Shape shifter

So I was just thinking that "isn't it weird that the iris and pupil are round?"
Well, I guess that's more of a query than mere thought. Really though, they're basically circles, and I find that, in general, naturally occurring geometric shapes are pretty rare.
Then I was thinking that no Iris is perfectly circular (some pain-in-the-neck philosophers would even argue the concept of circular), so really it's not a circle. In the same vein you could be like "hey rob. Isn't the human shape just the same. If I show a little man figure, you know what it is, and the degree to which it resembles the actual theoretical human form is just semantics, because no-one, and every-one does (resemble the human form that is)." Then I was like, wouldn't it follow then that the human form is a geometric shape? But then, actual geometric shapes have that whole mathematical equation thing going for them.
Then I thought about water droplets, snowflakes, ferns, pine-cones, planetary bodies and honeycombs.
There's probably more.

Real GDP

Well the results of the doodle poll are in. It seems parallel lines, spirals and checker boards are the standard. There is something to be said for freakish hands though.

Commercial review

So I normally try not to be too commercial or endorse one brand over another on this blog, though there have been a few exceptions. Usually it occurs when such and such a product is related to a human roblog tenet, such as 3m's Scotch-Brite pads for dishwashing. This is actually pretty difficult a lot of the time because I enjoy watching commercials so much, and often want to mention them here. I have dabbled with the possibility of beginning another blog for television commercial review, but that is crazy because I have a hard enough time merely getting posts up here.
So I'm doing it anyways. Robhut.
But I think television commercials reflect corporations' opinions of their audience. I am almost offended when huge corporations have crappy, or poorly thought out commercials. I know I personally enjoy the funny ones the most. I probably hold some bias in this respect, but I know that outside the realm of funny ads there is plenty of acceptable commercial advertising (like a Head & Shoulder commercial) and then there is not even trying (like so many McCain [foods] commercials).
So enjoy.

Optimus Prime

So.
You know my favourite part about watching how it's made? Sure, finding out how things are made is neat and cool at the same time, but really it's the dialogue, or rather the puns in the dialogue. Like the show on electrical transformers: "the shocking truth." OHHH Man. this glue will later melt and bond several components in place.
Did you know those things are filled with oil!

Broken dreams

Well, I seem to have broken my ankle. You know what the worst part about breaking your ankle is? Slowness. It takes me longer to walk anywhere, and going up stairs is crazy! I can't believe how tired I get when I use every step instead of 2 or 3 at a time, and did I mention it's slower? I can see that I did.

Except biking. I am just as fast, and surprisingly, the cast doesn't hinder me much.

Oh and maybe the breaking part sucked more than the slowness. I suppose it is how you weigh your decision making criteria. Is temporal consideration of importance? Semantics... maybe.

The limitations of Activity Based Costing

Well... Midterms. Still three to go, a quiz and an assignment before reading week. I still managed to watch Bones though. Did anyone else notice Dr. Brennan became Murphey Brown?

Giant hydraulic spiders

So It is crazy how many ideas I have for posts and then forget about them.. Not only that, but I'm always like, 'oh, I won't forget that', or 'I'll write it down when I get home'. Lately I'm having ideas all the time, but not many make it to paper or the screen. Some ideas I do remember, but they're going to require a lot of work to post. Problem is, my creative moments are usually when I'm walking to school, or working out at the gym, or driving, or basically whenever there isn't a pen and paper readily available. I need one of those pop-out note pads like Kevin Klein had in Wild Wild West, so I can write down whatever strikes me as remarkable at whatever given time. But I don't have to save the American government or Salma Hayek from Kenneth Branagh.... yet... so my ideas don't seem important enough to merit inventing a neat contraption like that.

Super graph wednesday, no wum sane?

Well the results of the compound-rob poll are in. 'Compound-rob poll'. Doesn't that sound like some sort of futuristic, super-flexible quarter-staff made from graphite composite that modern day robhood [man.. that should have been one of the choices] defeats little j Rock with? Perhaps, but what I was mentioning was that robriggle made a late break. Seems there are some Daily Show fans out there. Robstar, my gamer name has tied for the top spot.

