Well I just had to post something for 12/12/12.
There will never be another.
Sports...
Fuck the NHL.
On to the NBA, and the Toronto Raptors in particular. Here is my recent comments to them and the somewhat canned response.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Your Comment @ 2012-12-06 12:40:10 <<<<<<<<<<<<
Subject Category: Fan Services
Well, you've officially lost me as a fan. I'm sick to death of watching this loser team and its sub-par, apathetic players. On and on it goes - where will it stop - when it hits the floor. It's not fun, I'm not watching on tv anymore, and I'm not spending a dime again on you're stupidly ridiculous tickets. If you ever get serious and decide to start getting competitive... - then again, that's just a wish now isn't it? I'm outta here.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Reply @ 2012-12-07 11:04:00 <<<<<<<<<<<<
Thank you for your email. We understand that you are frustrated and appreciate all the feedback we receive from our fans. This has certainly not been the start to the season that our fans and the organization had hoped to see. We have all been disappointed with a number of close losses, coupled with injuries to two starters and a key reserve. We have also faced one of the more difficult schedules in the league with 15 of our first 22 games on the road. In this 22-game span, we will play 15 games against opponents that qualified for the playoffs last season.
The basketball operations department, coaching staff and players are committed to turning things around. No one has given up on the season. Bryan Colangelo is continually searching for ways to improve the roster. We are excited by the progress of our past two first-round draft picks, Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross. Both have made contributions and show signs of quickly growing into key pieces for the immediate future.
Thanks for being a fan.
Sincerely,
Your Toronto Raptors
I appreciate the acknowledgment, but it changed nothing. So, fuck the Raptors.
Come on baseball season!
Thanks to my golfing buddies for a nice season - 29 rounds this year!
The World is a Beautiful Place...
Wasp vs. Hummingbird. A sting is death and the hummers know it.
Holy Cow it's been a long time!
Why does time seem to speed up as I get older?
Thank god the election is over
The robo calls to our house were absolutely ridiculous - about 3 a day during the two weeks leading up to the KW provincial bielecton. Some PC party finance knob on CBC radio the morning after the election proclaimed that the labour party bought the riding in KW. One would think by now that politicians would do their homework before they open their mouths. The NPD won KW because they have a familiar well-liked local rep, because votership were let down by the PC's when popular incumbent Elizabeth Witmer left her seat and took a sweetheart job with WSIB, and because the votership were not fooled by the Liberal's attempt for a majority by taking over Witmer's abandoned seat in KW.
Tapper Fills in For Zaun on SN
Fun Stuff to Share..
A short doc on the real Dude behind the Big Lebowski. Here
Who wants to go for burgers? Here
GOODBYE NHL
Millionaire owners at odds over money with millionaire players, while the fans who fund the whole operation get taken for granted - again.
Politicians Think We're Stupid...
Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty offers long-time Waterloo Conservative MP Witmer a sweet job as chair of Ontario's WSIB. By removing her from competiton and winning that seat in an upcoming bye-election, the Liberals would gain a majority government.
The World is a Beautiful Place...
Cayo Largo is part of a string of islands off the coast of southern Cuba. This "hidden gem" has some of the most pristine, quiet, white sand, turquois beaches on earth. The tiny islet is not permanently habitated and is full of wildlife including the Cuban crocodile, iguanas, and many varieties of birds.
A NEW RECORD!
How about golfing on St. Paddy's Day 2012! Yeah baby!
Recent golf start dates:
Comet Lovejoy Plunges into the Sun and Survives. Incredible video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory here.
Internet security. 15 Tips for protective your privacy online here.
The world is a beautiful place...
October sunset at MacGregor Point Provincial Park. Otis and I hiked out to Sunset Point in hopes of seeing a famous Lake Huron sunset. The challenge was to get far enough west to see the sun set over water. We were not disappointed. MacGregor is a lovely campground with many very large and private sites.
The Comedy Network has had some great Canadian stuff I'd never heard of. Sean Cullen was guesting on the 2009 skit show Hotbox. Watch some clips here. Picnicface is a troupe that records out of Halifax. Clips can be found here.
Property taxes in the city Waterloo are already amoung the highest in the country. They need more next year, 2.1% more. Our tax bill for 2012 is $4124.64 for our expansive 0.1 acre property. This just in: City Infrastructure in Need of Repair. City Council ponders how much more they can increase local taxes. Way to go local government! Keeping it real for the people.
