A Few Quick Notes 320

-Today was a pretty nice day, though the temperature has dropped rather rapidly now that the sun has set. Unfortunately, things aren't supposed to be quite as nice tomorrow.

-We had more barbecued pork chops for dinner tonight. If my sense of the freezer is at all accurate, we should be nearing the end of our pork chop supply in the relatively near future. I guess I will need to keep a look out for pork chop sales in the coming days or weeks.

-I finally got around to taking another photo of my bedroom window garden. As you can see, a number of the plants have made rather substantial progress. The two pots that appear empty were planted just a day or so ago. The one on the left has a few corn seeds while the one on the right has more pepper seeds. The gap on the right is where the bay tree spends the night, when the sun is out the bay tree gets to go out to the balcony.



-The balcony garden has also grown a little bit in the past few days. Unfortunately, the cooler temperatures have slowed the growth and germination of some of the plants. I think that a few more days like today would really help things along a fair bit.



-Tomorrow we are expecting a friend to arrive for a two week stay. For the most part most of the preparations have been taken care of, though I imagine that we might try to take care of a few more things tomorrow.

A Few Quick Notes 319

-As it is dark outside right now I can't see exactly which type of precipitation is falling, but it sounds as though we have made the transition from mist to something approaching drizzle or rain. What has been most impressive about today is that the temperature has been steady for the last several hours, seemingly unaffected by the setting of the sun. If all goes as forecast we could be in for some thunder showers this evening.

-For the past few days we have been on the lookout for the weekly flier bundles that are usually deposited in our lobby. By about 9:00 PM tonight I decided that I would just head out to the grocery stores to pick up the fliers myself. Having had a chance to examine the fliers I am not sure whether the trip was worth the effort as there really weren't that many deals to get all that excited about. Maybe we will have better luck next week.

-This morning while I was drinking coffee and reading the paper I heard a knock on the door, which is rather unusual because one normally has to get through the security door before they can reach the apartment. It turned out to be the superintendent and a maintenance worker. It seems a leak had been discovered in the basement and they were worried it was coming from our tub. Fortunately after some examination in our bathroom and in the basement, as well as in the neighbouring apartment they were able to determine that the leak was actually coming from next door, which is quite nice from our perspective, though rather unfortunate for our neighbours.

-We are still in the midst of an election in Nova Scotia though one might know this if they were just passing through. This seems to be one of the lowest key elections I have ever witnessed, and doesn't seem to have really picked up steam or slowed down since it started. I wonder if people will remember to vote on June 9.

-It seems that I may have a way to have my hand truck transported from Montreal to Halifax. Though I didn't know it until today, it has been stored in a dining room since September. I get the sense that Steven, and presumably Nithum and their roommate, will be glad to be rid of it once and for all.

-Several days ago I started developing a cold. There are few things that I can think of that are more fun than a cold in the summer.

-A few days ago, while still in PEI with my father and Neil and Rebecca I tried to come up with a math joke that was a play on teaching how to integrate functions. While the original was a little crude, I think I managed to improve it a little today. The moderately improved new version is "Do Irish math profs integrate functions by inviting Catholics and Protestants to their parties?"

While working on this quality piece of math humour I came up with another wonderful joke, though this one is likely better spoken than read.

Q: Which Canadian federal government agency should you contact to locate you sister?
A: CSIS

Maybe it still needs some work.

It seems that a major problem with my joke writing attempts is that I just don't know what is funny.

A Few Quick Notes 318

-Though I don't think it actually rained today, it has been relatively overcast and somewhat cool. If things go as forecast, we should have similar weather until the end of the weekend.

-Several days ago I moved a number of my plants out to the balcony for the summer. One of the things that I have already noticed is that the move seems to have really slowed down growth, particularly as far as the beans are concerned. Under normal indoor conditions the beans seem to grow several inches a day at this stage, but in their present location growth seems to have almost ground to a halt. As I have a little less familiarity with the rate of growth of lettuce and tomatoes I haven't yet really been able to observe a change in growth patterns.

I am hoping within a few days we should have a little more sun and warmer temperatures and that these will allow more rapid growth than I have seen in the past few days.

Given the previously described conditions it is not particularly surprising that some of the recently planted seeds haven't been showing signs of germination or growth. I am hoping that in a few days at least the peas will start to come alive.

-We had barbecued burgers for dinner tonight. While I quite enjoyed them, I likely didn't need three.

-A few days ago I wrote about malt based beverages and linked to a Slate article about the demise of Zima and the market position of other malt based beverages. As a consequence of this article I have been examining some of the products mentioned in the article only to find that malt based non-beers don't seem to be quite as common in Canada as they appear to be in the US. Notably, the Slate article suggests that Smirnoff Ice does not contain vodka in the US. I checked a box a few days ago and learned that in Canada it does. Also, all of the Boone's products that I have examined contain some kind of fruit wine, rather than a malt base (though it is not always clear what the fruit wine is). The further consequence of this article is that I have now had to start thinking a little more about products sold in multiple countries and to what extent they might be re-formulated, and to what extent reviews of products from one country are applicable in another country. I guess none of this should come as all that much of a surprise given my cross-border experiences with both Corn Pops [or the Wiki article that explains the differences] and Mountain Dew (the Canadian and American versions of these products vary rather dramatically from each other).

Newspaper news

While reading Saturday's Globe and Mail on Tuesday I came across a story about a new editor-in-chief being appointed. The new editor-in-chief, John Stackhouse, has been with the paper for a number of years, most recently as the editor of the Report on Business. It seems that the paper is hoping that Stackhouse can develop the web/digital side of the paper. The few pieces I have read on the issue all seem to provide the same basic facts and justifications for the change.

What I found particularly interesting about this development is that a few days earlier Edward Greenspon, the then editor-in-chief of the paper, wrote an editorial about developing new web-based participatory content and trying to move the paper more towards this direction. It is not every day that the editor-in-chief writes about the direction of the paper, nor is it every day that several days after writing about the direction of the paper that they are no-longer editor-in-chief.