Klutz player

On this, the day New Amsterdam was surrendered to the British in 1664, I am surprisingly wound free.
Yup. I fell off my bike again. It was actually two days ago. I did a total somersault on my bike. Lucky I was on a grassy part at the time. Apart from some grass stains I couldn't believe how unscathed I came out of it. I think I'm getting good at making potentially catastrophic falls look graceful. Key is to smile when you get up. When I fell of shiny bike a while ago my adrenaline took off and I felt funny and really shaky, then I was soooo tired later. This time though it was nothing so exciting, though it probably looked more exciting than the shiny bike incident. I wasn't even going to write about it, except that today I took a header down some stairs at school (this time I wasn't riding a bike), and again came out generally unscathed, which I thought was strange because it was on concrete and I just had a t-shirt on. Well, I was wearing pants too.... and shoes.

Event horizon

Holy smokes. You know that scene in Joe v. Volcano where Joe is dying on his suitcases in the Pacific, and the moon is super huge on the horizon. I used to wonder if the moon ever actually appears big like that. Someone told me once that the gases of the atmosphere can act like a magnifying glass because the light is passing through lots of it when it is near the horizon. I was like, yeah... could happen, but probably only on the Pacific. That is until Friday night. I was driving back to Peterborough from band practice and the moon was HUGE!! It wasn't a full moon like the movie, and it kinda looked yellowy. But it was huge. I almost drove into the ditch. It didn't last long though. In a few minutes it was up higher and already not nearly as impressive. Just thought I'd share.

Decision making criteria

So today I'm having 80's overload. In my first class, a guy used a Ferris Bueller clip, and if you check out today's Dinosaur Comics, there is some excellent 80's references. Like Choose Your Own Adventure books, that many an ill fated grade 9 student tried to use for ill fated book reports. But T-Rex has a point. I also get that giddy feeling when using 80's references, even though It pains me to admit my pop-formative years were the 90's.

Enduro

So yesterday I ran a race. 15 km. Here's the results. Just two minutes faster and I could have won the geriatric category. I'd also have to age 30 years for that. The winner, Serghei Logvin, finished in 57 min 48 sec. That kid is fast.
See all the results... or the race website here.

King Henry VIII

Well... I'm a tutor.

Gym Jam

Well.. I've started to go to the gym again. Suddenly, with this new semester I seem to have some spare time. The weather is being a bit cooler, and its getting darker earlier. Stupid fall. Lets skip to winter. I mean It sucks doing anything outside in the fall 'cause its too cold. At the same time, its not cold enough to do any fun winter stuff. Oh and there's the grey, bleak, dying nature bit.
What was I saying? Oh, something or other about closed captioning. The other day I watched Federer beat Jokovich in the US Open semi-finals. The closed captioning was not particularly necessary, but Johnny Mac is as excellent in CC. Now I want to play tennis.

Ambidextrous

I've just moved into a new place. No longer haunting an underground layer (it shall ever be spelled thus). The dish rack is to the left of the sink.
At my old place, when I visit my mom's place, and at the cottage it's all two sinks with the dish rack on the right. A guy could get used to that.
Lucky for me I have the skills to shake left.

Grease Monkey

Aww cheez. Today I tried to change the oil in my car. But I can't seem to get the drain plug out. That seems to slow down the whole operation. I don't want to strip the bolt, or resort to having to remove the whole pan. oi.
So I must take it to a professional, already breaking the promise I made with myself that I would do all the work on that car myself. Oh well. I had fun jacking up my car and then lowering it down again.

Cage match

Well, the results of the 16th century Japanese political philosophy poll are in. Looks like Tokugawa Leyasu won.

Secret Sauce

Wow. So on Monday it was hot and sunny and I mowed the lawn. This may not seem like anything special, except that it has rained just about every day since May. In fact it rained on Monday too, but only for a brief while in the afternoon. I had almost forgotten how much more excellent it is mowing the lawn when it's hot and sunny. So much more excellent. Perhaps it is brightness of the golden rays that seem to wash away the general malaise weeks and weeks of greyness seems to bestow upon its victims. Or maybe it's the super sunburn I got.

Node to self

Well it's been a crazy coupla weeks. Just one more final to go.
Here's how I remember the disadvantages of the payback method of capital project analysis: If I sell my soul to the devil so I can play guitar like a young Clapton, sure, the immediate benefits are obvious, but I might still get hit by a bus tomorrow, and the long-term doesn't look so good. Also, If I just applied myself a bit more, I wouldn't have to deal with the devil at all.

