Crazy Ass Planet

I have moved - new online digs

2007-05-21T23:07:00.000-04:00

For all intents and purposes I am now located here:

crazyassplanet.com

Well, since I moved my real world location, why not my online one? Yes, I went to Wordpress and the simpler URL and, hopefully, fewer of the problems I had with Blogger.

If you have me linked, please change that link to: http://crazyassplanet.com/

Merci!

(Now all I have to do is see if there's a way to move my archives over to the new place.)

What a Blogger mess!

2007-05-12T16:36:00.000-04:00

As you can seem, I made the mistake of upgrading to the new Blogger templates and now I have to jump through a million hoops to get things back to looking as it should.

On the upside, it makes a decision easier. I was planning a shift to Wordpress so I'll likely do that in the next few days. The only downside is the URL will change but - what the hell?

Soon the URL will simply be crazyassplanet.com and that's much more agreeable, don't you think?

Update: Thankfully I found a way to pull my old template back. But that doesn't change my decision to change things here.

Bicycle Boy

2007-05-10T11:36:00.000-04:00

What could I have been thinking?

Well, I don't drive. And much as I like walking, it is preferrable to have some form of transport that works with a bit more alacrity than ... feet.

Yes, a car would be faster. But they're expensive and they produce odours. They're noisy too.

Anyway ... I bought a new bike, the Globe City 7.1. Don't ask me what that means. I haven't a clue. As far as I can tell it's just a name, somewhat better than calling it the Bumba Bumba 6.3a.

It is simply a bike for getting around the city. I think it has 24 gears. If so, that's roughly 20 more than I actually need. I ain't no Lance Armstrong. I'm not a cyclist. I'm just someone who wants to get around.

And I shall do so with my new blue bike!

Fredericton: Crazy with birds

2007-05-08T09:10:00.000-04:00

This place I've moved to, in Fredericton, not far from Odell Park, is crazy with birds.

Not that I know much about birds, but they kind of get your attention when you're living in what appears to be a kind of aviary.

As spring has unfolded over the last month or two, I've been entertained by warblers, black-capped chickadees, winter wrens, ravens, mourning doves, robins and varieties of other birds I couldn't identify for lovin' or money.

What I find particularly engaging is the soundscape they create. Having lived in larger cities for the last few decades, the sound of this place is a welcome change.

You know, when people talk about places they talk about landscape, weather, architecture and so on. But they don't very often talk about sound which can (and should) be a distinctive characteristic of a place.

In Edmonton, the sound was cars. Here, the sound is birds.

I prefer the latter.

We are Paris Hilton

2007-05-07T20:11:00.000-04:00

I am amazed, and appalled, by the glee with which the Paris Hilton jail sentence has been greeted.

Good heavens, how far up your own ass does your head have to be when the highlight of your life is this? Paris would be a nonentity if we all didn't follow her like the lonely halfwits that we are. We made Paris Hilton. To despise her is to despise ourselves.

For those who are too stupid to understand these things, taking pleasure in another's misfortune, no matter who they are, is called spite. Close cousin of malice. Not enviable qualities.

The world, meaning all of us, really needs to get a life. Wouldn't it be nice if this display of the world's pettiness actually led to a little self awareness and a change in personal values?

Yeah, I ain't holding my breath either.

Bluesin' Through Time

2007-05-05T22:41:00.001-04:00

Hard to believe this is me. I've lost track of how long it has been since I was dressed in such a fashion.

There was a certain nostalgic quality to it. I use to be dressed this way all the time. Or close to it.

Unfortunately, it is late at night as I type this. And I don't trust my semi-inebriated state. Were I to generate a legitimate blog post I might publish something I could regret.

It was an interesting evening, to say the least.

I mean, how often do you sip wine, step outside for a smoke with like-minded people and hear Voltaire's name brought up in a drunken rant?

Yes, it was entertaining ...

(btw ... The evening was a C.N.I.B. event and the music was provided by the George Street Blues Project.)

Tear down the wall

2007-05-05T16:38:00.001-04:00

Yes, this use to look like this. The kitchen is now considerably different, as it a good deal of the house.

It's not complete, however. There are some niggling things remaining. Hopefully they'll be completed early next week. (Although the "backsplash" stuff has to wait at least a week to get the tile in, then a few days as they put it in ... blah blah blah.)

But at least I can use my kitchen again. The stove is back!

You've no idea how happy that makes me.

T-t-t-talkin' 'bout ...

2007-04-25T07:46:00.001-04:00

Thumbs up.

C'est moi?

2007-04-23T09:40:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Brooke, I know this about me (apparently I'm kind of a tech geek):

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Cool renovations - really!

2007-04-22T08:49:00.000-04:00

The reno project is now well underway and, as is to be expected, there is the odd blip. I'm thinking here particularly of the one where the electrician guy somehow disconnected the power to my furnace.

Yes, I'm freezing my ass off.

Fortunately, the weather has been great - nice and warm, at least during the day. However, it still gets very chilly at night and that is an "issue" for me since I am still living in the house during all this.

As for what's happening, these photos show the progress.

Adieu, old kitchen - poof, it's gone

2007-04-19T11:03:00.001-04:00

And so the old kitchen is gone.

In it's place, enough dust to make Hollywood destructo types envious. When I got home a thin white coating was on everything.

Some of the interesting and very confounding aspects of ripping up an older place are the oddities and problems hidden behind the walls. Like pipes where none were expected. Building materials and techniques that have more in common with ancient ruins than modern building approaches.

Much head scratching ensues.

But the work gets done, perhaps more slowly than anticipated or desired, but done.

At least, that's the hope.

Today is only Day Two. Many more will follow.

