3R1N's RSS Mix

Video Hello from New Zealand?

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:18:19 GMT

So I own this sweet webcam, and I'm thinking - why have I never used it to record a video???
So I did. It's short and cheesy, but for anyone who's interested, below is a video "hi" from me in New Zealand.

In text based news, if you aren't an impulse clicker, I'm settling in well, keeping busy, sailing, working, climbing, eating, sleeping and doing a bit of travelling, but not too much to say except that the weather is fine, I'm looking forward to seeing my family at christams (and travelling around the north island with them), and life is pretty damn good.

((if the link doesn't work right away, please come back - youtube needs to process it sometimes))

And this is why I love cities!

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:33:49 GMT

The best part about living in cities is the infinite possibility of randomness,
the fact that you can walk the same street four times in a day, and have different things pop up...

Or that you can start walking and then run into a parade.
And at first you're thinking, 'why would there be a parade? was there some holiday that I wasn't told about?'
And then you see the elves appraoching from the street beyond and you realize, that even though the sun is shining, even though it's about 20 degrees, and even though they are selling ICE CREAM at regularly spaced intervals along the parade route, that this parade is, without a doubt the 'Santa Claus Parade'. It's that time in November, kids, and Erin, for the second time in three years has accidentally stumbled upon the Santa Claus Parade.

((the last time was the nighttime parade in Cambridge when trying to get back to the greyhound station when all the buses were re-routed))

And once again, she isn't carrying a camera.

But ah well, the children were out in force, with strollers and puppies in tow, the sun was shining, and good cheer was had by all, with guest appearances from dora the explorer, pikachu, shrek, santa, and the creepiest ronald mcdonald I have ever seen on roller skates.

"We can make it rock"

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:31:21 GMT

Toronto is beautiful this time of year. Since I missed out on the last 2 weeks of autumn, I've been biking as much as possible to drink in the colours.

At a traffic light on Adelaide, an elderly man in a delivery van pulled up beside my bike with his windows down. Glancing over at me with a raised eyebrow:

HIM: I'll race you.

ME: Gladly!

HIM: I'm turning off at the next intersection though, so we'd better make it count.

ME: Me too. Let's do this.

HIM: I'm going to the Crocodile Rock. Wanna come rock at the Croc with me?

ME: I would, but I don't think the Crocodile rocks during the day.

HIM: [Suggestively] We can make it rock.

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:26:36 GMT

I'm in an annoying melancholic mood. I think it truly began last night; sometimes I fantasize elaborate stories and go to bed with them and then wake up with them. I used to do this because it was a method of overcoming loneliness while living in Toronto (and it helped me get to sleep); although I think I've done this long before living there, so perhaps my first thought is incorrect (although I know I used it as a method for loneliness, whether or not it actually began then or not).

Anyways ... since waking up with this one fantasy this morning, it's morphed into various other imaginings and they all have a depressing sort of aspect. Now I'm feeling fairly depressed; it's one of the reasons I wrote that fanfic, because I had an idea, borne from my depressive imaginings, and had to put pen to paper. Presently, however, I'm not sure I want to keep writing ... the only other constructive thing I could do is start work on the essay; usually when I feel like this, though, I find it almost impossible to motivate myself to work on something like that ... then what?

It didn't help that I just finished reading the epilogue of a wonderful and truly affective fic; really, it was quite well written, and it sort of ends on a high point, but overall the base feel of it is still infused with a deep melancholia and regret. It's so easy to put myself into a state of mind not my own, to actually create depression from nothing except the idle dreams of another person (or character) experiencing something other than what I experience; so I think the Modernists were a bit right on that account, I think it is possible to, on some material level, divest yourself of "you" while writing of a character, and create a persona so "other," that the otherness is just as affecting as you read of it yourself, as though you never wrote it at all.

The new english dictionary...

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:02:13 GMT

Recently aquired wordings:

NZspeak                                Canadaizienne
"spouting"                              "Eavestrough, Downspouts"
(also, "Gutters")

"hospital pass"                     "Delegating" (sarcastically)

"blue stick"                            "sticky-tack"

"should/could do"                "should work" or "Alright, I can do it"

"vivid"                                     "Sharpie"

"budgie smugglers"            "men's speedo"

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:09:07 GMT

Things I have decided on for this essay:

Topic - that Modern literature and poetry is about language. Specifically, the struggle to find appropriate language to express the complexities of experience (this is from the hand-out more or less).