I guess what I find a little strange about all of the coverage I have seen is that little attention seems to have been paid to Greenspon's role in all of this, particularly his recent editorial outlining his position on the paper and new media. If the editorial meant anything why was Greenspon replaced by someone who has vowed to make similar changes? It also seems a little unclear whether Greenspon was forced out or voluntarily resigned, though given the bare facts and the timeline I don't see how it could be anything but the former (though I could be wrong). If I am correct, this may explain why we have heard little about what Greenspon in planning on doing in his post-Globe and Mail days (as he on the young side I don't imagine he will just slide into retirement). It also likely explains why we have heard little about why Greenspon is no longer editor-in-chief.

I am hoping that in the coming days I may be able to piece together a little more of the story and understand how this change came about given its seeming abruptness.

On a related topic, I also read that Stackhouse is thinking about reducing the quantity of free content made available by the Globe and Mail, moving to a yet-to-be-determined fee-for-service model. While I have no problem with media outlets making money with their web-based content, I don't see how such a move won't just make the Globe and Mail obsolete as a web-based news source. Why would I pay for a news story when there are other sources giving it away for free? While I am willing to acknowledge that the current system isn't quite functional in terms of revenue generation, I don't see how charging people for online news stories will help solve the problem. The Globe and Mail shouldn't forget that even if all of the private news sources try to charge there are still likely to be public broadcasters and news services (CBC, BBC, NPR, etc.) that will continue providing free online news.

Back in Halifax

By yesterday evening Neil, Rebecca, and I were safely back in Halifax. I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the drive from the airport back to town went. As I was unfamiliar with all of the roads I expected things to be a bit more problematic than they were.

For the most part the trip to PEI went well. The only major problem, aside from constantly being tired, was that it was much colder than I would have expected. The low temperatures, especially on the first day, really hampered our ability to investigate the island properly. I think we were all a little surprised at how cold it was as it was about 30 in Halifax the day before.

In one of my posts from PEI I mentioned being passed by a kid on an ATV, here is a shot of the two ATVs just before the kid on the right passed us. I imagine that this kid was about 12, or maybe even a little younger.



While I don't have a particular problem with PEI, I imagine that I have had my red dirt need satisfied for at least 14 or 15 years.

PEI: live update 18

Just a little while ago we woke up and started to collect a few of our
things. At the moment we are in the hotel restaurant waiting for
breakfast. This last element of the morning is a bit of a surprise as
assumed that this place would be pricier than it actually is.

There have been a few interesting service issues so far. I am
wondering whether our meals will come without incident or not.

After breakfast the three of us will head to Charlottetown while my
father stays in Summerside.

PEI: live update 17

Moral victory is mine.

My father claimed the more traditional victory, but we all know that
this is somewhat less imortant than the all important moral victory.

The impressive thing is that Neil's losing streak has continued.
Given this condition I am starting to think that we should spend
Christmas here.

PEI: live update 16

The game is still ongoing. Things are progressing rather slowly but
evenly. The good news is that I have claimed the moral victory if
anyone but me wins (Neil has claimed the moral victory if I win).

At the moment we are in the midst of longest road negotiations, or
more accurately Neil and my dad are disagreeing on longest road
strategy.

Things are likely to go to the wire.

PEI: live update 15

For a little while I was worried that blogging about Neil's losing
streak was going to jinx things, but it seems that his losing streak
continued last game and I am hoping that it will continue this game.
Unfortunately, though Neil did not win, nor did I. Hopefully I will
do a little better this game, though I think that my placements are
very good.

Though I have no particularly good reason to think this, I am somewhat
inclined to think that this may be our last game (or our second last
game).

PEI: live update 14

Neil claims that he was playing to win on our last game of Settlers.
This approach came as a bit shock to the rest of us who assumed that
he was just playing for fun and good times.

We have just started our second game of the evening. Assuming all
goes well I hope to parlay my first placement into a decisive victory.

What has been most interesting about our Settlers playing so far is
that PEI does't see to beixing well with Neil's playing style, as so
far it seems that he hasn't won a game.

PEI: live update 13

A little while ago we went out for a quick meal. Originally we
planned on going for some fast food but eventually settled on a local
pub/restaurant. Not surprisingly we all had foods similiar to those
we might have had we gone to the fast food restaurant.

While there is still a little sunlight I don't think that we will
taking advantage of it tonight. If things go as I expect them to we
will likely end up playing a few games of Settlers and maybe having a
few snacks, and maybe even a sloe gin fizz or two.

I think what has impressed me about PEI the most today is how few
stores ate open. It seems that most places are closed, even though
many of them seem to be aimed at tourists, it is almost as though they
don't want to sell things to tourists. Given the somewhat poor
condition of the PEI this surprises me. I would have expected a
somewhat more business oriented approach.

Our big plan for tomorrow is to head to Charlottetown while my father
heads to his meeting. We are hoping to hit the legislature, the
university, and Cows. We are also planning on doing some walking in
the downtown area, and maybe trying to buy a Stompin' Tom Connors CD.
Maybe we should try to pick up some potatoes while we are here, though
I don't know if they are a particularly good deal here.

PEI: live update 12

Moments ago Neil and I returned from a swim in the hotel pool. While
the pool is nowhere near as large as an Olympic size pool, it was
large enough to allow Neil and I to race each other (I won).

Earlier this afternoon we made our way through central and eastern
PEI. As one might have expected, especially if they had been reading
these updates, we made our way to Green Gables. We went on the house
and through part of the Haunted Woods. I guess most tourists are
likely to visit these locations, but as someone who hasn't read the
Anne books they didn't mean much to me.

After lunch we drove along the coast and eventually found the
mansion/hotel that was frequently featured in the TV show Road to
Avonlea.

