Looks like fun

These boyz are into some seriously cool billiard tricks.

The 'Hidden' settings......

Office really is that bad on purpose!

Bzzzz....... bzzzzz ..........WOOF!

You can find most anything on the Internet. No - really. For example, are you a big fan of dogs dressed up as bees? Say no more.........

Can't teach an old dog new tricks...

There are a few jurisdictions in Canada that are working toward legislation that would ban using a cell phone while driving. The number of people who are strongly against cell phone use while driving continues to grow . Although there are conflicting studies as to whether talking on a cell phone affects your ability to drive safely, it appears that laws banning cell phone use while driving may be imminent. Having used a cell phone from time to time while driving, I can vouch for the fact that it's hard to turn your head to the same extent with a phone pressed to your face - this seriously affects vision. Also, I think it would be hard to argue that talking on the phone really distracts you from the task you would otherwise be focussed on.

Unfortunately, I fear that imposing a solution at this point in the cell phone's history may be moot. Cell phone use has become such a part of our driving culture that drivers would not likely obey such a law. How can we expect police to enforce such a law when they don't even have the resources to get a handle on unsafe driving? As much as I feel the behavior is unsafe, especially from drivers who can't drive safely in the first place - it may be too little, too late.

Soul Patrol!

I admit I'm now addicted to American Idol. At first, I only watched it from sheer curiosity, since Darlene was watching it anyway. Although I'm not really into the kind of music (pop) showcased by these wannabe Timberlakes and Aguileras, I have to confess that I've taken a liking to Taylor Hicks. Taylor is 29 and has prematurely greying hair, giving him a much older look than his competition on Idol, but he is also an old soul. His life goal is to be 'as happy as possible' and his energy and enthusiasm is downright infectious when he gets on stage to do his thing. Is he truly Idol material? Probably not - he's too damned good to just be a 'pop' star. But I'm hoping he gets enough exposure on the show to be offered a record deal in the end. I know I would buy it.

Taylor - if you're listening - Darlene and I would love to hear you sing Desperado by the Eagles and Boots or Hearts by The Tragically Hip.

Pottsylvania

I have a friend who married a woman from Kyrgyzstan. As a result, she has an accent similar to Russian. I have another friend who is trying to get the courage up to approach this woman and ask her:

"Say 'moose and squirrel' for me......"

Oh No! Another cow is abducted by aliens!

Cute web site. Mouse over the cow and see what happens.

So glad to be open-minded...

South Dakota has just passed a law making it illegal to perform an abortion - even in the case of rape or incest. [shaking my head] Message to the world: the day men are able to carry a child to term is the day men can decide what a woman does with their unborn child. Message number two: if the life of an unborn child is so important to some people, then those people should be around to help pay for that child's upbringing. You can't have it only one way folks.

Those are my thoughts - not yours. Thanks for coming out.

Absolute power corrupts.........absolutely

Don't think the Department of Homeland Security in the US has too much power? OK, how about this - if you pay too much toward your credit card, it raises a red flag and the payment is held until the investigation is complete. I'm not making this up people.......

Resistance is futile........you will be assimilated...

Try these web sites for size:

http://www.jenniferwanderer.com/
http://www.victoriacrimmins.com/
http://www.onthevibes.org/
http://www.brucer.com/

Is there any stopping these guys? They're frickin' everywhere!

Musical journey (Part three - the conclusion)

