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Friday, October 10th, 2008
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9:48 am - Markets in crisis!
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The only possible response:
vote for your favorite new theme for Hockey Night In Canada
I can't bear to watch hockey, but am still Deeply Moved by the opening credits that our public broadcaster puts before the 2-3 hours of intensely boring sporting broadcasts, during which time great films are not being shown.
My favorite also has the support of one David Hamelin of the Stills:
"I think it's got the most melody. I think it's the most memorable. I think the other ones just sound like they rely on production tricks too much and they don't really have the essence of that one that the 13-year-old kid made," the singer-guitarist said over the line from Montreal, where the rock outfit is based.
"I really absolutely do not care that he's young. He could be nine years old or he could be 100 years old or he could be a fetus or he could be a corpse or anything - like, it doesn't matter. It's a good song and ... I think that should be the one."
current mood:  amused
current music: Sticks to the Ice
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| Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
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8:05 pm - Today vs Yesterday
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Relative to yesterday, today is demonstrating its inferiority tirednesswise, and in terms of how many Really Important Things are getting done.
Also, I have noted that while a number of bridges and vice-presidential residences are fuzzed out on Google Maps, you can get a great high-res view of America's little prison camp for arab scapegoats at Guantanamo Bay.
Also, during last night's activities, I was watching a program in which many yakuza were sentenced. Each Yakuza was assigned a special Buddhist kanji, based on seniority. The most senior detainees received one kanji each, until they ran out kanji. Then, the next most senior received pairs of kanji. Once they ran out of pairs, they had all remaining prisoners shot rather than dealing with the complexity of triples.
Next: about three more hours of work before going home.
current mood:  tired
current music: Music to push Obama's numbers higher
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| Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
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7:38 pm - Some progress
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Some progress is being made. While living at the office during begging-for-money month, I have been:
a) teaching an intro class
b) teaching a new advanced class
c) supervising or quasi-supervising two new grad students
d) saving the department from embarrassment at a con to be held DURING BEGGING-FOR-MONEY MONTH which I may have to attend and which will be a complete waste of BEGGING-FOR-MONEY time
e) trying to decide which of 4 papers to submit with the grant application
f) figuring out how to revise and resubmit those papers by Oct 29
g) trying to get the proposal revised according to the comments on last year's rejected proposal
h) trying to get a third grad student's thesis finished by Xmas
i) planning the two midterms that are scheduled DURING BEGGING-FOR-MONEY MONTH
j) worrying incessantly about whether or not my lack of recent papers is going to kill my career and get me fired in the middle of a recession
This has not been aided by periodic attacks of insomnia and ennui.
current mood:  stressed
current music: Music to dispel raging insomnia
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9:41 am - Last Night's Activities
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Went to California to see the latest Disney flick. The 50's-era cinema, once a lecture hall, had such badly raked seating that the audience spontaneously unscrewed the seats from the floor and re-arranged them into a much nicer horseshoe arrangement. Shortly after, the film was shown. It was set in John Vorster's Late Modernist university campus by the sea, somewhere in South Africa in the 80s. The campus was known to be one of the last built in the style of UCLA and other oceanfront UC campuses in the late 60s. The audience (mostly American) was overwhelmed by nostalgia for the period, and completely ignored the favorable treatment of apartheid in the film.
Nothing as exciting is expected during the next 12 hours spent at work.
current mood: shocked
current music: Music to encourage building integrated Late Modernist universities by the sea
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| Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
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5:26 pm - Plans
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1) Over Xmas, there will be a Great Road Trip of extreme duration, which will be planned to pass through many areas rich with mines and vast works (once) dedicated to metallurgy and machinery production. I am very much hoping for early exam dates.
2) There may be a pre-Xmas trip. There may also be a pre-Xmas con, at a very bad time wrt begging for $$$.
3) There will be the March Break trip to regions of great historical and architectural significance.
4) There will be a trip in early May to Montreal.
5) There will be a trip in early June to Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle.
6) There will be a trip in late June to Milano and other bits of Europe.
7) There will be a trip in mid-July to Boulder CO.
All but (1) and (3) are work-related. All plans are made in anticipation of keeping my job, getting funding, and the US economy not collapsing into chaos.
current mood:  awake
current music: Music to encourage departure dates to be more now-like
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| Sunday, September 28th, 2008
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6:54 pm - Grrrrrr....