I guess we will likely be heading out for dinner soon, but not before
I take a post-pool shower.

PEI: live update 11

We are now in Summerside. We decided to drop our things off in the
hotel before heading to Cavendish. So far I am quite impressed with
the hotel, I am hoping to check out the pool later this evening.

In a few moments we will be heading back on the road for some of the
classic PEI sights.

PEI: live update 10

We are just about to head out from Tignish. It seems that we will be
visiting the Anne of Green Gables stuff in Cavendish before heading to
Summerside.

PEI: live update 9A

We made it through the night in our Driftwood Cottages cottage.
Actually, I get the sense that everyone slept well. Even on the sofa
bed I had a pretty good sleeep, though it took me a while to get
because I had previously taken a I'll conceived nap.

I imagine that once people get cleaned up, have checked a few emails
and such we will head back on the road. Maybe I will try to catch a
few more minutes of sleep before we head out.

PEI: live update 9

Just thought that you should know that I just won the final game of
Settlers of the night.

Aside from heading to Summerside I don't really know what we will doing tomorrow

PEI: live update 8

My father wanted me to mention that he won the the most recent Settlers game.

We are now playing one final game for the night. I guess we may try
to head to bed afferwards.

Dad and I just went outside and were quite surprised to find how dark
it was. I guess when there aren't any street lights or many houses
this is what you might expect to find.

PEI: live update 7

We haves moved on to a new Settlers game. Things seem to have going
pretty slowly for most of us, though I did manage to just buy two
cities (which I hope will bring me a little closer to the win).

I guess I should also mention that we are drinking Alpine, a genuine
New Brunswick beer.

My Dad wanted me to mention that he just got me with a good burn,
which is the case. He burned my nine with two cities. Fortunately
Neil rolled a seven two turns later forcing the seven to be moved,
though Dad just monopolies my wood, which cost me four wood.

PEI: live update 6

It seems that since my last update I managed to catch a quick nap on
the couch. While I was asleep the others started a new games of
Settlers. Hopefully I will be able to play the next game.

It seems that I also missed the smores operation in the oven. I have
been told that they turned out to be pretty good. I wonder if there
might be another round later this evening.

PEI: live update 5

Moments ago we returned from our dinner at Cousin's. I think that we
all enjoyed the meal.

In a few minutes we are likely to return to the Settlers table for a
game or two. Hopefully I will do a little better than last game.

Though I will likely be able to provide a few additional updates, I
don't think that it will be a particularly late night as we are all on
the tired side if things.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier was that we were passed by an
ATV while we were going 70 KM/H. I should have a photo update on
Monday evening.

PEI: live update 4

We are now just about to head out for dinner at a restaurant called
Cousin's, though not to be cofused with the Cousin's in Halifax.

Rebecca managed to win the Settlers. I imagine we will have a
re-match after dinner.

In the last post I also meant to mention that it is damn cold in PEI,
certainly colder that the 30 degrees it was yesterday in Halifax. The
worst part is that it is supposed to be colder tomorrow.

PEI: live update 3

We are now in the midst of a pre-dinner game of Settlers. So far
things have pretty heavy on the burns. At the moment things are
pretty tight, though I fear that now that the tens have picked up
Rebecca I will soon fall behind.

PEI: live update 2

We just made it back to the cabin after a brief tour of the region.

We managed to see the wind farm, the reef, and the Stompin' Tom
Connors hometown site.

A few things that I have learned in PEI so far:
1. There are four restaurants in Tignish.
2. Windmills are kind of loud.
3. Northwest PEI is not much of a tourist destination.
4. It is potato planning season.
5. Neil is capable of talking my father into buying smores stuff in a
Co-op grocery store.

PEI: live update 1

Moments ago we arrived in Tignish and made our way to our 'executive'
cottage. So far I am quite impressed with our surroundings.

In a few moments we will be heading out to do some exploring. My
father is hoping that we will be able to see the Stompn' Tom Connors
birthplace, some kind of reef, and a windmill farm.

For those of you that ate curious, the soil is pretty red here. I am
pretty sure they just keep ploughing it to make sure that it is always
as bright red as possible.

Awards ceremony: live update 8

Things have now clued up, we will be heading out for a celebratory beer shortly.

Awards ceremony: live update 7

The guest speaker is still talking, though I gather he is now wrapping up.

Awards ceremony: live update 6

Neil just received his award, the hand-off seemed to go pretty well. We are now in the midst of the geust speaker.

Awards ceremony: live update 5

We are in the midst of the award section of the event.

I imagine that Neil's should be coming up soon.

Awards ceremony: live update 4

We are in the midst of a discussion of the undergraduate degree and awards.

We just moved on to the graduate degrees.

Awards ceremony: live update 3

We are still sitting around eating and waiting for things to start. As time has passed things have picked up, most of the tables now have people sitting at them.

Actually things seem a little quiter because people are reading the awards brochure and math department report.

Things just started. The chair is now speaking.

Awards ceremony: live update 2

Bigs news on the food front, almost all of the crackers have some kind of junk on them or in them. The good news is that the cupcakes seem to be pretty good.

Awards ceremony: live update 1

So i am in the math learning centre waiting for the annual math awards ceremony to start. It seems that Neil has been awarded some kind of math award.

At the moment we are just sitting around eating food.

If any thing happens I will let you know.

A few recent goings on

On Tuesday, once the weather cleared up a little, I made my way to Point Pleasant Park for a little while. Once in the park I made my way down to my favourite beach where I sat on the rocks and threw a rock or two and watched sailboats sail around.



As the sun was setting I spent most of my time facing in the opposite direction, which was fine as it allowed me to view the aforementioned sailboats more clearly.



Eventually, before the sun set completely, I made my way back to our neighbourhood. On my way back I stopped at the nearby grocery store and picked up a few items, including a few vitamins and some coffee. For no particularly good reason I decided to switch from one store brand of coffee to another. So far I am quite pleased with the change, though I think that at some point, for variety, I might switch back to the original brand.

