Outpost: Fort van Rathburn

Thought I’d continue the street & prefix tradition out here in Ontario. A little bit of continuity while we’re all off in separate directions.

Well it’s the solstice!! And even though it's the longest night of the year I still feel like celebrating. It’s nice knowing that there’s nothing but more hours of sunlight to look forward to. Who knows? Me and Lisa might be able to see some sun on our walk to or from our labs… it’ll be a nice change.

I’m feeling pretty optimistic these days. Maybe it’s looking back and seeing how things have just managed to fall into place. I stumbled into an amazing house by luck alone, found a great program and pretty much just ended up surrounded by absolutely fantastic people.

So cheers to that, and to things always turning out in the long run, no matter how many little pockets of bad luck you run into. Here’s hoping you all have wonderful holidays!!

Musings

It's a sunday night and -40 outside. Walking about today in frigid air, as the sun gleamed and sparkled against the the snow, I felt somewhat Canadian... and pretty hardcore for being out in such extreme weather conditions. It wasn't that bad... well, other than the long underwear beneath my jeans making them two sizes too small. I came home to a hot cup of tea, some of Beth's sinfully delicious Sacher Bars and nestled with a short book called "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. For those of you who don't know, the book is based upon a lecture given by a professor at Carnegie Mellon. Often professors are given the opportunity to give a lecture as if it was their last. In Randy's case, it truly was his last as he was told he had just months to live after pancreatic cancer had metastasized into his liver. I knew this book was going to be a bit of a tear jerker but I think it is a universal book for anyone of any age as the personal anecdotes that the author shared can be applied or relatable to every individual in their own unique way. In light of the events that have occurred to me over the last year, both great and small, many of the standards by which I attempt to live my life by were iterated eloquently in this book. There are a few quotes I would like to share from this book that I think carry meaning with everyone, and perhaps I should follow most of this as well:

Don't complain, just work harder

 - Time is limited, and time wasted upon whining will not help us to achieve our goals, nor any happier.

Don't obsess over what other people think

Watch what they do, and not what they say

- Apparently the best dating advice for a girl is that if a guy is romantically interested her, she should just ignore everything they say and pay attention to what they do. 

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted

Loyalty is a two - way street.

Tell the truth. All the time.

No job is beneath anyone

If you can find your footing between two cultures, sometimes you can have the best of both worlds.

Brick walls are there for a reason - to give us a chance to show badly we want something.

Look for the best in everyone, sometimes it just takes time for it to come out.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity

The best shortcut is the long way - work hard.

Most people who have told a lie think they got away with it, when in fact, they didn't.

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. 

Hope that gives some food for thought. Keep warm. 

How to convey anger with a world leader in the middle east

Jake vs Reza

Here is another arm wrestling match between me and Jake. (not safe for work language)

Ode to Dog - Merry Christmas

If You Can..

If you can start the day without caffeine;
If you can get going without pep pills;
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains;
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles;
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it;
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time;
If you can forgive a friend's lack of consideration;
If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when,
through no fault of your own, something goes wrong;
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment;
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him;
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend;
If you can face the world without lies and deceit;
If you can conquer tension without medical help;
If you can relax without liquor;
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs;
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice
against creed or color, religion or politics; then, my friend, you are
almost as good as your dog.

It could always be worse

Art!

There are some amazing examples of body painting out there. My favourite has usually been a poster for Pink Floyd with album artwork painted on women's backs. Whenever I thought of getting this poster though, someone usually gives me a funny look and asks me why I want posters of half naked women in my room. Sigh.

But Daniele Guido is an artist I just discovered who does amazing body-paintings - especially on hands!

So cool, and definitely worth checking out.

Reza's stolen pictures.

Here is a list of unfortunate company logos or advertisements I stole from random websites. Makes you wonder how much it costs to hire someone so things get double checked before they head out.














Back to work.

Imagine what you can do if you just believe in yourself

Yes, it's a little bit long, but worth the watch.

You know how bats and dolphins see? They use their ears.

So does this guy:

Changes come, keep your dignity

Or

“music Beth loves that you’ve probably never heard of” (part I).

Or

“reasons not to drop that wine bottle.”

Sadly, watching the music video doesn't really add anything to the music. I'd make a big point about this being an independent unsigned label... but then again, most music videos out there are crap.

Take the high road.

Substance

Substance over comes appearance, race, age or any physical handicap. It will bridge the unbridgeable and lead to brilliant and unimaginable things. Be a person of substance.


An army of 20 year olds could rock out to your tune when you're 65.

japanese CAN DANCE!

but i cannot dance like that......

so, should i visit NY, toronto? or stay here?

i have to make a decision soon.

Fort battle for supremacy

results: make sure your speakers are on!

Just in case you have a few extra things lying around

air vocal

that's funny

Rollercoaster Souvenir Photos

Here are some roller coaster souvenir photos I stole from The Chive















Back to work :(

In the Holiday Spirit

"Nicholas was...
older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen in time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas. His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho."

