Winter Ultimate is Over.

I just wanted to post the team picture and a wrap-up of the season.


Ultimate Winter 2004-2005 - Chili Peppers (Very sweaty)

We ended up coming in 3rd place. I think we had a chance at first place, but our coach was injured for half the season. We still did amazing without him, but I think we could have won a couple more games to put is in a better position for the playoffs. And last week the last minute time change meant we didn't have enough players, and those who made it were exhausted. We could have won with a complete team.

Last night's game was really fun. A lot of hard work. I think I played all right, but came out with quite a few scrapes from that stupid artificial turf. It's like a green scrub pad. I have big scrapes on my left elbow, both knees and a big blister on my big toe. It's all good. I'll survive.

I think i learned a lot this winter. Hopefully I can apply it all to my second summer season. I am on two teams now. Tuesday and Friday. The tuesday one should be quite interesting. I love my old Friday team, but Tuesday nights will be quite a challenge. I'm excited about this summer.

For more information about Ultimate (in Ottawa) checkout the Ottawa-Carleton Ultimate Association (OCUA) website.

Top of Google!

I find it quite funny how my post about The Hitchhikkers Guide to the Galaxy (THGTTG) the movie became the number one search result for "THGTTG" on Google (It may not be number one for long, but trust me. It is right now).

I'm kinda flattered. But I am by no means a source of information about the book or the movie. I suggest IMDB or the official site. But that doesen't mean you need to leave. I am a fan of the book, and strongly recommend it if you like the kinda wierd sci-fi genre. Not like Star Trek kind of sci-fi thing, but there is space and some very strange science involved, and it's fiction. Therefore I say "sci-fi". It's more of just a crazy adventure that is likely not for everyone, but if you found this article by searching for "THGTTG" I don't need to tell you this. It's not the kind of book that you will find some literary scholar reading, though he or she probably has read it in secret, and liked it. But it is a good adventure.

The general premise is this:

Aurthur's day starts as he realizes that his house is about to be demolished to make way for a highway. This isn't the making of a very good day. Soon after he discovers his best friend, Ford, is actually an alien, trying to hitch a ride on the space ships that have just arrived to demolish earth to make way for a space high way. Day gets worse.

I know at this point most of you not Douglas Adams fans are saying: "That sounds really stupid." And under most circumstances I would agree with you, but Adams makes a quite entertaining and imaginative story about Arthur Dent and his journies through space and time. He meets a lot of interesting people along the way.

I suggest at least giving it a try. It's a fun book, don't try to take it too seriously, and most importantly, Don't Panic. Oh, and don't forget your towel.

That was the cheesiest send off I have ever written.

Where Do I Go From Here?

I just took another item off my to do list. This is exciting, I'm getting near the end of my undergraduate career. A couple more assignments and a few revisions to some reports and my course work will be done. Then there's that little issue of 5 exams. But those will be finished in just over a month. I am 90% sure I am into grad school at Carleton for the fall, so I will be tied up for at least a couple more years before I have face the real world. The way things are going I will end up being a professor and never actually have to get out there into the workplace.

I was looking back and discovered that my serious blogging began about one month ago. My initial goal when starting this blog was to write about anything interesting that comes up during the day. Unfortunatley, this whole school thing really prevents interesting stuff from happening to me. I will keep at it though, it is kind of fun, but I like to keep people interested. I know readers don't care about the stupid little things that happen throughout my day.

I can easily summarise my typical day. If I have class, I get up around 7, shower, go to class, fart around school for a bit, come home and eat cuz I haven't eaten more than a muffin from Leo's (engineering lounge) and a couple cookies all day and it is now 6:30pm, watch a little TV depending on the day of the week, and then hit the books for a few hours.

Who really wants to hear about that? If I don't have class it is even worse. I wake up, put off doing homework for a couple hours, start working and then decide that it is time to eat, eat watching Daily Planet on Discovery Channel and get suckered into watching the first hour of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Spike. I then head back down to my dungeon to watch the second hour while pretending to do work. I then work off and on until bed time, with an extended break for dinner of course.

Exciting stuff eh? I'm going to have to start making stuff up soon. Or watching the news, or writting about the stuff in my Popular Science.

So yeah. I don't want to bore you guys too much.

I am really trying to avoid getting into posts about my boring days or the lack of women in my life at the moment. There are some long and boring stories about that subject.

I need to turn on that creative part of my brain. I have kinda let that die down about over the past several years. I think it needs a real kick in the pants.

I think this will conclude my post on not knowing what to post. I have ideas all day, but forget them by the time I have time to write. Maybe I should write them down. That would be too smart. Then it would be like the "Idea Book" I started the other day that is meant to contain all the cool ideas I come up with. Ever since I started it I haven't had any more cool ideas. Go figure.

Dog Day Afternoon

As you may be able to tell, this is a weekend of movies for me.

I just finished watching Dog Day Afternoon. That must have really been a controversial movie in 1975. I liked it. It was a little different, kind of drawn out in the middle, but different in a good way.

"I mean, how do they expect you to get uncrazy if you're asleep all the time?"

I liked that style of movie. Nothing in the way of special effects. I like those but not all the time, just straight telling the story, no fancy camera work, a couple fly bys in the helicopter, but thats it.

I don't know how true they really were to the true story, but the trueness of it makes it quite interesting too. The fact that stuff like this actually happens.

I often wonder about that in movies. I remember specifically thinking that during Ronin, does stuff like this ever actually go down? Are there ever gang wars and things like that, car chases down narrow eurpean streets. Shootouts in some marketplace. There are a lot of movies that make me wonder that. Not some crazy action movie, but the ones that seem to try to be realistic. You know, the Reservior Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Leon: The Professional, that kind of thing. I doubt it, but it could. Right? I don't know. When the swat team goes in, is it like it is in the movies? They have to get their ideas from somewhere don't they? If they can think it, someone could do it? There are a lot of crazy people out there (You know who you are).