ESPN

Well the results of the Farley Mowat poll are in. Funny there's no 1.5 votes.
I must be psychic or something, because about a week after the poll went up I finished The Boat Who Wouldn't Float, and then read Swamp Angel, as though to fulfill some destiny I may or may not have of reading mediocre Canadian writing.
Has Rob become a critic? Stay tuned. Or don't, the answer is 'no'.

Not born normal, he is corn.

So, I used to have this excruciating time trying to remember the names attributed to anagrams and acronyms. I used to despise that text speak, really just a bunch of acronyms thought up by 12 year olds, was creeping its way beyond the tech realm. But how can you be a critic when you can’t even remember whether the name for an acronym is ‘anagram’ or ‘acronym’. And I’d dare not exclaim “Hey everybody! Lets make ironic anagrams out of corporate mission statements!!” no matter how badly I wanted to, because I was never sure. But just lately, I seem to know the difference. Isn’t that weird?

Thousand Islands

Meant to get this up on the weekend. Some FMA fanart for you all to enjoy.

Extreme bike

Hooey.
Today I fell off my bike. Let this be a lesson to you: Indecision sucks.
I was like "hmm... maybe I'll skip my locker and lock my bike up on the west side of the building, so I better go by the sports centre instead of the old folks home." Meanwhile I almost passed the Pioneer station. Now I have a skinned knee and another well placed bandage that makes me look like I had my appendix out. AND I bent the front wheel of my shiny bike. It now rubs against the front right brake pad. This does not bode well for shiny bike as its crank bearings are already wearing noticeably.

Birds and other predators

So you know how I like routine activities that keep part of your mind occupied while allowing a sort of preoccupied meditation with the rest like washing the dishes or the mildly-exerting-mowing the lawn. Business presentations aren't like that. In fact I think the anxiety attack they induce are the exact opposite of that. I wish I was a salamander so I could go hide under a rock tomorrow instead of doing my presentations. Ahh the gentle salamander. Not a care in the world. Other than birds and other predators and trying to find enough food to survive.
On second thought maybe I'd rather be doing the presentation.

Rebel scum

What if Bic ran a Star Wars promotion?

Koodo

Check out the movie I made like, a year ago.

Rated R for Rob
may contain graphic scenes of flossing.

Super bike

When I bike to school I have two speeds. Fast and stop. It's almost all downhill. If I pedal super hard I can pass cars. On the way back it's almost all uphill I have slow and stop.


ps.
OOOHHH man. I was gonna have a wicked movie with this, but my camera batteries died.

I reckon

mom: ...and once a week the iceman....
john lennon: cometh?
mom: ....came and brought a big block of ice this big (some hand gestures) and put it in the top of the icebox.
john lennon: did you get that?
rob: ha yeah.
mom: what?
john lennon: the iceman cometh. you left a big pause after iceman.
rob: hey.. was I Icebox or was dave?
john lennon: Dave was. You were Bigtime
rob: oh yeah. ha ha.. we should record this conversation for posterity.

Obscene clone fall

Well, the results are in. The clone high poll was a resounding success. I'm happy to see everyone is either Gandhi or Abe. Admittedly it was hard to pick just one character, because really, there's a bit of me in all those characters. Except for maybe Cleopatra. Or.. maybe I just want to be like all of those characters. "Rob has A.D.D.! You get it from toilet seats!"