(Read part two first)
Who could this new band be that has captured Karl's imagination so much that it took 3 rambling blog posts to get to the point. It's quite possible many of you have never heard of this band as they are certainly not what one would refer to as mainstream music. But you already knew that. They're from Iceland and they are called Sigur Ros (pronounced see oor roce). If you watch CSI, you've heard them on an episode or two as well as on various soundtracks, including Vanilla Sky. The most recognizable piece is Svefn-g-Englar, from the sophomore album Ágætis Byrjun (1999). The title translates to ' an all right start', in what I would deem one of the biggest understatements I've heard in a long time. Their music is indescribable although it has been labelled 'shoegazer' or 'minimalist' post-rock. I don't feel this accurately describes them at all. They sing in Hopelandic, a variation of their native language. They encourage their listeners to imagine what the lyrics mean and even make up their own lyrics for the songs they play. It doesn't really matter that you can't understand the words, the falsetto vocalizations of "Jonsi" Birgisson are an instrument all by itself. He is also the lead guitarist and is known for playing some songs with a cello bow, creating one of the most haunting and emotional sounds ever heard from a guitar since.......... ummm, David Gilmour. Fortunately, it's not just their music that is ground-breaking, but their music videos as well. The video for Svefn-g-Englar is artistic in its own right, using a group of downs syndrome actors (the perlan theatre group) to act out a play on an Icelandic field with a result that leaves you breathless. Their next album, ( ) (yes, that's the title - fans refer to it as 'parenthesis') contains 8 untitled songs. The boys sure know how to put the burden of interpretation on their fans, but they don't seem to mind. It's a bizarre method of establishing a bond with an audience - a formula I'm sure the record industry would scoff at. Their latest release, Takk... is accompanied by yet another amazing music video for the track Glosoli. I hope this band continues to push the boundaries of musical experimentation. I believe they have the potential to become the Pink Floyd of this quarter century.

This could spell a mass exodus from AOL

Excerpt from an article:

Yahoo / AOL announced they will guarantee access to your email inbox for email senders who pay $.0025 per message. This will override their own spam filters and deliver the mail directly with a "certified" notice. The result, they will treat more of your email as spam and email you're expecting won't be delivered. The logic is that people who have to pay to send email won't send junk email.

Email readers and senders will both lose, because their service is only valuable if it "saves" you from their spam filters. Instead, they have an incentive to treat more of your email as spam, thereby encouraging people to sign up. Email senders who just want to reach Dad@aol.com may eventually be in trouble. Once a pay-to-speak system like this gets going, it will be increasingly difficult for people who don't pay to get their mail through. The system has no way to distinguish between ordinary mail and bulk mail, spam and non-spam, personal and commercial mail. It just gives preference to people who pay.

Musical journey (part two)

(Read Part One first)
Although I enjoyed catchy pop / rock tunes you could sing along to as much as the next person, by the time I got into my 30's, what I really craved was music that you had to pay attention to. The kind of music that was packaged in layers that had to be carefully unwrapped to fully appreciate the depth, skill and boundary-pushing experimentation inside. I finally had the patience to actually hear the inner beauty in works by among others, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin, Supertramp and of course Pink Floyd. Yeah - I know. What is that boy's obssession with The Floyd? They were pioneers. Few other bands have come close to matching their originality, sheer audacity of style, the bizarre range of instruments and ground-breaking recording techniques, using vocals as an instrument (Great Gig in the Sky) and spoken word too, the list goes on. I'm obviously not alone - the album Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 album charts (591 of those weeks were consecutive). Well, the past is the past and The Floyd have had their last hurrah at Live 8. It's time to find the next big thing. I had actually found it a few years ago, but I wasn't sure if it was just a flash in the pan. I needed to wait for follow up albums and a few repeat listens to decide if I would put the same emotional support behind this new group as I had The Floyd. Go on to Part three .........

Latest meme

Q. What were you doing 10 years ago?
A. I was a supervising telecommunications technologist for the Canadian Army in Calgary. I was trying to decide if I should pack up my family and bring them with me to Edmonton (because the base in Calgary was closing), or leave them here, become a weekend commuter for 2 and a half years, then resume my life in Calgary. I chose the latter - thank God.

Q. What were you doing 1 year ago?
A. I was on the road, teaching a pilot course for a new asset management system. I'm really happy when I'm teaching.

Q. 5 snacks you enjoy:
A. Cheesies (cheese puffs); PoppyCock - Just the Nuts; fresh pineapple; Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream; salsa and chips.