Thats what essay writting does to you. It makes you go crazy. Engineers aren't used to this essay stuff. Thats why those Artsies are so crazy. Too many essays. and that was just 1500 words. On 'The Duty to Report' (what to do if your employer is doing something illegal or dangerous, Whistleblowing).

My sentence structure really goes to shit at this time of night. Sorry about that.

Quote of the Day (or week, or whatever, until we get sick of saying it)

This was actually the Quote of Thursday. When my friends and I find something funny, we drill it into the ground. That is we use it until the people around us want to beat us with what ever is nearby.

I won't make the Quote of the day a regular thing, but whenever I hear something funny, I will likely put it up.

The most recent over used saying:

"The day of the nerd is over."

Now, alone it is only kinda funny, but if you say it with a Governator (Swartzenegger) accent to it (say this one out loud):

"Zee day of the zee nurd iz ovah"

It sounds really funny.

A little background. A guest lecturer in our Professional Practice class (where we learn to be all ethical and stuff in the engineering workplace) was talking about teamwork. He said when he was in our position, if he wanted some numbers crunched for his Fortran class, he would head down to the computer room with a coffee cup of beer for the socially unacceptable nerds hiding down there and ask them to do it. This was in contrast to today when we can all do it by ourselves on PC's. We don't need the socially inept nerd to do it, we need the socially inclined geek to teach us and then we can do it ourselves.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Well, I must say. I enjoyed that one. I struggled to understand what they were saying most of the time, but it was still pretty damn good. That put last night's movies to shame. I think I'll have to watch Snatch again. I hardly remember it at all. All I remember is some diamonds and a bunch of really hard to understand people. (they are speaking english aren't they). I like it though. The accents and slang add a lot to it.

I don't want to get into the plot and all that. Don't want to spoil it.

It really isn't a movie for everyone. You gotta like the genre to enjoy it. Jason Statham is a great actor. The guy from The Transporter, and The Italian Job (the new one). If you want a cheesy, completely unbelievable, but very fun movie, check out the transporter.

Haha, Big Chris was the hooligan from Eurotrip. That's awesome.

Nothing like a good story. In the movies or in a book. I don't do enough reading anymore. Last book I read was The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (The Ultimate Guide, with the six books). It was my second time through. I miss reading good books. It takes me a while to get through them, but it does really spark some creativity. School is almost over. It'll give me a chance to get reading again. I don't know enough about the authors out there. I'm going to have to find something/someone good. If you have any suggestions of someone I should check out, let me know. I'm not all that concerned about the artsy crap. I like a good story.

I guess it's time to do some research.

The Incredibles and the Ring 2. I hope tonight's movie is better.

Had a day off today, as did most people I'm sure.

I feel like I was extreamly unproductive today, but I guess I didn't do all that bad. I put together two reports and did some minor repairs to my bike. I installed the mount for my new Kryptonite bike lock that they sent me after the old ones were recalled (the old ones could be picked with a Bic Pen, it was big news a few months ago). The new lock didn't fit my old bike mount (which was broken anyways) so I had them send me a new one. Worst design ever. You have to actually cut part of the sheath off the U part of the lock to mount it, and it rattles like a son of a bitch. I dunno if I should complain or not. I mean it is better than having my bike stolen, but it is still frustrating. At least they sent out new locks.

I started watching The Ring 2 last night. I really didn't like the first one all that much, but one of my roomates was watching it. It was one of the crappiest movies I have ever seen. So bloody cheesy and annoying. I was tempted to get up and leave it was so bad. (The deer attacking the car was funny). Thank god my roomate came home with about 25 people and kicked me out of the living room or I would have had to sit through the whole thing.

I ended up watching the Increibles in my roomates room. It was mildly entertaining, but I fell asleep for the last part. I will have to watch it again to see the end. The animation was pretty damn good though. I enjoyed it just for that.

I am sick of report writting. I am going to watch Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels tonight. I have never seen it, but I hear it is good. Lately I've really been into watching all those good old(er) movies that I have never seen. Like I had never seen Reservoir Dogs until about 4 weeks ago. That was really good. Quentin Tarantino makes some very entertaining movies.

Oh yeah, I just heard that he is directing the season finally of CSI (The good CSI). That should be really good. The ER episode he did was really good too, I'm sure it will be great.

As you canj probably tell, I didn't have too much to talk about today. I just wanted to babble for a bit. Not much inspirational happens when you don't go outside.

Steroids: America's Pastime

I stumbled across The Rivals. A blog about a Red Sox fan and a Yankee fan who work together. Seeing as the season has yet to get underway, and americans (and their politicians are devoting so much time to it, they are continuously commenting on the steroids issue. Now I am not a fan of either team, and I am kind of ashamed to say who I am a fan of. (I'm not an american, so figure it out. It is a lot easier to figure it out this season. Poor Expos.)

Now I have mentioned the 'roids issue before, but that was because Barry Bonds was talking about the size of his testicles.

I think it is funny, when it comes to gambling, people like Pete Rose (1989) and Shoeless Joe Jackson and seven others (1919) can be kicked out of the sport for gambling on it, and many players now get away with using drugs and nothing has of yet happened to them. (I think the gambling on your own games and throwing a world series are important issues for the game to address, but drugs go beyond the game).

I think the important issue is the young kids who look up to these guys. Are they going to have to do drugs if they ever want to play the game? In a world of anti-drug campaigning, these celebreties are telling them they have to use drugs to get good at baseball (of all sports).

Now I love baseball, but I just don't watch it anymore (with the exception of the playoffs) because it just seems so meaningless. I haven't been to a game since the strike. My dad had tickets for us, but vowed to not go back because they were voided durning the strike.

Test these players. Over and Over. If you find drugs. Get rid of them the way you got rid of gamblers in the past. They are more detrimental to the game than Pete Rose and Joe Jackson ever were.

Do you think the Blue Jays can pull it off this year?

Good News!!

My roomate just came home (quite intoxicated) with some very exciting information.

He was drinking with the professor with whom I want to do my grad school work with. Apparently he (the prof) was also suffering the effects of a few pitchers of beer.