I will probably look to Nietzsche, Shelley, possibly Derrida, and possibly Wimsatt and Beardsley (Affective Fallacy, "what the poem is and what the poem does, being confused").

Potential points:
1) Language takes-on the burden of the trauma, which the writer is trying to rid him or herself of. In other words, the complexities of experience directly reflect and are expressed through the complexities of language; thus, look at, for example, syntax: "it seemed; may have been; a strange kind of light; a sort of..." etc.; also, narration within narrations: Boatsman transcribing Merlow, transcribing Kurtz (there is no full disclosure - language....)

Ok, part one above may become more of an intro, because I'm not sure if it's a fully independent point, as of yet. My other points deal specifically with "Truth" and "Metaphor" and their relation to how language works in a Modern text of trauma and the question of being able - or unable - to truly express something.

I suppose if I stick to Heart of Darkness than I can relate the truth issue with Marlow's lie issue.

Ultimately, my only solid point, at present, involves something from Shelley's A Defence of Poetry involving metaphor and the necessity to re-invent metaphor or language will "die." To explain, what was once metaphor, for example many words we use today were once used in a manner of implication, rather than in a manner of literal meaning, but because of our distance from the past, we have begun to use those words literally (the same can be said for many other things, like the Bible). In other words, if we stop trying to recreate metaphor, we'll essentially stop making language and we will remain stuck. This also has to do with Truth's, in my mind, referring to Nietzsche, in that Truth's ... I can't go into detail on that at the moment because I have to re-read his essay.

Blah, I still feel like I'm at square one v_v Time to read Derrida's "Of Grammatology" and hope it has something worthwhile in it on the concept above, to spark further points of import for me.

I only need two secondary sources at least, so I'm not too worried (I was worried initially lol). And I find it amusing that I'll be using Shelley, a Romantic writer, to help explain Modernist work bwahahaha-!

Aaaaand ... I need to read more of Joyce's Episode 18 "Penelope" (the amount of sex written by Joyce at the end of the Victorian era is quite wonderful, I have to say - and a text with no punctuation isn't as bad as I thought; it actually gets easier to read once you fall into a sort of rhythm).

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:44:37 GMT

The essay has been formulated; the list of points, their meanings, quotes from secondary sources and quotes from the primary text, have all been chosen and fit into their respective placements. I do feel that so much can be said, and with that in mind I will probably have to seriously stick to one strand of yarn, rather than attempt to follow every single thread >_< Only point three lacks a direct quote from the primary text, but I don't think that'll be hard to find.

It would have been nice to write the intro tonight, but I'm too tired and need a break. Tomorrow is also The Holiday Home Tour, so I have to wake-up super early.

Good night. I'm glad the formulation is over v_v

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Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:16:23 GMT

Take a Bow ....... By Rihanna.
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On Linguistics...

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:35:14 GMT

I caught a bit of a documentary the other night on language and the brain, and it showed that humans center all their language learning on the side of the brain which matches their dominant hand... AND... that multi-lingual people stored different languages in different sections of this side... explaining that when sometimes people have brain injurys they revert to their native tongue (as it was backed up away from the damage)...

Anyways, so it had me thinking of my penchance for picking up accents, twists of phrase, and bits and pieces of other languages (I'll not be so bold as to say that I'm multi-lingual, or even bi-lingual (my french is TERRIBLE)), but if I were get hit in the head and loose my english, would all that I'd be left with be a pile of strange bits of other cultures??

And regarding english especially, I find myself with an annoying thesaurus in my head that bounces between Canadian/American/British/Irish/New Zealand terms and phrases and spellings... to the point that sometimes I guess using a term from another place and end up with blank stares in the wrong location...