Yesterday afternoon I was in my room looking through my window when I noticed that someone was sleeping on the lawn across from my window. Given that they positioned themselves behind a cement structure so that they weren't visible from the road I imagine that they thought they weren't supposed to be there (or maybe they just didn't want people to interupt their sleep). By mid-evening they had moved on, though I don't know if this was because they were asked to, or if the person simply finished their nap and was ready to move on.

A Few Quick Notes 317

-Today was a beautiful day. The cloudy periods that were forecast were kind enough not to materialize this afternoon. Instead we had a relatively sunny and pleasant afternoon and evening. Now that the sun has set the temperature has started to drop, but it is still rather pleasant.

-A few of the lettuce seeds that I planted recently have started to show signs of growth, though at the moment they are only a few millimeters tall. The other recently planted seeds haven't yet started to show any signs of growth. I am hoping that with another few days of good sun I should see some rather significant progress.

-As today was quite nice I was able to move some of the plants to the balcony for a few hours. Though I have no real evidence that this will be particularly effective, it does seem that they are likely to receive at least a little more light in this location than they are to get in either my bedroom or the living room.

-We had homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. I thought it was pretty passable.

-Tomorrow we will be heading out for a free Thai meal provided by the Dal math grad students.

-Aside from the freeness of the meal, I am looking forward to the meal as it should be during the meal that we are met by my friend Greg who will be coming into town for a few days. Hopefully Greg and I will get a chance to hit a few of the locations we visited when we came here on vacation in July 2005. Shockingly, we managed to visit all kinds of Halifax attractions, including the Dartmouth ferry and Bayer's Lake in just a few days. I imagine that this time our sightseeing will be a little more circumscribed, largely as the visit is shorter and also because there are a few places we have already thought about visiting.

-This evening Neil and I attended at talk by Tony Burman of Al Jazeera English hosted by the CIC at King's. While we both expected the talk to be about reporting in the context of Al Jazeera and the global south, as the lecture title suggested, it was really almost exclusively about Al Jazeera English's attempt to be carried by Canadian cable carriers and their CRTC application and why we should support such an application. While I likely would have attended such a sales pitch had I been given the opportunity, it was just not what we expected.

On the other hand, it was kind of cool to attend a talk by the head of a major international news channel. Though what this talked suggested to me was how much emphasis the channel was putting on having their application approved by the CRTC.

One thing that I did learn at this talk that I found to be of some interest is that one can view Al Jazeera English online for free (here, or here), if one is so inclined.

-Yesterday I subscribed to three new podcasts, as I have all kinds of free time that I need to eliminate. Instead of comedy podcasts, as has been my habit recently, I went for a slightly more eclectic mix. As I seem to be having a hard time segueing into the names of the three podcasts, I will just drop them now: Philosophy Bites, Planet Money, and Selected Shorts. So far all three of them seem pretty good, though I can't say that I have given either Philosophy Bites or Selected Shorts a thorough listening to yet. (Several moments ago, while editing this post, I subscribed to two more: Ethics Bites and Philosophy: The Classics.)

-For the past few days I have been meaning to mention that we are presently in the midst of a provincial election in Nova Scotia. For the most part if I didn't know this already I wouldn't be likely to pick it up by walking around downtown Halifax. It seems that it is a relatively low key election so far. And as I don't get to listen to the morning show on CBC I am really not all that in touch with how the campaign is going. I am hoping a few more canvassers swing by our apartment so I get a chance to talk with them and push my election issue (more accessible bottle return options).

A Few Quick Notes 316

-We are presently in the midst of another overcast and wet day here in Halifax. Fortunately, the wind doesn't seem to be too high, nor does it seem to be particularly rainy.

-It seems that Neil and Rebecca, along with the other members of their water station crew, managed to win the most spirited water station prize, which is a $1000 donation in their names to St. John Ambulance. The funny thing about this is that before they went they didn't think that they would be into the cheering/being supportive side of the volunteering.

-I just took five loaves of bread out of the oven. I am not really sure where I am going to put them all once they have cooled.

-While at the grocery store I decided to check out the seed selection to see if there were any flower seeds I might consider buying for hanging pots I acquired about a week ago. After quickly scanning the seed rack I settled on thunbergia vine, also known as a black-eyed susan vine (but a different plant than a black-eyed susan). Apparently these grow quickly and do well in hanging pots, the two criteria I was looking for. I have planted some of the seeds in homemade paper pots and will place them in the hanging baskets once they sprout. I am kind of curious to see how this new method works.

Home alone on a Sunday night

Shortly after dinner Neil and Rebecca made their way over the apartment of some friends of their to wile the evening away with some fancy computer game related activities. The consequence of them splitting was that I had the apartment to myself for the evening.

My original plan was to try and read a few of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories. For some reason the reading hasn't quite materialized yet, maybe I will see if I can get working on that in the near future.

Though I haven't yet been able to bring myself around the reading or any school related work, I have been able to take care of a few other tasks.

While I still had a little natural day light I look care of planting a few seeds. Originally I had been planning on finishing the planting and then leaving most of the pots and seeds outside to germinate. As I was wrapping up the planting operation I started to think that it might be a little too cold to leave them outside, whether this is the case or not I don't really know. What I do know is if the weather happens as is forecast, I should be able to safely move things outside by Wednesday.

Anyway, I ended up moving to various locations inside (and plan to return them to the balcony in a few days).

The pots on top of the stand in the living room are primarily beans of various sorts. The three uniform pots have scarlet runner beans while the ice cream container has yellow beans. I believe that the green container has some kind of leaf lettuce, but I guess I will find out if my memory is correct in a few days.



