Night of the Comet

Has Facebook killed the blogosphere? It's like freaking Night of the Comet out there!

"Science" and other misleading theories...

So it appears that a few public school boards in Alberta are going to be incorporating a "Christian" stream into certain public elementary schools. Doesn't sound like a big deal, right? Who cares if kids get a little religious education on the side? But wait! That's not the case! Christian teaching will be incorporated into all of their subjects, including...wait for it...science!

Here's a quote taken from this article: "Bill Bell, Mitford's principal, said Christian beliefs will be woven through every subject in the new Christian program. Creationism will be taught in science class, he added. 'The first teaching will be from a Christian point of view and then there will be an acknowledgement that there is another theory.'"

Wow. Does anyone else find this backward? Remember - this is a public school, funded by public monies. My libertarian streak prevents me from telling people what they should be teaching their children, but when it comes to using public funds for teaching myth as fact, I think it's time to draw the line. People should be free to teach their kids whatever they want, but the teaching religious beliefs is a private matter. Religious schools should be private schools, and parents should pay for that private education.

Sigh. This whole deal actually reminds me of that Arrested Development episode where there is no money to sponsor a State Fair, so the Church steps in with some funding. The next scene shows people happily moving in and out under a huge banner that says "Church and State Fair." Hilarious, yet depressing at the same time.

I've got an Epiphany...no...wait...

...an Epiphone! Yeah, so a few months ago i started to become really disenchanted with the sound of my current guitar amplifier. It was getting to the point where playing just wasn't fun any longer, because the sound coming out of my amp didn't match what I heard in my head. So I decided to start looking for a new amp. I looked around and tried a couple in the store, before finally taking one home for a test-drive - a small Fender Blues Junior. Little did I know that Corinne and Lorne and a bunch of other friends and family were on pins and needles because they had conspired to pool their resources to help me buy an amp for my birthday.


Anyway, thanks to everyone's generosity, I was able to buy what is pretty much my dream amp - this Epiphone Blues Custom 30. With an all-tube signal path, it's got just the sound I've been looking for. Thanks everyone! You rock!

Banana proves existence of God?

So, here's a fun little film showing 80s teen heartthrob Kirk Cameron and a friend explaining how a simple banana proves the existence of God. Apparently the banana is perfectly designed for human consumption: it's the perfect size for the human hand; its gentle curve makes it easy to eat, etc. That's intelligent design at work, folks...it seems that God went to the trouble to custom-tailor fruit for us humans.

If that's the case, though...I wonder who designed pineapples?

Progress (No, no, no...not the Clothing Store!)

September 2006: Waist: 33" Weight: 155lbs

April 2007: Waist: 31" Weight: 170lbs

That is all.

Drunken Scrabble and other Easter Pastimes

Beachcombing on the South Beach

Well, while certain people spent their Easter Holidays building snowmen and dodging snow squalls, me and the boys got a little sunburnt up in the Kootenays. Yep, it was a boys' weekend out, as Skye and I joined my Dad, my brother and my little nephew Finn at the cabin for a few days of rock throwing, beer drinking, football tossing and guitar playing. There may also have been a little bit of drunken Trivial Pursuit, which comes highly recommended. Somehow, a little Irish whisky makes the game just that much more interesting.

Guitar on the deck

The weather was gorgeous all weekend - not a cloud in the sky. Sunday morning saw the traditional Easter Egg Hunt go down. It still feels strange to me to be the one hiding the eggs, but it's all good. Holidays like Easter have actually become more meaningful since having a child - it's amazing to watch the excitement and the wonder in their eyes as they speculate on how the Easter Bunny managed to hide an egg "waaay up in the light fixture."

Easter Egg Hunt in full swing

What a Winter...

Wow, what a crazy winter. I haven't had a chance to post up here for such a long long time. I'm also way behind in reading other peoples' blogs, so I feel kind of out of touch with people! What are you all up to, anyway?

We've been busy, to say the least. School and work aside, there never seems to be a dull moment. We spend a lot of time at the swimming pool. Corinne has taught Skye to swim - he's a little fish! The darby and joan club has played a couple of shows, including a recent opening gig for Halifax-based Calendonia. Check 'em out. On top of everything else, we've started our house renovations. I took a week off work (first paid holidays ever, yay!) during Rin's reading week to get a start on our renovations (see my Sketchup post below). All in all, the renos are going well. The walls are down. The breakfast bar is up. We have been amazed at what a difference these renos have made in our lives, despite the fact that there are still holes in the floor and ceiling. Removing the walls has completely changed the space on the first floor of our house. It's so great to be making dinner in the kitchen, while carrying on a conversation with Skye, who's playing in the living room. The place is much brighter, friendlier and...well...cooler than it was before. There is still a lot of work to be done - including slate and hardwood flooring, but even as it is, I wish we had made these changes years ago! Here are some pics.

The first sign of light!

Kitchen wall coming down...

The breakfast bar under construction.

Other than that, life ticks along. I've spent this entire week learning how to use the Linux operating system. Pretty cool stuff. After spending a week with this open-source operating system, I am pretty impressed with its stability and simplicity (in terms of its architecture, if not its usability). Still, it seems there would have to be some kind of massive sea-change for people to move away from the Windows juggernaut. Maybe someday windows will become so bloated and complex that users will drop it like a hot potato. Most people don't know that the Internet is largely built on servers that run a Linux or Unix OS. Now if only the OSS (Open Source Software) movement could gain some headway in the home PC market!