With English, for example:
Exclamations, such as 'sweet' or 'awesome' or 'nice' could become 'chance' or 'fantastic' or 'choice'
Thanking, from 'Thanks' or 'Thank you' to 'Cheers', 'Ta', or 'No worries'
Answering a phone from, 'Hello' to 'Hey', "Hey-ya' or 'KiaOra' (not forgetting of course, 'Allo', 'Moshi Moshi' or 'Ne-how' that my brain occasionally thinks of when I pick up a reciever, though I would never use it aloud)

And sighs of exasperation, from 'seriously?', 'huh', 'aye-ya', 'ah cha'....
Or 'Let's Go' to 'Ike-Ma-Shou', 'Allons-y', 'Challo', 'C'mon' or 'andiamo'

I suppose the underlying question of all of this traveling, is that I'm carrying home linguistic souveniers that seem to pop up at the strangest times, usually when I'm thinking about things, or searching for the right word, I'll scan through the shrapnel of other cultures to find the most appropriate piece.

It's an odd sort of adaption that is probably not really useful for any purpose other than travelling, but I do enjoy it when its randomness pops up in my day to day.....

(Though most of my day to days in the last little while have had Canadian English being the odd one.... and usually architectural terminology)

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:36:50 GMT

We're in the process of renovating the unfinished part of our basement. My Mum and Stepfather have been clearing it out and the junk people came to take a bunch of stuff (something we should have done when we actually moved here five years ago, but during all the frantic packing and stuff it is difficult to want to do more). Anyways, so there are lots of newly exposed areas that are completely covered in dust and cobwebs lol so Mum and I were downstairs looking at stuff and I see coco, black fuzzy coco, covered in a white sheen of dust and webbing LOL and then she began rolling around in it like a chinchilla, giving herself a dust path. Silly coco v_v

In other news, since the people came to "fix" our fridge it's been leaking, apparently, underneath. I noticed a dripping sound coming from the ceiling in the basement and said something a while back and Mum/B were like nah, it's nothing. Well it wasn't nothing and now the floor under the fridge is soaked and warped. The basement renovator looked at it and said it still looked structurally sound, so spending the money to fix the actual floor and hardwood wasn't really necessary (won't see it under a fridge anyways). You can't actually notice a change looking up from the basement, so I don't think it's horrifically bad yet. We're just going to buy a new fridge. We've already had to pay for replacing a part in this one, and there were warranty issues and the company was an ass overall so ... good riddance.

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:51:29 GMT

The essay is done. I now have three weeks before the final two are due; this weekend will be a rest weekend for Wrath of the Lich King play and of the catching-up of readings; the following weekend will be the writing of one of the final essays; the weekend after that (before the last class/hand-in will be the writing of the second final essay.

I'm fairly happy with this essay just completed; the ending sort of made me tear-up :/ but only because I feel slightly emotional about the subject matter (trying to express one's experiences, such as traumatic experience, through the limitations of written language). Conrad seems and may feel like a failure, but truly he is brilliant in how he depicts experience and the potentials of finding meaning for it. Language is not as limiting as we think....

Stretch out and Get comfortable!

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:31:15 GMT

My job has been extended into January!
I can get comfortable in Wellington for a while and make some cash!
(though now I really do have to get my ass in gear to start the ball rolling on my intern registration)

Coles Notes Updates for the last little while:
Last weekend, got to sail both days, two different boats AND helming opportunities!
Weather is finally getting warmer (18 degree sunny days the last few days)
it takes 30 minutes to walk to work down the hill in the morning, and and hour to walk back up (though I'm only done that once, thank god)
New camera rocks.
Had an 'offer' to publish my thesis from a german publisher...
(not as great as it sounds, they are more of a print on demand operation and less 'official' but it would get me an ISBN and worldwide amazon listings... probably going to wait on it until I have a chance to try thinking about real publishing)

And, with the weight of possibly having no job in a couple of weeks off my shoulders I can finally think like I'm going to be in wellington for a while. Which is awesome. Just awesome.

and poor poor elizabeth may... and stephan.... but I'm happy for another majority government, maybe they can make it seriously work this time.

