It’s been a while since we’ve had a good contest on the blog, so I figured I would throw together a few of these pictograms and see how things go (usually, these contest posts generate a record number of comments… let’s see if we can beat our record of 7 comments! Yes, this is me hopelessly sucking up to you “blog lurkers” out there, but I’m not above that!). If you’ve never seen these before, you can check out the previous versions of the contest here or here to get an idea how these work. As usual, post your answers in the comments and I will post the full list of answers in a week or so. Prize for most correct answers: the satisfaction of a job well done. I will even give you a shout out in the weekly e-mail if you wish (I know, these are pretty great prizes! Control yourselves people!).
- Todd
WARNING - The answers are now posted in the comments… so if you don’t want to know the answers just yet, DON’T CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK!
So for the past while i’ve had this really big urge, and I’m hoping that i’m not the only one. I want us to start a baseball team (or maybe there already is one that i don’t know about?) for the summer… I’m pretty excited about the thought but need some people who are also pumped about it! (Mind you, i’m not very coordinated, just love the game!)
Totally off topic (that’s allowed on this blog!), we got talking about Lego somehow tonight in small group, which reminded me of a very cool site I found when I was “productively recharging” during my thesis writing (and if you believe that the phrase “productively recharging” means anything other than “goofing off”, I appreciate your excessive levels of faith in my concentration abilities).
I still have my Lego baseball stadium, shopping mall, and television studios assembled in my parents’ basement (too lazy/not enough heart to take it apart yet). The baseball stadium is particularly cool if I do say so myself… it’s got a Windows restaurant a la Skydome, er, Rogers Centre, a gigantic scoreboard, and a balcony level with no entrance or exit (i.e. to get in - levitate; to get out - jump). Practical engineering issues aside, still cool. I really should get some pictures and do some posting myself. Any good Lego obsession stories out there?
Ah, the joy of being five again!Or is that the shame of being twenty-seven and learning things that any five-year old already knows?Perhaps I should explain myself.
Do you remember the first time you learned to tie your own shoes?Before yesterday, I did not.But today I can recount the pure delight of learning to tie my own shoes and remember it as if it was yesterday.Why?Because it was yesterday when I first learned to tie my shoes.At least tie my shoes correctly.I must confess it was a deeply profound, nearly religious experience realizing that I had never tied my shoes correctly before; it was as if a fundamental truth was being shaken.
I was on the internet looking for different ways of lacing up a new pair of shoes that I had bought, and stumbled on a link about tying shoelaces. At first I was intrigued, but that intrigue quickly turned to dismay as I learned the horrid truth that the way I was tying my shoes my whole life was just plain WRONG!Thankfully, that dismay quickly turned to joy.The joy of a five year old kid learning to tie his shoes correctly for the first time. I felt the immense satisfaction of a boy learning a new skill that had eluded him for so long. The pride that makes a kid go up to his parents and loudly proclaim “Look mom. Look at what I can do!”And then it hits me.I am not five. I am twenty-seven.
On the bus ride to church today and during Oxygen, I could not help but look at people’s shoes and more specifically how people were tying their shoelaces.Quite frankly, I think some of you are making the same mistake that I have been making all my life. The ‘correct way’ of tying your shoes is not just some crazy talk of some knot-loving purist.It explains why my shoes always keep coming undone, why I often feel the need to double knot my laces, and why the bows that I tie on gifts never look quite right.Do yourself a favour and take a minute to look at this site; it just might change your life.
(This post is way off-topic and definitely not as serious as the typical Oxygen blogs.But Todd seems to be taking a break from his regular posts …
We’ve been dealing with some pretty heavy issues on the blog recently… time for a little levity I would say. Now that the Olympics had made us all patriotic and fuzzy inside, and with the next Olympics in Vancouver, this has been making the rounds. These are all questions about Canada which were asked in a forum on an International Tourism Website - the answers are, obviously, a little tongue-in-cheek from a Canadian.
Q: I have never seen it warm on TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK) A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.
Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? (USA) A: Depends how much you’ve been drinking.
Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto - can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden) A: Sure, it’s only four thousand miles, take lots of water.
Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Canada? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax? (UK) A: What did your last slave die of?
Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada? (USA) A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your north … oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary.
Q: Which direction is north in Canada? (USA) A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we’ll send the rest of the directions.
Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada? (UK) A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.
Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys’ Choir schedule? (USA) A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is.. oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Vancouver and in Calgary, straight after the hippo races.
Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada? (USA) A: Only at Thanksgiving.
Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? (Germany) A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter gatherers. Milk is illegal.
Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Canada who can dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA) A: All Canadian rattlesnakes are perfectly harmless, and can be safely handled and make good pets.
Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget its name. It’s a kind of big horse with horns. (USA) A: It’s called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them.
Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA) A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.
Sometimes reading the newspaper can be a very depressing experience… wars, death, famine, politics (I will tactfully restrain myself from making a more specific comment on the last of this list, particularly after the debate tonight… ). However, quite often, a little humour can go a long way, not only to entertain us through the gloom, but also to put events into perspective and make some interesting commentary on what we consider “important” news compared to what we should consider “important” news. So, in that spirit, I’d thought I’d share with you all the link to a very funny “year in review” article from Dave Barry, one of my favourite humour writers. There is a bit of fairly American-specific content in here, but if you have a remotely similar sense of humour to mine, you will most definitely enjoy reading it.
Top
). However, quite often, a little humour can go a long way, not only to entertain us through the gloom, but also to put events into perspective and make some interesting commentary on what we consider “important” news compared to what we should consider “important” news. So, in that spirit, I’d thought I’d share with you all the link to a very funny