Forbidden Planet

From20-July-2006 until around 08-August-2006 I will be in Peru. Consequently, I will not be updating this blog, nor checking other blogs - I shall be incommunicado. This is my second trip to Peru. I went back in October 1996 for my honeymoon (Sofia came along with me). We were in Lima, Arequipa, Puno and Cusco. This time, I will be going for about 2-1/2 weeks, Sofia and the kids will be staying about 4-1/2 weeks. Our itinerary will only be Ica and Lima. Sofia's niece will be celebrating her 15th birthday - which is a big occaision, akin to Sweet 16 in North America. Lima is a city in the heart of a mountain. Almost anywhere you go you can see the mountains which ring the city like mighty fortress walls. It is also a desert. One of the astounding things you notice as you drive out from Lima to Arequipa is how red the sand and rocks are. It is like being on Mars. Arequpa is home of the Colca Canyon - the world's deepest canyon. We saw it around 08:00 in the morning. One thing I d...

Received this via e-mail from my sister, so you may have seen it before. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back! Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart but if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile. May y...

Jason has finally entered into the ranks of those who can ride a two wheeler. Last year a training wheel broke on his bicycle, so I took both off and tried to teach him to ride on only two wheels. He did not yet have the balance necessary to do it. As well, he had a tendency to play up the instability by shouting, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoooooooa!” and then falling off his bike (he did the same this past winter when I tried to teach him to skate). He preferred to go for the dramatic spill to actually riding his bike (or skating) - it was more fun for him. The previous weekend, I took him on his bike again and doing that awkward stooped run behind him as he peddled I gradually increased the amount of time I let him ride on his own. Finally at the end of the day he was able to ride the last half block to the house on his own. During the week, Sofia took him out and helped him to practice. This past weekend, he is now able to ride on his own, the only help he needs is a little push to get h...

Adikar strode purposefully to the edge of the pit and stared into its consuming blackness. He could sense it churning in its malevolence and feel the evil which seeped from it like a noxious vapour withering all in its path. Shadows from the pit swarmed around him, threatening to topple him into it. Raising his arm with a sweeping arc he illuminated the darkness dispelling the shadows. "Enough!" he commanded. The darkness of the void gazed back at him, piercing him with its uncontainable hatred. "I have waited for you. I knew you would come. In the end, all come to me." "I have come to end it." "I cannot be destroyed." "You must be stopped." "Can you be a greater destroyer than I?" "It will end. I shall end it." "Then you must become Death. Where you tread the ground shall be barren and where your shadow falls life shall wither. You cannot both destroy me and contain me." Image nabbed from here "Whoeve...

Some pictures from around my home in Ottawa. Before and after shots of my front lawn before I mowed it yesterday (as you can see there is little in the way of grasss and a lot in the way of low growing foliage. Personally, I like it - Sofia would prefer a lovely homogenous carpet of grass). Some closeups of the flowers growing in my lawn (including clover). A closeup of a tiger lilly and of some yellow flowers growing in the backyard. Of course, in this case, all images are copyright to me.

You can read more of Thoreau's thoughts here .

If you are like me, you probably backup important data files irregularly, even though you know you should do it more often. I still use CDs for my backups. I suppose I could use a memory stick, but CDs are fine for me. However, I use rewriteable CDs - you know CD-RW instead of CD-R - because this way I can reuse the same CD over and over again for backups. This has several advantages: (1) saves money, (2) saves the environment (not so many junked CDs going to landfills – although you could use them for homemade spectroscopes , (3) minimizes the amount of personal information you are discarding (you do destroy archival CDs don't you?).

I would happily tell you more, but the Associated Press would, in all likelihood, not be happy: Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed Which makes me wonder if my title infringes too much? You will just have to read the story yourself over here .

