Month: June 2005

Big Fish Or Small People

Either this shows a very big fish or two very small people.

My mind boggles at the idea that this fish was caught. How old would this fish be? What exactly does a fish this big look like swimming around spawning?

How’s this for silly-speak?

This is the largest individual fish of the species that’s listed as the biggest in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Couldn’t he have just said BIGGEST FISH EVAR!!!!!

Updates:

High resolution image
A large stingray from the same area

Apparently these catfish are critically endangered, according to National Geographic, so it makes me a little sad to see something so obviously old and valuable to its species chopped up and fed to a village, no matter how hungry they may be.

Finally – a Jedi in British Parliament!

Mr. Jamie Reed burst onto the Parliamentary scene in Britain with an announcement that he is a Jedi.

I crave the indulgence of the House in interrupting such an important and enjoyable debate to deliver my maiden speech. Furthermore, as the first Jedi Member of this place, I look forward to the protection under the law that will be provided to me by the Bill.

Terribly brave of him, I must say. I suppose the idea that we co-exist with a race of small intelligent creatures (medichlorians) which, through training and meditation, we can co-opt to manipulate our environment isn’t all that far fetched. I wonder if we’ll see a Jedi religion come to fruition soon … it’s no stranger than the idea that we were planted here by an alien species, and it has historical stories of magic and mysterious things to help back up its veracity.

But I mean, come on! Becoming a Jedi is not an easy thing – even Anakin had trouble doing it.

Alberta’s Storm

In the last week or so a number of cities in southern Alberta have been assailed by various storms and floods. You can read coverage at places like The Globe and Mail and The CBC, but my uncle George was passed some amazing photos of some of the clouds in the skies during these storms. If you liked the movie Twister you’ll love these photos. They’re simply stunning.

I don’t know who to attribute these images to – if you’re the photographer please let me know. I can take the images down or give you credit.

Click on the smaller version to see a larger version.

Storm 1
Continue reading Alberta’s Storm

You Want Me To Get Out Of My Car, Officer?

I’m not claiming racism here, but I think the police can be a scary bunch of lunatics.

I’m talking about a video clip taken by a patrol car camera of the takedown of a nefarious criminal, found fleeing in her SUV.

Here’s the video, and a page with comments.

A woman is pulled over, and then apparently refuses to get out of her car when the police officer asks her to step out. He naturally uses his tazer weapon to extract the criminal from her vehicle. Twice.

There is also some commentary by another police officer there for your listening pleasure. I like the one where he agrees with the officer’s choice of tazer versus pepper spray. His reasoning is bullet-proof: the 22 year old woman, when asked to exit the vehicle, could have gone for a weapon. The pepper spray wouldn’t have stopped her cold like the tazer – the office was avoiding the greatest risk.

Oh, her crime? Driving with a suspended license.

Michael Moore on Sharing His Movies

For anyone who’s still willing to listen to Michael Moore (creator of Fahrenheit 9/11, Roger and Me, etc) and not roll their eyes (yes, I’m one of them), I found a small video clip of him talking briefly about what he thinks of people sharing his movies for free over peer-to-peer networks.

I like the quote “I do OK”. I’ve always respected his ability to maintain his own perspective even in the face of fame and fortune. Of course I see him as an active critic of many of our society’s foibles, which I respect. So naturally I think he’s on to something here.

We hear a lot of how the recording industry and movie industry are trying to protect the artist’s rights by suing anyone they can find that downloads movies illegally. Here’s an artist speaking directly to the issue, and the story is not quite the same as the corporate bigwigs’.

Here’s the video (1:40 minutes – 5.4MB)