senatorhung's pad
ramblings of an information troubleshooter
ramblings of an information troubleshooter
on this sunshiney sunday ...
permalink Sunday, 06APR2008:wow, over a month since my last posting. i had gotten some notes together to post on march 8th, but somehow got too tired or too wrapped up in some online game. here's a couple of the links that went awol:
- a remix
/ mashup demonstrating how hillary
clinton could be mistaken for a grown-up
version of tracy flick (played with gumption
by reese witherspoon) in the movie 'election'.
- interview of clay shirky about the power of organizing without organizations
oh, and renovations at the office have been a huge pain. we ended up moving our division back to the building that i had spent 5 years planning my escape from, just to let the construction folks do their thing without our bellyaching. productivity nose-dived and it was hard to get motivated. we're supposed to move back into our 'new' offices this week, but i won't hold my breath ...
i finally got off my patooie and submitted my application to selkirk college's digital film program this week. the program director indicated that i should hear back within a couple of weeks, as they are limiting the class size to under 15 students. the fact that there was a film symposium in town this week likely gave me the final impetus, but unfortunately i wasn't able to make an appearance at many of their functions due to being sick in bed on tuesday and friday. i did make it to their thursday nite gala, where i was treated to a smattering of films (marred by technical difficulties due to broadband incapacity), some award presentations, and best of all, some jazzy crooning by the lovely emily.
spent saturday afternoon in bed to recover from my evening online poker tourney win (2d of 90 for $45) and missed this year's first game of outdoor broomball as a result. todd called up to reserve my evening, and we stayed up until 6 a.m. playing 3 tourneys and a cash game. i broke even after the 3 tourneys, but dropped back into the red after the cash game. ah well, at least i went home in-between tourneys to make myself some salmon-rice for supper so i didn't indulge in the snack and saved some dough that way.
sunday afternoon looked magnificent outside, and i couldn't bear to stay in bed past 3. instead, i pulled out the crazy carpet from the dusty corner of the closet (where it had lain dormant for, umm, a couple of years ?), pumped up my bike tires, and pedalled on down federal road past BCC before heading up into the tundra to my favourite sliding spot. my first attempt was a bit dodgy as i sideswiped a rock that i had specifically been aiming to avoid. my next attempt went too far the other way and i ran into a 4-foot deep drift that i had to scramble out of before continuing on down the hill. my 3d attempt was right down the middle - oh baby ! i spent the next hour going down that stretch until one perfect run that took me way past the line of power poles. i was going to stop on that high note, but decided to take one last trip down. a wipeout halfway down gouged out a big pit and i gladly called an end to the day's sledding adventure.
as far as online games go, knighthood has gone to craphood, as the strategic elements have been hulled out of the game in favour of spam attacks. even i don't have the gumption to sit in front of my computer 24-7 to guard an imaginary kingdom. replacing it has been a game that inflatable elvis turned me on to: nations. my first impression, was 'oh, this is just a neo-con brainwashing application', but then i realized that even if i disagreed with the modelling assumptions, having a nation with a political skew right up my alley would be an interesting little curio. we'll see how it goes.
finally, here's another replay from battle stations, featuring their new interface, which you can see has a much more pleasant aesthetic quality - i think the colour of the sky actually changes depending on the time on your clock ;)
more fun in the sun
permalink Monday, 07APR2008:here's yet another replay from battle stations, featuring their one-day only weapon offering from april fool's day ... the PIE LAUNCHER ! mmmm ... tasty ... don't blink or you'll miss it ;)
oh, and that stuff about film school ? NOT an april fool's thing - i just got an email this evening indicated that i've already been provisionally accepted into the program !! hurray !
prizes, mix and chairlift
permalink Monday, 28APR2008:so, we had our 3d annual (4th awards, 3d with voting) iqaluit broomball awards ceremony on saturday nite at the francophone association which we had rented for the occasion. 22 awards were handed out, including ones for the most stylish, 'drama queen', and 'ben johnson' award for suspicious speed, along with a whole bunch of skill awards. me, i grabbed hold of the trophy in ties for most stylish male (only due to massive splitting of the vote) with JFB, while splitting for best defensive player with gord. my sole solo catch was best shot-blocker, and i have the bruises to show for it.
at the end of the regular ceremonies, 2 additional awards were handed out. the first was for chris d's 'thrust' goal earlier that day on the outdoor broomball ice. please understand that a hand or foot-directed ball will be disallowed as a goal, but chris d. somehow managed to use his *groin* and there's nothing in the rules against that. the 2d additional award surprised me as the broomball club exec also provided me with a hall of fame award and trophy. here are some pix featuring the 2 signed broomball balls that came with the trophy:
apparently, i had been reticent about my upcoming plans for the fall, so some of those in attendance were caught by surprise. however, i've already bought my ticket out for july, and am in the initial stages of deciding what to keep with me and what to shed here in the arctic.
week before last, i also stayed up til 5 a.m. working on a mix that i just threw together on a whim that evening. i played it all day at work the next day and it held up without becoming annoying, so i've posted it up at artofthemix - it's called around the world in 23 songs. i hadn't posted a mix in months, but the regulars still welcomed me with positive comments. the dload link has since expired, but if anyone really wants to sample it, just send me a note and i'll re-upload it.
on either side of the mix-making, i assisted david s. with the lights for the opening and closing cermonies of toonik tyme. i got to use the chair lift for the first time and i won't lie and say that my knees weren't shaking as i was reaching over my head just under the rafters of the AWG arena. the shows went smoothly, tho, and nothing fell on the audience, so it was all good. the lightshow designed by david was fantabulous, as was the sound by juno-award winning diego. sylvia knows all sorts of interesting people ...
First Post (27FEB2005) Previous Archive Next Archive Most Recent Post