Friday, July 10, 2009

Michael Pollan: We Are Headed Toward a Breakdown in Our Food System

Michael Pollan: Garden Fresh - The Tyee

When Michael Pollan visited Vancouver in June, The Tyee interviewed the prominent food writer for his thoughts on Obama, the 100-mile diet, climate change, and picky eaters.  
Thanks to the Alternet.

Bono on Obama's visit to Ghana

Rebranding Africa - NY Times

In the NY Times, U2's Bono writes about the reasons that President Obama is visiting Ghana; not because of sentiment or tragedy, but because it is an inspirational success story.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Ebert on "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen", twice

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a dog-like robot humping the leg of the heroine. Such are the meager joys. If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination.
The plot is incomprehensible. The dialog of the Autobots®, Decepticons® and Otherbots® is meaningless word flap. Their accents are Brooklyese, British and hip-hop, as befits a race from the distant stars. Their appearance looks like junkyard throw-up. They are dumb as a rock. They share the film with human characters who are much more interesting, and that is very faint praise indeed.


The Fall of the Revengers - Roger Ebert's Journal

The day will come when "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" will be studied in film classes and shown at cult film festivals. It will be seen, in retrospect, as marking the end of an era. Of course there will be many more CGI-based action epics, but never again one this bloated, excessive, incomprehensible, long (149 minutes) or expensive (more than $200 million). Like the dinosaurs, the species has grown too big to survive, and will be wiped out in a cataclysmic event, replaced by more compact, durable forms.


Roger Ebert cared so strongly about the Transformers sequel, that he chose to review the movie twice, and write about it eloquently and hilariously.  These are just the opening paragraphs from both reviews.  After seeing the "Revenge of the Fallen" last night, I totally agree with Mr. Ebert.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

The cheapest places to live in the world. $500 a month

The cheapest places to live in the world. $500 a month

Shared via AddThis

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Our True North - New York Times

Our True North - New York Times

Eleven Canadians living in the US write in the NY Times on what they miss about Canada.
Happy Canada Day!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

The World's Fastest Plane

The Ultimate Spy Plane - Smithsonian Magazine

Inspired by it's appearance the Transformers 2 movie, Smithsonian writes about the fastest airplane, Lockheed's SR-71 Blackbird.

I asked Shul, a former Air Force fighter pilot and Vietnam veteran who has written two books about the Blackbird—one recounting his reconnaissance for a dramatic raid on Libya in 1986—what it was like to fly such a phenomenal craft. "It wasn't like any other airplane," he told me. "It was terrifying, exciting, intense and humbling every time you flew. Each mission was designed to fly at a certain speed; you always knew the airplane had more. It was like driving to work in a double-A fuel dragster."

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Sid the Kid sleeps with the Cup

What would you do with the Stanley Cup?
Everyone that wins the Stanley Cup gets to spend one day with the Cup, doing whatever they want.  Many players take hockey's most important trophy to their hometown to show off.
Mario Lemieux had a pool party with the Cup, and the Stanley Cup went swimming.

What would you do?

News Photos from Iran

A Troubled Week in Iran

The Big Picture is a news photo blog from the Boston Globe that always impresses with their stunning photographs of news events.  Today's link is the fourth in The Big Picture's series on the disputed election in Iran.

Iran's Presidential Election
Iran's Disputed Election
Iran's Continued Election Turmoil

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Canning food gets trendy

Preserving Time in a Bottle (or a Jar)

From the New York Times, it’s an article on the status of canning fruits and vegetables.  The local food movement has embraced large and small scale canning as a way to preserve the flavour and uniqueness of seasonal produce.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Knowledge workers vs. Manual trades

The Case for Working With Your Hands - New York Times

An article by someone with a PhD who left the "knowledge economy" decided to run a motorcycle-repair shop.  Bonus point for mentioning a lineman fixing the lines after a storm.