Delirious Lab

Beatles: Rock Band - It Rocks!

2010-01-22T11:31:00.003-05:00

I got the game for Xmas, it's a riot. Playing with the kids, seeing them discover the Fab Four's amazing repertoire, etc. This is a game to bring all generations together.

What I like best is the option to plug in as many as three mics to sing in harmony. I hope they push the envelope further to that side and come up with SATB Choir Hero or Handel Messiah: Rock Band soon...

In Which I Call 53% of Mainers Bigots and Haters

2009-11-04T18:26:00.003-05:00

Because that's what you are if you take active steps to take away equal rights from people.

"No, no, we love homosexuals," they say.

Yeah. And the abusive husband loves his wife, too.

Fucking cowards.

Recorders Rule

2009-09-12T07:13:00.004-04:00

Recently I've been working on getting a recorder ensemble started with some colleagues. I took a growing interest in the instrument when I got a nice soprano for Christmas about five years ago.

If you think the recorder was invented to grate the ears of 4th-grade music teachers worldwide, think again. And watch these two amazing (and dare I say sexy?) quartets.

Quartet New Generation:

Sirena Recorder Quartet:

Just Married, Sort Of

2009-08-19T10:47:00.005-04:00

My wife and I (yes, I called her "my wife" even before) got married at the courthouse a week ago. Our two kids and a friend served as witnesses in the otherwise empty wedding hall. The reception consisted of wine & cheese in our kitchen with the same five people present.

All the legal protections of a traditional wedding, at 1% of the price and 0% of the stress. Yay.

Funny thing is, people still make a big fuss about it, even though we only did it to secure legal/financial stuff like power of attorney, pensions etc. We get congratulations, we get flowers delivered, what have you. And some in our families would have liked to be invited, even though the "ceremony" lasted all of 15 minutes and they live over 250km away.

They'll get over it. I also used to call her my girlfriend before last week, and I still do today.

Enough Already

2009-06-12T10:52:00.003-04:00

Game 7 tonight. Go Penguins, and let's go for the swimming pool, shall we?

You know the universe has turned into a sick, parallel version of itself when kids are done with school before the Stanley Cup is lifted.

This was the best final matchup in years, with the two buddings superstars threatening to unseat the reigning dynasty. The stuff sports legends are made of. Imagine the ratings if this were going on two months ago.

You suck, NHL.

We have a final

2009-06-05T07:49:00.004-04:00

I usually don't give a rat's ass about hockey this time of year. My favourite teams are usually playing golf and hey - it's supposed to be a winter sport, after all. And when the Wings took a 2-0 lead in the series, it looked like they were just too good. But since then Croskin and Malby have at last changed into their superstar costumes.

I'm going to be watching. I don't care much who wins, but the hockey is damn good.

Still, may I suggest a new rule for the NHL playoffs? When I was a kid, the Canadiens would kick Boston's ass and lift the Stanley Cup every year in May. Normally they did it in four games and hockey was over by the long weekend (that's Victoria Day in Canada, the third Monday in May). If they took six games and the final got past Victoria Day, the fans and the papers would ask "what's taking so long?" and start blaming Ken Dryden.

So here's my new proposed rule: Keep the same four-round playoff format, but stop everything on Victoria Day. Whatever team is closer to winning the Cup at that time gets the trophy. For example, this year Victoria Day was May 19. On the night before, Detroit won Game 1 of their semifinal against Chicago. The other semifinal, Penguins-Hurricanes, had not started yet. Detroit being 7 wins away from the Cup, and closer than the three other remaining teams (8), means they win.

In case of a tie, give it to whoever got there the fastest. Now let's go fishing.

On the hypocrisy of some pro-life organizations

2009-06-05T07:27:00.004-04:00

The Atheist Experience Blog has hit the nail on the head regarding pro-lifers' supposedly indignant reaction to the assassination of George Tiller. Some worthy excerpts:

Groups like Operation Rescue consist of members (and apparently leadership as well) who make a point of publicly labeling these doctors, and their patients, as “baby killers”—literally mass baby killers. And maybe it’s just me—but if someone actually is going around mass murdering children—I don’t think I would be “shocked” that someone stepped up and killed that person. So, why is Operation Rescue expressing “shock,” if they know this man is a baby killer? Are they “shocked” that by labeling such a person a “baby killer,” that someone might think he should be stopped by any means necessary? I mean, would it shock you if you believed what they believe? What, exactly, do they think happens when you whip up masses of (often already emotionally driven) people with something like that?

(...)

I have a saying when someone asks me to believe obvious bullshit. I say, “Either you’re stupid—or you think I am.” And like most people, I don’t appreciate it when someone, or in this case some organization, communicates to me like I’m an idiot. It doesn’t upset me, but I find it hard to play along. No, Operation Rescue, you’re not shocked. Please stop pretending, and have your victory celebration unapologetically.

Go read the full article. Now.

Happy Birthday...

2009-06-04T08:02:00.002-04:00

... to everyone born on June 4th. Especially to my daughter who weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces 14 years ago, and is now a ballet dancer, an aspiring dietician and a beautiful young lady.

Getting better...

2009-06-04T07:39:00.006-04:00

... at this blogging thing. Here's my first attempt at uploading a photo:

Photo taken by my son, caption added by... the cat, of course.

Be afraid.

2009-06-04T07:11:00.005-04:00

I came upon this documentary which has gained lots and lots of relevance after the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller this weekend (this is part 1 of 7). Scary stuff - enough to make me doubt whether our southern neighbours can avoid turning into the Republic of Gilead in the long term...

By the way, can someone with a bit of legal expertise among my hordes of readers explain to me how these men can so openly conspire to commit acts of terrorism and not get into trouble?