You must recognize how excited this professor gets about the most seemingly insignificant things, and how beer increases his excitment almost exponentially. One day at the bar he was going on about his idea for a 0.5 litre toilet. Picture a man at a reasonably fancy resteraunt with his hands raised in the air yelling "NO STREAKS"!!!

Anyways, I somehow became the topic of discussion, and I guess he has been planning on taking me in for grad school and just decided to not really tell me about it. He has hinted but never outright said it.

I am not exactley sure what the topic will be for sure, but it will involve advanced dynamics. And i should get a nice little chunck of money for being a TA and RA.

I think I want to design F1 cars. This is this month's dream. Take that NASA!

I'm excited. Can you tell?

Catching up on the Hometown News: Bike Paths in Niagara Falls

Everynow and then I like to check up on what's going on back in my home town: Niagara Falls. I used to go home in the summers, but I haven't done that in a couple years, and lately it has only been for christmas, but I like to keep up on what is going on, so I often check out the local newspapers website. They only put a couple articles up, it isn't worth it for me to order the full online version (I delivered that thing for 7 years when I was younger, I think they owe me), but the editorials give me the general gist of what is going on.

This editorial about the bike path controversy made me think of this.

A little background, for pretty much as long as I can remember, the city council has been fighting about developing multi-use trails in and around the city. There is a decent one that runs along the Niagara River, but right by the falls it dissapears for a few kilometers, and it is often packed with tourists.

I have always thought that Niagara was squandering an excellent opportunity to have an amazing, world class, network of cycling trails. Because of all the hydro power produced in the city there are a lot of open green spaces with high tension power lines. Often a couple hundred meters wide (out by Mountain Road or down by Dunn St.), and in some places maybe 20 or 30 (connecting drummond and dorchester near Freeman). These are amazing places to run paths. And if they actually put in some bike lanes when they were doing the perputual road construction (as alluded to in the article).

A few years ago, they finally started to get smart and put in the beginnings of the Millenium trail. A great idea, running alongside the Hydro canal.

The big problem, however, is that the trail only exists for 2km in a not so convinient part of the city, and the suggested phase 2 takes it even further out into nowhere. When they wanted to run it through the city, a bunch of people complained that teenagers were going to use it for partying.

I currently like in a city (Ottawa) with an absolutely amazing trail system. A big network of trails and bike lanes along major roads that is both great for getting places and just for having fun. Now I understand Ottawa is much bigger in population than Niagara but these trails could be used to attract biking enthusiests to the area, and integrating it with the other trail systems that the smarter neighbouring cities have developed, the Niagara Region could become a meca for cycling enthusiasts. In Ottawa, the trails often run very close to houses. Even closer than they would along the hydro canal (sometimes it is like you are right in their backyard), yet it doesen't seem to present that much of a problem. I think if the city just did it, the nieghbours would hardly even notice.

Now they can spend millions on stuff for the tourists, now spend some on the people of the city. Come on Ted (Ted Salci, mayor of Niagara Falls, and good friend of my Dad), I think something like this, if done right can really benefit the local community and also bring in tourists who want to spend a coulple days biking the region. This will encourage them to stay longer.

Well this concludes my little rant about my frustration with a city I don't live in anymore. I can't imagine anyone from home will actually read this. I just wanted to rant for a bit. Thanks for reading.

Added to the List of blogs i visit.

Just wanted to note my list of sites I visit regularily is small but growing. I put the lisit in the sidebar, mostly just for me to not have to used the favorites drop down menu.

For my Canadian Content: An Observation of the Everyday, from PEI Just your general what am I thinking about now blog (sound familiar?). Well written and made me laugh at times.

This is a little bit different. At times very very funny. Other times I just don't get it, or there is nothing to get. natalie dee: drawings to huff by. A little rude at times, but I love the dick and fart jokes. for example.

And one of my regular readers: Life's Musings. Short posts, often about Formula 1 and other sports, as well as things going on in the world. Thanks for visiting and leaving comments. I appreciate the support.

A look at Evolution and Satanic Turtles

Yesterday I was just surfing around and came across this interesting article on worldnetdaily.com about some Imax theatres in southern US boycotting a film because it presented Evolution as fact, not a theory. Now I have never heard of worldnetdaily, and frankly, it seems kind of sketch so I looked it up and found it on BBC.com, and found another, very similar article. I think I trust BBC a little bit more, so this seems to be legit.


I am sorry, I forgot to get a reference on this pic.

I am treading into discussions on religion. I have my religious beliefs (I am Anglican) but also consider myself a man of science, and firmly believe the two can co-exist. We need both of them. I also note that many of my visitors come from the US and other countries with beliefs I may not understand, but I am not going to let that stop me from saying what I am thinking. I accept that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and this blog is here for me to express mine. A debate may be fun. Leave some comments for or against what I say, either way they are appreciated.

The article presented this quote: "I really hate it when the theory of evolution is presented as fact". I just find it hard to believe that in this day and age, knowing what we know about biology, anthropology and all the other ologies, that someone can really fail to accept that Darwin was right.

I am going to go out on a short limb and say that evolution is fact and should be presented as such.

I did a quick google on evolution and was overwhelmed by the number of sites. Both sides and fence sitters stated the same arguments over and over again, going in circles.

I am an engineer, I like facts (and simplifying assumptions). Evolution is based on evidence collected in both fossile and living form that show development and adaptaion to diverse environments over a period of millions of years. Religions are based on books and stories written by fallible people who did not understand or even know of the evidence when writting them down.

I grew up in a semi-religious household, attending church occasionally, but also keeping an open mind to everything. I have often believed that God (I am unsure what that means at times) set evolution in motion and has let it take it's course. I feel kinda silly making that comment. I have of late become a bit agnostic. I believe in something, but I don't know what.

I think the world is reaching a point where people need to accept the facts and adapt their outdated belief systems accordingly. If the Catholic church, one of the most stubborn organizations in the world, can adapt to accept evolution (maybe devine intervention), then it is time for others to do the same.

