Since when is being like everyone else a desirable quality in a leader?

The Globe and Mail today interrupted it's scheduled obfuscation of the Canadian General Election to provide some commentary on the US presidential election. From the remarkable columnists in the Globe who cover topics ranging from sleeping with their dogs (Blatchford), to buying condos and hybrid vehicles (Wente), to optimal foreign policy, and who knows what (Rex Murphy), I learned today that American voters are swinging to McCain and Palin because Sarah Palin is "just like many average Americans". That's right, let's go an pick someone who is average to be our leader. Forget Darryl Sittler as a captain for the Maple Leafs, they should have gone with Ian Turnbull or some other uninspiring plugger. Who needs Michael Phelps on an Olympic team when there are plenty of other swimmers just like everyone else who could represent Americans in the pool.

Maybe George W. Bush confused the issue for Americans when he showed you didn't have to be a high achiever to hold the highest office. Eggheads like Gore are just too out of touch with voters. Hillary Clinton is too smart, too ambitious to make other average women and men feel comfortable with her at the helm. So let's go with this new direction for choosing leaders. Let's forget about people with exceptional experience and records of service. Let's not worry about identifying the person with the best ideas and the creativity to solve major problems. No, let's stick with someone average who like the rest of average North America will continue to ignore major issues like climate change and social problems. Maybe the McCain/Palin ticket can have some programs that help average Americans renovate their basements.

By the way, I am not sure if there is any meaning to the coincidence, but has anyone noticed the growing number of movies where some health disaster or social problem strikes and the solution is to wall off the big city to trap the ne'er do wells inside? McCain and Palin may be onside with this "escape from New York" approach to social policy. New Yorkers aren't their people anyway.

Enough rambling. Just to sum up -- wake up America, average ordinary people make lousy leaders.

Giving It To The Missus

Regardless of your opinion of Gordon Ramsay, this how-to video on making scrambled eggs will please the palate of your partner. The key point is to treat the eggs properly; the result will surprise you.

Regular mushrooms and cherry tomatoes are fine substitutions, as well as cream instead of creme fraiche and regular toast instead of sourdough. I have made it both ways; so if you can go the extra mile with the ingredients, do so. But don't hold back for lack of fancy bread.

This is ten minutes of your life well spent.

Perfect Scrambled Eggs Breakfast

B'en Oui!

From Le Devoir:

Sale temps pour les penseurs. Données scientifiques majeures diffusées en douce, poursuites judiciaires visant à faire taire des esprits critiques, destitution de fonctionnaires gênants, muselage de scientifiques cherchant à des endroits politiquement incorrects, condamnation sur la place publique d'intellectuels hors norme... Depuis le début de l'année, les signes d'atteinte à la libre circulation des idées se multiplient étrangement un peu partout au pays. Comme ailleurs dans le monde occidental d'ailleurs. Et forcément, ces caillots en formation dans les artères de la connaissance font résonner de plus en plus fort une question: sommes-nous en train d'entrer collectivement dans une nouvelle ère d'obscurantisme?


Indeed.

The Joy of Not Knowing

This morning I found out that I could not remember the exact words to The Glory of Love by Peter Cetera. I sat and thought "Well, I'll just google that bad boy fill this knowledge gap toutey sweet!" And then, it happened. I stopped caring. I don't need to know this. I had forgotten it, as well as the movie the song was attached to, and it was best to let it go. Best to, in the words of Humongous, "Just walk away".

And I've been soft-shoeing through the day ever since. I can't wait to find out what I will forget tomorrow. So much to not know, so little time.



I haven't watched this, and I'm not going to. You go and learn stuff, but leave me out of it.

Happy Dreamcast Day

On this day, way back in '99, my favourite gaming console was launched to much fanfare. Cool white, with a unique controller, the Dreamcast was, in my mind, poised to push gaming into a new, far cooler universe. And look at what it came with...a modem for online play (sort of), a VGA adapter for connecting to your computer monitor and speakers, and Tamagotchi-style memory units called VMU (Virtual Memory Units). O.K., those sucked, but it was different and fun.

From Shenmue, to Soulcalibur, to Crazy Taxi and Space Channel Five; the Dreamcast had some excellent games that still get played at my house. Not the least being the ultra-addictive Swirl, a free game that portended the rise of the Flash-based games we take for granted now. And the 2K sports games (developed by Visual Concepts) were vast improvements on the EA pro sports offerings on the PS2.




So take a trip down memory lane with the staff at 1up.com as they reminisce about the Dreamcast with Tycho of Penny Arcade on the Retronauts podcast.














From G4, here is some of their "History of the Dreamcast" show.


History of the Dreamcast Part 1




History of the Dreamcast Part 2




Want to emulate the DC on your computer? Chankcast works well. Getting the CD images is bit more tricky though. But the time you download everything and get it all working, you are better off buying a used DC on ebay. They run $20-$50 with games and controllers.

As for me, tonight will involve some forklift driving, hitting tennis balls at large balloons, and listening to Offspring over and over and over again.

UFC 88 Further Update

It's great to be Matt Hamill--strong as a bull, a fantastic wrestler, and seemingly impervious to pain. A tank.

Unless you fight Rich Franklin, a comically balanced fighter. Fit beyond the ken of normal men, patient, and able to strike with an accuracy deleterious to your being.

The result? Matt Hamill has broken ribs and Rich has the inconvenience of a cut eyebrow.

Note to Matt: invest some AP in skills and not just armour.