The Halifax Oval

A pretty neat treatment of the speed skating oval that they built in Halifax for the upcoming Canada Games.



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That it is open to the public for free explains the high levels of usage that are visible throughout the video.

3rd Annual Blog-off is just around the corner

Don't forget that Montifax's 3rd Annual Blog-Off will be starting at mid-night tonight and going until the end of February.

Like the first year of the competition, Neil will be awarded 5 points for each post he makes while I will be awarded 1 point per post. Competitors will be encouraged to include score updates in the bottom of each post so that readers will be able to easily check the status of the blog-off

To get you hyped, here are the wrap-up videos for our past two blog-offs.

2009



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2010



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Be sure to check back regularly for updates and to watch the progress of the competition.

It's snowing

Right now big, quiet snowflakes are falling in Halifax. It is a pretty beautiful way to end a pleasant Sunday evening.



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Maybe the perfect way to end a pleasant Sunday evening in the Winter.

Pumping out content

For the past few years I have heard that writers like Graham Greene would only, but consistently, write about a page a day. I presume that this means that they are writing somewhere between 250 and 500 words a day.

I find two things about this impressive. Firstly, these guys really aren't writing all that much on a daily basis. This is an entirely achievable volume for a relatively average person (though, I guess what they are writing is of a slightly higher quality than what I, or the average person, might write in the same space). Secondly, at this rate these authors are pumping out 1 to 1.5 quality books a year, and they manage to keep this rate up year after year.

While I don't necessarily have too much interest in writing novels (as I don't think I could do a good job of it), I do wish that I could somehow tap into this vein of productivity and manage to produce the equivalent output over the course of my adult life.

A Few Quick Notes 503

-Today has been a pretty great day all day long. Now, presumably just for a seasonal effect, a few snowflakes are falling, though not really staying around.

-Our Ultimate team played pretty poorly in our game last night. Our poor play wasn't helped by the fact that were were missing quite a number of players. In the end we lost the game by about 7 points. Hopefully things will go better next week.

-Did you know that you can Flickr user's photostreams as RSS feeds? I know that I just learned this a few days ago and was a little saddened to think that I hadn't been taking advantage of this feature for the past few years (assuming it has been around that long).

-I am presently in the midst of making batches pea soup and butternut squash soup for dinner tonight.

The butternut squash soup is turning out a little thinner than I hoped it would. I will soon be trying to resolve the problem by supplementing the soup with some carrots and potatoes. These new additions should give the whole thing a little more body, and make it a little less like yellow water. Hopefully they aren't strong enough flavours to overpower the squash.

-We are still going 'strong' over at Doyle Pitches. My favourite of the day, at least so far, is "Doyle: Pig in the City."

Late night appearance change

At about 11:00 PM last night I decided that it was time for a hair cut. I decided to lose a few inches.

It turns out that an inch is a fair bit shorter than I thought. Woops.

Round Three

This summer I learned about a type of New Zealand cookie called Afghans through my friend Nicole's house's cooking blog. Almost immediately I was inclined to try the recipe. Almost immediately I managed to screw the recipe up (and then post about it).

A few days after my first failed attempt at Afghans I tried again. This time with a little more success. Actually, eventually I can to accept that this batch of cookies was pretty tasty. After a few more weeks of reflection I began to idealize these cookies. They seemed like the best cookies I had ever made. Why wasn't I making them more frequently?

When I saw whole walnuts on sale a few weeks ago I decided to buy them to encourage myself to get around to baking them again. Obviously, this tactic wasn't immediately effective.

Anyway, as today is a special someone's birthday I finally convinced myself that today would be a good day for me to bake these cookies (particularly as she really liked the second batch).

As the original form of the recipe called for ingredients to be measured by weight and as I received a new electric scale for Christmas that I had yet to use, I decided to weigh the ingredients I was going to use.

As this is was the first time I had ever weight ingredients, the process was slow. I definitely wasn't quite comfortable with how the whole thing was to work. Though with each ingredient I felt a little more comfortable.

Eventually I had some cookie dough and was ready to put the first tray in the oven.

While the first dozen cookies were in the oven I started to work on the icing, which is a nice thick, fudgey chocolate icing. As I was measuring the sugar I noticed that the quantity didn't seem quite right. After a little investigation I realized that I had failed to notice the decimal point and that I was trying to add one tenth the required volume.

In my defence, the digital scale's digital decimal point is a little lower than the base of the numbers. Furthermore, when one has things on the scale and is forced to look at the screen on an angle it can be difficult to see.

p

This discovery helped me understand why I had added so few cornflakes to the dough. Bummer.

I was able to take unbaked cookies and then add the additional cornflakes before baking them.

So, again I managed to screw this recipe up. Bummer.

Anyway, in the end I think they were edible.

At least everyone has been eating them and no one has died yet.

I might have just seen someone famous...

...or not.

What I definitely did see was a film shoot in Cornwallis Park.



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Maybe I will have to go star spotting after lunch...

... or not.

Boid

I was reminded of the Ironman 2 bird scene when I saw a few birds outside my window bathing in a puddle. The connection is obvious isn't it?



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Comps 2

I just did a few quick calculations and determined that my average typing speed during today's comprehensive exam was 22.99 words per minute. I am surprised that the number was this high, particularly as I took a few minutes to think about each answer and then finished about 10 minutes before my time expired. If these factors are taken into consideration it seems probable that I sustained an average speed of greater than 25 words per minute.

While 25 words per minute isn't necessarily the world's fastest typing speed, I wouldn't have guessed that I could maintain such a speed for 5 hours going in to the exam.

Comps

Well, that is done.

Just a little while ago I finished my first comprehensive exam.

I had something to say for all of the questions, so that is good. Hopefully what I had to say made sense.

It is great to have this test in my past.

A Few Quick Notes 502

-This morning when I woke up it was snow-raining, which then turned to rain, which has not reverted to snow. What a generally ugly day it has been. Hopefully tomorrow is better.