The pots on top of my filing cabinet are a bit more of a mixed bag both in terms of what I just planted, but also in terms of what I plan on doing with them. Not surprisingly, I plan to leave the more established plants where they are and only move the recently planted plants outside. In the larger terra cotta pot I planted more lettuce while in the smaller plastic container I planted a few watermelon seeds (my third attempt at watermelon this season).



The remaining six pots are pots I don't really plan on moving outdoors once things get a little warmer, also some of these were planted a few days ago. Four of these plants have some hot pepper seeds while one has thyme (which was planted a few days ago) and the other chives.



After I finished with the planting and pot arranging I moved on to baking. While I had originally been thinking about baking bread today I realized that we didn't really need any once Neil and Rebecca managed to snag a dozen free bagels at the marathon, nor do we have enough freezer space to store the extra loaves. Eventually I remembered that I had been interested in baking gingerbread again, largely because my last batch didn't meet my very exacting standards. I am hoping that this will be out of the oven in a few minutes.



Once the gingerbread was in the oven and the dishes taken care of I was able to move onto a project that I have been thinking about for months, the resurrection of the free book box that I had with Nithum in Montreal. As you can see, I have seeded the box with three books already, hopefully I will be able to add a few more in the coming days. Now we just have to have some people over to take advantage of the free book box.



As the night is still young I should see if I can manage to take care of a few more tasks while I am still in a somewhat productive mood.

A Few Quick Notes 315

-As might be ascertained from the photos in the last post, we are in the midst of a rather foggy day in Halifax. Aside from the fact that it is a little damp because of the fog, it really isn't that bad, there isn't too much wind and temperature is just fine.

-When I went out for a walk this morning I made the unfortunate decision to wear my rain coat. It seems that the rain coat that I purchased a few months ago doesn't really breath. I am convinced that I came back wetter because of the coat than I would have been had I warn a coat that has no ability to repel water. I find this particularly frustrating as the last rain jacket I had didn't have this problem, it was so comfortable that I was even inclined occasionally wear it on days when it wasn't even raining.

-I just heard about this story, which just seems to be the most recent in a series of violent crime stories that have taken place in Halifax in past few days. It seems that basically every morning there has been a story about a shooting or a stabbing in the area. As far as I know they are unrelated, which makes the trend seem even a little stranger. Hopefully this dies down in the very near future.

-All three of went to a friend's house for dinner last night. I know I had a good time, and I presume that Neil and Rebecca did as well (though I haven't yet spoken to them about it so I shouldn't be so bold as to put words in their mouths).

-A few days ago when my uncle was in town we saw a thing in the harbour. As the sun was setting at the time we didn't really get a good look at it. When we went back later we had a much better view and were able to see that it was some kind of boat/rig thing that was suspended on stilt like appendages. When I took a walk along the waterfront yesterday I got an even better view, but I still have no idea what this really is (though I imagine it has something to do with the offshore oil industry). If you know, let me know, I am curious.



Edit: It turns out it was pretty easy to find some information on this thing, if want to learn more go here.

-I was able to crank out three loads of laundry yesterday. I delayed a little by some of our neighbours who decided to leave their clothes in the washer long after the cycle had ended. Eventually I moved their clothes out of the washer so that I could get on with things. While I don't really like taking this approach, I also don't like having to wait hours for a washer that isn't even in use. I really don't understand how people leave their things unattended four hours on end on a regular basis and seemingly have no concern for their neighbour's access to the (limited) laundry facilities. I know that I don't like having my laundry handled by others, and I guess I would have imagined that it was a relatively common aversion. I guess present practice seems to suggest otherwise as this is a pretty common occurrence here.

What a day for a marathon

Yesterday I learned that the Halifax Marathon (or as it is officially called the Scotiabank Bluenose Marathon) was to take place today and that Neil and Rebecca would be volunteering at a water station all day. Given that neither of them has showed all that much interest in competitive running in the past I was a little surprised to hear that they were to be participating. Even more surprising was that to be able to volunteer today they had to take an online training session. The session included content on the history of the marathon and Nova Scotia as well as 'safety' content (apparently all drinks should be handed out only by gloved hands).

That Neil and Rebecca were involved encouraged me to head out for a walk this morning to take in a few of the marathon related sights. Unfortunately, I think that most of what I saw ended up being related to the various shorter runs that were taking place at the same time on similar routes.

I was pretty excited to see one of the water stations, which I presume is somewhat similar to the one Neil and Rebecca are working at the moment (they have to be there from 8:30 to 2:30 if my memory serves me correctly). At first I thought that this set-up was the finish line and that this was a pretty lame marathon, eventually the presence of hundreds of cups of water and Gatorade clued me into the fact that I my original impression was a little wrong (though I still don't think that this marathon is quite on pace with the NYC marathon, which is the only other marathon that I have seen).



Eventually I made my way around the commons and came to the real finish line, which was next to the Metro Centre. This was a little more like what I expected at the finish line.



When I arrived the race was about 3 hours and 16 minutes old and a number of people were still making their way across the finish line. The good thing about my timing was that many of the people finishing were in pretty good shape and didn't look as though they were about to die. My other marathon experience would suggest that sometimes as these things drag on some of the participants don't look so good as they near the finish line (one guy I saw a few years ago looked as though he was about to die, which he may have as when I last saw him he was on the ground surrounded by paramedics and non-responsive).

After a few minutes of finish line action I decided to make my way back home. When I was about a block away from our apartment I noticed a car and a bus that seemed to be in a strange configuration. As I approached the scene it became clear that the car emerging from an underground parking facility had hit the bus as it was at a bus stop. The woman who was likely the driver was still talking to the bus driver, who didn't seem interested in moving any time soon. While neither vehicle seemed to have sustained much damage I do imagine that it will be pretty embarrassing for the driver of the car, who wants to be known as the person that managed to t-bone a parked bus?

The people I felt particularly bad for were the bus passengers. All of a sudden their bus trip was delayed quite drastically. I wonder how long it took things to get going again?