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:46:45 GMT

Wrath ... midnight ... bestbuy

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:26:10 GMT

Back! Bestbuy was so much faster than EB. Of course they ran out of the collector's editions while we were in the line, but I'm kind of glad I didn't have to make the choice >_<

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Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:16:23 GMT

I Kissed a Girl ....... By Katy Perry.
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Saturday day trip to Picton!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:33:47 GMT

And this Sunday marked my first time off of the North Island, with my daytrip to Picton and the Marlborough Sounds!

Got up early, and walked down the hill to the ferry terminal in the mist (It was going to be a grey day, but since I'd already moved this trip back a week due to a horrible cold, I was going rain or shine), grabbed my boarding pass and was off...

I've got to say, I'm not exactly sure why, but I love boats. Probably a bit too much to be considered healthy, but I've got to say, the minute I step on board a sailboat/ferry/canoe/raft/ or whatever, I instantly get a dose of childish glee. There's just something about traveling by water that gets to me, and my daytrip to Picton with nearly 9 hours spend on the water, was a joy in that respect.

3 hour ferry ride spent alternating from on deck in the cold wind to hanging out in a seat by a window in the upstairs bar...
3 hour boat tour of the Sounds, with pauses to watch dusky dolphins, seals and walk around Ship Cove and a few other docks and beaches...
followed by a 3 hour ferry ride back, spent mostly in the dark with only the lights of the boat and the far-off red markers of the edges of the sounds marking passage until turning back into night-lit Wellington harbour...

Of course, this was interspersed with waiting areas, lines, breakfast lunch and dinner, and wandering around Picton half-an-hour, but generally it was a day on the Pacific which was just fine for me. (Not so fine for some passengers, there had been gale force winds the day before so out on the ocean it was a bit rough, but still in the fun range for me)

Would have been nice to go on a beautiful sunny day, but this was fine too, and frankly, it was the dolphins that did it for me... 3 different pods(?), traipsing around the boat, I think I say 15 of them before the tour was up, and, having never seen them in the wild it was awesome!

But yes, back at work today, Contract Admin on one job, Concepts on another... DD on a couple more. Am enjoying the work, though I'm lacking in the vernacular vocabulary (sod = ready-lawn, weatherboard = siding, Architect's Direction = Change Order, etc, etc.)...
But I'm becoming official, getting my documents ready to become an intern, bracing myself for the brutal fees ($115.50 to register my degree, $351.75 for the Handbook of Practice (which i know is just a fancy binder and should not cost nearly that much) and $152.25 to register as an intern for the year (which I'm not going to do until January otherwise it would be $76.13 now and $152.25 in january)), and logging my hours...
So far aiming still for licensure in Ontario, (as they only require a few hundred hours or something to be worked actually in Ontario, most of which I already have from Toronto), but time will tell on that one....

Was marine debris the culprit in the sinking of Irish Tall Ship Asgard II?

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:54:13 GMT

Last month, the Irish tall ship Asgard II sank when she suddenly began taking on water that

Was marine debris the culprit in the sinking of Irish Tall Ship Asgard II?

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:54:13 GMT

Last month, the Irish tall ship Asgard II sank when she suddenly began taking on water that

Transportation Safety Board of Canada's Report of Crew Member Laura Gainey Lost Overboard Sail Training Vessel Picton Castle 376 nm SSE of Halifax, Nova Scotia 08 December 2006

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 03:23:19 GMT

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada finally issued their report this week concerning the loss

The new shiny piece of glowing commerce....

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:32:19 GMT

So my Kodak V570 of two years finally kicked the bucket.

(it was flirting with it since about January, but if finally got to the stage where it would open and then not close and just freeze)

And, having wanted a half-decent SLR ever since my Fuji Finepix Z270 Zoom crapped out after three years of life, I started shopping around, and I must admit, Digital SLRs have grown in leaps and bounds since the day I paid nearly a grand for that heavy, useless in low light piece of plastic and metal.

Main amazing difference is the fact that it uses a mirror or prism system like old good film SLRs... Meaning, that you can look through the viewfinder, focus by turning the lens and look at a shot, even when the camera has no power! It doesn’t require power to work its basic functions so there is less to break down! AND... because it is using a real system to focus and take the shot, it makes the friendly sh-chunk sound of the spy camera.

Which, is really the only reason I love SLRS.

