As you may already know the world participated in (or should I say celebrated?) Earth Hour a couple of days ago.
A friend told me about and insisted that I do my part and not have any lights or other electrical devices on for the designated hour.
'Oh no!' I exclaimed, 'but that's the exact same time I was planning to do my tribute to Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison by continuously flicking my electricity on and off for the hour!'
He didn't laugh.
Anyway I did my part. I hadn't exactly prepared for Earth Hour though, so I ended up sitting at my desk in the darkness with one little tealight candle to keep me company. About halfway through I needed to go to the bathroom so I tried to navigate my way in the dark. Bad idea, stubbed my toe like nothing else on a door frame. I also feel asleep in my chair before the hour finished. When I woke up several hours later my little candle was out. I flicked on the light to discover that the overflowing wax had fused the candle to my desk and I had to use a knife to get it off.
All in all, a great Earth Hour.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Lesson for Today - Don't Let the Police Go on Strike!
Here's an interesting story for today........
At 8am, October 17 1969 in Montreal, Canada the local police force decided to go on strike.
Now Canada is not known as a nation with high crime rates. In fact it is common for people to leave their front doors unkocked continously. Canadians certainly don't live in fear of becoming victims to crime. This makes the reaction to the police strike all the more fascinating.
The strike began at 8am. It took only three hours after that for a bank robbery to take place. By midday looting of stores had become rampant. Taxi drivers burned down the businesses of their competitors. Looters and rioters also attacked hotels and restaurants, presumably for fluffy towels. A doctor even killed a burgular who had entered his home. Before the army was finally called in to restore order six banks had been robbed, over a hundred stores looted, twelve fires had sprung up and the cost of the damages rose into the millions.
Who could have predicted such a rapid descent into choas? In Canada?!
Anyway that's my story for today................feel free to leave a comment.............on any post...................let me know someone's out there in cyberspace
Bob
At 8am, October 17 1969 in Montreal, Canada the local police force decided to go on strike.
Now Canada is not known as a nation with high crime rates. In fact it is common for people to leave their front doors unkocked continously. Canadians certainly don't live in fear of becoming victims to crime. This makes the reaction to the police strike all the more fascinating.
The strike began at 8am. It took only three hours after that for a bank robbery to take place. By midday looting of stores had become rampant. Taxi drivers burned down the businesses of their competitors. Looters and rioters also attacked hotels and restaurants, presumably for fluffy towels. A doctor even killed a burgular who had entered his home. Before the army was finally called in to restore order six banks had been robbed, over a hundred stores looted, twelve fires had sprung up and the cost of the damages rose into the millions.
Who could have predicted such a rapid descent into choas? In Canada?!
Anyway that's my story for today................feel free to leave a comment.............on any post...................let me know someone's out there in cyberspace
Bob
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Drillbit Taylor.......Bob's Thoughts
Saw Drillbit Taylor today........
Better than I expected. That's one of the great things about always having low expectations, either you're pleasantly surprised or at the very least there's less disappointment.
Reminds of a good one-liner: I always like to borrow money from pessimists because they never expect to get it back.
Funny, no?
Anyway......the film was actually quite funny. Mostly cheap laughs of course, but you know that going in so that's okay. Owen Wilson had his usual strange broken-nose charm and the kid actors were pretty good. Seth Rogen is on fire, the amount of scripts he's written and produced into films over the past year has been incredible.
There's only one thing that kinda irked me a little. Towards the end of the film Drillbit is being repeatedly punched in the head by the antagonist, the school bully. However initially Drillbit does not fight back and appeals instead to the bully, trying to uncover some kindness beneath his tough exterior. The film sets itself up perfectly for a nice moral message about how violence is not a solution to problems etc etc.
Doesn't work. So what does Drillbit do?
He beats the bully mercilessly to a pulp..........and the good guys win the fight. It was hilarious, but still.
Better than I expected. That's one of the great things about always having low expectations, either you're pleasantly surprised or at the very least there's less disappointment.