-I heard a rumour that a number of Halifax universities closed today because of the weather. This surprises me as it really wasn't all that bad here. Actually, by mid-morning things had kind of cleared up and what-not (at least until just a little while ago).

-My Canadian comprehensive is tomorrow. I have spent the better part of my day studying by working through practice question. Obviously I haven't taken the exam yet, but impressed by how useful it feels to try assembling some of these, until now, disparate ideas.

-Fortunately I have been able to avoid spending too much more time on Doyle Pitches. Word on the street is that it has been forwarded to the makers of the show. I really have no idea what they might think of such a ridiculous site.

-For the third time this week I am preparing roast chicken for dinner. Fortunately for everyone the sale on whole chickens ends tonight.

-I am really looking forward to finishing this exam (though this will mean that I get to move on to the next exam in the process).

Doyle Pitches

It seems that today I foolishly allowed myself to be sucked into wasting several hours on a new blog: Doyle Pitches.

The general premise of this blog is that it is a venue for unsolicited character and episode concepts for the Newfoundland PI drama Republic of Doyle.

As of right now I have roped Jeannette, Peter, and Neil into helping me come up with content for the site. Actually, I think some of it is pretty funny and some is close to plausible (at least in terms of actually being a Doyle episode).

Anyway, if you are interested it feel free to check it out (and/or subscribe to the RSS feed). Hopefully I will be able to keep myself under control tomorrow and not allow this site to completely sidetrack me.

A Few Quick Notes 501

-Today was definitely the coldest day of the year so far. At it coldest, the windchill brought the temperature down to -32, also know as frostbite territory. Aside from the temperature, the day was actually quite nice and calm.

-It seems that Jeannette and Rebecca both avoided these adverse weather conditions by not going outside at all.

-It seems that tragedy struck close to Dal today in the form of a fatal vehicle/pedestrian accident.

As I was walking home this afternoon I could tell something was up as the police had closed down Edward Street to traffic, a development that is not usually a good sign.

-We had chili, baked potatoes, and vegetables for dinner tonight. I really enjoyed the meal.

-Some of us thought that the contribution of Jaden Smith to the world was a sufficient a contribution to the contemporary American pop culture cohort for Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, apparently they didn't agree and have decided to also provide us with Willow Smith.



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-Back to work.

A Few Quick Notes 500

-We had another cold, clear winter's day today in Halifax. Fortunately, aside from a few quick trips outdoors, I was able spend most of my day out of the cold. It seems that we should be in for more of the same tomorrow.

-Jeannette and Rebecca (but mostly Jeannette) just talked me into baking some cupcake. Given my desire to procrastinate it didn't take long to talk me into the proposition. I am now waiting for them to cool before icing them. I must say, I am definitely looking forward to chomping down on one or two of these in just a few minutes (as this salad thing as meant that we basically haven't had dessert in a month).

-For dinner we had a roast chicken, baked potatoes, and boiled vegetables. I was pretty satisfied with the meal.

-The almost non-existent Canadian Library of Parliament website is a real bummer. I know they don't want to be bombarded with questions from the public, but it would at least be nice to be able to ask them questions about the documents and reports that they produce. It seems completely unreasonable that they don't even make readily available a contact email address or phone number (they give you only the general Parliament contact information).

-In preparation for my comps I have been trying out some ear plugs. I always find it funny how many different sounds I hear while sporting ear plugs. In many ways my jaw is almost as distracting as someone typing on the other side of the room.

-There seems to be some shouting going on somewhere behind our apartment building. Unfortunately it seems to be just far enough away that I can't quite make out what they are saying. That I can't figure it out is probably fine, it doesn't sound as though anything particularly nice is being said.

-So we now have 500 of these. In some ways I am surprised that there are this many and on the other hand I am a little surprised that it took me so many years to get to 500. It is also hard to believe that the blog has now existed in parts of at least 6 years. Who would have guessed that it would have such a long life-span when it was started all of those years ago? Also, who would have guessed that Neil would almost stop posting within a year or two?

A Few Quick Notes 499

-We had another cold, clear, and crisp day in Halifax today. In many ways this was a little surprising given how much precipitation we had yesterday.

-Earlier today I remembered that we are now just a few days away from our 3rd annual Montifax Blog-off. I think that I will have to re-jig the scoring system a little so that things will be skewed a little more to Neil's favour. At the moment I am even thinking of going back to the original 5 to 1 scoring system that we used in the first year. Anyway, check back in February for exciting blog-off action.

-We had another successful Ultimate game. Though we whittled down an 18 lead to only a 6 point lead, we did manage to hold on to the lead and win. It may be hard for us to bring our winning streak to 3 as we will be missing quite a number of players next week.

-I had another big salad for lunch today. As usual, I didn't waste any valuable salad space on leafy greens. Who wants leaf taking up space when they could just as easily have something with a little more substance in their bowl?

-I guess I should get back to work.

Clarity or confusion changing to confusion

The following is the current Environment Canada forecast for Halifax:

Snow or rain changing to rain and ending this evening then cloudy periods. 30 percent chance of flurries overnight. Rainfall amount 5 to 10 mm except snowfall amount 2 cm inland. Wind southeast 40 km/h gusting to 70 becoming southwest 20 then increasing to 40 gusting to 70 late this evening. Temperature rising to plus 5 this evening then falling.

Is it just me, or does this make next to no sense? I am inclined to think that the person in charge of writing these things isn't too concerned about providing the public with a comprehensible forecast.

At least the snow is gone

So it seems that most of what is coming down right now must be rain as there is much less snow on the ground than there was an hour or two ago. So much for our impending snowfall.

Things have taken a turn for the worse...

...I can't tell if it is raining or snowing. Unfortunately, much of the available evidence seems to be suggesting the former rather than the latter.

Halifax gets her snow on

It seems that while I was it the kitchen having some lunch it started to snow.