Now I haven't presented the facts here because I don't consider myself qualified to do so. I think any doubters out there should do their own research with an open mind and make their own choice. I am just presenting my conclusion.

Now going back to the Imax situation, I think these are the people who need a movie like this the most. Parents need to let their children make their own informed decisions, and hiding the facts from them by keeping it out of movie theatres and schools is not letting them do this. I think they are themselves questioning thier beliefs and hiding from the facts.

I don't think we will have to worry too much longer though, I think the satanic turtles are going to take over the world soon anyways. This is definatley the turtles big evolutionary step in their quest for global domination.


from CNN

I can see the face of satan can you. I also can't believe what some people will do for a buck and some publicity. This is hilarious. Read the story. Apparently a fire brought satan out of this turtle.

Sunday: A day of sports

Well, it happened: Carleton won its third straight Canadian University Sport Championship today. I was going nuts as the Ravens won their 78th straight victory by a score of 68-48 over the Concordia Stingers. Osvaldo Jeanty was amazing. 24 points, every single one of them a 3 pointer. Carleton shot 50% from beyond the arc. But when you take 30 shots (getting 15 for 45 points, if you don't want to do the math) thats a pretty amazing feat.


from TSN

I think Carleton will have a pretty good team next year too. Rumour has it that Adam Falsetto and B.J. Charles will be back next season after some time off, and even losing Mike Smart and Matt Ross (this being their 5th and final year), we still have a great lineup of returning players. Lets see if we can add another (3rd consecutive) undefeated season and a fourth championship!

Elsewhere, the F1 race in Malaysia was really good. Sure Alonso ran away with it, but there was a lot of action back in the field. I was on the edge of my seat as Hiedfeld, Webber and Ralf had an exciting three way battle, and when Fisichella took out Webber. I am really impressed at the whole field. Reneault, of course, is doing awesome, but so are Toyota, Mclearen, BMW-Williams and even Red Bull. I know when Ferrari pulls out the new car, things will likely change, but lets hope the season remains this exciting.

I think I figured out why Minardi spins out so much. It gives their sponsors some air time. Thats why Jordan has no sponsors, they are too slow, but they don't have enough accidents. At least we see the Minardi. I'd like to see them have a couple good races, get some good airtime.

NASCAR was also quite exciting. Jimmie almost won, but it was nice to see Carl Edwards get his first win in very exciting fasion. Johnson is doing amazing though. 4 top 5's in 4 races. Thats a pretty damn good stat.

Well, Sunday seems to be my sports day. I really had a very unproductive weekend. I'll have to crack down pretty hard this week to get everything done. I should be alright though. I am almost finished. Only a couple weeks of class left.

Sorry to those readers who aren't big sports fans. I'm just really excited about the Carleton win. Three in a row is amazing (so is 78!!!!!).

General Ramblings: I'm Drunk

Well, I'm not really drunk, just a little tipsy (a lot tipsy). We had our end of year Engineering formal tonight. Wasn't all that exciting. I just went to the dance so I could get my pewter mug and the free beer that went along with it. I feel all mature and stuff; with my iron ring and a professional looking pewter beer mug. It's almost as if I am graduating soon or something, and about to enter the real world (Haha. not really). I apologize if my typing is a little off tonight.

Watching the Carleton game I recored. CU is up by 13 or so, just past 12:00 in the first half. (we play two 20 minute halfs in canadian university basketball). It looks like CU will be going for the threepete (how do you spell that??) tomorrow. Watch that on TSN tomorrow. That'll be for 78 straight wins. Thats incredible. How do you win that many games in a row????

F1 race in Malaysia is shaping up to be really good. It starts in about an hour. Alonso is on pole, my Williams boys are starting 4 and 8. Ferrari is in 13 and 14. This should make for a very interesting race. I will talk about it more later on, depending on the outcome.

Nascar, Jimmie Johnson is starting in 3rd. I was a little dissapointed when they took some points away from him last weekend after his car was found to be in violation of the rules (even though supposedly his violation was actually a disadvantage, and he still won), but after a little thought I agree with the ruling....

I am a firm believer of playing within the rules. The rules of every sport are there for a reason. I do like to win. It makes playing a lot more fun. But if it takes cheating to win, then what is the fun of that? Look at soccer and basketball players. Embellishing on a slight tap to make it look like a big foul frustrates me. That is a form of cheating. I wish people would just play the game within the bounds of the rules. Thats why I am a firm believer in instant replay in any sport where it is available. If you can prove either way as to if a play was within the bounds of the rule, no matter what the means of doing so, then so be it. It is better to take some time to ensure people aren't cheating, than to let them get away with it. Only strict enforcement will discourage cheating from occuring in the first place.

Well I have rambled enough and my head is spinning a little bit. Have a good night and GO RAVENS!!!! Make it three in a row!!!!

Next morning Edit: Felling good now (stayed up till 4 to watch the race. Slept till 11:15). Carleton won a nail biter over St. FX. That means a fight for the championship today against concordia. Watch it on TSN today at 4:30. Race was really good last night. Lots of action and some really good passing.

The Iron Ring.

I just wanted to post and say I GOT MY IRON RING!!!!

It's been a long time coming and feels so wierd. I have never worn a ring before. It keeps hitting stuff and clinking on it. But that is the point of the thing. A reminder.

So last night I got pretty damn drunk (and didn't spend very much). So did every other engineer. But that's what we are known for.

Looks like I will playing on two ultimate teams this summer. Tuesday and Friday. I am really looking to get better at it, so I guess I should play as much as possible.

Just wanted to share my excitment about the ring.

That's a lot of Monkeys...

I'm a firm believer in the fact that if you had an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typerwriters, one of them would eventually write Hamlet. Well, if you want to get technical, an infinite number of monkeys, but not all of them, would actually write Hamlet on the very first time. That is, after they have typed the actual number of characters in Hamlet, then decide to stop at that point and groom the monkey next to them.

In fact, an infinite number of them (but not all of them) would also write Macbeth, and Julius Ceasar, and everything else that has ever been written. Oh, and there would be a whole lot of garbage out there as well.

