In the process of upgrading Typo, I managed to accidentally publish a somewhat inflammatory partly-finished draft here. If it showed up in your RSS reader, you can send me inflammatory email or you can just ignore it until later.

But anyhow, it’s gone now, so here’s a funny picture instead:

I won’t be trying to update this site on a weekly basis until the book is finalized in July. Read on…

Exam time means study time. Study time means not enough time. And this, of course, means streamlining.

Obvious targets are tasks that can be eliminated altogether. The justification which allows fast food to replace real food becomes more muddled, and can even extend as far more bizarre substitutions. For example, the purchase of new clothes to save that hour and a half spent on laundry. (Possibly a guy-only savings; apparently some females find clothes shopping to be a veritable black hole of time consumption.)

But besides killing chores, what about the necessary recreation? Man cannot live on studying alone… What kinds of relaxation activities give the highest degree of relaxation per unit of time invested? Read on…

Typically, there are two reasons for a blogger to go on temporary hiatus:

1. Extreme busy-ness, or
2. Writing a book.

uwMike will fall silent until May, and actually, it’s for both reasons. I look at my drafts folder, and there’s a half-dozen partially written articles, but I just can’t afford the time to fix them up. Writing is very much an enjoyable experience, but I need my attention elsewhere in the coming weeks.

April is exam month.

Oh, and yeah, I’m writing a book. With Jeff and Cam from We-Create; my employer for two workterms.

It’s getting quiet here. Time to bust out some controversy.

Prayer. Pretty major part of Christianity, being the means by which we can talk to God. The natural extension from talking to God is to listen back. So lets talk about listening to God.

For starters, the Bible’s pretty clear about seeking out two-way communication with the spiritual realm. Saul’s last mistake was to contact Samuel through a witch, an error which cost him the battle at hand, the kingship, and his life.

Nonetheless—according to scripture—it’s clear that God does occasionally reveal himself to select individuals (Joseph, Moses, Paul, Elijah, other prophets, etc.) in very explicit ways.

I’ve been thinking about the topic recently, in light of three things:

1. A intriguing sermon series at CFC entitled Which Way To Go,
2. The speakers at a recent Christian retreat, and
3. The television series Wonderfalls.

The first two were messages given at Christian gatherings, quite different from each other, and the third is a very (very) secular show which explores some of the themes. Read on…

I don’t normally use this space to express negative opinions, but I’m making an exception for the Low Fat Yogurt commercial from Tim Hortons.

The advertisement in question is not simply annoying, it is offensive.

A trim, red-haired woman is featured, enjoying a fruit and yogurt cup on a couch. A small crowd gathers outside the window, presumably to observe her consuming the treat.

On seeing these people, she assumes the look of a trapped animal. “It’s low fat,” she pleads, eyes wide, “It’s low fat!” Read on…

My room is a mess. It’s a disaster. Clothes on the chairs, on the shelves and on the floor; Lego on the floor and on the desk; papers piled up on the table, and even an ice cream dish perched on the monitor.

This, however, is atypical.

I’m not a neat freak, but it’s my pattern to be within 30-45 minutes of “very clean.”

So here’s my reasoning about the current state of affairs. Read on…

I’ve unsubscribed from Slashdot, in favour of Reddit.

To the casual reader, Reddit is a page of interesting links. To hardcore Redditors (the “mob”), it’s a steady stream of fresh content, each piece to be evaluated as a candidate for the +1 vote of confidence, or the -1 vote of dismissal. Accumulate enough points—quickly enough—and it’ll appear on the front page of the site.

Perfect system, right? Read on…

Looking at my DVD library, I’ve pretty much come to terms with my tastes: drama, intrigue, and witty relationship comedy. Action just doesn’t do it for me. And horror definitely doesn’t do it for me.

Case: Minority Report. For an “action” movie, we’ve only three major action sequences, and all of them border on the ridiculous. A runaway jetpack that grills hamburgers? A factory that builds a car with Tom Cruise alive and kicking inside it? A “flush the tank” lever that no one knew about until the moment a hero needed a quick getaway? Read on…

It’s Christmas season.

Family time, gift-giving, cold weather, and delicious food. It seems we’re also faithfully observing another annual tradition: That of fighting over the season’s name.

The Globe and Mail serves up this year’s main installment:

“Regarding the Christmas tree generously donated by Nova Scotia, I hope we can all celebrate it. Nonetheless, this tree is on public property and supported largely by tax dollars from many who vehemently support the separation of church and state,” said another in an e-mail.

Read on…

The Simpsons recently was a brilliant parody of Thelma & Louise. As someone who’s only a very occasional viewer of this show, I’ve always been delighted by their zany spin on classic film material.

The funniest thing to me, I think, is realising that much of the viewership is probably left in the dark by these cultural references. My housemate had never even heard of of T&L, yet still found the Simpsons amusing.

One day, he’ll see Sarandon and Davis on the tube… and experience some reverse nostalgia. Read on…