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1) After 3 solid hours of pissing about, I may have finally reverse-engineered an explanation for the sign-test-based CI for the median as presented by the text.
2) The heat has been turned on, so the office is like a sauna.
3) After subduing the sign test interval, I have to:
a) learn the contents of the rest of tomorrow's lecture
b) write the fucking lecture
c) finish the HW 1 solutions
d) grade the HW 1s
e) make up HW 2
and all of this after having achieved ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the way of progress on writing and revising the three papers which had to have been finished by Wednesday in order for me to have a chance at getting my grant renewed.
Tomorrow, progress will be impeded by:
a) stat seminar
b) sub lecture for a colleague
c) preparing extra lecture for unwell student
d) Monday lecture on things beyond the sign test
The risk of my not getting tenure is slowly rising, and is possibly beyond 50% now.
current mood:  depressed
current music: Music to encourage any sort of progress or sensible prioritizing
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| Thursday, September 25th, 2008
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9:59 am - After yesterday's complaints...
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12:34 am - Favourite New Show
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The Middleman rules (based on one ep seen so far). How on earth did something like this get picked up by family channel owned by The Mouse?
current mood: impressed
current music: Music from the MM (if there was any)
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| Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
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9:20 pm - Score!
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As a result of accidentally walking past the giveaway cart at the Science Library, I am now the proud owner of Lyon and Christiansen's 8-page pamphlet A Partial Glossary of Elk Management Terms. How could anyone resist a title like that? If only it had been a hardbound and complete glossary of such terms!
An excerpt:
Hunter opportunity: An array of options that allows hunters to choose situations that are personally rewarding.
Discussion: Components of hunter opportunity are influenced by human activities, hunting regulations, access, time and space, and land management activities. The key to this concept is the ability to select an option that is personally rewarding from several options. An important management decision in providing hunter opportunity involves the scale of application: statewide, regionwide, forestwide.
It was published in 1992 by the Intermountain Research Centre of the US Forest Service, and printed on recycled paper.
current mood: amused
current music: Music to promote use of English among foresters
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8:31 pm
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A nice obituary for the presidency of Bush II is given here by Timothy Garton Ash, who is quite an enthusiastic supporter of the US. He has written interesting books on the Polish Revolution of 1980, on the sheer awfulness of the later COMECON regimes, and on all of the people who informed on him to the Stasi when he was living in the DDR.
What is so very sad about the last decade is that it was obvious that Bush II was going to be stupid and useless from the day that he set aside the latest Texan execution order and started campaigning for the presidency. Reading about his governorship of Texas in the 90s made it blindingly obvious to anyone who was paying attention that he would fail in exactly the way that he did; the only thing that could not be foretold were the exact circumstances of his failures (which are nicely described in the article). What is terrifying is that millions of Americans let him get away with it, and that protest against his regime has been so muted from within.
What is also terrifying is that Bush II won two elections partly by not pretending to be something other than an ignorant and limited typical citizen, rather than an open-minded, creative, and exceptional political leader who could cope with new crises effectively and intelligently. Perhaps aggressive public discussion of Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life and works that have followed from it should be part of the election coverage.
current mood:  angry
current music: Music to encourage the US to become what it thinks that it is
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5:47 pm - Cartoons on the door
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I now have cartoons on my office door by:
1) Steve Bell (Maggie's Farm)
2) Handelsman (ex Punch)
3) MacLachlan (ex Punch)
4) Larry (ex Punch)
5) David Malki (Wondermark)
6) Glen Baxter (Atlas)
7) Randall Munroe (XKCD)
8) Francesco Marciuliano (Medium Large)
9) Peter Blegvad (Leviathan)
Now, all I need to do is finish the three papers, write the grant application, and keep up with the two courses that I'm teaching.
current mood:  accomplished
current music: Music to encourage the completion of essential tasks
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| Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
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11:23 am - Bad transportation
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It is time for another rant about bad transportation technologies.
1) Scooters. They may seem to be efficient as gas consumers, but many have 2-stroke engines which are far more dangerous to the environment than SUVs. While they are more dangerous to ride on the road than bicycles, they provide no exercise benefits.
