Sunday, April 26, 2009

Another Jungian quiz...




http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/index.htm

Another day, another meaningless test. I haven't, and don't plan to take this test, but definitely relates to one of the previous books I read of the intertwined Jungian brain.

Bicycle racing in Turkey...

It gets interesting at 3:30...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Best place to launch a canoe to Toronto Island?



... and, I suppose, best landing site? Anyone got any ideas?.. This is what I got so far...

http://www.canoetoronto.com/trip.php

Get into the lagoons? -(ummm... pdf warning - but good detailed maps) http://www.toronto.ca/parks/pdf/TorontoIslandsPermitInfo.pdf
.

http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/

I want to try to get over there in the next week or two, and maybe even this weekend if anyone is up for it... This would be the first trial run, so the run won't be ideal, but it will give some ideas on what's possible, where you can and can't go (lagoons??), what will and won't fit on the canoes (bikes, picnic equipment, etc), learning what would be good to take, what is not necessary, and if two canoes are possible to portage on the bike trailer (which has arrived!).

Anyway, if you're up for the inaugural run, let me know.

Meat business cards



http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/23/business-cards-made.html


Goes well with the a new Walrus blog entry by Joel McConvey:

...these ideas give us meat as one of the few things in our culture that signifies both elite status and normalcy, both power and conformity. What I find puzzling is that, when you look at how we eat these days, the notion of meat as manly in the predator/prey sense, or as traditional in the sense of being a great normalizer, falls apart.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Wiretap




http://www.cbc.ca/wiretap/

http://www.supernintendochalmers.net/wiretap/

The above link will allow you to download almost any Wiretap episode, organized by date. I'm downloading them now, and will post a zip with all of them soon!
_________
Also, Goldstein is showing up at This is Not a Reading Series which I'm planning on attending...:

Has any book inspired as many jokes as The Bible? And can you think another bestselling title with such a clumsy ending? To celebrate the launch of Ladies And Gentlemen, The Bible! (Penguin Group Canada) noted author and CBC Radio personality Jonathan Goldstein will share the stage with Canadian Comedy Award-winners Monkey Toast: The Improvised Talk Show. Come, witness all of human history, from The Book Of Genesis to The Apocrypha, told in the form of divinely-inspired improvised comedy. Marc Glassman, Executive Director of This Is Not A Reading Series and Proprietor of Pages Books & Magazines will host the evening. – A This is Not A Reading Series event presented by Pages Books & Magazines, Penguin Group (Canada), NOW Magazine, and Take Five On CIUT.
The Rivoli, 334 Queen St West, Toronto
Wed Apr 29; 8pm (Doors 7:30pm) $5 (Free with Book Purchase)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/event.php?eid=81765211463&ref=nf

More bittorrent news.. Judge on the take.


Peter Althin, who represented Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde in the case, said Thursday he would request a retrial after Judge Tomas Norstrom confirmed Swedish Radio reports that he was a member of two copyright-protection organizations.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/04/23/pirate-bay-retrial.html

Super. And he says he's apparently unaffected by that, coming in with no pre-conceived notions. Uh-huh. The music/film industry distribution faculties are really fighting for their obsolete existence.

Morning sickness is great for everyone, especially the baby!



http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/23/morning-sickness-iq.html

This is something I didn't realize...

"It's long been known that while hard to endure, nausea is actually a sign of a healthy pregnancy. Women who suffer from morning sickness are less likely to miscarry and less likely to give birth to babies with congenital cardiovascular problems.

The thinking is that some hormones secreted by the placenta — hormones needed for a healthy pregnancy — trigger the nausea..."

And they come out more developed and smarter?! Cool!

Cubism and 4 dimensions...



So, just another thing I've been thinking of lately, especially after an extended discussion during Easter weekend with the family; Picasso's cubism, and the fourth spatial dimension...

I'll post more on it later when it's not so late, but here are a few teasers...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebb/3453721734/

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v410/n6830/full/410743a0.html

It is important to fully realize the importance of cubism. It isn't just "Picasso's style" but marks the real beginning of abstract art. Picasso's predecessors, such as the impressionists, the fauvists and Cezanne were still principally tied to nature as a model to elaborate on. With Les Demoiselles d'Avignon Picasso reached a level of abstraction that was a radical enough break with the classical dominance of content over form, a hierarchy which is reversed in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and the style which followed from it: Cubism.

http://pablo-picasso.paintings.name/

Cubism as a forth dimension explained quickly... I suppose not really a 4th spacial dimension, but a concept that is carried through the 4D experience; being able to see all sides, and insides of everything, all at once.



Carl Sagan has gone bunkers, and discusses dimensionality. Gets good only after he stops discussing flatland, after about 5 minutes... but still, a nice review of it in classic Sagan speak.

Don't go crazy, with the coffee...



http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKTRE51244H20090203

Coffee drinkers at mid-life had lower risks of dementia and Alzheimer's later in life compared with those drinking little or no coffee.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Life/Coffee+lowers+risk+Alzheimer+study+suggests/1178289/story.html


Just how coffee might protect the brain isn't known, but the researchers have three theories...

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Another Wednesday, another free AGO day...


Pretty busy there today... and no, I wasn't hanging with the 'dude' on the left...


Three dimensional.

Overheard minutes later... "Mam, please don't take any pictures.. ".

"Umm.. I'm not taking any pictures.. ", holding her camera downwards and objectively flipping through some shots on her digital cam.

"Sorry", says the guard. "Our security cameras have picked up someone taking photos around this area... "