February 28th, 2004, 1 Comment »
So as to not unduly influence the voting in my Oscar contest (76 entrants so far and time running out), I’ve waited until the last minute to prognosticate on the Academy Awards. Without further ado, here are my picks. Note that these aren’t the people who I think deserve to win, but rather those who are most likely to win:
February 28th, 2004, 7 Comments »
It’s late, and I’m feeling self-reflexive. Over at ni.vu.ni.connu (which, may I observe, features one of the more fetching top banners in blogland), Martine is collecting photos of people’s work environment and I thought I’d contribute. This is the ‘plus den’ part of our one bedroom plus den. I must assume they meant ‘den’ in the context of ‘home for foxes’, because it’s not really big enough for much else. It’s cave-like, which I appreciate, and 50 square feet soaking wet.
I took a photo. Then I had a close look at it. Man, I’m messy. Being at least one-third technical writer, I started to label things. And I couldn’t stop. Click the photo at left for a much larger version.
February 27th, 2004, 16 Comments »
Permit me a brief rant. On Monday of this week, I call CIBC Visa to request that they fax me a Visa statement from 2003. Why I can’t see my own data online from 9 months ago is beyond me–they only show 3 months online–but I digress.
The guy on the phone from CIBC Visa assures me that they will fax my statement later this week. He checks and they’re ‘on Feb. 18′ in the faxes. They’re five days behind on their faxing? What kind of organization are they running? Fine, I say–I’ll have it by Friday.
Friday comes, and, of course, I’ve got no fax. I call them back and politely enquire as to the status of my fax. The clerk on the other end has no information about it. Was it requested? Has it been sent? Was it mailed instead? They have no records at all–not just for me, but there’s apparently no system to track these requests. I ask to speak to her supervisor. Always go up the food chain.
Read more…
February 27th, 2004, 1 Comment »
These are great. They’re not quite machinima, or maybe they are, I’m not sure how rigourous the definition is. They’re basically the first three parts of a slightly-alternative story of Mario Brothers. What amazes me about them is their cinematic literacy. However made these has such a natural grasp of lighting and camera movement. The use of movie cliche in this unfamiliar genre is refreshing and hilarious:
It’s not quite the genre-busting brilliance of Red vs. Blue, but it’s getting there. From the good people at BoingBoing.
February 27th, 2004, 1 Comment »
Recently, a colleague of mine has started a weblog. She emailed me to ask:
Do you think potential employers would react positively when they read my rants about **insert subject here**? Obviously, if I knew the industry I’d like to target, I would tend to write about issues affecting that particular
business, but what if I wanted to be a generalist, how would I approach this
then?
An interesting question, so I thought I’d share my answer:
February 26th, 2004, 3 Comments »
As regular readers know, I love lists. To that end, I was pleased to read about this meme from Burnt Glass. You just set your digital music player to play ten songs at random from your entire collection. Then you report what gets played, no matter how shameful the results. Frankly, with the exception of #1, I got off pretty easy. From 3919 songs:
February 26th, 2004, 2 Comments »
My wife is in San Francisco at a conference until Sunday, and I have been extremely busy all week. As such, I have barely left my apartment or spoken to another human face-to-face for four days (aside from Eddie, who runs, predictably, Eddie’s, the corner store downstairs).
This afternoon, despite impending deadlines and the need for a nap, I was desperate for human contact. So, I went for a walk. It’s a particularly bright day outside, with the sun filtered through some light cloud. I walked along the Sea Wall in downtown Vancouver.
The tide was out, exposing the rocks at the base of the wall. The smell of salt and seaweed were in the air, and this urban shoreline teamed with activity. I paused to watch grebes and cormorants dive for fish in the clear, shallow water. Gulls and crows rummaged along the shore, looking for lunch. I saw a great blue heron land among the yachts at the base of Davie Street, scattering the flock of wood ducks that normally hangs out there. On the way back, I stopped at the dog park to watch a terrier chase a labrador, and then watched them both chase a poodle.
The smell of the seaweed, the laziness of the afternoon and the filtered light reminded me of another walk along another sea wall that I took on June 6, 2002. That day I walked the entire length of Juno Beach in Normandy, where the Canadians landed in 1942. It was the sixtieth anniversary, and at my walk’s end, I was fortunate to happen upon a ceremony for those soliders, living and dead. Proud octegenarians doffed caps and shook hands in the fading afternoon light. French soldiers a quarter of their age saluted them.
Being a son of the city, I know that I espouse Vancouver too often. Nonetheless, on a day like today, it’s hard to imagine living anywhere else for very long.
The photo comes from my friend Todd (hmm…I’m probably breaking copyright laws here…oh well), who took it with a ridiculously small camera that he, if memory serves, received from Larry. If Todd’s whole requirements analysis schtick doesn’t work out, he can always go into covert surveillance with that thing.
February 26th, 2004, 8 Comments »
Donations to Flowers for Al and Don had been slowing down yesterday, but we still reached the US $10,000 mark (a mere $13,408.24 Canadian) yesterday afternoon. Then this Associated Press story appeared in, among other places, the New York Times (registration required, blah, blah, blah) and the Guardian. Since then, things have heated up. If only I didn’t have this darn day-job.