Reminds of a good one-liner: I always like to borrow money from pessimists because they never expect to get it back.
Funny, no?
Anyway......the film was actually quite funny. Mostly cheap laughs of course, but you know that going in so that's okay. Owen Wilson had his usual strange broken-nose charm and the kid actors were pretty good. Seth Rogen is on fire, the amount of scripts he's written and produced into films over the past year has been incredible.
There's only one thing that kinda irked me a little. Towards the end of the film Drillbit is being repeatedly punched in the head by the antagonist, the school bully. However initially Drillbit does not fight back and appeals instead to the bully, trying to uncover some kindness beneath his tough exterior. The film sets itself up perfectly for a nice moral message about how violence is not a solution to problems etc etc.
Doesn't work. So what does Drillbit do?
He beats the bully mercilessly to a pulp..........and the good guys win the fight. It was hilarious, but still.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Hidden Meanings Behind Foam Art
I was at a local cafe the other day. I sidled up to the counter and was greeted by a picture of beauty.
'Morning sunshine!' she says, 'what can I get you?'
'Just a cappucino thanks' I reply in my best Sean Connery impersonation.
'Right away, Mr Bond' she whispers mischieviously.
So I sit down at a table in the corner, unable to wipe the smug grin from my face. A couple of minutes pass and she brings over the coffee.
She leans over me placing her hand on my shoulder to steady herself and whispers 'I hope this is what you ordered Mr Bond'. And there it is, a love heart, made out of the foam in the cappucino. So beautiful in its simplicity, too beautiful to destroy with my teaspoon, at least, not for a little while.
What does this mean? I don't know the etiquette and hidden messages of foam art. Does she make love hearts for everyone? Does love hearts for everyone lead to bigger tips? Unbelievable! The sheer nerve of it! Is she so presumptous to think that I would be duped by petty flirting? This 'heart' isn't even symmetrical for chrissake!
No, no, I won't stand for this. So I call her over.
'You called for me Mr Bond?' says the greedy siren. She thinks its just a game.
'Well,' I reply firmly, 'I'm just letting you know that I'm wise to your tricks so you can just forget it, I'm not giving you an exorbitant tip. And quite frankly, this coffee is of poor quality at best so you'll be lucky if I give you anything.' And with a wave of the hand, 'That is all, thankyou.'
She stands there stunned for a moment, presumably because I'm the first to catch this harlot out. Then the tears begin to well in her eyes and she briskly walks away.
The next day my foam art was of a dagger.
Ah well...............
'Morning sunshine!' she says, 'what can I get you?'
'Just a cappucino thanks' I reply in my best Sean Connery impersonation.
'Right away, Mr Bond' she whispers mischieviously.
So I sit down at a table in the corner, unable to wipe the smug grin from my face. A couple of minutes pass and she brings over the coffee.
She leans over me placing her hand on my shoulder to steady herself and whispers 'I hope this is what you ordered Mr Bond'. And there it is, a love heart, made out of the foam in the cappucino. So beautiful in its simplicity, too beautiful to destroy with my teaspoon, at least, not for a little while.
What does this mean? I don't know the etiquette and hidden messages of foam art. Does she make love hearts for everyone? Does love hearts for everyone lead to bigger tips? Unbelievable! The sheer nerve of it! Is she so presumptous to think that I would be duped by petty flirting? This 'heart' isn't even symmetrical for chrissake!
No, no, I won't stand for this. So I call her over.
'You called for me Mr Bond?' says the greedy siren. She thinks its just a game.
'Well,' I reply firmly, 'I'm just letting you know that I'm wise to your tricks so you can just forget it, I'm not giving you an exorbitant tip. And quite frankly, this coffee is of poor quality at best so you'll be lucky if I give you anything.' And with a wave of the hand, 'That is all, thankyou.'
She stands there stunned for a moment, presumably because I'm the first to catch this harlot out. Then the tears begin to well in her eyes and she briskly walks away.
The next day my foam art was of a dagger.
Ah well...............
