Blog

May 13, 2021 16:40 +0000  |  Fun Stuff 0

On second thought, that whole "let's build a Crazy New Thing" energy I had might just get preempted by something shiny getting released tomorrow:

November 26, 2010 07:10 +0000  |  Costumes Fun Stuff Geek Stuff 3

I know that it's been nearly a month, but I suppose that late is better than never for this sort of thing. Here is me in my Hallowe'en costume for this year. For those who don't recognise her, you should look up Ramona Flowers on Wikipedia. The real star of the Scott Pilgrim series, Ramona is the embodiment of awesomesauce, complete with a Bag of Holding, and a giant hammer that's +2 against girls.

In most of the shots with me is Stephanie, who also went as Ramona. No, we didn't think to mention this to each other before we decided. Melanie took the shots with Stephanie's camera in Commercial Drive station just after the Parade of Lost Souls. My costume consisted of:

  • Two layers of pantyhose (1 black, 1 purple, $7 at Winners)
  • One pair of leg warmers (courtesy of Poesy's mad shopping skillz, $12)
  • One pair of booty shorts ($10 at Winners)
  • My Work at Play hoodie (free!)
  • The biggest and cheapest bra I could find ($10 at Winners)
  • Some tissues for the breasts
  • A blue wig (a present from Melanie)
  • The Hammer
    • A wooden dowling ($8 at Home Depot)
    • A shipping box ($4 from Michael's)
    • 2 rolls of shiny duct tape ($2 each from Michael's)
  • The Bag of Holding
    • A cylindrical cardboard box ($4 at Michael's)
    • A yellow cardboard star, cut out and glued to the box ($0.50 at Michael's)
    • Blue and pink paint ($1 each at Michael's)
    • Pink twine ($2 at the local dollar store) and a pink ribbon ($2 at Michael's) for the strap

All in all it was fun, but I don't think I'm going to be a girl for Hallowe'en again for a Very Long Time. It's bloody uncomfortable. The constant compliments on my nice legs though... that didn't suck :-)








June 28, 2009 19:16 +0000  |  Fun Stuff Geek Stuff 10

The optimist in me would like to point out that my aforementioned stupidity regarding my toasting of Serenity has an upside: in the process of rebuilding my network and moving services around, I was able to rename all of the machines to conform to my new naming convention: famous Canadians.

So here's the list:

  • Dallaire (gateway and firewall) - Roméo Dallaire is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general best known for his work as Peacekeeper in Rwanda during the genocide.
  • Trudeau (web, dns, imaps and fileserver) - Pierre Elliott Trudeau brought us our Constitution, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was a champion of national Unity and had a pair of big brass ones when it came to doing what he knew was right, opposition be damned. He is my favourite Prime Minister.
  • Douglas (laptop) - Tommy Douglas was the founder of Canada's nationalised health care system as well as the NDP. Champion for a range of socialist causes, he was depicted as a rebel in the CBC's Greatest Canadian series, I felt it appropriate that he get the laptop :-)
  • May (desktop) - Elizabeth May is a long time environmental activist and the present leader of the Green Party of Canada and the primary reason that I'm a supporter. She is all kinds of awesome.
  • Geist (my ps3) - Michael Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He's a Canada's #1 copyright reform advocate, and I couldn't resist the irony of attaching his name to a Sony product.

Now here's the thing. The last two people are not nearly as strong as the first three. I mean, don't get me wrong, May and Geist are awesome people, but I feel as though the both of them haven't really done enough to be compared to the other three. I'd like to hear a list of suggestions for different names, hopefully related to their function if possible.

There are also 3 more computers on their way (low-watt replacements for Trudeau) so while one of them will still bear the Trudeau name (the webserver), there are essentially 4 machines up for naming rights:

  • A domain server / DHCP server
  • A fileserver
  • My desktop (gaming, movies & development)
  • My PS3

So here's where you come in: I want a list of names to use for the above. Tell me why your Canadian is a good choice: Riel, Pearson, McClung, whomever you like, but tell me why. I'd also like to have some women in the mix if possible -- it just feels kinda weird to have all my machines be male :-)

June 10, 2009 22:02 +0000  |  Fun Stuff 14

My mother had a great idea the other day and as I generally like great ideas, I'm going to go with this one.

Here's the thing, I'm turning 30 (that's three-oh (gasp!)) on the 25th of this month and I wanna have a party. This is the occasion for such things right? Trish was suggesting a dinner shindig in a Korean restaurant on Robson, and knowing Melanie she'd probably like to have something with bubbles :-) For my part, I just want my friends to be there 'cause I like my friends and as busy as we all are (especially me) I don't get to see you all nearly often enough.

Now, the great idea is that being that it's my 30th birthday, someone with some time on their hands can make me the fabulously awesome gift of organising the aforementioned party (or parties if you're feeling ambitious) for me. I'm terrible at this sort of thing and it's always nice when someone does the heavy lifting for something you're totally unqualified to do yourself. So, any takers?

April 19, 2009 19:28 +0000  |  Anarchy Fun Stuff 0

I received this from a friend of mine and couldn't stop laughing. Enjoy!

April 07, 2009 07:41 +0000  |  Fun Stuff Public Space Vancouver 1

For those of you who live(d) in Toronto, and for those who are long-time readers of this blog, you're probably familiar with the concept of the Reverse Easter Egg Hunt. Newmindspace has been doing them for years and this time 'round Melanie has got it in her head that she and I should put one together of our own... so here it is:

Picture it: 3am on Sunday morning, a completely empty Granville Island, and a bunch of mischievous Vancouverites running around hiding plastic Easter eggs stuffed with happyfuneaster messages.

You could be a part of that. Doesn't it sound exciting? Sure it does.

We'll be meeting at 3am under the Granville Island sign. Bring some pre-stuffed plastic eggs of your own, or grab some of ours, and then start running around the island and depositing them anywhere that suits your fancy.

This event is free and open to anyone who wants to play, and will take place whatever the weather. We'll have plenty of eggs to share, but if possible please bring some of your own eggs, stuffed with fun and clever messages.

Some Do's

  • Do tell your friends and invite them to come along!
  • Do bring some of your own plastic eggs, if possible.
  • Do dress warmly - it will be the middle of the night and probably a little chilly.

Some Don'ts

  • Don't fill the eggs with any food items. People don't want to eat strange food they find lying around, and it may end up spoiling and attracting vermin.
  • Don't write messages that are hateful or offensive. The idea is to bring a smile to someone's face, so please write something that would make you smile.
  • Don't make a mess or cause any damage to the island. We want to brighten people's days, not piss them off.

If you're on Facebook, you can sign up for this event.

Yes, it's going to be at 3am, but it'll be really fun I swear. You should come! Bring your friends even! And if you're so inclined, we could really use the help actually stuffing the eggs this Thursday between 4:30pm and 9pm (come for all or a portion of the night) at UBC's Instructional Resource Centre (IRC), in front of the Woodward Library.

If you have questions just email me or comment here and I'll hook you up :-)

January 23, 2009 23:18 +0000  |  Fun Stuff 5

I had a fun conversation with my coworker Jordan today that I'd like to share. Usually, he explains, people are categorised into two groups: optimists and pessimists. He feels that this is an unfair classification though, and that the system should be more fine-grained. To him, people are no only either optimistic or pessimistic, but it's also a question of whether the person is realistic. Behold, Jordan's Axis of POV:

Unrealistic Realistic
Pessimist I'm going to die tomorrow. I'm going to die eventually so what's the point?
Optimist I'm never gonna die! I'm going to die eventually, but it's ok 'cause I can have fun 'till then.