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Amazingly, almost as soon as I returned to work/my desk things calmed down. Of course, given the size of the storm system and the whiteness of the skies I don't expect that Halifax has seen the last of this snowfall. Actually, the satellite imagery seems to suggest that we have only seen the beginning of what this thing likely has to offer.



It should be a nice winter's evening.

There might be something to this snowfall thing

Based on the available satellite imagery it appears that there may actually be something of a storm system off of the coast of Nova Scotia. So, I guess I am now at least convinced that something will happen here weather-wise within the next few hours. Of course, this thing could head along the coast and basically miss us (and that seems entirely plausible).



Anyway, I am certainly now a little more excited than I was a few minutes.

The calm before the storm?

Word on the street is that we are due for some snow this evening. Though we have had a few flakes already, they really haven't amounted to much.



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Not sure what to make of this

The following video was brought to my attention earlier tonight.



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Definitely a different approach to fishing than I am used to and I really don't know what to make of it (partly because I don't really know what is going on). In one sense it is kind of cool to see so many people come together and engage in a similar activity while, on the other hand, it is kind of crazy to see a lake basically drained of life in just minutes.

An ever changing canvas

A few weeks ago I noticed that we had some new graffiti on the wall across from my bedroom. The blue and orange faces of a few months ago were now obscured by a relatively large white design accompanied by the word 'tweak.' As far as I was concerned, this was definitely a step backwards as far as my view was concerned. The mustachioed orange guy, in particular, was at least a little whimsical and amusing while the 'tweak' thing is just eight kinds of bland.




Anyway, it seems that the 'tweak' piece just wasn't meant to last. At some point last night more graffiti was added to the same patch of cement meaning that much of the recently added white piece has now been completely obscured. Given that we are now back to two faces I am curious if we in haven't had another visit from the same person who was so kind as to grace us with the blue and orange faces?



I guess I will just have to get used to the new view, though I probably shouldn't get too used to it as it is sure to change in the relatively near future.

Citrus update

A few days ago I mentioned that I recently took advantage of a citrus sale and purchased a variety of citrus fruits. At the time I suggested that I might try to take a few photos of the fruits and post them here with comments about the consumption experience. As seems to be turning out, the comments about the fruits and the photos are now somewhat disconnected (though if you want to find my less than useful comments they are here).

And though it took me a few days, I am finally getting around to at least the photo part of the experience.

This first photo includes a number of the forms of citrus that I purchased during this citrus purchasing spree. From smallest to largest they are: sunburst tangerine (nasty and dry), blood orange (tangy, juicy, and excellent), ugli fruit (tangy and disconcertingly soft), grapefruit (delightfully tangy and juicy), and pomelo (relatively and verging on bland - definitely a tasty treat).



A few of the blood oranges I have purchased have been particularly purple, like the one pictured below, while others have been just tinged with purple at one end. Though I can't really tell if the stronger colours lead to a better flavour experience I do think I prefer it when the oranges are particularly dark.



Aren't you glad you stopped by today?

Funny thing I saw today

I really enjoyed this fake ad/ad parody made by Mark Little, a local comedian and sketch group member.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

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Youth and Change

This evening while perusing the Globe and Mail I saw a story about a kid getting involved in politics. The thrust of the story was that he was hoping to have the province implement a law that would require those individuals with learner's permits (or whatever they are called in Ontario) to be forced to display a 'P' sign on the back of the vehicles they are driving.

No offense to the kid in question, but this doesn't seem like a good idea to me (and I doubt that they have any data to actually suggest that it will be effective). Such a regulation change likely won't accomplish much, at least aside from providing another way for cops to hassle young drivers. Furthermore, as parents likely won't remove the sign from the car when they are driving the sign will soon loose all meaning (as occurred to similar signs in Newfoundland). Possibly the worst impact that this proposed regulatory change might have is that it might actually make conditions more dangerous for young drivers as people may do their best to avoid these drivers with such exuberance that they actually create less safe driving conditions.

There are surely better ways to making driving conditions for young drivers safer than introducing another superficial rule for them to follow.

So while I applaud this young man's civic mindedness, I also encourage him to be careful with regards to which regulatory changes he proposes as not all such changes are created equally and some may actually have effects that are opposite to those that are intended.

A Few Quick Notes 498

-Today was strangely warm, though as I write this we seem to be heading back towards temperatures below freezing. Assuming the forecast is correct, this cool weather should be with us for the rest of the week.

-For the past two nights we have had vegetable heavy chicken stir-frys. These have been consumed with relatively little rice. This is all just part of our continued effort to maintain healthy diets.

-Episode 2 of the second season of The Republic of Doyle will be airing tonight in Canada. I am particularly looking forward to this episode as a few of my good friends will be appearing as extras. One of them can be seen is this still from the episode promo (he is the guy standing with his arms crossed to the left of the guy with the tattoos).



-I have recently been on something of a blood orange consumption spree. Yesterday I likely consumed about 6 of them (and five in a single sitting).

-A few days ago I realized that I haven't been to a liquor/beer store since mid-December. This also means that I haven't purchased beer or other alcohol from such a store in the same period of time. All things considered, this is likely a good thing.

-It seems that the two dogs that have been using the green space across from my window have recently been accompanied by a new chaperon. This new guy seems to be a military guy, or at least someone wearing a uniform that is militaristic. Weird.

A Few Quick Notes 497

-Though today started off in the -14 range, as time has passed the temperature has steadily risen. Though it is now -2 the temperature is predicated to reach a few degrees above freezing by later tonight. I have to agree with Environment Canada that this is "an abnormal temperature trend."

-Today I bought a few blood oranages (also known as moro oranges). I opted for the regular priced bulk oranges at $1.95 a pound instead of the on sale 2 pound bags at $4.49. I am not sure if I feel about about spotting the chance to save or bad for all the people who will be suckered into paying the higher price.

-I am currently studying and drinking some yerba mate with my new bombilla. The big problem with this set up seems to be that the ability of the metal bombilla to conduct heat makes drinking the beverage when warm a little unpleasant. Of course, if you like really hot metal tubes that squirt equally hot water into your mouth than this may be the set up for you.