Thats the funny thing about infinity. It's really big. And it contains a lot of subsets of infinity. If you had an infinite number of socks, you would also have an infinite number of pairs of socks (and an infinite number of socks for which the other of the pair has gone missing, or has a big hole in the toe). That's to say, assuming all your socks are hole free, you have infinity dived by two equals infinity number of pairs of socks. Obviously the number of pairs is fewer than the total number of socks (by at least half), but you still have an infinite number of pairs.

That is why you can't do things like say "Infinity - infinity = 0" (because as I just showed, the number of socks minus the number of pairs of socks is a positive number, the result would actually equal be infinite as well) or "Infinity/infinity = 1." This also doesen't work.

Infinity is a pretty funny concept, and just remember if you do want to get an infinite number of monkeys trying to write some popular book, like Hamlet, so you don't have to fork over the $25 at Chapters, remember that you have to leaf through all of the monkey gibberish to find the one that is actually successful.

It's going to suck when you think you finally found it and you get down to the last line and Horatio says: "Ay, good my lorb."

Five Years in the Making: Ring Day.

Well, It's taken five very long years. Friday is the symbolic end of my career as an engineering student (yeah, I have almost 2 months left to the end of exams, but this is still exciting).

For those of you who don't know, Canadian engineering students take part in a psuedo secret cerimony near the end of their undergraduate career, during which they recieve an 'iron' ring (it is really made of stainless steel because the iron made fingers go strange colours). The iron ring is worn on the pinky finger of the engineering graduate's working hand. This is so that as you do your work, you are constantly reminded that people often trust their lives to the work you are doing.

The cerimony (The Ritual Calling of the Engineer) is, as I said, pseudo secret. It is no secret that the cerimony takes place, but what goes on there is only for obligated engineers. The only people allowed to attend are those recieving their rings, or those who already have theirs.

I wanted to share my excitment as this Friday grows closer. The ring actually means very little in the global scheme of things. It is not leagally binding, it is not a degree (I still have to graduate), and I don't recieve any benefits over those who don't get a ring, but it is very symbolic, and something a lot of engineers take very seriously. It is also a symbol of the fact I am almost done.

Oh yeah, did I mention there is a really big party afterwards. The beer will be flowing, and flowing, and so on. It should be a very interesting night (and possibly Saturday morning).

Oh and by the way. HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY. Be sure to celebrate with at least one pint of the good stuff.

A little Procrastination

There are really two things I should be doing right now, other than exploring the blogger world and writting this post.

The most important of the two is likely sleep. I have been doing suprisingly little of that lately, and my typical Wed. off is being interrupted by a field trip to Gastops. I don't know exactley what they do, I have a rough idea (something about simulation of gas turbine engines), but I really should know more after tomorrow. Even though it will be interesting, it is cutting in on my sleep time.

The other is editting a report by some people from the Univeristy of Laval, in Quebec. If I don't do it by Thursday, and have my review submitted, then the report I co-authored won't get published and this is my first truely published external paper (assuming it passes the review). That and the other co-authors may start removing some of my body parts as punishment. I kinda like where things are.

It is for the CCToMM's (Canadian Committee for the Theory of Machines and Mechanisms) M^3 symposium (Symposium on Mechanisms, Machines and Mechatronics). It's going to be at the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal. I get to present and apparently some Canadian astronauts are going to be there. And seeing as my life-long goal is to fly in space, I am really excited about meeting them.

Anyways, just exploring some blogs and came across one I enjoyed. I especially enjoyed the article on snot:

While I was suffering from a terrible cold, I made a startling discovery. Do you know that snot defies the laws of gravity?

It's rather insightful, if medically innacurate, but who really cares. I don't know all the mechanics of mucus, maybe they'll let me do my grad research on that.

Ultimate was good today. We were being slaughtered after the first few points. Down 6-1. But we were able to adapt to the unconventional offense and ended up winning 12-11 in a very exciting final point that could have really gone either way. I did end up catching it, but I can't take the credit, Paul did all the leg work.

They're either first or second in the league, so it felt really good to be victorious in the end. I'm looking forward to the summer Ultimate league where we can actually get back outside and I can layout for the disc without ripping off my precious skin.

Well, I think sleep is going to be next on my things to do. The report can wait.

I'm beat.

Wow, I don't think I've been this tired in a while. I had a late night trying (unsuccessfully) to get an assignment finished last night and was up early this morning too. Does someone want to remind me again why I just applied for at least two more years of this when I could be done in two months?

mmm. dry cheerios....

I have an ultimate game tonight in about 45 minutes. I hope I have enough energy to get through it. The bike ride home should be fun (Yeah, thats right, biking around Ottawa with 3 feet of snow on the ground). The bus is just too bloody expensive and walking takes too long. Hopefully I can keep it pretty clean of salt and maybe if I get that scholarship for grad school I can afford a new bike.

Anyways, I planned on writing more. It is a very busy week and a lot of fun stuff (mostly involving doing stuff then celebrating afterwards with beer). But I just realized the time and I gotta hit the road.

I will try and give a good update in a bit.

Quote of the day:

"Everyone has their price ... and I'm cheap." - Prof. Hayes on how he hopes Disney buys our simulator concept.

The Sunbird Saga

My brother just sent me a couple of pictures of the car




It's not as bad as I thought, but because it is was piece of junk to begin with, I am sure that the damage will be a lot more than the car is worth.

For those who don't know. The car was stolen the other day in Waterloo and found crashed into a tree about 5 blocks away.

It was my first car. When I came home for the summer after my first year of university it was sitting in the driveway waiting for me. My brother and I shared it since then. I usually had it in the summers when I was home and he would take it to Waterloo for the rest of the year. I don't really need it all that much up here in Ottawa, so I haven't had possesion of it for a while. I haven't been home for more than a couple weeks in almost 2 years, and have rented a car to get there the past couple times.

I'm not all that attached to it. It was a crappy car, no particularily good times in it. That one trip to Edgefest in Buffalo was kinda fun. I never expected it to be able to drive over the median like that.

