Monthly Archives: May 2010

This post is a year late

Posted on 29 May 2010 by

While writing about the moon landing I remembered how struck I was last year by the number of 40th anniversaries that occurred during the year. What was it with 1969, that so many momentous things happened? I suppose you could … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Monty Python | Leave a comment

A Little Knowledge…

Posted on 28 May 2010 by

What happens when you read a book? In Alan Bennett’s book The Uncommon Reader, the Queen of England suddenly develops an interest in reading. Once she starts reading she starts thinking; she has new ideas and new ways of seeing … Continue reading →

Posted in books, J.L. Borges, TE Lawrence, Virginia Woolf | 2 Comments

A bike with a motor

Posted on 25 May 2010 by

Though bicycling was my primary outdoor hobby for most of my life, I always flirted with the idea of getting a motorcycle. A lot of my neighbours had dirt bikes when I was growing up, but our family wasn’t that … Continue reading →

Posted in motorcycles | 1 Comment

The moon landing

Posted on 24 May 2010 by

My latest package from Amazon arrived a couple days ago, and included a copy of MoonFire, a gorgeous coffee-table tome from Taschen, with text by Norman Mailer and photos from NASA. It’s a history of the Apollo 11 mission, with … Continue reading →

Posted in books, technology | Leave a comment

Time and manner of one’s death

Posted on 20 May 2010 by

In Tim Burton’s movie “Big Fish”, the father, as a young man who recently left home to strike out on his own, is in a dangerous situation. He’s walking through a haunted wood with trees that are trying to kill … Continue reading →

Posted in classics, film, Monty Python | 1 Comment

Suckling pigs and mermaids

Posted on 17 May 2010 by

Quite some time ago a co-worker, during a discussion related to how to classify something we were working on, mentioned a classification scheme that included suckling pigs and mermaids. Something this absurd would obviously stick in my head, and it … Continue reading →

Posted in J.L. Borges, word play | 1 Comment

Bike paths, and a Rant

Posted on 16 May 2010 by

Yesterday C. and I rode on a new (to us) bike path along the river into the city. A very nice path in pretty good condition, gorgeous scenery, and … a lot of people! We encountered the same thing here … Continue reading →

Posted in bicycles, politics | 1 Comment

The MGA

Posted on 15 May 2010 by

One of the most rewarding and enjoyable projects I’ve done was completing the restoration and assembly of a 1957 MGA sports car. I had been in love with the car since I first saw a picture in a book when … Continue reading →

Posted in cars | 1 Comment

The Dreaded Religion Topic

Posted on 14 May 2010 by

Someone in my family has been Mormon since the very beginning; the church was organized in 1830 and my earliest Mormon ancestor joined a year or so later. I’m fifth generation. Raised quite conservatively, very active in the church, did … Continue reading →

Posted in Mormonism, religion | Leave a comment

How Long Will it Last?

Posted on 12 May 2010 by

I hinted at this topic in my post about e-readers: How long will our digital data last? I was first struck by the importance of this issue about 25 years ago when I bought a new computer and attempted to … Continue reading →

Posted in standards, technology | Leave a comment