-The Dalhousie libraries website is really unpleasant to use. It is so frustrating when it is clear that so much effort has been put into a project that takes one further away from the goal than they were when the started.

He just won't stop

Another Durham gem that is sure to engender controversy/hatred of the author:

There can hardly be conceived a nationality more destitute of all that can invigorate and elevate a people, than that which is exhibited by the descendants of the French in Lower Canada, owing to their retaining their peculiar language and manners. They are a people with no history, and no literature.

How to make people hate you

There are many lessons that can be learned from Lord Durham and his report. Sometimes he explains how proper administrative structures matter, sometimes he demonstrates that colonists will be the main victims of their own mistakes in a democratic context, and, most importantly, he demonstrates how to get the better part of a country's linguistic group to hate him for the rest of time.

I think the following quote does a good job of demonstrating this last point:

A plan by which it is proposed to ensure the tranquil government of Lower Canada, must include in itself the means of putting an end to the agitation of national disputes in the legislature, by settling, at once and for ever the national character of the Province. I entertain no doubts as to the national character which must be given to Lower Canada; it must be that of the British Empire; that of the majority of the population of British North America; that of the great race which must, in the lapse of no long period of time, be predominant over the whole North American continent.

Of course, he doesn't stop there. He goes on and on impending dominance of the English and their way of life, really cementing his place in history.

Wisdom from Durham

In justifying a greater degree of independence for the colonies of British North America, Durham suggests that

The colonists may not always know what laws are the best for them, or which of their countrymen are the fittest for conducting their affairs; but, at least, they have a greater interest in coming to a right judgement on these points, and will take greater pains to do so than those whose welfare is remotely and slightly affected by the good or bad legislation of these portions of the Empire. If the colonists make bad laws, and select improper persons to conduct their affairs, they will generally be the only, always the greatest, sufferers; and, like the people of other countries, they must bear the ills which they bring on themselves, until they choose to apply the remedy.

While he doesn't seem have a lot of faith in the 'colonists,' I do think his broader point makes some sense.

LBJ's Pants

For the past few months I have been thinking about LBJ and his presidency a fair bit. Most of this thought has been driven by the fact that I have been slowly working my way through a very engaging three volume LBJ biography.

This context should explain why I was so pleased to see the following LBJ animation from Put This On. LBJ's crass/crude personality really comes through quite nicely even as he does something as simple as order a pair of pants.

Put This On: LBJ Buys Pants from Put This On on Vimeo.

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A Few Quick Notes 496

-After some early morning snow and slush today turned out to be a rather nice winter's day. Though it was cold this evening, the air was clear and the were sidewalks relatively dry.

-We managed to win our Ultimate game last night. This was a particularly impressive feat for two reasons. Firstly, because we were short females we had to pick one up from another team, which meant that we had to take a 7 point penalty. Secondly, even with our extra female player we only had two females, meaning that they didn't have any substitutes during the game. Hopefully we play as well next week.

(Update: Jeannette was upset that I did not mention that she was one of the two female player mentioned above. Both of these players played hard the entire game and score many of our points. Jeannette has suggested, and I agree, that she likely scored about one third of our points.)

-I have managed to do a fair bit of studying this weekend, which is good as my first comp is just around the corner.

-Our salad diet is still going strong. Furthermore, for the first time in my life I have also been doing a good job of integrating fruit into my diet. Actually, I may be over doing it on the fruit front, though this will likely come back into line now that one of the great citrus sales of the year has ended.

-I guess I should get back to work. The Durham Report awaits me.

SAD Milestone

Today marks the first day of 2011 that the sunset in Halifax, Nova Scotia will occur at 17:00h or later. As it turns out, the scheduled sunset time for today, at least according to Environment Canada, is precisely 17:00h. Before I know it, I will again be able to take evening strolls in full daylight.

Law and Order channel

A few months ago our apartment signed up for cable TV (because it led to a drop on our monthly telecommunications bill). This is the first time I have had access to cable in quite a number of years.

Now that I have had a few months to peruse cable's offerings I am amazed that in my years away from cable the offerings have gotten no better. One can still have a ridiculous number of channels and find many hours of the day when there is nothing to interest a particular viewer (or set of viewers). How is this possible? How has the situation not improved over the past 10 years? Have we now been pumping out hour upon hour of quality content for the better part of the last 60 years? Given this immense back catalog of cheap content shouldn't there always be something tolerable to watch?

Law and Order and its various spin-offs seem to be a brand that alone could be used to rectify such a problem. Why not just have a channel that is dedicated to continuously playing Law and Order re-runs. According to my quick calculations there are currently about 953 episodes of the various shows (with more added weekly) so that means that it would take about 5 weeks to go through the entire oeuvre. Of course, as more episodes are added this period would lengthen.

The benefit of such an approach would be that for a relatively broad swath of the viewing public (as indicated by the longevity and popularity of these series) there would always be something to watch.

I guess the real answer to my own question is streaming content. More surprising than the fact that there isn't a channel dedicated to Law and Order is that there are still even channels at all. Who wants to watch things on somebody else's schedule when the technology exists to allow them to watch the same content on their own schedule? Anyway, as our cable provider doesn't provide on demand streaming content I will have to be content to just watch less television content than I might if they actually provided access to content I wanted to see.

(Sorry, this was a little less structured then originally intended.)

Be an early adopter

I often wonder who would want to be an early adopter when they could just as easily be a late adapter and save yourself the hassle of not dealing with the product in its developmental phase.

I think I have finally found something that is worth taking the plunge. Amy Sedaris's new channel on YouTube, which is hardly a day old, might just be worth it, even though I surely will have to deal with all of the changes and updates and people who said they too were there at the beginning and that they have always been into it (when everyone knows they only got into when it got big). Anyway, maybe one or two of you might consider becoming early adopters if you like what you see below.