2) Electric bicycles. I can see there being a use for these among the elderly and the handicapped, but not for healthy adults and kids. You lose all of the exercise benefits, they are slower than bicycles on hills (the one I saw ran up a hill about as fast as a person laboring with a zimmer frame), and some have such tiny wheels that they can't be ridden on many road surfaces or pedaled at great speed. There will also be extra maintenance issues e: the motors and problems with disposing of ex-batteries.
3) Zero-pollution cars. Why are there not mass jailings of auto and ad industry execs for even suggesting that a vehicle can be pollution-free? Even bicycles produce environmental contamination through their being made. Electric and hydrogen-fueled cars may not produce any pollution at the source, the energy they used was produced in a facility that wrecked a river, chopped up birds, contributed massively to global warming, or left great piles of radioactive waste around. On top of that, there are all the transmission losses involved in shipping that energy to your car. It's not clear which combination of power generation and storage will minimize damage to the earth, although it seems certain that it isn't the technology we're using now.
4) If you think this mortgage crisis bad, what will happen when the 100s of millions in North America who don't live in dense urban settings find that 25% or 50% of their disposable income is going into operating their cars, without which they cannot get to work or obtain food? How much will lovely homes in the country which cannot be served by transit be worth when gasoline is 10 or 20 per gallon, and the US can no longer afford to try to militarily seize oilfields?
current mood:  anxious
current music: Music to encourage sensible planning for the future
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| Sunday, September 21st, 2008
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7:54 pm - This afternoon
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There was Open Doors thing, and so I went to the only really interesting spot (the water treatment plant). It proved to be quite fun, in spite of the longish wait to get in (10 mins and I didn't have a book) and the rather mundane tech (we have a nice aquifer, so the water doesn't need Extreme Cleaning). Unfortunately, one of the party was The Child (accompanied by its mother).
The Child was about 4, and quite obviously bored. His reactions included whining, throwing himself upon the floor in the path of the oncoming tour party, wandering off (in an industrial environment), and climbing into the diesel engine pit. His mother's responses consisted of endless requests, always accompanied by a 'please', as in "Please get out of the diesel engine pit." The Child ignored all requests, and kept amusing itself by further wandering off and more explorations of the diesel engine pit. While I do not fault The Child for this, I have to wonder if the guide or the parent might have taken some actions other than the ones that they did.
current mood:  contemplative
current music: Music to accompany the possible emergency response
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2:12 pm - Excerpt
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The squirming mass of arms and legs which is the human infant at birth seems a fit object for the biologist to study rather than the social psychologist. It is active when aroused by its physiological appetites and quiescent when those wants are satisfied. It has some specific means for seeking satisfaction, but in general its behaviour is random, diffuse, and unrelated to the stimulating world. It has no control over its eliminative functions and has been aptly described as an open sewer.
From Social Psychology by Daniel Katz (Princeton University) and Richard L Schanck (Louisiana State University), Wiley: 1938.
current mood: amused
current music: Music to celebrate the saving of books from eliminative sociology departments
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| Friday, September 19th, 2008
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11:07 pm - Supernatural
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While gymnasticating, I saw this season's Ep 1 contextlessly. It was my first SN ep.
1) The heroes don't seem to have much of a sense of humour, and they spend much time staring at each other Manfully.
2) The possession thing seems to give them opportunities to punch out women as well as men.
3) There was a number 3, but I've forgotten it already. Possibly, I'm missing something here.
current mood: confused
current music: Whatever the theme was from SN
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8:44 pm - Why the death of DFWallace is a tragedy
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| Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
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9:08 am - Results from Monday
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1) Death Note was seen, thankfully for free thanks to a pass from my dealer. It was terrible, for the following reasons.
a) It was dubbed. Almost all line readings fell flat.
b) Even the original soundtrack could not have prevented overlooking the totally cliched acting.
c) The production values were seriously amateur. Even the most insipid mainstream Hollywood films of this type are better edited and shot. It looked like a production by talented people from the local film coop, who mortgaged their house to make the film. This was possibly due to the director having a career largely based on Godzilla films.
d) Death Note works in the manga (barely) because of the nifty plot twists, which are usually cool enough to help the reader overlook the completely unbelievable set-ups required by the narrative to make those twists possible. There wasn't enough time to do that in the film, and the writers weren't smart enough to cope with it.
e) All of the villains are monsters. This takes the story into Death Wish territory, and washes away the creepy neo-fascist aspects of Light Y which come through much better in the manga.
f) It was a two-part film and we will never see Part 2 in a theatre in the Tundral Wastes.