Q. 5 songs to which you know all the lyrics:
A. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here; Hall & Oates - Sara Smile; B52s - Planet Claire; Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good; BTO - Lookin Out For # 1; Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody; Eagles - Desperado; Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams; Foreigner - Cold as Ice; Gary Wright - Dream Weaver; OK - OK, I'll stop now.... geez, only 5?

Q. 5 things you would do if you were a millionaire:
A. Pay off the car; pay off the house; all new appliances and entertainment gear; finishing touches to the house; the rest invested for retirement.

Q. 5 things you like doing:
A. Listening to music; teaching / talking; travelling by car; enjoying great food; is this a family show?

Q. 5 things you would never wear again:
A. tie; grey wool army socks; polyester pants; ball cap; a vest.

Q. 5 favourite toys:
A. Acura TSX; Palm Tungsten E; Creative Labs Zen mp3 player; my computer; Easy Button.

Nigerian Poem

Dear sir, I don't wish to brag
Of my wealth but I've hit a small snag.
These fund I must move
So would you approve
Of a cut of Nigerian swag?

Courtesy Defective Yeti

Ah got the powah!

One of the things standing in the way of an efficient electric car (hybrid or even plain ol' battery operated) is the battery. We just haven't created a battery yet that has the power density needed, nor is able to recharge fast enough to make electric vehicles truly ready for prime time. That may be about to change.

Is there anything funnier than butt crack?

In the neatest thing I've seen so far this week, the opening title sequence of the Simpson's has been filmed using real actors. Complete with Homer's butt crack as he runs into the house........

Musical journey (part one)

We enjoy music for a variety of different reasons. For instance, I enjoy music from my youth (1970's) because it's very associative with the events of growing up. It's a way of reminiscing. I enjoy other (current) types of music for different reasons. I like Ambient because it lets you use the music as a backdrop or soundtrack for your day without the distraction of lyrics. I like Electronica because I like the other-worldy sounds that synthesizers can produce. I like music if it's unique, smart, emotional and experimental. In some cases I like certain bands for a number of reasons because of what phases of my life they touched. For example - Pink Floyd. The first (and only) song I had ever heard was Money. I was probably 12 or 13 years old and had a crush on a friend's older sister. She owned the 45 record (remember those?) of the song and played it a lot. So for the next few years - the song kept me anchored to that memory. The fact is, I was a late bloomer where music is concerned, dependant on radio as my music provider - not really exploring what the whole musical spectrum had to offer until after I left home and joined the military. Luckily, I discovered that I could play what little music I owned for other people as a DJ part-time, which earned money I could use in turn to buy more music. My musical journey began in earnest and I tried my best to buy up and listen to all the music my contemporaries had listened to from high school onward - playing catch up if you will. At the same time, I was constantly on the search for the next big thing. I'm convinced that I was at least partly responsible for bringing artists like OMD, Thomas Dolby, Split Enz and the Eurythmics into the local consciousness (at least of my DJ audience), because in the early 80's, although I was playing the aforementioned artists at my gigs, they certainly weren't being played on local radio. Read part two now.

Message to all servers in restaurants:

If you're not going to make the kind of change I need to tip you the appropriate amount (around 15% for good service, more for great service) - then your tip is going to be lacking.

It happened again tonight. Food bill for $29.75, two $20 bills given in tender, $10 bill and a quarter given back in change. Now the proper tip would have been $4. But because the server was too lazy to give me something smaller than a ten, I retaliated. I'm sorry dude, but you're not getting a $10 tip. You're getting whatever I've got for loose change in my pocket, and look - it adds up to just a little over $2. Sucks to be you buddy.

Am I the only one who thinks this way?

I didn't quit............... I scaled back

You may be wondering why I haven't referred you to any more of my posts on the Music Blog. It's because I decided to cease my contributions to that blog. No - there wasn't anything wrong - I just didn't feel I could maintain the level of writing that they were expecting from their authors. It was fun while it lasted, but there aren't enough hours in the day to worry about whether I'm blogging enough (both quantity and quality). This blog (White Noise) will always be my preferred method of communicating my thoughts. No quotas, no worries, no limits, and of course - no pay. Perhaps when I am retired and have plenty of time to contribute much more regularly to a blog (or whatever exists at that time), I may reconsider writing for money. Unless some gracious individual feels like subsidizing my income without any guarantee of output from me........... Nah, I didn't think so. So now that I am no longer a contributor to the Music Blog, I fully intend to resume writing about music that moves me here instead. Watch this space..............