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For those of you who are curious, these videos seem to be have made in support of Sedaris's new book: Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. While I am not sure how many of the crafts in the books are crafts are crafts I might consider making, I can confirm that book is pretty funny (if you like the type of humour that is on display in the above video).

Nothing but fun

This morning I awoke on the early side of things (it was at least early for me) so that I could start studying. Not surprisingly, by noon I had been studying for a while.

It is now now quite 2:00 PM and I have already had the pleasure of putting in a few good hours of work.

The upside of this is that even if I do nothing for the rest of the day (which isn't my plan) I won't feel as though the day has been wasted. The even better aspect of this situation is that as it is only 2:00 I still have many productive hours left.

I think I need to more consistently get up and get to work early.

Ethical Question

This morning Jeannette and I were talking about a short 'ethics' she has to discuss in an upcoming assignment. After a few minutes of contemplation I realized that the scenario she was dealing with was somewhat similar to a scenario that had been dealt with by Radiolab in one of podcasts.



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Actually, I think that the ethical scenario I remember them dealing with in this episode may have been the first Radiolab segment I ever heard (as it was featured on an episode of This American Life.)

Anyway, if you have the time both This American Life and Radiolab are worth checking out (and would be incredible additions to the daytime CBC Radio One line-up).

The storm that wasn't quite

Well, it seems that our storm didn't leave us with much snow. Actually, I think we likely have only a little more than we did yesterday before this whole storm thing got underway.

That being said, it is snowing presently, so it is possible that by the end of the day some shoveling may be required (though that seems like a long shot).

Anyway, the following is my attempt at capturing the local conditions as they are presently.



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While it isn't that bad I still don't think that I will be heading outside any time soon.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 11

It seems that according to Environment Canada the storm warning is now over. This isn't surprising as it hasn't been snowing in this region for quite a while. I suspect that it won't take long to clean up tonight/tomorrow as we didn't actually get that much snow.

Anyway, I guess this brings the live-blogging of the storm to an end (it's hard to keep live-blogging a non-existent storm).

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 10

As far as I can tell it seems as though the snow has at least temporarily stopped. Of course, the wind and poor conditions are still present.

More importantly, Environment Canada's satellite imagery seems to be suggesting that the main body of the storm has made it past Nova Scotia and should be approaching Newfoundland (maybe even St. John's)



Hopefully this means that we are past the worst of it and will just have to deal with a few more minor remnant before we move back to more pleasant weather.

Now that the storm has subsided we can start thinking about more important things, like the upcoming Republic of Doyle season premiere. I guess preparing to watch a regularly scheduled network TV broadcast didn't really require that much preparation. I guess I can go back to work until it is time to watch the show.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 9

Moments ago I returned from a quick trip outside. It was a little nastier than I expected.



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As you can see, it is definitely still snowing. The amazing feature of this storm is the lack of accumulation. Even though it has been snowing for several hours I would guess that we have fewer than three inches of snow on the ground. I really would have expected it to be about twice this amount, or maybe even more.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 8

What is most amazing about this 'storm' is even though it has been snowing for a few hours at this point the snow has just not been accumulating, at least not in the South End. I am starting to think that there may actually be less snow on the ground presently than there was a few hours ago, which is a pretty amazing feat given that the official temperature has consistently been below freezing.

The only aspect of today's storm that has been remarkably consistent is the wind. I don't think that it has abated at all since it started to pick up a few hours ago.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 7

It just came across on the Twitter that Dalhousie will be closing for the evening. So I guess, at least according to the university, this is something of a real storm.

Rebecca is now waiting to find out if the yoga class she is planning on attending this evening has been cancelled or not. My guess is that it will eventually be cancelled, especially now that the universities are starting to close.

Amazingly, we still don't have that much accumulation.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 6

The snowfall has continued apace since my last post.



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As you can see, we are now starting to see some accumulation. As you can likely also see, the snow is not the driest of snow. It seem as though we must now have an inch or two of snow/slush. What fun.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 5

It is definitely snowing now, though it seems as though accumulation hasn't quite kicked in. Presumably this next step of the storm is just around the corner.

As you can see, I have made a quick time-lapse video of some of the snow.



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Life is starting to get a little more exciting.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 4

Well, after an hour or two without them, the skies once again seem to be filled (or at least peppered) with snow flakes. Of course, given that they only returned moments ago, there is no sign of accumulation on the ground and unless the snow flakes become larger or start to fall more quickly accumulation seems some ways away (though I suspect that this may be a foolish prediction).

Anyway, it is nice to see at least the precursor of the forecast storm.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 3

We are still without snow, though the wind that will eventually be used to help it drift (if it ever does arrive) is already here in full force. So even though we don't have the predicted snow it is not even close to being a nice day in Halifax.

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 2

So while the wind seems to still be blowing, all signs of falling snow have vanished. So was it foreshadowing or a blip in the system that I witnessed earlier?

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 1

Well, the forecast is calling for a snow storm in Halifax today, and it seems that it has already started to hit other parts of the province.

Amazingly, after a mostly snow-free morning, snow has recently started to fall. Does this mean that there may actually be something to this whole storm forecast thing? I guess this means that I will have to follow along through the power of live-blogging so that our readers can be kept up to date with the progress of the 'storm.'

A Few Quick Notes 495

-We had another relatively mild winter's day today. My recollection is that things were a little grey, but never particularly bad.

-Assuming the forecast is worth anything, it seems that we are due for a storm starting tomorrow afternoon. The forecast is calling for up to 30 cm of snow, which seems hopeful given my experiences with Halifax weather. Whether we get the full weight of the storm or not, getting at least some snow seems plausible.

-I managed to consume a few more pieces of exotic citrus today. Of course, I consumed this fruit without documenting it in any way. Oops.

-It seems that the relatively unknown PC party leadership contender has been found to have ineligible signatures on his nomination form. In many ways this development isn't particularly surprising. I guess we will now have to see if the potential leadership candidate does go through with his threats to take any such disqualification to court. What ever happens, this should at least make for a few more days of exciting news from Newfoundland.