Well, I just wanted to share those pictures. I'm glad it went out with a bang, I was expecting a breakdown at the side of the road, or just not starting some morning. At least there is a little bit of a story to this one.

100 hits.

Hey, I'd just like to celebrate this little milestone. My stat counter just hit 100. Now I know this doesen't mean that 100 people actually have read through, but It still makes me feel good, knowing that I am not just talking to myself.

Thank you to all who have and now are visiting, and especially to the few regulars.

It is a very busy week, both with school work and a few other events that I will surely want to talk about. Just give me a little time. I especially have to get this assignment finished for tomorrow. It is taking a lot longer than I anticipated.

Anways, thanks again to everyone visiting (I really just used this oportunity to take a break from my work). Hopefully it won't be too long until 1000, I'm counting on that wonderful concept of exponential growth to kick in.

Exploring the Blogging World.

So I'm pretty new to this whole blogging thing, both writting and reading. I'm really glad that blogger makes it so easy.

I'm trying to develop my own style, but I really haven't had too much time to think about good stuff to write. And nothing really interesting or exciting has happened in quite a while. School work makes sure of that.

I don't read everyblog I come across, but I do try to find some that are interesting or entertaining to read.

I'm a big fan of the "Next Blog" button up at the top of the page, but I find it often ends up at some stupid spam page. For that reason, I have kinda latched on to a couple 'guides'. Using the links of a few other blogs to find my way around the blog galaxy. My favorite so far is Bad Monkey No Banana (which I will no only reffer to as BMNB because I am really sick of writting it). The author, Tony I believe his name is, has provided quite a bit of encouragement over my first week or so. His site also provides some interesting reads, and some links to very interesting blogs and websites in general.

One blog I have found from BMNB that is quite interesting is present simple. This is a quite well written blog. I enjoy reading her stories and thoughts, there was one entertaining one about getting stuck on the side of a cliff. This is a good example of her writting style and sense of humour. (note to self: check out the gender before posting links, I must apologize to the author of present simple. I'm sorry.)

Anyways I just wanted to share my thoughts on what I think of the blogging world, and say thanks to those who have provided some encouragement.

Someday I will provide some original insight to the few readers that stop by. There's just this little issue of time. School is almost done. less than a month of class and exams are a little over a month away.

Grad School - Why?

I got these two pictures from someone elses blog, who is going through the same grad school stuff I am right now. Why am I doing this? Well, I think I answered yes to all those questions.



Click to make them bigger if you need to.



I love using the "next blog" button. Except when it comes up with those stupid advertisement blogs. grrr. Do those things actually work? It's like spam. Obviously someone out there is buying this crap they are selling, otherwise they wouldn't be putting the mopney and time into them. But you can find a few interesting blogs out there, and occasionally someone with similar interests (or issues) as you.

Anyways, I think I'll have fun in grad school. I'm a glutton for punishment and I like the research stuff. Hopefully it is interesting, and I might even get to do an exchange to Innisbruick in Austria. That would really be fun.

And the most important reason why --- I don't want a real job yet.

Wierd Day

Yesterday was a very 'diverse' day.

We had our design review for the project yesterday, it was quite boring to sit through all those presentations for a third time. Apparently mine went well. Personally, I thought I was speaking gibberish, but everyone (inculding the guys dishing out the marks) said I did good. So hopefully theu aren't just being nice.

The big group went out for dinner afterwards. That was fun. It was pricey but i had some really good ribs. One of the profs got quite drunk. That was very funny. He talked a lot and told me I was doing grad studies with him and he was going to make us both rich. I think I might be alright with that.

The downside to the day though, I broke it off with the girl I had been seeing. She was pretty upset. I'm sure I did the right thing. Better now than letting it go any longer. I just didn't see it working. I'm not going to get into the whole 'why' thing. I've had enough trouble explaining it to her (the 3 times she called today). The worst part is I made her upset. I am comfortable with the fact it is over, just because I knew it wasn't meant to be, but i feel really bad that she is taking it so hard.

Not too much else to go on about right now. Just taking a break from homework.

More General Ramblings

Anyways, nothing to update about the car right now(see my previous post) . My brother put up a post about it, but nothing new in it. It's kinda sad. That was my first car. Maybe I'll give it some special treatment in a future post. It really was a piece of junk though.

Long day at school again. Big presentation for our simulator project tomorrow morning. I gotta be there at 1/4 to 8. that sucks, the buses aren't very good at that time of day. This is the big one. Been working on this all year and all the profs and a bunch of industry experts from places like CAE, Mechtronix, Gastops, and the military just to name a few. Apparently some of them like to ask nasty questions. I'm not so worried about the presentation, it is the questions that concern me. Hopefully I can do reasonably well.

The two simulator concepts are in pretty rough shape. Hopefully they get them working well tonight. SIDFreD (see the website) was really acting up today. Hopefully those software guys can fix it up.

Some rent-a-cop accused me of stealing a muffin today. It was kinda funny. It was really wierd but I handed the guy a buck and then walked away and some dumb CU security chick started yelling at me for not paying. I just looked at her like she was stupid and said that i paid him. Then she yelled at me as I walked away for not respecting her. I just shot her one of those looks and laughed. Man, people like that need to smartten up a little bit and get off their power trip.

Not too much else right now. Aeroelasticity assignment is still being a pain, and I need to practice my presentation a couple more times. I should get on that. I love distractions.

My Precious Sunbird!

Breaking news. The 92 Pontiac Sunbird that my brother and I used to share (he has had it for a year and a half now) was stolen last night.

Apparently it ended up wrapped around a tree 5 blocks from where it was stolen frome. The cops called my brother (Who's thesis is due tomorrow and is gone to Europe for a month starting Tuesday), at 5 am to inform him.

Oh yeah, it was a piece of crap anyways. The best thing that could happen is that it is written off.

Thats all I know right now. I'll keep you informed.