Roundabouts...
I love them! There are no bad roundabouts - only bad roundabout drivers. And no shortage of them.
Last winter I was happy to spend an evening with Hailey attending a lecture by Professor Shing-Tung Yau, one of the preeminent mathematicians of our time, at U of Waterloo. He of Calabi-Yau manifold fame was sometimes hard to understand by accent and inadequate amplification, but was none the less fascinating, and I'm the proud owner of a signed copy of his book: The Shape of Inner Space: String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions. After completing the book, I emailed professor Yau at Harvard U to congratulate him on his book (not an easy read for the non-math inclined). Prof Yau took the time to reply: " dear Frank, it is really great to know that you like the book. I certainly remember you. I hope to meet you sometime again. best regards, yau"
How cool is that!
Way to go Voyager...
From 14 billion kms away, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena sent a command to the Voyager 2 spacecraft to switch thrusters to the backup set. Ten days later, on Nov 14/11, a confirmation signal from the spacecraft was received back on earth. The change extends the life of the 39 year old craft's nuclear power supply by about 10 years. Voyager 2 is currently located in the heliosheath -- the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind from the sun is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas.
Some Awesome Video...
Remember Rick Moranis as Gerry Todd on SCTV, the video guy pulling handles and messing with state-of-the-art effects? Gerry was the face of calm and control in the the brand new era of music video television. I've always loved this dry character. I forgot about this funny sketch where Moranis doubles as Michael McDonald on Chris Cross's video for Fly Like The Wind here.
Apollo 13 launch via the mighty Saturn 5 rocket. Must see video here.
Time-lapse video of the earth, from the ISS here.
You's wanna piece a me?...
Fall camping at MacGregor Point, Otis and I are scoping out a photo spot for a Lake Huron sunset when we spot this fella. First thought: Awesome! I've finally found a porcupine live in the wild (I've long wished to see one). Immediately followed by: I hope this leash doesn't break! Having found porci with his back to us, we made noise as we got closer. Finally we saw a calm turn of the head to acknowledge us, followed by a mooning, full needles flared. I chuckled at the half minute display as we got another backwards glance. When porci turned to his left to slowly leave, I gave a foot a stomp and porci picked up some speed. Otis and I hi-fived each other. What a treat!
Software alternatives...
With the popularity of pdf, everyone needs a reader. There is a nice alternative to the bloated and invasive Adobe reader. I've been testing Nitro pdf Reader and quite like. Nitro website here.
Paint.net is a very nice graphics and photo editor tool that does way more than the Windows version. There's lots of add-ons available to customize the special effects capabilities. Paint.net website here.
Congratulations MESSENGER...
After a 6-1/2 year, 4.9 billion mile race to catch the fast near Earth neighbor, Messenger is the first spacecraft to ever orbit planet Mercury. More
Upcoming Stuff...
Masters Golf - Augusta, GA April
Sunfest - London, Ontario July 4-7, 2013
LPGA - Waterloo, Ontario July 10-14, 2013
Canadian Open Golf - Oakville, Ontario July 25-28, 2013
Kitchener Blues Festival - Kitchener, Ontario Aug 8-11, 2013
Free websurfing protection tools......
Highly recommended free software to combat viruses and spyware. Don't even think about web surfing without this free stuff.
Virus protection.
--
WinPatrol. --
Spybot. --
SpywareBlaster.
Passwords are a pain in the ass...More...
Not only is it important to change them up, but to make them complicated as well. Today's computers are powerful enough to make thousands of password attempts (read "guesses") very quickly in an effort to gain access to an online account. Think your passwords are clever and hard to guess? Test them out here.
Backups are a pain in the ass...
But when your hard drive fails, it's all worth it. Don't risk losing all those photos, music files, personal docs. Don't toss that hard drive in your old pc - pull it out, buy a suitable hard drive enclosure ($45 at Staples for mine), clean it up (format), install some decent backup software (I like Syncback), and back up regularly. Believe me, you'll be glad you did some day, so just do it.
...that Canadian Chris Hadfield will be the first ISS commander that is not either American or Russian?
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NEXT SOYUZ TARGET LAUNCH TO ISS DECEMBER 5, 2012 |