-Our salad trend continued tonight with both Rebecca and I opting for salads for dinner. Hopefully this pattern sticks.

-It seems that Republic of Doyle will make its triumphant return to Canada's airwaves tomorrow night. I am sure you are all waiting with baited breath for the season premiere as I am sure the better part of Newfoundland is. I am particularly looking forward to the second episode as I have been lead to believe that two of my friends are likely to make appearances as extras.

A Few Quick Notes 494

-To the best of my knowledge today was a pretty decent winter's day. While it was cool, though not too cool, I don't recall us having to deal with snow or other forms of precipitation.

-For the first time this year I had the pleasure of attending the class that I have been sitting in on for the past two years. As usual, this first class of the semester was something of an introduction.

-This evening I am having the pleasure of using a coin-operated washer and dryer. What fun apartment life is.

-Today seems to have been an active day in Newfoundland politics. My understanding is that a relatively unknown contender has come forward to challenge the interim leader of the PC party, Kathy Dunderdale, for the leadership of the party. Assuming that this contender's nomination papers are accepted Newfoundland could see itself with a new Premier as Dunderdale has promised to step down if challenged.

-As tomorrow is student discount day at our local grocery stores I may have to stop by one of the stores and pick up a few more citrus fruits so I can provide my reading public with a slightly better citrus update, as I am sure none of you were sated by the last waste-of-time post on the subject.

A Few Quick Notes 493

-For better or worse, since my last update, it has continued to snow. Because of the near-zero temperatures we haven't seem much accumulation since about the time of my last post.

-Earlier today a friend of mine asked for a recipe for some lentil stew that I made about a month ago. Of course instead of providing him with something I of a straight forward answer he got the following:

I don't happen to have the recipe on me at the moment (nor did I the last time I made it), but I am quite willing to try to re-create what it was I did.

The last time I made it I think that I didn't start by adding some onions and oil to the pot, but that is normally how I would start. From there I would add the potatoes and lentils. I base the number of potatoes on the size of the batch I want to make, so maybe 3-4 cubed potatoes. In terms of lentil volume, the original recipe called for next to no lentils, I like to add close to a cup, again, it is flexible. At this point I would also add water and seasoning. As far as seasoning goes, I use vegetable bouillon/stock and black pepper. I would use maybe two tablespoons of the powdered stuff and a teaspoon or so of pepper. Add enough water (or you could use liquid vegetable stock) to cover most of the ingredients. I would say that it is better to start with less water and add more later than too much and need to boil it off.

(I typically use green/brown lentils and let them soak for an hour or two before cooking. I have never used canned lentils, but I presume you could. If you use red lentils I don't think it is necessary to let them soak).

The original recipe calls for carrots and celery, and suggests that they should be added only at the end of the cooking period. I find this works, but many people don't really like almost raw celery and carrots in their stews so I tend to add these ingredients at about the same time as everything else. It should also be noted that basically any vegetables you want should work. (For instance, when you were there I left out the celery because I know Rebecca doesn't like it and replaced it with things like frozen beans and corn.)

The great thing about this recipe is that it is quick, unlike regular stew. In all you probably only need to cook this for about an hour.

I realize this description/recipe has been a bit rambling, so if you have any questions feel free to write back or call.

This was then supplemented with the following nugget:

Also, upon consideration 1 cup of lentils seems like a lot for 3-4 potatoes, I might dial that back a bit.

I am curious to hear how this turned out as these may be some of the least precise recipe instructions I have ever given anybody.

-Last night we managed to lose our ultimate game by a single point. Even more impressive than the margin of our defeat is the fact that the final point was scored with less than a second left on the clock. Bummer.

-This afternoon Jeannette talked me into going to see the movie Black Swan with her and a few of her friends. While I will give this thing credit for being well acted and, at least as far as I could tell, technically well crafted, the experience was somewhat less than enjoyable. Maybe I am just turning into my father, but I really am not too interested watching someone self-destruct on screen, no matter how artfully it is done.

-My pea/lentil soup and bread should be ready for consumption shortly. After dinner I will have to be sure to get back to work.

Something a little less than givin' 'er

Halifax, once again, is being treated to a dusting of snow. While this stuff isn't likely to last all that long, it is worth noting that in this case the roads were actually covered.



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Now we can look forward to the wonderful process snow transforming itself into slush. Hooray.

The Day of the Citrus

Yesterday I noticed that one of the local grocery stores was having a sale on a number of different non-standard varieties of citrus fruits. It didn't take me long to realize that I wanted to try a few of the varieties on sale. Shortly after buying the fruit I decided to give them all a try

Ugli Fruit - Living up to its name, this nasty looking fruit did taste a little better than it looked. That being said, this somewhat strong sour flavour made it not a new favourite.

Sunburst(?) Tangerine - Every few years I seem to be suckered into buying a few tangerines. This batch, like all of those in the past, was no exception to the rule: an incredible disappointment. For some reason tangerines are just never quite as flavourful or juicy as I expect them to be.

Pomelo - This isn't my first pomelo of the past few weeks so I wasn't particularly surprised with this particular citrus fruit. As usual, I quite enjoyed the flavour and texture of the fruit. That being said, I can see how it might be a bit sour for some people.

Blood Orange - I guess I must have had one of these in the past but I really don't remember when or under which circumstances this might have happened. Though this one had a little more flavour than I expected, it was also much better than I expected. If all oranges were this tasty I might actually eat them more regularly than once every few years.

Wow, that was much less informative than I hoped it would be. Sorry.

It only took them 15 years

After about 15 years of producing some of the best public radio content in North America CBC has finally decided to jump on-board and start broadcasting This American Life in Canada.

While this is definitely a step forward for the CBC, they have definitely not gone quite far enough. Instead of having the show air at an hour when most people might actually listen (and taking a poor quality show off the air) they have decided to clump it in with their late night filler content (most of which comes from international sources). Bummer.