Battle of wits

When you read comic books it seems there's always evil dudes coming up with elaborate ways to destroy the earth or whatnot. Yesterday I caught an episode of Smallville from the latest season that I had missed the first time around. They were filming a movie based on a comic book (Warrior Angel) in Smallville. The bad guy in this episode was a comic book nerd obsessed with the comic books. He tried to eliminate an inconsistency between the movie being filmed and the actual comic books. What happened was that, in the comic book, the Warrior Angel's girlfriend dies.. But in the movie they all live happily ever after. So the guy tries to kill the movie actress or something. I suppose that's beside the point, because what was interesting was that in the comic book, the bad guy forces the hero to step up and save the world. It almost suggests the antagonist doesn't care about causing mayhem, but that his real purpose is to bring the best out of the Warrior Angel. Oh and something about his girl dying and facing his destiny alone. Anyways, Smallville writers are foreshadowing Clark's ever increasing role in the world and why he has relationship troubles. Well that's also beside the point. I probably just like talking about Smallville
That also reminded me of the movie Unbreakable. Mr. Glass causes a bunch of disasters just to find his real life comic book hero. It was Bruce Willis.
This all got me wondering. Why aren't there super evil dudes threatening the real world with ingenious schemes? Maybe there are, and we just don't hear about it because the government keeps that stuff under wraps, or they get stopped before anything can happen. Who knows? But there probably aren't. I think it's probably pretty unlikely that dudes who are angry-revenge-seekers have the brains and the confidence to organize and go through with the elaborate plans we find in movies and comic books. Phew!... Generally if you've got the brains, confidence and money it takes to get that evil mastermind stuff done, you're probably doing alright in life, and don’t need to resort to that.

Jim Henchman

I was thinking that bad guys often have underground layers. I wonder if they were bad before they got the layer. I mean in my mind people who hang out in the sun are generally happy. Hippies sell out, but I don't think they go evil or anything. Maybe some regular Joe is like "hmm, I need somewhere to put my super computer and laser cannon."[really! laser's not spelled with a 'z'! that sucks] and he needs some cheap real estate after blowing all his money on a super computer and a laser cannon. Dark underground gigs with no windows can't be that expensive. So he spends all his time underground playing with his toys and he gets all pasty and his friends forget about him. Where he gets henchmen I have no idea.
Then I was thinking "hmm... I live in a basement. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Oooo!

Well it's that time of semester again. Lots and lots of midterm action. Creeepy.

Positioning Strategies

well.. Exams of a sort are upon me once again.

I'm sailing away

Yesterday I went sailing. I mean, I'm not a yuppie, but I'm working towards it, and sailing fits the lifestyle you know. It's also pretty enjoyable.
It's not hard to see why I like it. I mean, it's fun enough, and you get a wicked sunburn. Also, my boat is so excellent and decrepit. I'm going to fix it though so It's all pretty again, and that will be fun too.

Standard Deviation

I suppose this would explain why I go through so much paper.

Serenity Now!

Well the results of my Seinfeld poll are in. Four votes cast. 50% David Puddy, and 50% Jackie Chiles. I was sure I would get at least one vote for Uncle Leo.

New glasses

Today someone told me I looked like Matt Good. I kindly informed him I was going for Rivers Cuomo. Truth be told he might have been right...er.

We are moved to tears by the size of this thing

The zen art of driving Lamborghinis

This title is self evident, but I've been trying really hard to write something about this for a long time.
Chad Kruger's recent conviction is what spurred this post. The subject came up in one of my classes, and one lady was perplexed by the fact that Chad has millions of dollars and doesn't hire a driver. This made me perplexed. She wasn't joking. Or rather: She wasn't joking!!! I mean I can't condone the chump's DUI, but he has a Lamborghini. No driver is self evident.

I like to graph

Man! I was in the zone in March!

Muscle Beach

So it's spring and the weather is getting nicer, but I still go to the gym. I ride the stationary bike, and run on the stationary treadmill. I couldn't figure it out for a while. I mean, a year ago, the concepts of 'stationary bike' and 'treadmill' were antithetical to my existence. In the winter I could almost appreciate them, but once it is warm and sunny and nice and all, anyone who didn't go outside was a chump. Pumping iron I can see, ... see to the MAXXXXX! but for running or biking? Hrm.. Then it finally hit me. TV. Closed captioning brought to you by Tylenol. Watching Snoop videos while I listen to Yellowcard on my mp3. I don't have any of that at my crumby little basement. I really should go outside, but I'm going anyway for the pumping of iron part, right? So I may as well watch Sue Thomas FBI while I'm there. I'll get a sunburn later when I mow the lawn.