The Politics of Deception - I Shouldn't Touch Politics

Lewis Black from The Daily Show was on CBC newsWORLD's The Hour, talking to George Stroumboulopoulos. He made an interesting point about the politics of deception. Now I am not one to talk too much about politics, but it is an interesting point. There is a lot of serious issues going on all around the world and CNN International has Micheal Jackson on the front page in the biggest spot, and the annoying issue of royal wedding number 2 just won't go away.

We all know MJ has a freakishly scary presence and does not take good pictures, similarily for Prince Charles (shutter), so why do I need a regular update on them from "the world's news leader". Now maybe the US government does not have too much control over those two "news items", but the issue that started the whole discussion on the show was gay marriage. I don't want to get too deep into this issue (I'm straight, but believe that everyone makes their own choices, so as long as it isn't forced on me, let them do it). But it is a valid point. There are many more pressing issues out there than this, and most of them involve "The Leader of the Free World" and some questionable decisions he makes. Well, at least they seem questionable to everyone outside the exlusive population of that country (about 53% of them).

Is he using less important issues to cover up other decissions? I wouldn't put it past him. Have other presidents been doing it for years? I wouldn't doubt it for a second. All these other issues are obviously important, because people still pay attention and have firm, at times well founded arguments for both sides.

What are we going to do about it? I dunno. I think we just need to recognize that this sort of stuff happens, and not ignore the truly important stuff.

Anyways, I really like this "The Hour" show (link at top).

Don't hate me for my minimal political beliefs. I like to hear all sides of the issue. But i prefer things that have a logical answer. Thats why I am an engineer (The PEO will kill me if the read this, I should say "Engineering Student").

People are actually comming to the site now and I am recieving some support in the form of comments and compliments. Thank you, it makes this fun.

Have a good night.

A Comment!

It wasn't much but someone actually read what I wrote and left a comment. Victory is mine. It was from the guy who maintains Bad Monkey No Banana, the blog referenced in the article he commented on.

At least thats a start

Pretty sad that this is the highlight of my day so far. Hopefully it gets better, but with all the crap I have to do for school, it is not very likely.

Anyways, I just wanted to celebrate that tiny little milestone in my blogging.

Highly Anticipated (for me): THGTTG The Movie

Thanks to the Internet Movie DataBase (IMDB), I have had an eye on this project for a little over a year now. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is comming to the big screen. Go to that link for the trailer (it plays automatically on the main page).

I remember the first time I read it (I think I was 16 or 17). I was so in to all the wierd stuff that comes from Douglas Adams's crazy imagination. I was going out with a girl who had a similar love of his strange writting style and crazy ideas. She was a little out there herself. I've long since lost track of her. I read it again last summer, 7 years later, and still love it's obscurity (and improbability).

Marvin, the paranoid android, has been telling me not to panic on my desktop for 2 or 3 weeks now. (If anyone has a higher resolution version of this image, I want it).


(yes, i just learned how to post pics. Watch out.)

Hopefully it is a good movie. I'm sure a lot of people won't like it. It takes a 'special person' to like Douglas Adams stuff, and apparently this holds true to his screenplay (which is very different from the book apparently).

Anyways, this is likely a movie (and book) I will continually refer to in my posts.

Happy hitchhiking.

Here's an Idea: Smoking Licenses

I found this on some guy from Atlanta's Blog: Bad Monkey No Banana

Cigarette smokers are puffing away their nest eggs. An economist at Ohio State University found that the net worths of nonsmokers are roughly 50% higher than those of light smokers (less than a pack a day) and double the wealth of heavy smokers (more than a pack a day). The money gap grew by $410 for each year that a person continued to smoke. The wealth gap between smokers and nonsmokers was roughly equal to how much smokers spent on their habit, suggesting that smokers buy cigarettes with cash they would otherwise save, rather than with cash they would have spent on entertainment. There's only one recourse for smokers who wish to fatten their bank balances, researcher Jay Zagorsky tells The Washington Post: "Stop smoking."

Reminded me of something I thought of the other day, probably going to piss off some smokers out there, good.

We need to license smokers the same way we license drivers. People who decide they want to smoke need to apply for a license, and before they get it, they need to acknowledge that they know what they are doing will likely kill them, and those around them (maybe even passing up government health coverage for smoking related illnesses).

If someone is found smoking without a license, fine the crap out of them. Make stores check for the license before selling them. This could also reduce underage smoking. If a store is found to violate this law, take away their ciggarette selling privilage. Don't take any crap.

Use a demerrit system like for drivers. If someone is found doing something stupid, like smoking in a no smoking area, smoking in the doorways of buildings (those people really piss me off), throwing thier butts on the ground (My university is covered in like an inch of butts, it is disgusting), blowing smoke in peoples faces, or doing anything else in the category of stupid, take away points. Maybe they have 5 or 6 points and once they are gone suspend the liscense.

Also, people who can't afford it can be denied licenses. I can't believe those people who live in poverty, or students who complain they are poor, but still smoke two packs + a day. Smartten up. And people with young children who smoke around them. Give the kid a bloody chance.

Yeah, I'm sure there are a million loop holes in this. But I am just sick of the arrogance of smokers. Sure as they laws are right now, they have a right to smoke, but shouldn't my right to breath supercede their right to smoke near my exit from a building, or similar situations. And the litter. Someone needs to crack down on that.

I think my stance on smoking is clear, it is so stupid. Like the quote at the top says, it is a waste of money, if not a cancer on society, in more ways than one.

Well, I'm sure that won't be my last smoking complaint.

Not the Best game.

Played indoor ultimate, as I aluded to in my last post. Stupid 9:45 game. I was pretty out of it by game time, but kinda woke up as we got going. I dunno what the final score was, but we lost by two. We really shoulda beat those guys.

I think this was one of my better throwing games. I didn't get the same amount of tunnel vision I usually have when I get the disc. I think the practice and having set plays really helps. I did throw a couple away. Just need to slow down a little bit. Bruno, the coach, gave me some really good pointers on the flick. Now I just need to practice it over and over and over until it becomes natural.