BUT
The actor playing L was very good.
2) The meltdown on Wall Street continues. It is not very surprising, considering that much of the prosperity of the last few years in the US has been illusory, being based on buying things that Americans can no longer afford. I expect that some of the crunch is being cushioned by unemployed people running up credit card debt. I wonder what will happen when the masses suddenly find that they can no longer afford to make their payments?
3) My optometrist appointment is tomorrow at 8h30. I found this out when I showed up for it this morning at 8:35.
current mood: busy
current music: Music to encourage making proper films
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, September 15th, 2008
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8:31 am - Last Night's Activities
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Firstly, I found myself in Ithaca NY for reasons that were unclear. My grandmother, in spite of being 92, decided to take the 12-hour bus trip from the Greater Kitchener Area so as to be able to see me (since I was in the area). This resulted in delays to my escape from Ithaca. Also responsible for delays: my incomplete map which indicated that the Ontario government had extended toll superhighways deep into NY state. While these would have speeded up the return trip, they seemed to force me to travel via Kingston rather Niagara Falls and no-one could tell me why.
Then, found myself with my grandmother and other Kitchener-area relatives at a family BBQ near Ithaca. For some reason, the BBQ was hosted by local relatives that I had no I idea that I had. They were all poor rural substance-abusers, and there were many tense situations. I was eager to leave.
Finally, I found myself back in the Greater Kitchener Area, contemplating another trip to Ithaca for a work-related meeting. Much procrastinating was being done, on account of the length of the drive. A kindly relative was making provisions for the trip, out of a copy of Catullus' Ithodes which had been printed on sponge toffee. I was horrified, given the fine state of the volume. In spite of it having been placed into the crushing press, only the binding had been damaged. While I realized that the volume was not all that valuable, I decided to have it rebound at great cost.
current mood:  quixotic
current music: Music for trips to upper NY state
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| Sunday, September 14th, 2008
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8:49 pm - A Tragic Loss
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It seems that David Foster Wallace has died.
obituary from The Guardian
Recommended works include:
Infinite Jest (worth the effort; also, more footnotes than any other novel)
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (an easy access point)
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (essays, all of which are brilliant)
current mood: disappointed
current music: Music to discourage suicidal behaviour
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4:23 pm - The Weekend so far
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1) There has been cycling, yesterday. This was undertaken reluctantly, after some kneeishness was experienced on Friday and on Saturday morning. The ride was short, on account of poor solar scheduling. It was also boring on account of it being along roads which have been cycled many many many times because there are hardly any fucking roads in this stupid fucking bog. As expected, the cycling completely cleared up the kneeishness without inducing swelling or other forms of unpleasantness.
2) There has been much Moorcocking. So far Blood and the Helix comic MM's Multiverse have been consumed, together with parts of Fabulous Harbours. While I remain appalled by how bad Moorcock's writing style can be at times, I am still compelled to keep reading. Much of this was motivated by being able to see The Final Programme last week, and by my having read a rare critical work on his writing which I found hidden deep within my library, approx. 20 yrs after purchasing it.
3) Houses have been examined. The first looked Modern on the outside, but the inside was an abomination of kitsch. If you buy a Modern house, fucking decorate it Modernly, not in some hybrid style which apes and entirely fails to capture certain elements of Victorian decor! The second was very nice, in that it had room for me, my books (above ground), my proposed mediatheque, and the comics with still about a full house-worth of space, should I every somehow manage to end up with a family. Unfortunately, it was not well-sealed and would presumable leak heat like a sieve on tundral -37 nights. The steel-reinforced floors were nice, but would not make up for the costs of heating, the costs of installing summer ventilation, and the costs of replacing over 2000 sq ft of carpet with hardwood. The third house was older, but was just too small. It was nicely renovated on the inside, though.
4) The exercising continues, endlessly. Somehow, it has been less than effective at reducing visceral fat.
5) Now, there must be some work so that I am ready for tomorrow's lecture. Also, I must not forget the screening of Death Note that I received a pass for from the comic book shop.
current mood: busy
current music: Music associated with yet another weekend that is too short
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d_benway's journal
drained