Super Intelligent

So I’m always wondering why Clark Kent isn’t super intelligent. I mean he’s not stupid, but I feel like with his abilities, he’d hardly be in any way of ordinary intelligence. Regular Joes like me can only read so fast. The human eye focuses on one spot then another, then another etc. Some people get pretty expert and speedy, but cannot hope to read even a tiny fraction of all human kind’s published knowledge. Superman though, can see bullets and is dexterous at super speeds, so I think he should be at least able to read way faster than the fastest human. Way being in metric and at least as fast as Johnny-5 from Short Circuit. Maybe it’s cause he was raised in Kansas. They don’t seem to be known for their book learnin’ there, or maybe he was just always busy on the farm. I often find myself wishing I’d learned to fix a tractor instead of reading Great Expectations. And really, it might be a good thing that Clark didn’t become super intelligent. I know that the more books and information I take in, the more depressed and disillusioned I get. Then again, maybe Clark has read every book and exhausted the resources at the Fortress of Solitude thus transcending philosophical query. This could explain why he is able to hold such conviction, be the judge of right and wrong and devote himself to preserving life and the greater good. Well…that’s maybe too optimistic. That is to believe that the end result of accumulation of knowledge has positive repercussions.

Then I wonder why I’m always wondering about fiction.

Maestro

Robots are so cool! And not just because 'Rob' is in the word. I think the word also comes from the Czech or Slovak for serf, I guess that's robota or robotnik. Then there's that RUR guy Karel Capek who used it in its present meaning.
Anyways. Despite being so excellent, they're a huge pain to draw. As you can see I gave up above.
On the news the other day there was a Honda robot conducting an orchestra. I mean neat! If kids nowadays won't grow up with any appreciation of culture, at least the machines created in man's image will. I'm maybe getting a little excited. But I guess I just wish that I had a plasma cannon for a right arm. That could be inconvenient in the shower, so it's probably for the best.

'sup Parn

Last night I caught the end of the Chronic -WHAT? - cles of Narnia.

Painting a landscape

So I mowed the lawn for the first time this year. And may I say: It was excellent. I really like mowing the lawn. Not only does it allow you to get out and enjoy nature and such, but it also allows you to get out and destroy it a bit too. I’m also getting pretty good at small engine repair. But cutting grass is a bit more than that. It’s a little like an art. An art where you burn gas. Like that guy I saw on Daily Planet who paints with jet engines. Nevermind. On second thought, that might not be art – or maybe art for suckers - but he is burning gas.
Anways, back to the lawn. It’s like a game of snake, except you can mow over your tail, and when you’re done the lawn, it looks pretty and you have an excellent sense of accomplishment, and a sunburn. Awesome.

Super sunburn

I am all about being sunburnt... Today I painted a wheelbarrow. Green if you must know.

Rob studies for accounting

House of pain

My face has been having a bad week. And it’s not good face pain, like when I get knocked around playing hockey. Instead I look like I was trying to lick the egg beater while it was still plugged in. It all started with the zit from hell. The zit wasn’t so bad at first, but I popped it and then it’s right by my fat mouth. Since I can never leave well enough alone, my hands are always going here and there, and it won’t heal properly. It’s Kinda like when you bite the side of your tongue and then it’s a little bit swollen and you can’t stop biting it. Fwig! And then this morning I cut my lip and then my chin shaving. That tells me I need to get a new blade, but it has also left me with an unsightly dark scab on my upper lip. And because I lead a some-sort of bachelor life, my eating habits are based upon necessity (in other words: I eat like a pig at home) and that scab keeps getting bombarded with food and opening up. In the wise words of Shikamaru Nara: “what a drag.” Apart from that, I’m always banging my forehead on something, but I’m used to that. It comes with being too tall.
Now, If only I could get some of that good face pain.

Contributory Negligence

I have four finals this week. Two down. I'm not too worried though.

Dish cloths and Scotch-Brite pads

Has anyone else seen the new Canadian Tire commercial, where the lady holds her breath, and runs into the kitchen to wash some dishes because her sponge thing smells too bad to continue. Then it's a commercial for some new odour fighting soap/sponge handle. Really!?!? [you now have to imagine i'm saying it like Seth or Amy on SNL]... Really?!?! Don't waste your money on chump devices like that. All you have to do is rinse your dish cloth and Scotch-Brite pad when you finish the dishes, squeeze them out and hang them to dry. You now have merely to wash the cloth in the laundry once in a while, and replace the pad when it disintegrates. If you have a bottle brush, rinse and shake. Stinkiness will be a thing of the past in your sink, unless you leave dirty plates too long in there. But who could resist washing the dishes for any real length of time.