Woohoo first comment!!!1one

2009-06-03T09:56:00.006-04:00

I got my first comment! The author, PersonalFailure, wins the fabulous grand prize of having her blog plugged right here: Forever In Hell is pretty awesome at tearing apart the radifundagelical busybodies who are so good at screwing up American politics, and occasionally manage to spill some idiocy over my country.

Bridge: Do as I say, not as I do

2009-06-02T07:34:00.020-04:00

I like disciplined bidding and I'll be the first one to tell partner when he had gone a step too high. But sometimes you gotta break the rules.

We had a decent night at the club yesterday - a few ups and downs for 53%. We got over the hump when I made 3NT with a combined 23 high card points, three suits to finesse and very bad communications with dummy:

♠xx - ♥J10xx - ♦xxx - ♣QJ9x

♠AKQ10x - ♥Kxx - ♦KJ10 - ♣Kx

I opened 1♠ and lefty overcalled clubs, passed back to me. I doubled, partner bid 2♥ and I recklessly went for game. Why? Well, I wasn't feeling too good about our results so far and felt we needed a couple of swings to get over 50% (there were 4 boards left to play at this point).

The ♣9 won the opening trick (RHO showing out!). I knew I had to enjoy the scenery from across the table, because I wasn't going back up there in a million years.

I tried finessing the ♥Q, but LHO won it and cashed the club ace. Then he helped me in two big ways: 1) he returned the queen of diamonds; and 2) He held ♠Jx. When the jack fell on the second spade trick, I knew I had gotten away with a big number. And it got better: we were the only pair to bid 3NT (let alone make it).

I was still giddy about it when we got to the last board of the evening. I opened a Flannery 2 diamonds, partner signed off in 4 hearts and I sinned again! I had a maximum (15 HCP), a singleton diamond and very nice hearts - AKJ10x. I 1430'ed and the 5 heart response felt more like "partner, let's stop here" than like "where the hell is the trump queen?"

But hey, it was time to be reckless. +980.

Way past bedtime

2009-06-02T00:55:00.002-04:00

One in the morning. I need to get off the 'puter and go to bed. Sleep deprivation is no good for the mood.

Goodnight.

Depression

2009-05-27T10:36:00.005-04:00

I'm recovering from a mild bout with depression. It's going pretty well because I seeked help before thing got out of hand. Best move I ever made. I discovered 1) that there were people ready to help me - my doctor, my psychologist, the Love of My Life - and 2) that talking about it is a lot less difficult than it seemed.

If you're a depressed man, and you think seeking help for this kind of thing is for wusses, think again. Wusses play Greater Than Sudoku with clues. Real men take the bull by the horns and see their doctor.

Do it.

Life is good. Or, at least, getting better.

Greater Than Sudoku

2009-05-27T09:51:00.004-04:00

I'm not big on Sudoku, but there are a couple variants I like. The best of them all is Greater Than Sudoku: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku#Variants (last paragraph of the "Variants" section).

There is a pic of an example, but beware: it has clues (pre-entered numbers), i.e. it's for wusses.

In which I root for the California Supreme Court to do the right thing

2009-05-26T01:07:00.006-04:00

Back from a pretty good evening at the bridge club (56% isn't bad when you and your partner are honing a gadget-laden weak notrump system that neither of you has ever played before). Yay.

Before going to bed, I read that Proposition 8 may be overturned by the California Supreme Court today. Let's all hope the justices do the right thing and ignore the idiotic cries of "activist judges" and "the will of the people". Civil rights shouldn't be up to a popular vote.

If it can help the judges at all, they should look up north and see that the sky hasn't fallen on Canada yet, other than the ominous feeling I get every spring that the Stanley Cup will not bless our great northern land with its presence ever again, never ever - only bastions of righteousness like Pittsburgh, Chicago and Detroit will get that holy privilege. All because of the gays getting married.

If the judges drop the ball, I encourage all Californians to vote on whether religious right-wing homophobes can marry. Do what it takes and put it on the 2010 ballot somehow.

Update: Bleh. They screwed it up. Shame that they were unable to look above the legal technicalities and simply do the right thing.

I guess the people are going to have to fix things at the ballot box. It shouldn't have to come to this, but what else can they do.

Music Review: Hartmut Haenchen

2009-05-25T11:39:00.001-04:00

(Oh, if opera isn't your thing, don't run away - I listen to almost all musical genres so I'm bound to stumble upon your preferred style someday.)

Recently I discovered the best thing in Wagnerian opera since... well, pretty much since I was born, if you believe those who say the best Wagnerians died a long, long time ago. Listening to the first half of the Ring Cycle by the Netherlands Philharmonic, I had to put up with (as is sadly the case nowadays) some pretty uneven singing. Yay Wotan, Sieglinde and all the Walkyries. Boo the giants and triple-boo Siegmund.

But who cares. Because OH MY GOD* the conducting. It threw me off my proverbial chair, it was that good. Such amazing clarity, such commitment to a "chamber music" approach, proving that you can create excitement without the need for timpani and brass to drown everything. It felt like listening to the whole thing for the first time (and believe me, I have listened to Wagner before - looooooots). All this thanks to the conductor, Hartmut Haenchen. The man is a genius.

If, like me, you don't feel like you've completely heard a symphony or opera unless you clearly got the inner parts of the orchestra (second violins, violas, non-solo woodwinds) as well as the more obvious stuff... go get this recording.

More music reviews to come once in a while.

* Yes, atheists do say that.

Welcome!

2009-05-25T11:22:00.000-04:00

Hello to my many (yeah, who am I kidding) readers,

This is my first crack at blogging so don't expect any miracles.

Hope this gets better.