Good thing that was obvious

This morning I read a story about a woman in Montreal who was handcuffed and ticketed for not holding the escalator handrail in a Montreal subway station. It seems that the pictograms showing someone holding the escalator's handrail aren't a safety suggestion but rather an order that can result in a ticket if not followed.

This story was somewhat of a shock to me, someone who has spent a fair bit of time on the Montreal subway system. I had absolutely no idea that such an outcome was possible. I had always assumed that such signs were suggestions, not rules that could result in ticketing if not followed.

It seems that there are at least two very substantial problems with this situation. Firstly, the signage that is presently in place does not make it clear that failure to hold the handrail could result in a fine. If this is the case, as unnecessary a rule as this may be, it should at least be made clear that it is a rule rather than a suggestion. Secondly, in this particular case, it sounds as though the police officers involved issued a ticket for something that is basically never enforced. Apparently even the STM authorities do not issue tickets for this infraction. This suggests to me that the not only should the rule no longer be in force, but also that the police involved were going out of their way to harass a commuter. I can't help but thinking that the police could have handled this in a much better way, one that didn't involve tickets worth $420.

A Few Quick Notes 314

-Today was another occasionally overcast, somewhat cool day. It seems that for about the past week everyday I learn that the sunny skies that have been predicted for the past few days are to be pushed back by a day or so. This is getting a little tiring. It is not the bad weather that is frustrating, it is the absolutely pointless forecasts that are a little frustrating.

-I am pretty sure that I forgot to eat lunch today.

-As I write this voting is ongoing in British Columbia for both the election and referendum. While I don't think I will direct all of my attention to the results once they start pouring in (at around midnight in Halifax) I do imagine I might try to see how things are going. In yesterday's post I think that I forgot to mention that Graham Clark, co-host of Stop Podcasting Yourself, is running in Vancouver-Fairview as an independent. It seems that the candidacy is part of an on-going series of segment's on a TV show. Given the circumstances of the candidacy it may not be particularly surprising that this particular candidate isn't really going for the win. I guess I will have to pay particular attention to how this race turns out. As the Greens seem to be polling about 10%-12% I might also have to watch their results.

Edit: CBC is reporting that Vancouver-Fraserview could be a close riding, so votes for Graham could be pivotal (or not).

-Moments ago I switched my bedroom light bulbs from 60 watt equivalent compact fluorescent to 100 watt equivalents. The difference is wonderful. My room seems bright for the first time in months. I might even go so far as so say that I may no longer need to run all three of my desk lamps.

-I have a batch of white bread (rising) in the oven. I am again using the special bread flour, so I expect the resulting loaves to be on the softer side of things.

Referendum day in British Columbia

If my understanding is correct, tomorrow will be both referendum and election day in British Columbia. Unfortunately, I haven't been following the election quite as closely as I would have liked so I don't really know is expected to win, but a third Liberal victory doesn't seem particularly unlikely.

Possibly more important than the election is the referendum on electoral system reform. If approved, by 60% of the voting public with majority support in at least 51 ridings, the result would be the adoption of the single transferable vote (STV) system by British Columbia. Not only would this be a big change for British Columbia voters, who would in future elect MLAs from multi-member districts rather than single member districts, but it would also be an opportunity for other North Americans to see a proportional representation system up close.

While I am not a particularly big fan of STV (for a number of reasons that I won't get into here) I becoming more and more convinced that it would be good for most of North America to see such a system in action (whether it is good for British Columbia is an entirely different matter).

Unfortunately it seems that there has been a great deal of misinformation surrounding this and other PR proposals in North America. This is rather unfortunate as it focuses the debate on matters of relative importance and allow more substantive issues to go undebated. Generally it seems that many of the boosters over state the potential positive impacts, while those opposed to the reforms attempt to spread fear about the danger of the system. While it is likely that such a system would result in more proportional results, it will certainly not eliminate all problems of representation that are experienced in British Columbia at the moment, nor will it lead to a complete collapse of the political system. This system has been used successfully in Ireland for almost 100 years and doesn't seem to be particularly problematic (nor does it seem to be a problem in a number of the other jurisdictions where it is used).

In particular, I feel that it also important to point out that while STV systems are not presently used in a large number of national elections, it is one of the older PR systems and was developed in the 1800s and was supported by John Stuart Mill. So while it may not be as prominent as mixed-member proportional or various list systems, it has a long history and reputable supporters. This is not some new fangled invention without a track record (whether you want what it has to offer is another matter).

I guess my main belief is that we shouldn't blindly use the single member plurality system simply because it is what we have used. After reflection and examination it may turn out that this system, which provides each individual and region with a single elected representative, is the one desired by the majority of the population, but such a decision shouldn't be made before at least considering a few of the alternative systems, some of which seem to work rather effectively in a range of countries.

So I guess for selfish reasons I hope that the referendum passes tomorrow, and I wish that I had put a little more time into this post as I think some of the ideas aren't quite as clearly articulated and developed as I might like. Anyway, I guess by some time late tomorrow evening we will know whether BC has a new government and whether or not they will be making the switch to STV.

Well that takes care of a question I have had since 1994

Since about 1994 I have, intermittently, been wondering exactly what Zima was and what it tasted like. The closest I ever came to the answer was when my father said "Zima: tastes like zits." So while I had the idea that it wasn't particularly pleasant, I still had no idea what it was.

Fortunately, tonight, while doing some reading on Boone's Farm products, I came across a great Slate article about about Zima. Not only did the article explain the product's origins, an attempt to create a cheap beer based product for dudes who didn't like beer, but also its later incarnations as a female targeted alcopop wannabe. It was as an alcopop that Zima seems to have died a rather quiet death in October 2008.

Anyway, I feel as though a chapter of my childhood (the "wonder about Zima" chapter) has finally been closed. If only I could only get my hands on a bottle of Crystal Pepsi everything would be just about perfect.

