EMail Eclipse

I'm starting a different gig with an old, familiar client site on Monday. This is Good News!

However, please note that I will be off of personal email during the day. Feel free to call me or text -- that's not a problem. But email will be, er, temporally decoupled (to use an academic geek term) for awhile.

Many readers on the inside may wonder if I have come to a decision (vis-a-vis ominous Micropost and other hints in the posts). I have sort of come to a decision but still need to discuss with some people.

ps. I'm sure that CC readers, being among the brightest on the web, will have an intuitive sense for temporal decoupling. Essentially, the idea is that IT systems don't have to do everything "right now". For example, on eBay, posting a bid is indeed a "right now" action but submitting a rating on a bidder is not: it can be temporally decoupled from the bidding system (i.e. it doesn't have to be processed immediately, and the effects need not be seen at the same time by everyone).

Leftover Turkey and Philosophy

T-day eve was wonderful at Fred & Hegemom's, and the food was awesome! I haven't had turkey in forever, and both it and all the fixings were fantastic. Like a Dickens novel, I pocketed food while they weren't looking. (This on top of the big takehome package.)

4 allstar desserts included a grape pie, and a chocolate cake made from a recipe that goes back 65+ years in Fred's family. Among the ingredients: old-fashioned soured milk; and boiled icing (not unlike fudge) that is notoriously tricky to prepare.

Throughout the evening, Hegemom offered this world-view, which is hard to beat:

House policy is that if anyone is too warm/cold, not comfy, or not full, then
action will be taken.

Delightful..... A call to arms!

Their 4-year-old daughter, Olivia, stole the show as always. She just smiles and she steals the show. But I enjoyed this: she asked Papa if she could blow out a candle. Fred cradled the flame somewhat with his palm about 2 inches back. After several meager, failed attempts, Livi said "your hand is too close... I don't want your hand to catch fire". Fred, unknowingly channeling Bill Cosby, says deadpan, "why thank you, that's very thoughtful of you" in such a way that still has me laughing.

Public Service Annoucement for YouTube

YouTube really offers the best and worst that people can come up with.

The Worst

There's a phenomenon on YouTube where people record others 'reacting' to videos being played on a laptop etc. Often the videos are way too much for YouTube but easily found on the web.

You might be curious but believe me, you will react negatively. They are usually shock videos. One colleague unknowingly did a Google search, viewed a site, and said he was nearly sick.

The Best

The following vids make me very grateful that I completed my education before YouTube, because if I had YT in high school, that would have been bad.

e.g. Here are 4 great guitar vids:

• A fun spoof of Van Halen. (click here) Note the applause and the Black Sabbath /Iron Man reference circa 0:55.
• Here is a kid in Brazil. (click here). He goes into crazy pyrotechnics but I just love the backing groove in the first 20 seconds.
• The legendary Eric Johnson circa 1986 (click here). This guy is an angel from heaven. This tune, Cliffs of Dover, is a masterpiece (it starts in earnest circa 2:13). Possibly my favourite instrumental on guitar.
• I have to atone for the VH spoof with Eruption from 1995 (click here). This tune is probably the best known 2 minutes in all of guitar history. The part from 0:50 to 1:02 is just gorgeous (and not in the original on the CD).
  

CC in Action

Factoid 1: I'm currently 9th of 26 in the multisport league through FleetFeet (click here). That's cool, though often there is a flurry of results (from summer races) that alter the standings.

Factoid 2: Here is an action shot at the last tri. This is entering T2 from the bike to the run. Dismounting.... be sure to note the tri bars at the front of the bike. Those are cool status symbols and distinguishes us from the typical biker.

Happy Thankgiving

A hearty Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

May your travels be safe, your homes filled with laughter, and the table full with feast, eh?

As a street urchin from the Great White North, I have celebrated with a few friends over the years (and sometimes alone, which is not weird for me but is disturbing for these kind people).

This year, I will be dining with my dear friends Fred and Diamond-Tier CC Commentator, Chairman Mom. Woo-hoo!

Grrrrrrr

Grr #1: It is 2 am. I have been wakened, yet again, by the Pitbull of Tyranny running around on the patio deck above me (i.e. my roof). For the first time, I have heard the canine urinate. As I write this, I am just begging for that dog to be let out one more time tonight so I can go upstairs and get angry.

Grr #2: While lying awake in bed, I contemplated the fact that my sister didn't reply to a request to call me tonight. Then I realized that I have the phone ringers off in the apt because, 2 days ago, I was receiving perpetual calls from a fax machine at 5:30 am.

Colleen, my apologies.

I am ready for war.

Scorpio

I'm not big on astrology, but I do love being Scorpio.

We are the dark, brooding sign, the Batman of the Zodiac. Even the postive attributes have an edge to them (the oft-used intense).


Once, at a Grateful Dead camp-out, I had my palm read. Or some zodiac mojo analysis or something. The woman looked up my birth year/etc in the charts and said, "wow, you are pure Scorpio".

Damn straight. I have too many commitment issues for a tattoo but these signs are way up there on the list.

The symbol certainly fits, given my real name, n'est-ce-pas?

Stand Strong

I'm in some negotiations right now. I can't really go into details.

But I can offer some great advice, received from the Hegemom:

Stand Strong.

Amen, sistah!

Though Vic would qualify with "but don't be an idiot" (which is implicit in the original advice).

Speaking of standing, there is much use of the phrase "stand down" in the American media, particularly with respect to Iraq. e.g. "When the Iraqi troops stand up, we will stand down".

I remember peaceful times when people only stood up and sat down. Perhaps the verb "to sit" isn't strong enough for a military scenario. One doesn't really see Bruce Willis in some gritty war movie called "Victory or Sit Down".

Remote Control on MTV

We didn't get MTV back home in Canada. Many of us didn't have anything (if we didn't have cable TV) but even if we did, we had MuchMusic, pioneered by the legendary Moses Znaimer.

I just found out that MTV had a show in the 1980s called Remote Control. Apparently a common segment was called "Dead or Canadian", in which contestants had to guess the status of someone based on their name.

That's pretty funny.... I looked on YouTube but no luck

CC

ps. Moses Znaimer created CityTV which is essentially a Toronto-based TV network. He pioneered the now-commonplace setting for news in which the "backstage" is fully displayed as the foreground.

pps. Much like MTV, MuchMusic was awesome in the 1980s and now pretty much sucks. Although I haven't seen it in over a decade.

Vegas Is My Kind of Town

A great time in Vegas! Too many inside jokes and insanity to mention at this point.... A Hall of Fame trip, as anticipated. Over 48 hours inside an old-school casino/hotel with very little oxygen. We'll call it cardio training.

However, there was an excursion to The Strip! Check out the latest sticker campaign on the tech blog (click here).

The gag is that Apple recently released a version of its operating system, nicknamed Leopard. To the surprise of (some) Java developers, the release did not feature the latest version of Java, known as Java 6. So the "protesters" hit the streets on The Strip in LV.

What Happens In Vegas Gets Blogged

I'm off to Vegas for the weekend!

Poker, stickers, Capt Jack outfits, and fun with BryGuy's entourage....

Stay tuned. If you don't hear from me by Tuesday, then tell the world my story. You may not know my story, but just make up something nice.

CC

Lick of the Day

Here's a great new blog ! Lick of the Day.

No, it's not by KK but rather a very talented guitar player in the fam.... My bro-in-law. (We just go by "bro" which is cool).

Check it out.... Throw it on your blogrolls! I'm going to do so soon, once I actually get a blogroll.