My defence however was lacking a little. Let several good opportunities get away, and I had trouble marking that freakishly tall guy (who am I to talk eh?).

Anyways, too bad Bruno can't play. At least we are doing half decent without him. Hopefully we can do better next week.

Procrastination - Isn't Aeroelasticity Fun?

Wow, it's really been a long day at school. Left the house at 20 to 9 this morning, and it is getting on towards 9pm. I won't leave campus until around 11. I hate these late Ultimate (Essentially football with a Frisbee, without the tackling) games.

I should really be working on my Aeroelasticity assignment, but my brain hurts a little too much for that right now. For those of you not in the know (which pretty much includes me), aeroelasticity combines solid mechanics (deformation of structures), dynamics (vibration analysis) and aerodynamics to study how an airplane's wing reacts to the air flowing over it.

A little intro to airplanes (simplified). When an airfoil (wing) moves through the air, kind of like sticking your hand out the car window, if it is flat, then it just slices through the air, but if you lift the leading edge up a little bit (increase the angle of attack), then through a bunch of fluid dynamics (thanks in part to both Newton and Bernoulli), you get lift. Now in an airplane wing, this causes the plane to lift off the ground, but also causes the wing to twist, increasing the angle of attack even more and then increasing the lift. This just keeps going and going until the the stiffness of the wing balances out the torque from the lifting force. If the force is too big, it'll rip the wing right off.

This, as you can imagine, is not good.

So anyways, I am supposed to be working on an assignment looking at the vibration caused by this aeroelastic effect. I just don't feel like doing it so I am writting this, trying to kill some time.

I am really looking forward to ultimate, hopefully I can wake up a little bit. It really is a lot of running.

I like having that Statcounter. A few (not many) people, other than me, have come by. If you are reading this far, leave a comment, I want to know what people think of my fairly young blog. I wonder how long I can keep this up. I guess that depends on if I develop an audience or something. I should try to come up with some sort of theme that will attract people. Maybe if i get more opinionated and cynical, then people will want to hear what I have to say. I'm sure some days I will be more pissed off than others.

Anyways, maybe I can get some work done before I go grab a bite.
Thats another don't go as long as I have today without eating much, maybe thats why i am so tired.

Later

General Ramblings: Ravens, F1, School and NASCAR

Just a bunch of general ramblings today. Don't feel like organizing my thoughts.

Went to a Carleton Ravens game on Saturday. I think the final was 68-63 Ravens over Ottawa U Gee Gees (wtf's a gee gee). Best game I have seen in a while. Carleton was actually losing for a bit in the second half. Thats 74 straight regular and post season wins. Thats insane. It's funny, when the Patriots had won however many games in a row, or Rothesburger from the steelers won all his games until the Super Bowl, thats all we ever heard about on TSN. A CANADIAN university team, pretty much the highest caliber sports leauges in canada, consisting of largely Canadian players (besides maybe the CFL, and the NHL and our one NBA team have very few actual Canadians) is doing unthinkably good and TSN hardly gives them any coverage. 74 consecutive wins, hell, they have more consecutive HOME wins than any other historic CIS team has TOTAL consecutive wins. Thats insane. Thats the definition of dynasty. The team is almost completley different then when the streak started and Coach Dave Smart still produces an amazing team. Come on TSN, get on board. This is local Canadiana at it's finest.

F1 Aussie GP was pretty damn good. I know it has only been one race, and the circumstances were very strange, but Red Bull was quite impressive. I hope they can keep it up. It was nice to see things shuffled up a little bit. I'm still rooting for BMW-Williams, but as long as Ferrari is kept at bay for a little bit, I'll be happy. Don't get me wrong, Schumi is an absolutely amazing driver, but I don't think he would be nearly as good without Ferrari. Hopefully there is some good competition in all the races and in the standings. I want it to come down to the wire in Shanghai at the end of the season.

I heard Micheal Waltrip actually make a tiny bit of sense today on some NASCAR show on Speed TV. BRING NASCAR TO CANADA. Spread it out a little bit. There is already a decent size Canadian audience. We can be rednecks too. A race up here will draw the attention of many more fans, and I would love to go.

School is almost over. I get my Iron ring in less than 2 weeks. Thats going to be a great day. Going to be a lot of work from now till the end, but it'll feel great when it is all over. I hate forced group projects at school. Too many incomponent people. At least in the workplace, if they are that dumb they can get fired, but at school you don't fail until the END of the year. Anyways, almost done with undergrad. Tell me again why I applied for grad school?

Well that was fun. Maybe I'll have more organized ideas some time. Not bloody likely.

Added a Stat Counter.

I just put in a new stat counter from statcounter.com. It seems a lot better than the Bravenet one I used before, hopefully looks aren't decieving. I was just curious as to if anyone is actually looking at this, or if I am just talking to myself.

A lot is going on, and I have a lot I want to say, but it is hard to find the time to write.

Keep looking, hopefully I can write more soon.

Best Quote Ever - Barry Bonds

From TSN,

Barry Bonds on how he and others used to do steroids, referring to the belief that 'roids make your testicles smaller.

"You can go check. I can tell you my testicles are the same size. They haven't shrunk. They're the same and work just the same as they always have."

My stance on drugs in sports: Kids look up to these guys and aspire to be like them. If you want to be a pro athlete, you need to do drugs to get there. Now thats a great message.

Gotta Go, Stupid school on a Saturday.

The Rich get Stupider - Down with Ferrari

What the hell is Ferrari thinking?

Maybe they are afraid Minardi will beat them. Minardi, with little money (they are pretty crappy), couldn't build a car to meet the new 2005 regulations BUT would be allowed to race if last years car met safety standards and was approved by all 9 other teams. Everyone except for Ferrari has said yes.

Why force an already troubled team to miss a race and lose all that sponorship money? A Ferrari from 10 years ago could likely still beat last years Minardi (and their rookie drivers) in any race. It just doesen't seem to make any sense. What's with the kick 'em when their down (and have never been up) mentality.

Here's hoping they get what's coming to them. Not bloody likely, but it would be nice to see.