My cousin Ernest isn’t the roundest cue ball around. Like most people, he is always looking for an easy way to make money. There was the time he was helping a wealthy, yet terminal, Nigerian widow setup orphanages with (for a sizeable, no risk commission she was guaranteeing him) has died. Then there are the technical and security issues involving the millions he won in the Euro Internet lottery which have prevented him from retiring to the easy life, despite all he has spent to try and facilitate the transfer of funds. Anyway, last night he rushed over, excited like a four year given the key to the candy store. "Rich, I've finally found the system!" "Uhm, what system would that be?" I replied. "Money! Free money! Instant wealth generation. Nobody, especially me, has to ever be poor again. I just haven't worked out all the details." "Uh-huh", was my sanguine response. "I need your help to transfer my system from the geometric domain ...

Busy, curious, thirsty fly! Drink with me and drink as I: Freely welcome to my cup, Couldst thou sip and sip it up: Make the most of life you may, Life is short and wears away. Both alike are mine and thine Hastening quick to their decline: Thine's a summer, mine's no more, Though repeated to threescore. Threescore summers, when they're gone, Will appear as short as one! William Oldys. 1687–1761 Image nabbed from here .

I will go even further and say that you never have to explicitly prepare or eat food again How does this magic happen? How is it possible that I go weeks between preparing myself food and eating it? (I don't really, I do eat lunches on weekdays - but on weekends, I forgo lunch completely.) The trick is in being a parent with young kids. You see, no matter how much or little you prepare for them, they never finish it. They nibble at it or just eat the strawberries and leave the custard filling and cake behind. Vegetables multiply on their plates. I just cook for the kids and eat their leftovers. In fact, I often find myself filling several containers with leftovers. I attest to witnessing miracles involving multiplication of peas and carrots on a regular basis. I don't mind eating what my kids leave behind. If you are not squeamish and childless, you might consider renting a few kids and simply eating the bounty they leave behind on their plates. This applies equally well to res...

This is not the existential question it sounds. I am really musing about the search terms that bring people to this blog. One thing that surprises me is the narrow range of search terms that end up landing people on my blog. award winning chili lands people here . I wonder if people ever try out the recipe? The only reason I wrote it out was because coworkers asked me for it, otherwise, it would have ended up like all other recipes - a hazy recollection. This is by far the most search landing people here - garnering me at least 3 or 4 hits per week. Ok, so it is not thousands, but, on the other hand, the web is a big place and my blog occupies only a small place in it (ranked higher on yahoo than google) anthony de croud and variants land people here . It was quite popular around the time I posted it. Probably because the e-mail was making its way around the world. Then it died off. Now it has become popular again - I guess a fresh batch of naïve spammers have gotten a hold of it and...

Breath strips came into the market a few years back and the first impression that came to my mind was that it seemed so eerily similar to taking a hit of acid - just place the little blotter on your tongue and prepare to go on a trip. The first commercials I recall seeing for it featured a woman on a subway hunting down huge germs. Image nabbed from here .

"To come to terms, one must understand what fear means: what it implies and what it rejects. It implies and rejects the same fact: a world where murder is legitimate, and where human life is considered trifling. This is the great political question of our times, and before dealing with other issues, one must take a position on it. Before anything can be done, two questions must be put: 'Do you or do you not, directly or indirectly, want to be killed or assaulted? Do you or do you not, directly or indirectly, want to kill or assault?' All who say No to both these questions are automatically committed to a series of consequences which must modify their way of posing the problem." - Albert Camus, Neither Victim Nor Executioner For something less deep, there is this cheerful thought: Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter. - Albert Camus, The Outsider.

You have just fried up some bacon and are wondering what to do with the drippings. In my household, gowing up, we saved it, decanted it into a small bowl and kept it for later use. It makes a wonderful spread for bread (a nice heavy rye bread, not that fluffy white stuff that passes for bread in North America). It is called smaletz. All Sofia can say, "That would kill my liver." She doesn't know what she is missing. I also save the fat when rendering duck breasts. It is wonderful and adds a delightful dimension when added to other foods. Frying pork sausages in a bit of duck fat is a culinary treat. Adding it to some cabbage dish also enhances the flavour.