October 2011
1 post
April 2011
1 post
March 2011
1 post
Tis True, Tis True.
For those who have not yet heard..we do have some very exciting news…We are in fact expecting. Yes - that’s not some tricky code for something else…Susan is pregnant
The little one is due mid-September (this would be a good time to NOT remind Susan about 35 degree days in July and Aug here)
We told the kids last weekend and they are pretty excited.
Lots of questions - from...
February 2011
1 post
January 2011
4 posts
Yeah - that sounds interesting
Some of the research that I’ve been doing for a prof has been focused on the visibility of the publications that faculty members do - and as a result I’ve seen the titles of a LOT of academic papers.
Here are some of the articles that have shown up on Google scholar searches - that to me seemed like topics that I’m not sure I would dedicate a good chunk of my working life...
January 2, 2011: the day I didn't have a heart... →
wattsinfrance:
Yesterday morning at about 6:30 I woke up with pretty bad pain in my chest; left-hand side. It was so bad that I basically lunged forward to sit up, as almost a reflex -and it got worse. It was then I realized that my chest was so tight and there was so much pain that I really couldn’t move - so I…
December 2010
2 posts
September 2010
1 post
French stores whose names I enjoy saying:
Darty
NafNaf
Quick
Podmod
BUT
Ed
and my personal favouite:
Flunch
August 2010
2 posts
Hindsight is 20/20 (once the jedi mind tricks wear...
My first 24hr in France
A few of the things that I did in my first 24hrs since arriving:
saw a soldier with fully automatic machine gun patrolling the train station
drove a Land Rover up a winding mountain road
watched a Jazz band play in a park with a chateau behind them
drove a BMW down to town to get lettuce
went to the Marie (town hall) to figure out how to get my residency card (I was told to not worry about it...
July 2010
2 posts
my personal anti-favourite
fadwords:
Vacay
FadWords
for the public shaming of individuals who insist on using these words - please see http://fadwords.tumblr.com/
May 2010
2 posts
why high tuition for 'professional' disciplines...
It is often the usual suspects: business, law, medicine, and engineering. This used to be more reserved for graduate level studies, but is now becoming fully executed at undergrad levels as well.
My main issue is not really weather or not it is fair / just / practical / ethical / profitable to raise tuition on certain programs of study over others. There seems to be some sense that an MBA for...
March 2010
1 post
What I learned when the Olympics were over
-CTV is really pretty good at on-the-fly video montages
-a lot of people took 17 days off from shoveling their sidewalk
-you don’t win a silver medal in hockey - you lose a gold.
-protestors complaining about the use of tax-dollars to fund the Olympics appear (from their speech and action) to not really have a valid concern about their tax dollars being used
-Canadians love to tell the...
December 2009
1 post
Google zeitgeist tells a lot
…and to be honest - I think we should all feel a bit ashamed of what it says.
First, there is the strange spike in Wacko-Jacko songs around the time of his death. Fine - it makes sense that people are intrigued by 24/7 ‘news channel’ coverage of his death. But these are searches for specific song titles. My guess is that these are people looking for songs to download. I guess...
November 2009
11 posts
to fix something - you start with it broken
There are a lot of ideas that are being generated for ways to rectify the social / environmental / economic problems that we seem to have created through relying on sprawling suburbs as our mode of choice for urban development. There is definitely a time and a place for blue-sky-solutioneering [ (c)2008 hotdogsladies] - but in order for useful / actual / real development to take place we also...
oh yeah..if you’re having problems with Christmas gifts: perhaps my son and I could help you out:
http://georgewatts.com/
DemoCamp9: the art exhibit
The ninth DemoCamp Edmonton took place this past week. There was a great turnout and some really interesting demos.
I don’t want to attempt a summary of the event (Mack Male has done his usual top-notch recap) - but point out a few things for people who maybe have never attended - or don’t know why they would:
[added Dec 7]: this is about as close to a true meritocracy of ideas as...
City of Edmonton - Great Neighbourhoods
I attended one of three Neighbourhood Engagement events put on by the city as part of the Great Neighbourhoods initiative. The speaker was -Jim Diers “a respected author, inspirational speaker, and former Director of the City of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods”
Much of what he says really just looks like common sense when it’s written down -but I think it is quite...
Halloween is a great way to use my kids to get my neighbours to buy me candy
Ms. Pac-Man car →
Yeah … That’s necessary
remembrance day
4 things that occurred to me today:
1) Remembering our Veterans and War Dead does not mean that we have to agree with current (or past) military action. It is acknowledging that whether we like it or not - wars have been fought - and our current way of life is a direct result of that.
2) If you claim to be too busy to pay your respects - I believe you should find a veteran or family who getting...
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