Ruminations on Speed

Nah, i'm not trippin' balls, but I have been thinking about the movie again. Jack Traven is our hero, protagonist, main guy, A1#1. And he wears the most practical vest ever. Then we have Howard Payne, antagonist, jerk extraordinaire. But really Payne is Jack, only 30 years later. He's the bad guy, so they say he's 'evil', a 'madman'. But really, disillusionment is the real bad guy. Jack just got older, a wild-man, taking risks for a job he once believed in, but one year he wakes up and he's 65. Something's missing. He's never been able to commit to anything in his life but his job and the thrill is gone, he's pushing paper, and then they tell him to go home. A gold watch. A tiny pension. If only there was some way to get that thrill back, and get rich too. Well...Admittedly, things blowing up is cool.

To oblivion, and beyond!!!!

Well, I like riding the bus, but only leisurely bus riding. If you have to get somewhere, it's quite slow, and in Peterborough, not so reliable. I often take it to go to the library. Time is not pressing, so I can spend the time turning my music way loud and looking at stuff as it goes by. I suppose I could do that even if time was pressing. Anyways, angsty rock music is my favourite.

It also gives me the opportunity to hone my non-eye contact skills. I can bring anti-social to a new level on the bus.

The other excellent thing about transit systems in general is the colour coded route lines. Theres something to be said for those solid block lines weaving about among a bunch of bold sans serif local names.

Gundam Suit

http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/daily-planet/march-2008/daily-planet-march-25-2008/#clip40856

This guy in Alaska is awesome. He built a Gundam suit. It's not quite Nirvash, but sooner or later.

Standing like cartoon characters

Here's a picture of me standing like Uzumaki Naruto. I've been practicing. It's harder than you think to stand with your arms behind your head and a stupid expression on your face. I've also got to remember to put on my deodorant, that's for sure.
But why really?
It's pointless to exemplify real humans in any way because they're generally flawed and uninspiring when you really get down to it (Excepting perhaps Jesus, and maybe Socrates). Fictional creations to the contrary are whatever their authors made them to be. Don't worry, I haven't given up on humanity just yet. If everything and everybody were straightforward, there'd be nothing to blog about.

Judge lest ye not be judged

One of my favourite things to do while I'm walking to school is trying to imagine who a particular shoe print might belong to. Sometimes the snow is just right, and it leaves perfect footprints. There are some pretty excellent shoe and boot bottoms out there. It follows that there should be some pretty excellent people too. It's not totally guess work either, though that would probably be fun too. I pass lots of people on my walks, so I can see what their shoes look like and what prints match that person. You can often determine their gait, weight, means, gender and age just by looking at them. My assumptions about their tastes in music, or whether they have self-esteem issues are purely my own imagination though. I might ask truth of the people I see, but that would require asking the people I see.

I wear my sunglasses at night

Ok, lately the sun is getting more brilliant. This is bound to happen in the spring time, but I'm suddenly noticing that I'm talking with people wearing sunglasses more and more frequently. It's hard to look at them. Am I making any eye contact? or too much? I'm already awkward enough when it comes to social etiquette, and this just makes it harder.
And then, when I'm walking down the street or the hall I also wonder: are these people in their cheap sunglasses looking at me? They might be, I can't see their eyes. "Stop looking at me! I'm going crazy!" I yell at them. That way I know they're looking at me, and I feel better.

Why are you puching yourself? Quit punching yourself.

I got in a fight. I guess it's my fault. I drop kicked... er correction, flying kicked a snowman. He didn't seem to like that. He also didn't seem to like it when I tried to hoist his icy torso above my head, because my hoisting arm smashed into my face when the piece it was gripping broke off. I suppose it serves me right. I mean what would anyone hoist big icy pieces of snow off the ground for? Pictures like this i guess.

Fantastic number rob

Rob, Rob, Rob,
Fantastic number Rob,
Times any number you can fiiiind,
It all comes back to Rob

(spoken)
Four times Rob is thirty Rob,
Three and Rob are Rob!

The battery ran out on my mp3 player today so I sang this about a thousand times in my head, varying the spoken part every time. I also put my name in lots of other songs too. Ego? Poor memory for words? Could be, but it's mostly just bad habit. Or maybe good habit. It can be hilarious sometimes. If hilarity can be self proclaimed that is.