Anyway, This American Life is definitely worth listening to. I have been listening been listening to the show regularly for just over ten years now and have to say that it is one of the best radio shows I have had the pleasure of hearing.

Keep on keeping on

The snow just keeps on keeping on.



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It might finally be winter in Halifax

After a few days of sub-zero temperatures we are finally having a little snow.



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Though, as you can see, it isn't really sticking around that much, nor does it seem to be preventing quite a number of people from walking or driving.

Why Durham wants taxes

Just a few pages later one gets Durham's assessment of the previously described (somewhat anemic) revenue stream:

This immunity from taxation has sometimes been spoken of as a great privilege of the people of Lower Canada, and a great proof of the justice and benevolence of their government. The description which I have given of the singularly defective provision made for the discharge of the most important duties of both the general and the local government will, I think, make it appear that this apparent saving of the pockets of the people has been caused by their privation of many of the institutions which every civilized community ought to possess. A people can hardly be congratulated on having had at little cost a rude and imperfect administration of justice, hardly the semblance of police, no public provision for education, lighting, and bad pavements in its cities, and means of communication so imperfect, that the loss of time, and wear and tear caused in taking any article to market, may probably be estimated at ten times the expense of good roads.

It seems that Durham might have been an early supporter of something approximating our contemporary welfare state.

Government revenue in Canada before Canada was Canada

Because I have already introduced the concept of municipal finance today, it seems appropriate for me to also include what Durham had to say about the source of government revenue in the 1830s

With the exception of the small amount now derived from the casual and territorial funds, the public revenue of Lower Canada is derived from duties imposed, partly by imperial and partly by provincial statutes. These duties are, in great proportion, levied upon articles imported into the Colony from Great Britain and foreign countries; they are collected at the principal ports by officers of the Imperial Customs.

At the time of the writing of the report the total revenue collected was about £100 000.

My how things have changed since those old pre-income tax and pre-welfare state days.

Gold Star Idea

Municipalities always seem to complain about not having enough money and that they are forced to rely almost exclusively on things like property tax as a revenue source.

I think I have a solution to this problem that would also be fun and engaging for the entire community.

The idea is for them to stop collecting property tax and instead start holding regular, semi-mandatory fifty-fifty draws. For example, each former tax payer might have to kick in a few hundred bucks to the fifty-fifty pool (in lieu of paying taxes). Of course, they would be welcome to top that up to any level they would like. Also, people who are currently not paying municipal taxes, like renters, would be welcome to participate. Even people from outside the municipality proper would be welcome to participate and as the pot would be seeded, so to speak, the interest from outside gamblers is sure to be huge (a la Powerball). The millions are sure to start rolling in almost overnight.

You may say that reputable organizations don't hold fifty-fifty draws to raise funds. That I would respond by giving you the NHL's Calgary Flames, holders of a regular fifty-fifty draw. It is almost hard to imagine a more reputable organization.

You may wonder if a person's chance to win big can be used for more social or beneficial purposes. It would seem that, at least as far as bank accounts are concerned, there is some evidence of this being possible. Some people, it seems, are more engaged in saving money when such an action results in a chance to win big. Would this trend not hold when it comes to paying municipal taxes? Won't people pay more tax so they have a chance at that sweet prize pool?

All in all it seems that the case for this proposal is pretty strong. Come on Halifax and St. John's, why don't you give this a shot? It has to be better than whatever you have going on right now.

Editor's Note: I should probably credit a recent Freakonomics Podcast episode as being at the core of some of these ideas (though I think I have modified them enough to call them my own - and I wasn't explicitly thinking about it at the idea development phase). Only after coming up with this idea I learn that even they are familiar with the idea of a tax lottery.

Canadian Political Science connection or where that library book came from

A few months ago, when I started to prepare for my comprehensive exams, I checked a number of books out from the library. Over the course of the past few months I have been slowly making my way through these books. Relatively early on the the process I noticed that one of the books, The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence by Donald Creighton, had a signature on the front end paper.

At first I didn't really pay much attention to the signature as I assumed that it had been placed there by one of the book's borrowers at some point in the past 70 years. Then, a few months ago, for some reason or another I gave the signature another look.

Much to my surprise I found that the signature resembled the name of one of the significant figures in Canadian political science: R. MacGregor Dawson.



That his signature appear in a Dalhousie Library book didn't make much sense to me at first. Fortunately, a quick search shed some light on the situation. Amazingly, it seems that not only was Dawson born in Nova Scotia, but he received his BA and MA from Dalhousie and also had his first teaching gig at the university. The book was published by a prominent University of Toronto scholar at about the time Dawson arrived in Toronto.

I presume that upon his death in 1958 Dawson's books, or a portion of them, were donated to the Dalhousie libraries and have then been in circulation since then. Sadly, the bibliographic record for this book does not seem to note its provenance or provide me a way of finding out if there are other books from the same source (which there likely are).

Why I am mentioning any of this is that I just find it neat to think that because of the signature inside the front cover of this book I am able observe a connection (even if it only one individual owning the other's book) between two prominent early 20th century Canadian writers. It is also kind of neat to think that at some point Dawson was likely hunched over the same book I am now hunched over. I wonder if he was as displeased with the writing style as I am?

A Few Quick Notes 492

-Today, much to my surprise, was actually quite nice, if a little chilly.

-I am presently in the midst of making some focaccia-like bread. Instead of following a proper recipe I just added some olive oil and herbs to some rolled bread dough. While it may not be great, it should at least be edible.

-A few days ago John Cusack was asked what he thought was going to happen in 2012. He told them to Mayand their own business.

-Our collective salad kick is still ongoing. Yesterday I stopped by the grocery store and purchased carrots, celery, sliced cabbage, radishes, green onions, and red onions. Today I supplemented our today supplies with another 10 lbs of carrots.

Of course, I haven't just been buying supplies but also consuming salads. Twice today I had salads that contained six Canada's Food Guide servings of vegetables.

I suspect that if that if I am able to maintain this rate of consumption I will be burned out on salads by the end of end of the month.