Jordan, Jesse Go! live

One of my favourite podcasts is trying a live broadcast of their recording session. If all goes well things should be happening starting at about 1:15 PM Pacific time, or about 5:15 here in Halifax, or 5:45 in St. John's.



[Embedded video]

Update: This was on the air for a while, but it seems that there were insurmountable technical problems. It sounds that the idea is to try to fix the problems and give it a shot at some point in the future.

Riding the wave of fun

We went out for a brief tour of the Halifax downtown region this evening. Once we reached the Wave I insisted that we stop have take a few photos with the famous Wave. After my uncle had posed with the Wave Neil suggested that I climb the wave. It turns out that the reason Neil wanted me to climb the Wave was so that he could take a picture of me on top of the wave and also capture the sign requesting that people not climb the Wave.

I decided that I would like to slide down the wave to leave, so I did (as you can see in the following video).



[Embedded video]

Soon after I slid down the Wave I realized that I had likely fouled my shorts on the trip down. It turns out that my suspicions were correct.



On our walk home we passed this sign at a local church. Talk about the Mother's Day spirit.



Before our walk was started our barbeque season. Much to my surprise the burgers were pretty edible.

More Exciting YouTube Content

Well it has been a few days since I posted my last YouTube video, so I thought I might post another enthralling video. I like to think of myself as a bit of a YouTube hit machine.

Actually, there is a slightly better justification in this this case. My Uncle brought a camera with him and was interested in how it worked and what could be done with it. Using the Flip Video camera and proprietary software I created this somewhat boring and poorly edited piece of something. Unfortunately the software wasn't quite as versatile as I might have liked (though I think that there may be a way around this problem).



[Embedded video]

If all goes as planned you might even see a few more such videos from our upcoming touring activities.

A Few Quick Notes 313

-We are in the midst of another rainy day in Halifax. Hopefully the thundershowers that have been predicted don't actually make it to town.

-I was able to attend the MUN fundraising dinner at Pier 21 last night. As I mentioned previously, the guest speaker was to be Gwynne Dyer, a Newfoundlander and MUN alumnus.

While I knew that Rick Hillier, MUN's Chancellor, was to be there, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the acting President, Eddy Campbell, was also in attendance, as was the Direct of the School of Pharmacy. I was also very pleased that I ended up seated next to the only person at the event that I knew (someone from Neil's elementary school class who is presently a Dal student).

Dyer's talk was about the likely negative impact of climate change. While I didn't necessarily agree with everything in the talk, I did agree with the general thrust of the argument (or certainly the over-arching goal of the talk), which is that humans are having a negative environmental impact and need to change their ways quickly.

Given that I am in the middle of a book on G.K. Chesterton, who was frequently sought as a public speaker (though on slightly different topics), it was fun to be privy to a similar experience. In general I get the sense that this tradition is fading to some extent. I don't know how many of my peers would be interested in hearing a freelance thinker/writer expound on whichever topic suit them. Though maybe part of the problem is that we no longer have as many people who write so prolifically on such a range of topics that they would be able to engage in such activities.

The more I think about it, the more I think it would quite fun to see the equivalent of a G.B. Shaw vs. G.K. Chesterton public debate. The problem is that I have no idea who the two debaters would be.

-My uncle is scheduled to arrive this afternoon for a visit. At the moment we haven't scheduled many activities, actually I don't think that we have scheduled much of anything. About as far as we have gone in the planning process is to discuss what we would be having for dinner tonight and how we would go about procuring beer (two somewhat important topics given the guest).

-In about half an hour I need to head to Dal. I am really hoping that the rain has subsided by then. Sitting around while wet is something I don't particularly enjoy.

(I was going to say "there are few things I like less" until I realized that there are likely many things that I like less, or dislike more.)

A Few Quick Notes 312

-Today was a pretty nice day. My sense of things is that it was about 20 degrees and sunny in the downtown area for most of the day. It seems that things are forecast to be a little cooler and less pleasant for the rest of the week.

-A few days ago I removed the scarlet runner beans from my bedroom because they were showing signs of spider mite infestation. Though I didn't see any signs of mites, I also removed the two bean plants that were in my window.

Today I saw some specks on the corn plants that may be spider mites so I took most of the plants in my window outside for a quick wash with insecticidal soap. I will probably repeat this process again in a few days, whether I see signs of growth or not.

Unfortunately, while doing a little more reading I learned a little more about how unfortunate and difficult a spider mite infestation is to deal with. It seems that they are a particularly difficult pest to eradicate. One of the problems is that they have not natural predators inside human dwellings (aside from humans), and are apparently shockingly resistant to pesticides. Hopefully my dousing with soap and trips outside will work as I really am somewhat fond of these plants. It would be great if it was just a little warmer so that I could leave them outside around the clock.

-The up side of this all is that I was encouraged to harvest some of the thyme I have been growing since the fall. The idea of the harvest was that with a smaller plant the spider mites would be unable to use it to move from to plant.

The thyme is now hanging and drying in my bedroom. Presumably in some number of weeks I will be able to collect the dried thyme and add it to our previously existing stash. Given this abundance of thyme I really should start trying to find ways to use it a little more.

-It seems that I will be attending a Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni dinner in a few day. I really don't know what to expect, aside a talk from Gwynne Dyer and a meal. Apparently the post-talk question and answer session is to be moderated by the Chancellor of the university, Rick Hillier. I guess the idea is to allow Memorial graduates to get to know other graduates in the region, so I presumably should ready myself for networking and polite conversation related activities.

Another thing is need to work on is business attire, which is what I am supposed to wear to the event. Hopefully I own something that can pass as business attire. I am starting to think that maybe I should have brought my suit and dress shoes with me to Halifax.

-Moments ago when I was trying to type 'shoes' I accidently typed 'shews.' I guess some of my childhood spelling problems are still present. Though now that I think about it I don't know if switching to phonetic spellings was my common approach to spelling errors, I will have to check with my parents.