- Neil Gaimon, from "Smoke and Mirrors"

Dark and twisted humour is really entertaining to me these days. Apparently the author had this printed on his Christmas cards one year. I'd like to think I'm not quite that bitter or cynical... yet.

Random track #1

Lets jazz things up a bit



Artist: Matt Dusk
Song: Back In Town

Palin's new gig: Improvisational Jazz Singer

While we're jazzing things up:
Funny, made me lol.

The hell that is CPSC

I have a pretty hefty operating system assignment due on Friday. So last night I check the prof's website for tips and as I’m going through the marking scheme for the assignment I realize that the prof hasn’t been able to do the assignment himself. However the funniest part of the whole thing is the last paragraph :

This was truly an evil and nasty assignment. My fault. Way too much
to handle in the short time available. If anyone came up with a complete
and brilliant solution, please allocate 5 bonus marks, and let them
teach this course next year!

Lols all around. Carey’s awesome.

Catch phrase of the month: Pulling a Sarah Marshall

To pull a Sarah Marshall or to Sarah Marshall someone is defined as:

Ditching a long term significant other for someone completely different, only to go back to them when they start seeing someone else.


Now if enough people watch the movie, I can see this catching on.

Untitled.

(I should probably thank Reza for the intro rather than making fun of his spelling but one is infinitely more fun than the other.)

Today's Motivation:


(Also fits the spirit of this blog at the moment.)

And in the same spirit, seeing as it's Tuesday.... wine and cheese anyone?

Two new writers!

The Fort is proud to announce that we have two amazing new writers: Beth and Lisa.

These two lovely ladies live above us and will contribute to the blog from now on. I won`t say much about them cause they can do a better job of that.

However I will say that it`s going to be different reading posts without spelling mistakse for once.

Welcome ladies, it`s nice to have the upstrairs unit on board.

Top worst 5 music videos I've come across on youtube.

5:
Any music video from the 70s that has a guy in his 30s, sporting a mustache and tights qualifies. Hot Indian chicks and the catchy tune are a plus, but there's something unsettling about the keyboardist that just makes this so bad it's good.



4:
I couldn't watch more than 10 seconds of this, so if gets any better I'm sorry. It's probably a fake music video too.



3:
Your mama's on crack rock! no my mama's on rehab yo!



2:
This one is not actually a music video, but it's by far one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I thought it was fake at first but sonseed was an actual band in the 80s. I read somewhere the band broke up 5-6 years later, Sal (vocal, bassist) divorced his wife( keyboard) and now lives alone and is very bald. Not sure if he's still friends with Jesus.



1:
I'm not sure about the story behind this one, but apparently this is not a joke. The woman in this video was very serious about what she was doing. I think she's cute.

Distracted Driving Laws

Oh December. This month brings many things - advent calendars, awkward holiday parties, hopefully some snow to go with the cold - but to Ontario, December also marks the start of a ban on using cell phones while driving.

“To illustrate his point, [Bradley] hopped into a driving simulator while making a cellphone call with one hand on the wheel, ended up going the wrong way and crashed into a wall.”

- Toronto Star

I totally see a point here. Unfortunately, I don’t think the point that Transportation Minister Jim Bradley was trying to make was that he is, in fact, a complete idiot.


Initially, this ban might seem to be a stellar idea. There's been a few times I've nearly ended up in a flaming wreck at the side of the 401 when someone decides that checking their text messages is more important than checking their blind spot. Unfortunately, this ban doesn't cover 'hands-free' devices, because that'd be too hard to enforce. Police can't tell the difference between someone singing along to the radio, talking to a passenger, 'reciting a speech', or talking on a hands-free device. So any idiot with a headset can just laugh at this law and continue on their merry way. Luckily, there's a cheap solution for the rest of us.

hands-free = legal

The most frustrating part of this ban is the inclusion of music devices like iPods and MP3 players. Why not ban CD players, tape decks, and radios too? I could argue that I am just as likely, if not more, to get into an accident while flipping stations and changing CDs trying to find something decent to listen too - but I'm not a complete retard and don't do that to the point where I'd be distracted while driving (while I'm in the passenger seat it's another story). But driving I can usually just plug in my MP3 player with a decent playlist and not bother with it for the entire drive. Luckily, the "hands free" aspect gets to come into play again! And people are asking the tough questions:

'Asked if a motorist could skirt the law by taping his iPod to the dashboard, Bradley wasn't sure."I would have to look at that one," Bradley told reporters.' -Toronto Star

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for road safety. I'm just against the government acting like an incompetent babysitter by trying to impose stupid regulations with gigantic loopholes. I would really, really like to think that people have the capacity to make their own judgement calls when it comes to something as mundane as music while driving.

Or in other words, 16 days to figure out the best way to attach my MP3 player to my dashboard.