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Mixed Bag
Things don't belong anywhere else. |
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August 30, 2003 |
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I will give out divers schedules of your beauty: it shall be inventoried, and every particle and utensil labelled to my will:
Item: Brain-freezing frigidity
Item: Remarkable semi-solid state
Item: Tasty ice crystals
Item: Spoon straw
Item: Multi-flavoured madness |
They don't believe in semi-solid beverages in Europe. It's difficult to get a decent milkshake (the best option is inevitably the terrifying Eddie Rockets) and impossible to get slurpees. I even went into a 7-11 in Copenhagen and asked. The clerk explained to me (with his extraordinary English) that Europeans don't go in for the whole crushed ice drink. Barbarians.
So, after two years abroad, I've been drinking slurpees at a rate of approximately 5 per week this summer. I expect I'll slow down as the weather cools, but it's been awesome.
I also found some facts about slurpees.
11:19:52 AM
Mixed Bag
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The Social Issues Research Centre (could they sound any more British?) brings us this handy and insightufl guide to British pub ettiquette:
Don’t ever introduce yourself. The “Hi, I’m Chuck from Alabama” approach does not go down well in British pubs. Natives will cringe and squirm with embarrassment at such brashness. If your introduction is accompanied by a beaming smile and outstretched hand, they will probably find an excuse to get away from you as quickly as possible. Sorry, but that’s how it is. The British quite frankly do not want to know your name, or shake your hand – or at least not until a proper degree of mutual interest has been well established (like maybe when you marry their daughter).
All very accurate. In my brief survey, I couldn't find a section on gratuities. Generally speaking, you don't tip anybody in a British (or Irish) pub. I speak from experience when I say if you leave your money on the bar, they'll hand it back to you. For the North Americans, there's also an important section on round-buying.
11:07:50 AM
Mixed Bag
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August 28, 2003 |
I received a couple interesting links while being Slashdotted yesterday:
- Engrish - A site dedicated to humourous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design. I always think of video games, which are rife with engrish. Why, I might even buy a t-shirt.
- Open Here - The art of instructional design. This might be the book version of the Hall.
8:38:24 AM
Mixed Bag Technical Writing Technology
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A while back I wondered what the heck a Trixie was. A kindly anonymous coward posted a link in my comments that's worth repeating here: http://www.lptrixie.com/. As far as I can gather, they're a particular yuppie subset, with an affection for Jettas, labrador retrievers and looking like their friends. From the informative FAQ:
As chain coffee stores like Starbucks have begun to truly define neighborhoods, Trixies have come to embrace this trend for several reasons: First, Starbucks is an impressive place to buy your coffee, plain and simple. With the myriad of different adjectives you can use to define your latte, you're bound to stand out and make a statement about how smart you are. Secondly, Starbucks is not cheap. While many Trixies exist on a shoestring budget (due to the need to buy the most impressive clothes and showbox apartments), holding a Starbucks cup silently tells your coworkers and best friends that you've made it.
Here, also, is a handy day in the life of a Trixie. These people have gone to a tremendous amount of work on this site--there's an impressive amount of content.
8:18:17 AM
Mixed Bag
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August 25, 2003 |
Yes, it's a link round-up with a theme! Ooo, aaahhh. This one's all about new technology gadgets:
- A great idea for classical music noobs: a handheld device that provides real-time information about the concert concert you're attending.
- A car that parks itself. Hopefully by the time I'm a septuagenarian, they'll have cars that drive themselves too. Get on that, car designing guys. This is also handy because both times I've damaged a car, it's been parking.
- Finally, a tracking device for the masses.
- Air traffic controllers may go the way of the buggy whip and the non-self-parking car.
- How sci-fi. People getting busy trying to replace the light bulb.
9:27:48 AM
Link Round-up Mixed Bag
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August 21, 2003 |
Journalist (and BoingBoing contributor) Mark Frauenfelder moved his family to a small island in the South Pacific. He's sending regular updates to LA Weekly (and has a cool photo blog). In this update, he visits the house of his daughter's new friend:
One of the older girls, about 16 years of age, goes into the other bedroom and picks through a massive pile of clothes. A mountain of shoes lies next to the clothes heap. Several beds, including a trundle bed, bunk beds and an extra mattress on the floor, are packed into the room like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. (Later, I find out that in addition to the eight kids and two parents, a young woman from the church also sleeps at the house.)
10:07:04 AM
Mixed Bag
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August 19, 2003 |
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All right, Vancouver readers, I'm putting you to work. We're hosting an event next month for, I don't know, 60 people, and we need a caterer. We're just looking for appetizers here, not a dinner service. Here's everything I currently know about choosing a caterer:
<click me>
See my problem? Google can come to the rescue, but I'm looking for recommendations for local service providers. Leave a comment if you know anybody good. |
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10:38:06 AM
Mixed Bag Vancouver
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So the fire alarm wakes you up at 3:00 am. You lie there as it thunders away outside your door. 'It's probably just a false alarm', you think, 'they're always false alarms.' Plus, the bed is pretty comfy. Then you think, 'hmmm, it'd be pretty stupid to die because I was too lazy to heed the really-alarming alarm.'
So, you get up and start walking down the stairs. You live on the twenty-fifth floor, and you breath a microscopic sigh of relief when you pass the twelfth floor, and know that now the firetrucks' ladders can reach you.
The cruelest cut comes when you the alarm stops on the fifth floor. Experience has taught you that the elevators take a long time to reset after a fire alarm. So, the only option is to climb the 20 stories back to your bed.
10:14:12 AM
Mixed Bag
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August 18, 2003 |
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August 17, 2003 |
My sister Lynsey reminded me of another story about Charles Chung. In grade 7 or 8, we were all in PE class in the gym. Our class was presided over by the cruelest gym teacher in Canada, Mr. Desjardins (what a charming name, though he didn't have a hint of Frenchness in him). In our school, his name was synonymous with pain and degradation.
It's the start of class, and Mr. Desjardins is holding a volleyball. He grabs Charles, no doubt recognizing another bully, and stations him against one of the gym walls. He hands out a few more volleyballs, and then says, with remarkable glee 'okay, everybody wang chung.' Chaos ensued.
10:47:34 AM
Mixed Bag
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