(In the meantime, it's an itinerant lifestyle I follow these days as I carry my Powerbook from place to place. I'm want to avoid hanging out at home during the destruction.)

Remember this kitchen

2007-04-16T16:15:00.000-04:00

Beginning tomorrow (or more probably, Wednesday) the deconstruction of my kitchen begins. They tear it up. They tear it down. They put in something new.

They also change all my windows.

So for the next little while I shall be living in dust and confusion. A state of discombobulation. An environment of muddle and mayhem. But they tell me the end result will be worth with it.

I certainly hope so.

I can't stand this kitchen in its current state. The house is 50 years old and the kitchen looks it. I also think, when designing this kitchen back 50 years ago, they were high as kites. It makes no sense.

Well, no sense if you plan to cook in it.

But this will change! Soon, soon ...

Kurt Vonnegut is gone

2007-04-12T09:02:00.000-04:00

"Life is no way to treat an animal."

At age 84, Kurt Vonnegut has died. I've been reading his books since God knows when. And I've read them over and over.

A friend and I use to quote Vonnegut lines back and forth and howl with laughter.

Actually, we still do. Over Skype.

Anyway ... Kurt Vonnegut is gone. I posted my own little ... whatever. Post is the best way to describe it. It's on my other blog. The post is So it goes: Kurt Vonnegut exits.

Slapstick, yes.

Till there are no strangers anymore

2007-04-10T18:37:00.000-04:00

How could I resist? It's Patty Griffin ...

(By the way ... the song is "No Bad News" and the studio version is on Children Running Through, very high on my most played list. Also available on iTunes but I've no idea how to link to those clowns.)

Some days are useless

2007-04-09T11:59:00.000-04:00

There are certain days that come along when, some time after it begins, you inevitably think, "What's the point? Why did this day even start?"

It's not that they are "bad" days. It's simply that they are without purpose or ... or ... anything. They just sit their like a useless relative.

Well, today is one of those days. It lacks meaning and it lacks interest. If it were a colour it would be a tan or slate or something else equally bland.

You know, as I think of it, it very much resembles a lot of televison programming. Radio too, for that matter.

Man looking for pants

2007-04-07T23:37:00.000-04:00

You think you have troubles? How would you like to be this poor bugger?

Guy’s out camping with the family. Nature’s call comes upon him so he wanders off into the brush. Next thing he knows …

“Gosh! I seem to have mislaid my trousers.”

Well, it happens.

Of course, the truly puzzling thing about all this is … Where the hell did his damn pants go? And what’s going on in those Canadian campgrounds anyway?

This picture also argues well for the use of belts.

You know you have fallen among barbarians when ...

2007-04-03T16:50:00.000-04:00

They ask what you would like to drink.

You say, "Tea, please."

They say, "Oh, we don't have any. We don't drink it."

It happens. Really.

Blah blah blah ... and other important observations

2007-03-31T21:28:00.000-04:00

It's Saturday night. I'm having a fine old time.

How about you?

Red wine. Blues. Television science fiction. (Really!!!) Very cool and engaging. As is the wine ...

Blah blah blah ...

Sunday afternoon revisited

2007-03-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

As I may have mentioned ... I'm still playing with and learning about video and this is why I've been posting a number of short videos. Such as this stroll about Fredericton on Sunday ...

Unexpected visitors

2007-03-23T10:22:00.000-04:00

The squirrels were by earlier (as they always are in the morning). Today, however, new visitors came by to call. (And, yes, they literally called, in birdlike fashion).

This guy, to the right, came by. The image is a video capture, which is why it's so crappy.

I hadn't realized cardinals were so yappy. (I assume this is a red cardinal - I know pretty much nothing about birds.) He was just calling away. On the video you can see his head bopping furiously forward and back as he natters.

We were later joined by crows, large and also quite yappy. Or perhaps not so much yappy as loud when they bicker (or whatever it is they do).

Well, whatever. Today, as they say, is for the birds.

Time better spent?

2007-03-22T07:25:00.000-04:00

I've been playing with the various video tools I have in order to figure out how to use them properly. Primarily, I'm learning how to use iMovie on my Mac. The result thus far has been largely silliness. Although yesterday I put together the following great drama:

Summarizing the weekend ...

2007-03-19T18:50:00.000-04:00

It went like this:

And how was your day?

2007-03-14T18:43:00.001-04:00

Most people like to post pretty pictures of themselves, flattering images that may give a false impression.

Not so here at Crazy Ass Planet. We believe in full disclosure. Thus, a picture of how I look more often than I care to think. I believe it reveals a constant struggle against the inherent madness of the times.

Or poor sleep. It could be either.

Or it could be a result of the constant natterings of my pesky neighbours!

Always pay attention

2007-03-08T14:00:00.001-04:00

I was somewhat alarmed when I finally started taking a good look at my haircut yesterday. Preoccupied, I said, "Short, sure," without really considering that what is short to me may not be short to someone else.

They may interpret short as meaning ... short!

Anyway ... my hair's damn short now. Well, in the context of my head, it's short. If I were, say, a marine, this might not be even close to short.

And that's my haircut post. Have I just contributed to the trivialization of the Internet?

Yes, another snow snit

2007-03-04T13:53:00.001-04:00

We had yet one more snow schmozzle the other day but, as always, The Don stood guard. In the absence of windmills, he'll occasionally do battle with an evergreen.

Of course, now the weather has warmed so snow is melting, water is running and all is mushy. In a day or two, however, they say it will get quite cold and it all will freeze up and be icky.

But what's that to you? Unless you live here, it doesn't matter. And even if you do, you may not care all that much.

Well, it's been a very long week and I wanted to post about something. Unfortunately, while the heart was willing the brain was empty. (Not at all uncommon, by the way.)