Name that tune

I heard this line from a song this morning on the radio and realized it was classic. Without using any search on the Internet, tell me if you recognize what it's from:

"She had been born with a face that would let her get her way"

Ralph has it all wrong.........

Alberta wants to change the face of health care by offering a 'third way'. It would see patients paying for some surgeries and doctors working for both the public and private systems. The point of these reforms is simple - if you don't want to wait 2 years for your hip replacement surgery, pay now and get it in the next few weeks. Sounds pretty harmless on the surface. But what effect will it have on the system down the road? To save space on this page, read my comment and I'll tell you what my concerns are.

Where did I put that baseball bat....?

This puzzle alarm clock won't stop making its incessant noise until you put these 4 puzzle pieces back together on the top of the clock. The pieces pop off when the alarm goes off. Something tells me that this would get old after the first or second morning - leading to a new activity that would invariably lend to the more appropriate name for the clock. The 'flying' alarm clock.

Cute babies

This clip of 4 babies (3 of whom laugh continuously at their Dad) isn't just funny because of the fact that they laugh so readily. Watch the baby on the left sucking his (?) thumb. He laughs once, smiles a few times, then starts looking over at the other babies as if wondering "What the heck are you guys laughing at? He's not really that funny...."

"Hello IT... have you tried turning it off and on again?"

I guess the UK show The IT Crowd has attracted a lot of fans - and with good reason. It's goofy, nerdy and funny as hell. Someone created a perfect fan t-shirt at CafePress.com based on a conversation Roy has with a computer user:

Roy: Yeah, you do know how a button works, don't you? No, not on clothes. No, there you go, I just heard it come on. No, that's the music you hear when it comes on. No, that's the music you hear when... I'm sorry, are you from the past?

I gots to get me one of these........

Thanks to BoingBoing for the tip.

1 word....... 2 syllables...... first word sounds like......

I may not be the first person to coin this new term, but I'm gonna try to take credit for it anyway. You've probably heard variations on the word software - clever puns to indicate the effectiveness of different types of software. Examples such as vapourware, malware, shareware, crippleware, nagware, etc.

Let me introduce Nightware (a play on the word 'nightmare'). This refers to any software that you are forced to use (in a work envirronment) that is torturously slow, unreliable and counter-intuitive, but is blessed by the corporate head as 'receiving great positive feedback'. Slow roast that over an open-pit fire, folks........

On second thought.......

".............or, we could wait and see what's available in the next town..........."

Would you eat 3 day-old gravy?

You've heard of the Periodic Table of Elements, right? OK, how about the Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad? It's pretty neat - it's a handy reference of how long condiments typically last. I don't know that its totally accurate, but it's the idea that counts.

Lame name

Why does McDonald's call them 'hotcakes'? They're friggin' pancakes for crying out loud! Maybe they were psychologically trying to tap into the power of the phrase 'selling like hotcakes'. To think they could have picked other alternate names for the product - like 'griddle cakes' or my favourite, 'flapjacks'. Yeah, McFlapjacks. Or maybe just McJacks. I'm in the wrong business folks..............

Speaking of which, Darlene found a recipe for real Buttermilk pancakes made from scratch and she's gonna make 'em this weekend. If I remember, I'll tell you how they were - compared to pancakes made from mix.

P.S.: Can anyone find Aunt Jemima Buckwheat pancake mix where they live? They don't sell it here.....

Very realistic

I posted something along these lines months ago, but they were just static shots of scenery - no characters. Behold, a peek at the new Half Life 2 PC game. I can just imagine what kind of hardware is needed to play this........