Simple Simons

Great Metafilter Writeup

simplesimons — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:32:05 +0000

The Globe and Mail wrote a terrific piece today on my favourite place on the interent: Metafilter. If you can’t understand why I spend so much time on the internet, this article might help explain. Also check out the wicked cool Ska version of Cohen’s “Halleluliah”, created through Metafilter’s “Mefi Music” page, and referenced in the article.

Silenced by Girls

simplesimons — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:32:15 +0000

Right, so I haven’t dropped any thoughts recently. That’s mostly because my thoughts of late have concerned social relationships, and I’ve learned not to share those details with a global audience Fear not! I have lots of opinions in other matters, including:

why don’t people support bike lanes, and how do I keep from biting their heads off
in the same vein, how Hamilton acts like a person with depression: we can’t imagine a better future because any change might make things worse.
whether the sale of AECL is a loss of national capacity, or a prudent business decision or both
some engineering toys I’m working on including mechanical computers and bicycle gearing. These are the limited means I have to contribute back to the world which is really awesome for me right now.
A new truce between evening me and morning me?
How Tort law seems like the medieval, pound-of-flesh taking cousin to cousin of common-law.
Absolutely nothing about Iran, since I have nothing salient to offer, but I am reading about it closely
A love song to surfing, which I recently learned how to do

Unfortunately I have dishes to do, so I will cop-out by linking in some various bits of awesomeness which made me love the world a bit more this weekend.

Obama’s role in the war between Nerds and Jocks, according to Hodgeman

Ze Franks awe inspiring efforts to breathe life into the web (and the wicked awesome results)

Ze Frank at Webstock 09 from Webstock on Vimeo.

Lastly, a great NPR piece on how hard it is to blame the near-collapse of the financial system on anyone, even though it seems like someone deserves to be blamed

Listen to the podcast here

Best of the web: Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno

simplesimons — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:03:24 +0000

Don’t be afraid of the title. This is completely SFW, and is probably the best thing on the internet right now.

Don’t miss the Spider, Snail, Bee and Whale. I’m so in love with this woman.

In other news, I’m dating again, and have interesting thoughts on the subject, but I’m nervous about posting them to the never-deleted internet. Hopefully I’ll coalesce them into something timeless soon.

Gorgeous Interactive Music Video

simplesimons — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:26:03 +0000

Soy Tu Aire
Wait for it to load, it’s worth it. I’m a sucker for games like this

Technology is not too advanced

simplesimons — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:33:53 +0000

…we are just too lazy to learn it all. But not this guy. Behold Thomas Thwaite’s Toaster Project.

So far, he’s only gotten as far as refining a bit of iron, but he intends to create a working toaster *from scratch*. I am seriously humbled that someone would attempt to recreate a modern convenience using the earth around him. He even gets in the obvious Hitchiker’s Guide reference, which is timely, since Peter and I were discussing the same idea a few days ago. If you were transported into the past, or into some distant civilization, what pieces of modernity could you bring to improve the quality of life there? Peter, being a computer programmer, was afraid he’d share a similar fate with Arthur Dent. I figured I could muster a steam engine (I would use only agricultural-byproduct biomass fuel though, knowing more about climate change than the original inventors). But this guy. When the zombie apocalypse leaves us all eating bloodied wonderbread, this man will have toast!

Thomas kind of reminds me of the “Nuclear Boy Scout” who tried to make a breeder reactor from smoke detectors. He’s also kind of my hero, but I won’t admit it because the feds are watching

Youtube is beautiful

simplesimons — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:03:47 +0000

Actually most of it isn’t, but once in a while I catch something that makes me believe we’re entering a new renaissance:

(Hopefully I can continue posting after nearly a year of silence without raising too many eyebrows)

Giant overdue update

simplesimons — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:15:44 +0000

OK, first of all I apologize. I let a case of writers block last year grow into a complete blog dryup. I actually ran into a conflict I couldn’t resolve. Having dated the Post-Doc for almost a year, my ideas started to revolve around our relationship. But since she (and her friends) checked this blog regularly, I didn’t feel free to explore those thoughts here.

Anyway, long story short, Grace and I broke up a few months back. That was really tough, because she was one of the most compassionate women I’ve ever known. But I’m just too skittish to get into anything long-term that doesn’t feel exactly right. Once bitten, twice shy. On the bright side, we’ve managed to stay good friends so far, which is a testament to her good nature.

Smudge and Hanna went back to their owner after she moved back from the farm. I was sad to see them go, but my longs and eyes are thankful to have a cat-free apartment. Speaking of lungs, I’ve apparantly contracted asthma while living in Hamilton. Following a long tradition of stupid people, I’m trading my health for my career.

Hamilton is nice though. I’m still playing ultimate, and going out on the town. I’ve got a fairly cool posse of friends here, most of whom are game to support my vietnamese food addiction. They’ve finally convinced me to join the book of faces, so look me up there if you want more informal updates and inexplicably expensive animated gifs.

Work is work. It’s still exciting and challenging, but I always get too invested in it. I managed to escape this month on a vacation to Costa Rica. You can find photos here: Costa Rica 2008. There’s nothing like immersing yourself into the rainforest to make the unending particulars of work seem less important. Tomorrow I return to work, (apparantly right to the middle of a shit pool that my project has become in my absence) and I am going to try hard to keep the peacefulness of the trip with me for a few more weeks (days?, hours?)

I still believe that this blog is an important part of my self development, and I’ll make an effort to restart the flow of thought droppings. I’ll be planning to start going to the gym, trying to rise a few rungs at work, and continuing to navigate the dating sea, so there should be plenty of material to draw from.

Until then, Salud!

Here’s Smudge!

simplesimons — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 22:39:48 +0000

Yesterday I recieved two new cats from a friend of Grace’s. Here’s Smudge (Sorry for the poor quality photo, it was taken with the laptop’s built in camera. Peter still has my digicam). Smudge has such a great personality. All day he’s been following Grace and I around wagging his tail like a puppy dog, pausing only to “bark” (kind of a grunt actually) at the pigeons. The second cat, Hanna, has barely left the bedroom closet since she arrived, so I don’t have a photo. My allergies have reappeared, but they aren’t severe, and I hope they’ll go away as I get acclimatized. My apartment has changed overnight from austere cheap-bachelor’s pad to toy-strewn cat paradise. I’m comfortable with that. I know my position.

What shall I do, then, with the ones you call pigeon eggs?

simplesimons — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 22:02:56 +0000

I noticed today that my balcony pigeons, who’ve won ownership of their home through their unrepentant pooping, have built a nest in the corner and have laid two eggs. I worry about the mess and the parasites the chicks might bring. Still I can’t bring myself to destroy the nest. I’ve got to decide fast – the gestation period is only 18 days (and the eggs may have been here for that long). Votes?

Ze Frank Rocks

simplesimons — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 05:18:12 +0000

I’m sorry I haven’t posted a new thought here in a while. On the other hand, I’ve been spending a lot of time with Grace, and talking to her has filled some of the role this blog was playing. Fear not though, I will return to philosiphizing soon. Right now I need sleep (Today was a 12 hour work day.)

Check out today’s Show with Ze Frank. Next time I’m caught trying to turn my simple affairs into ridiculously generalized insights, I’ll remember how hard this made me laugh. (It’s a damn shame he’ll be wrapping up the show in a month)