Stop. It's T-Shirt Time.

Epic Celebration: Henrik Andersen

"I like it."

Castle, an ABC drama-comedy, starring Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) is wise-cracking mystery novelist, Rick Castle, who is called in to consult on a homicide case when bodies are found arranged and apparently killed the same way characters in his novels were.

It is an awesome show. Mondays at 10.

This is scary.

Just a bump.

Sfumato

My life has changed

for the better, I think.



(courtesy of Lifehacker and Slate)

Canadian Politics and why I love it

This reminds me of that time Parliament put everything down to discuss whether or not Shane Doan should represent Team Canada as its captain because of his alleged remarks against the French. Or like that time no one could do anything about the economy because there was a big hissy fit about coalition governments being undemocratic.

Full disclosure: I'm not a fan of Stephen Harper's Conservatives (the political party), nor am I a fan of Roman Catholicism (the institution), so this confluence of events tickles me something fierce.

Catholics believe in transubstantiation, wherein the wafer and wine received during the Sacrament of Eucharist is transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the body and blood of Christ. Literally. Only baptized Roman Catholics 10 and up are to receive the host (body). Those who wish to abstain are to cross their arms across their chests, or shake their heads, or tilt their heads up, or just don't get in the line to indicate polite refusal.

Stephen Harper is of the Protestant mold, and thus has a different view of the Eucharistic ceremony. But in the eyes of Catholics, it looks like he put a piece of Jesus, their Lord and Saviour, born of the Mother of God and crucified on a cross, into his suit jacket pocket. In my opinion, their ire -- however misguided -- is hardly justified. While Harper should have known better than to catch the priest's attention to receive the wafer, the priest should have known better than to serve the host to a Protestant; they are supposed to ask recipients if they are baptized Catholics first.

Harper's spokesperson/damage-control, Dimitri Soudas, has already issued a statement: "The story today alleges he put it in his pocket and did not consume it which is false. It's totally absurd and ridiculous."

This debacle completely overshadowed the event (memorial for Romeo LeBlanc). It's more fun to blow up a pointless thing into a huge kerfuffle rather than to talk about actual problems.

Buffy Summers vs. Edward Cullen

Man vs. Machine

It is one of the most common themes in literature to have sprung forth from the Industrial Revolution. Humans have a deep-seated fear of becoming obsolete in the face of a superior force.

That's very informative!

In lieu of actually writing my own post-material, I'd like to share this gorgeous piece of work with you.


Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Is this something we should all be discussing?

i have never wanted to be a Power Ranger more

my co-worker, who is all sorts of awesome, informed me about this after a brief discussion about the destructive merits of the Karate Chop (a 50 base power Fighting attack that has a higher chance of a Critical Hit).




yeah, i know there haven't been many posts lately.
i'm not dead; i just have a life.

How to Survive Valentine's Day if You're Single

Since this is not applicable to all the people who read this blog, I've posted something else after the jump.

Is this real life?

I saw this video linked by my favourite film critic. I watched it 7 times.

Because videos save me the trouble of writing

about how awesome Olive (and Pushing Daisies) is, I'll let you see for yourself.

Hopelessly Devoted to You
Pushing Daisies S01E02 - Dummy

Eternal Flame
Pushing Daisies S02E08 - Comfort Food

Why don't we do this dance instead?

Numfar Dances the Dance of Joy
Angel S02E21 - Through the Looking Glass

Lorne the Host returns to Pylea, his home dimension, with Angel and co. in search of the displaced Cordelia. The prodigal Lorne is reunited with his mother for the first time since he abandoned his music-less world to pursue a singing career on Earth, much to the joy of his brother Numfar. Joss Whedon, creator/writer/director of the show, makes a special cameo appearance as Numfar.

Don't Let It Die

Pushing Daisies: the best show you aren't watching



Out of the Question


Sentimental Monkeys


Childhood Influences/Kick Pooh, Kick!


Zombie Rights/I don't think that anymore


Burly Bruce and the Real Girl


I Never Thought to Ask

Mystery Bug 2: in the Office

I got into work early this morning. At the doorway to the bathroom I frequent, I beheld an amazing sight. There was a sizeable, light-coloured insect in a state of disassemblage on the floor in front of the door. Picking through the wreckage was a slightly smaller dark insect with a chitanous carapace.

I wanted to stay and watch, but I also had to use the bathroom. After I finished my business, they were still right there on the floor. I hopped back into my office (next to the bathrooms), grabbed a piece of paper, and scooped them up for closer examination on my desk.

Of course, once they were placed on the desk, the still-living insect bolted for the nearest cover (a Compaq Presario v5000). I played hide and seek with it for about 6 minutes, but quickly tired of its survival instincts. What I wanted to see was its gluttony so that I could capture the feeding on camera, so I proferred the remnants of its meal, still on the paper, to the scurrier but to little avail.

Clearly it was not comfortable eating in plain sight where it preceived imminent danger. So I relocated them to the floor under my desk. Under relatively darker evirons, the black bug was content to return to feeding. I filmed it with a point-and-shoot camera (Casio Exilim Z55) that was woefully ill-equipped to handle dark and close-up work. Nonetheless, I faithfully captured the moment the best I could, partially lying on the floor of my room while some automated processes were running.

Fig. 1: Video of Feeding

Naturally, the mystery of the identities of the insects began to draw my attention after the novelty of watching one insect dig through the innards of another, less fortunate insect lost its appeal. For posterity, I took a few snapshots. Again, it must be reiterated that my camera is not built for close-up work, so sadly, the quality leaves a lot to be desired.


Fig. 2: Feeding in the Dark


Fig. 3: Really getting in there


Fig. 4: Nom nom nom nom

During the course of the composition of this post, I did some research into the insects I observed. The living one was easy enough to identify, as I had a specimen that had been stepped on, but remained largely intact (COD: thoracic rupture). It looked like a black beetle that lived on the ground; this was verified by a quick Google Image Search for "Black Ground Beetle".

The edible one proved to be more difficult, owing to several of its body parts being detached and likely missing. Its most striking feature, apart from its ability to separate into pieces, was the pair of filament-like structures protuding from its abdomen. Such a feature is fairly rare in the insect world, allowing me to rule out about 90% of them right away. From this point, I just had to look up pictures for known insects with tail-like structures.

At first, it seemed like Bristletails fit the bill, but closer inspection revealed that bristletails did not have the same kind of long legs seen in the photos. I've finally settled on Mayfly. Mayflies have the filamentous tails and long-ish legs seen in the photographs.

The ground beetle was likely scavenging the remains of a dead mayfly, as beetles generally have a tough time tackling airborne prey. Adult mayflies live only a couple of days, devoting all that time to reproduction. The wings were likely bitten off at the first opportunity to reduce dragging weight.

If life were like this...

Avatar: Book 3 - Fire

returns July 14, 2008, after a long hiatus due to the WGA strike. but before that day comes, audiences will be given an hour long tv movie (episodes 314-15) titled "The Boiling Rock" to tide them over until then.

In "The Boiling Rock", Sokka takes it upon himself to infiltrate the highest security prison of the Fire Nation, built on an island in the middle of a volcanic lake, in the hopes that he will find his father who was captured during the botched invasion on the day of the solar eclipse. He receives help from the most unlikely of sources and finds a familiar face among the prisoners.

The Second Half of Book 3 - Fire: Trailer