Friday, March 7, 2008
A funny story for today.......about penicillin
Here's a little story about the beginnings of the wonderful antibiotic known as penicillin and the first time is was used on a human being.......
In 1940, a 48 year old London policemen, Albert Alexander, cut himself while he was shaving. The cut soon became infected with a bacterium and this copper was in the shit and on his way to death.
But as luck would have it at the same time at the Radcliffe Hospital doctors were preparing to use penicillin on a human for the first time. Alexander became their test subject. He was administered penicillin and soon began to recover.
At this time penicillin was extremely hard to produce after five days though they ran out of penicillin for Alexander. He began to deteriorate again until the doctors discovered they could extract more penicillin from his urine. He was administered this purified penicillin for a few more days and began to improve again before they finally ran out of penicillin.
A couple of days later Alexander died.......so this new drug was a success but the first human to use it wasn't.
In 1940, a 48 year old London policemen, Albert Alexander, cut himself while he was shaving. The cut soon became infected with a bacterium and this copper was in the shit and on his way to death.
But as luck would have it at the same time at the Radcliffe Hospital doctors were preparing to use penicillin on a human for the first time. Alexander became their test subject. He was administered penicillin and soon began to recover.
At this time penicillin was extremely hard to produce after five days though they ran out of penicillin for Alexander. He began to deteriorate again until the doctors discovered they could extract more penicillin from his urine. He was administered this purified penicillin for a few more days and began to improve again before they finally ran out of penicillin.
A couple of days later Alexander died.......so this new drug was a success but the first human to use it wasn't.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Toothprints, what a product!
I went to the dentist today.........which was fun
Anyway in the reception of this place was an advertisement for a product called 'Toothprints'.
'What are toothprints?' I hear you asking, (yes dammit, you are asking)
Well, Toothprints are simply moulds of a child's teeth. The ad states that 'Toothprints® is a simple, cost-effective way of documenting a patient’s unique tooth characteristics, tooth position within the arch, and maxillomandibular jaw relationship, which are all important identifiers'.
Okay.....identifiers for what?
Yep, that's right, this product is sold to parents who fear that they might one day need them to identify their children. I don't think I need to go into detail here for you to know what the extreme circumstances are required for these Toothprints to actually have any use but let me just say that if you have to use them then your children's teeth are the least of your worries.
Ah well, at the least the kids pictured on the ad holding their Toothprints moulds are all smiling brightly.........let's hope their Toothprints don't go to waste........
Anyway in the reception of this place was an advertisement for a product called 'Toothprints'.
'What are toothprints?' I hear you asking, (yes dammit, you are asking)
Well, Toothprints are simply moulds of a child's teeth. The ad states that 'Toothprints® is a simple, cost-effective way of documenting a patient’s unique tooth characteristics, tooth position within the arch, and maxillomandibular jaw relationship, which are all important identifiers'.
Okay.....identifiers for what?
Yep, that's right, this product is sold to parents who fear that they might one day need them to identify their children. I don't think I need to go into detail here for you to know what the extreme circumstances are required for these Toothprints to actually have any use but let me just say that if you have to use them then your children's teeth are the least of your worries.
Ah well, at the least the kids pictured on the ad holding their Toothprints moulds are all smiling brightly.........let's hope their Toothprints don't go to waste........
Climb aboard....
says this cantankerous old fart, because my weak bladder waits for no one. Whether you've stumbled onto this by chance wading through the muck of cyberspace or you just like reading blogs in your spare time (HA! you must have a lot of it) today is your lucky day. Why? Because you've found me, Bob, your new best friend.
I've put it upon myself to lay down some of my theories about the world we live in. Some of it will controversial, some of it will be humourous, BUT, I can give you an iron-clad guarantee that most of it will be drivel.
Still, even a broken clock is right twice a day.......
I've put it upon myself to lay down some of my theories about the world we live in. Some of it will controversial, some of it will be humourous, BUT, I can give you an iron-clad guarantee that most of it will be drivel.
Still, even a broken clock is right twice a day.......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