That and the great beautiful pictures that having control over how the picture is taken gets you.

Either way, after shopping around and comparing prices in Canada AND new Zealand on about 3 different cameras (the Nikon D40, the Canon (Rebel) Eos 1000D and the Sony (I can’t remember it’s number)) I bought a beautiful Canon Eos that, from what I can tell from the few moments I’ve had to snap some pictures, takes beautiful shots in a variety of lighting conditions. (And, unlike my Kodak should actually be able to take a picture of a sunset)

I will have to get used to carrying around a big camera again, but in the hopes that my third digital camera will live as long as my previous two cameras combined (and LONGER) I’m sure that the $700 CAD that I spend on this baby are well spent. As well, SLRs don’t break down as much because the lens is a separate element instead of being crammed into a slim body with the brain, screen and buttons. Also, it has basically no movable breakable parts (like an extending lens, or an automatic lens cap, the two items that went first on my previous friends and which are the most breakable parts on most digital cameras).

Many pictures to come!
Aiming to upload them tomorrow (October 7/6th depending on your time zone) HERE.

Learn How To Worm, Parcel, and Serve! (20 Min. Video)

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:17:19 GMT

The winter crew?of the US Brig Niagara is busy right now making the new standing rigging (shrouds a

The Coolest "Overseas" College Study Program on the Planet!

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:58:11 GMT

If you are a college student, or know one, who wants to make the most out of your college experienc

Frumusete clasica

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:07:32 GMT

A fost unul dintre personajele?verii, prezent aproape?la toate evenimentele nautice?importante,

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Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:16:23 GMT

Listen .......(from Dreamgirls). By Beyonce.
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Pursue It! The SEA Experience

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:46:49 GMT

Following up on my last post about Sea Education Association, here’s an awesome video that cap

So I'm Never Going To

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:31:14 GMT

a statement of purpose by adam clark

I'm reasonably certain that if I ever watched

Bring It On: In It To Win It

I'd just simply lose the will to live. Seriously.

Weekend, reading, Pizza and monitors

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:31:27 GMT

Today was super fun. Last night I was out with a bunch of friends after work and stayed out super late which rocked, but wanted to head off to the Ferry Building today at a reasonable time... haha. So anyway I got up at like 11:00 and headed down there eventually. It was pretty awesome, a bit rainy today but that meant less people there which was good. Got the usual Cappuccino and tried the Pear Gorgonzola tart today (which was glorrrrrrious!!!!!!!!!!!)

Then a lot of wandering downtown. I went to the mall, H&M, wandered around a bunch, went to Cocola in the mall and read my Barack Obama book for a while over another cappuccino and a chocolate croissant, went to the book store, etc. It was great. Then back to the water at the Ferry Building as it was getting dark and chilled out there for an hour or so, that was awesome.

Tonight I finally got to try Little Star Pizza in the mission, this is the place that Josh, Shelley and I tried to get into last time but it was just too busy. The wait was long but it was tttttooooooootaaaaaally worth it. :) The Pizza was amazing, deep dish and with a cornmeal crust?!??! Crazy. Chillin' with Becca and her friends is always glorious and there were a few Canadians too (yes!) When you get introduced as "this is Mike, he's from London, Ontario" and the response is, "Oh... cool!!" then you know it's all good and you won't have to field any super awkward "so why don't you sound British if you're from London" questions. :)

Now just been reading about the flat panel monitors and based on some really good advice from Lausch I think I am probably gonna get the 22" Dell UltraSharp 2208WFP monitors. The 24 inch version of this one is the top rated monitor on CNet, so presumably the 22" one is just as good. It is the one with 1680x1050, compared to the newer S2209W 22" which is 1920 x 1080.

As Lausch so gloriously pointed out, the 2208WFP is 16:10 resolution which is apparently better (since you get more vertical per horizontal) and the S2209W is 16:9 which (while good for widescreen) is not as good. Note that now I have 1920x1200 on my laptop which is sweet and is 16:10. I think that seals the deal, and also the fact that the 24" version of the 2208WFP is the top rated monitor on CNet makes me figure that's the best one to get.

I am probably gonna order them tomorrow so I'll get them around the same time I get the actual computer itself.