-Though I have already put in a fair bit of work today, I should probably try to do some more reading before I call it a night.

More not news from Newfoundland

I happened to be skimming my Twitter feed when I noticed a new update from VOCM, a St. John's radio station. The tweet, "MHA Pleased with Governmental Investments," attracted my attention because of it's awkward wording. Why didn't they just write "MHA Pleased with Government's Investments"?

I decided to read the story to see if the tweet's strange construction was merited.

When I got to the VOCM site I found something of a non-story.

The VOCM story in its entirety is:

The minister of Industry, Trade and Rural Development says she is pleased with the investments made by the government in the Buchans Junction-Millertown area during the past year. Area MHA Susan Sullivan says there was roadwork carried out on the Buchans highway in that area, in addition to some pavement in the community of Millertown. Sullivan says there was also a half-million dollars invested for a new water system for a section of Buchans Junction.

As far as I can tell, the only thing this story does is provide an opportunity for a cabinet minister to compliment the work done by her government. What a shock that she thinks she is doing a good job. Did they try checking with residents of the district to see if they agree? Was this the part of the district that needed the investment the most?

Is this story, as it presently stands, worth anyone's time? Does it add anything to the public's knowledge or understanding of government? Not really - particularly given the fact that the investment in itself pretty much laid out the government's position on the worthiness of the investment.

I probably shouldn't let stuff like this get to me, but it is frustrating that stories like this are frequently passed off as news.

New Spamming Technology

It seems that over the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of experiencing a new type of spam - text messages sent to my Google Voice number. Fortunately, because the service is free, this doesn't cost me any money or much time (at least yet). What is troubling is how they happen to have gotten my number (unless they are just generating numbers). It is also troubling to think that this could start happening on a more widespread basis and that web-based services could start text spamming actual phones in such a way that would be almost untraceable (though I know to what end they would be working with such an approach).

While looking through my spam texts I happened to come across a mysterious message that I received a few months ago.



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I have no idea where this came from or what the caller was getting at. Hopefully they eventually found the person they were looking for.

Evening Snack

In line with our new pro-salad stance, the snack I have prepared for the apartment this evening consists entirely of vegetables.



And because you care, I have already had two salads today. If all goes well I will have consumed about 5 or 6 more servings of vegetables by the end of the evening.

A Few Quick Notes 491

-As has been standard so far this winter, today saw us get some rain and have temperatures hovering just above freezing. Talk about fun weather.

-As suggested by our last post, we had salads with our dinner tonight. This means that everyone had at least one salad today and some of us had two. It should also be noted none of us over-indulged in the main course, which was chili. Of course, all of this salad consumptions means that I am likely going to have to make a run to the carrot store tomorrow to pick up a few more carrots and some celery (which happens to be on sale this week).

-I have been doing a fair bit of studying today, though I guess I could have been a little more diligent.

-It seems that there is some new graffiti on the cement wall across from my bedroom window. I guess none of us noticed this going up yesterday.



Unfortunately, this new addition to the wall, at least in my opinion, isn't as nice as what is to be found under it. That the graffiti has taken a turn for the worse is unfortunate as I have to spend a fair bit of my time looking at it. I guess at this point I wouldn't mind if the building decided to remove everything and start from scratch.

-Oh, and I should note that in addition to increasing my salad consumption I am trying to put a little more emphasis on doing more chin-ups, a pursuit that fell by the wayside this summer shortly after a accidental self-inflicted rib injury.

Making friends with salad

For the past few months Neil, Rebecca, Jeannette, and I have all be discussing, in somewhat aspirational terms, the concept of healthier eating (not that our eating habits were that bad too begin with). In general, the areas of discussion have tended towards both the idea of favouring the consumption of relatively healthy foods (more of the problem for Jeannette and Rebecca) as well as the idea of portion control (more of the problem for Neil and I) .

Not surprisingly, aside from a few ambitious thoughts, little had actually been done to work towards these goals. Jeannette, with her love of breakfast sandwiches, and Rebecca, with her love of tinned cola, had make little progress when it came to avoiding their respective vices. Neil and I were also continuing to over-consume a variety of foods.

Shortly after Jeannette and I returned from St. John's the general consensus that was reached seemed to be that increased salad consumption may help with both problems. Not only would the consumption of more salads mean the consumption of healthier foods (assuming we can hold off on bacon bits and croutons), but it would also mean that portion control would be less of a problem as most of the vegetative ingredients in our salads are close to calorie-neutral (i.e. you can eat as many carrots as humanly possible and they won't cause you to get fat).

So over the past 3-4 days this is what we have been doing - having salads either with, or as, many meals. Though it has been less than a week, our ability to stick with the program has been remarkably consistent.

Of course, aside from more trips to the carrot store, there is not much evidence that this dietary change has had any effect. Presumably, I should at least soon start to notice an increase in my carrot chopping speed, or maybe even in my ability to prepare a red pepper.

Pretty much as expected

Our New Year's Eve plans proceeded pretty much as I outlined in yesterday evening's post. The major alteration of plans was that instead of finishing the second movie and heading to bed we decided to pause The Trotsky and then catch a few minutes of the festivities taking place in downtown Halifax.

The switch from the movie to local TV coverage probably wouldn't have been my first choice, but it wasn't too bad. It was particularly nice to seen that local TV coverage in Halifax is comparable to local TV coverage in St. John's, and certainly not much better. The other consequence of this decision was that we were able hear and see a few of the fireworks. Fortunately we did not have a neighbour or neighbours blasting them off nearby.

Another notable feature of our New Year's Eve celebrations was the relatively low level of alcohol consumption. My sense is that Neil and Rebecca each had one drink while Jeannette and I both did not consume any alcohol. Sadly, I did replace excessive drinking with excessive carrot consumption. Fortunately for me, the after effects of overindulging in carrots are much less imposing than the after effects of overindulging in alcohol.

Hope everyone else had as good a time as we did.