Such mistakes confirm my feelings towards spell-checking programs. I really don't know how I would have managed to make it through university without such programs. Presumably my functional vocabulary would have been much smaller, and my syntax more convoluted so that the same opinions could be expressed with a smaller number of words.

A Few Quick Notes 311

-Today has been another rather overcast day. Fortunately we haven't had as much rain as we had yesterday, and it seems to be a little warmer.

-The bread I baked yesterday seemed to turn out quite nicely. In yesterday's post I forgot to mention that I was using flour I purchased a few days ago that claims to be particularly good for bread. The one thing that I did notice is that the bread does appear to be softer and produce fewer crumbs when cut. I noticed something similar with the batch of French bread I baked using the same flour. While I like the impact the flour is having on the crumbs, I am not exactly sure how I feel about its impact on the texture. Anyway, what I think about the flour doesn't really matter because this stuff is several dollars more a bag, which is an additional expense that I am not ready to incur at the moment. As soon as I kill this bag off I will be back to the cheapest flour I can get.

-Shortly after the conference attendees (and Rebecca) returned from Saint John last night Neil and I went out to socialize with a few of the math people. While I had a good time, I did end up staying up a little later than I originally expected (and we all know how careful I am when it comes to my sleep schedule).

-For some reason I have decided to make all kinds of food for dinner tonight (I sure hope Neil will be home for dinner). My original plan was to go with some kind of chickpea and pork dish, though at some point this plan was side-tracked and the chickpeas were reassigned to a chickpea dish. The pork was cut from the menu, and chicken was added. Some of the chicken (on sale thighs and drumsticks) are being prepared as my relatively weak attempt at tandoori chicken, while the rest is plain. I also decided to include roasted potatoes on the menu, though I don't really know why know that I think about it, there are other starchy things that might have been a better choice. Then to top it all off I am going to prepare some vegetables, one of which will be the cauliflower I purchased a few days ago.

I really hope it turns out well because there is a fair bit of food.

-While on my way to the grocery store earlier this afternoon I passed Olympic Confectionary, a local diner/lunch bar. As I passed I noticed that it appeared to have been emptied out, only the items that were attached to the building seem to remain. Presumably this suggests that the business has closed, which I find rather funny as the busiest I have seen it was just a few days ago (though this could be a matter of too little too late). I curious about what is going on.

-Montifax's traffic has really spiked in the past few days, seemingly almost exclusively because of our Spryfield/Purcell's Cove/Herring Cove fire content. As far as I know, the past two days have been our busiest two days ever (and by most standards they still wouldn't count as particularly busy days). My YouTube video of the fire has been similarly popular, though it really doesn't show much of any thing and the quality of the images is particularly poor. The last time I checked the video was the 19th most viewed News and Politics video in Canada today (how exciting).

A Few Quick Notes 310

-After a few days of relatively nice weather we have slipped into rain and wind. Apparently this type of weather is supposed to be here tomorrow as well. The one major upside of this is that I presume it is helping with the Spryfield fire, so I guess in the long run this is probably a very timely turn of events (though maybe it would have been a little better yesterday afternoon).

-On the subject of the Spryfield/Herring Cove/Purcell's Cove fire that started yesterday afternoon (and that I covered in a few posts yesterday), while listening to the news I have heard suggestions that this may have had something to do with the end of the school year. As the public schools are still in session I presume these references are to universities, though I am not really sure I am following what it is they are suggesting. If these people are trying to suggest that people are going into the woods and having barbecues, or something similar, why not just say that. Instead every comment I have heard is vague and seems to jump around the point. Furthermore, as far as I know, the cause of the fire isn't known (and it certainly didn't seem to be known yesterday afternoon), so why people would jump to such conclusions seems a little strange to me.

-Neil, Rebecca, and Rebecca should be returning from their Saint John New Brunswick conference later today. Aside from them all getting there safely I don't really know anything about the experience. Presumably Neil will have plenty to blog about when he gets back.

-This morning I noticed that the two pots of chives that I had were rather infested with spider mites. Because chives don't have regular leaves with undersides the damage caused by the spider mites wasn't as noticeable. I now presume that these plants where what allowed the spider mites to jump to the bean plants I planted a few weeks ago. Soon after discovering the infestation I decided to get rid of the plants and wash all of the empty pots and trays. At the moment the only thing I have growing on the infested living room shelving unit is the zebra aloe, some dill, some beets, and two African violets. The reason these plants have remained is that they are showing no signs of infestation. I really hope this does the trick.

-I decided to bake a little more bread this morning. At the moment the final two loaves are in the oven. While the bread looks fine, the crust seems to have a slightly different texture than I was expecting.

-It seems that the name 'Swine Flu' has become a matter of some debate. My understanding is that a number of groups, including the WHO and the pork lobby, are interested in having the disease called by another name (ironically they want to call it the same name as the 1918 flu). I have a hard time believing that such a change is really worth the effort. It would seem that the efforts of such organizations might be more reasonably used for other matters relating to the outbreak. More importantly, it seems perfectly reasonable, at least to me, that the name of the disease reflects its origin (the animal not the food). To change the name of this disease helps downplay the significance of animal to human disease transmission, something that has the ability to be quite problematic. If anything we should at least acknowledge this risk, particularly as most of our recent flu scares in recent years have developed in this way (as well as other diseases). This isn't just a safe little thing that came out of thin air, it clearly came from a certain type of animal and other such diseases might come from other animals in the future, and this is something that we shouldn't forget. If this gets us to think about our food sources and farming practices it is probably not a bad thing, hopefully we might find ways to reduce such occurrences in the future. To ignore the origins is this disease is to increase the risk of similar issues arising again.

-A few days ago I started reading a pretty bad biography of G.K. Chesterton, so far I still have hardly any idea who he was or why I should be reading his biography.