it claims to extinguish. The message the Parliament of Canada is about to send to Quebecers is this: that, as a nation, they have more in common with each other than they do with other Canadians, whom they will increasingly see as another nation altogether; that their relationship with that other nation must, accordingly, be as that they maintain with other nations -- cordial, businesslike, to be sure, but distant; and that, like any self-respecting nation, they can on no account submit to be governed by another nation -- as represented, for example, by the majority of the Parliament of Canada.

Quebec, a nation?

This from CalgaryGrit captures the painful absurdity nicely:

So, in short, everyone ends up looking like an imbécile. And, as a consequence, Michael Ignatieff looks less ridiculous in comparison. So he and Jean Charest are probably the only winners in this sorry, sorry spectacle we should not have had to go through.

My Boss' Boss' Boss...

Yup. Pat McG. Not that he dropped by the office while he was here. In fact, I don't think he's ever been "by the office." His admin mentioned that he might (two-three years ago), and mgmt went into a flurry of "clean your desk" memo's with side-order of "dress smartly." As it turned out, I think he went to Canoe with some other people and then flew out again.

Marketing Meta-data and web 2.0

Interesting. Wonder how much attention Nikon and Canon pay to this trend - especially seeing Nikon's most recent N80 ad campaign - where they gave Nikons to people to see what they would shoot, and post their picture next to their own picture in magazine ads.

Detail: Grassi Lakes

Orwell would be proud

"Windows Vista will have a reduced functionality mode but one that is enhanced."

Hmm. An enhanced, reduced functionality?

More Grassi Lakes

On the day of the wedding, a number of the Wallis-Pratt family went for a nice walk.

Election Today: Go Vote!

Candidates in my ward include (name/issues, which is a huge simplification, but hey, this is a blog. It's worth exactly what you paid for :):

Overall summary:

Incumbent Case Ootes. Mel's former right hand man. Pro-cops, anti-bike lanes.

Diane Alexopoulos: presumptive Miller ally; endorsed by NDP.

John Richardson: predominantly tax fairness between home owners/renters. Here's his blog: http://ward29.blogspot.com/

Andrew James: "Accountability, fiscal responsibility and “green consciousness” are the three pillars of my campaign."

Hamish Wilson: hmm, having issues finding a central site. Try here, or



TRUSTEES - frankly I have no idea what these people do or who they are, or how to distinguish between them. I may well end up flipping a coin in the voter's booth.

Cathy Dandy : hmm. long time involvement in education, and member of Toronto Parent Network. Support from lots of NDPers. Good luck with that budget....

Gord Crann: former councillor. Current lawyer. Lots of volunteer awards.


Mayors:
http://www.votetoronto.ca/recordsnew.html

Weekend Recap

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time... 

Remembrance Day is Coming - Sign This!

"We the undersigned feel enormous gratitude for the sacrifice made by all the Canadian Armed Forces through the ages in defence of this country and its values; acknowledge the very special nature of the sacrifice made by those who fought in the First World War in appalling conditions and with terrible loss of life; note that only three First World War veterans remain, and urge the Prime Minister that their sacrifice, and all of those they served with under arms from 1914-1918, be celebrated by offering a state funeral to the family of the last veteran of the First World War resident in Canada."

The Dominion Institute will send the petition on behalf of its signatories
to the Prime Minister of Canada on December 11, 2006.

The point of Office Live

Hmm, now to see which relevant sites are still available...

New iPod shuffle

I like the idea, but wonder at the price point. In fact, I should online and see how much older ipods sell for on ebay.

Oil, water, printer ink. Who wins?

Self-explanatory