Happy birthday, Darwin (except in the US)

A friend of mine just tipped me to this: Google Canada has a nice celebratory image to commemorate Darwin’s 200th birthday, as does Google France, Google Germany, Google Mexico, Google China, and any Google I can think of — except Google.com. I guess this is so to avoid offending susceptibilities.
Update: Or am I going insane? [...]

English pronunciation

Here’s a neat poem that illustrates some of the many issues and annoyances of English pronunciation.
(via Robert Will)

How to give the perfect man hug

I’ve noticed that many men here in Canada don’t know how to hug. So with the holidays around the corner, I thought my readers would benefit from a little guidance:

Congratulations, everyone!

…and thanks to all Americans who voted to elect Obama. I’m deeply inspired by your country today.

TIFF: Shakespeare and Victor Hugo’s Intimacies

Yesterday we went to see “Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo”, a very personal Mexican documentary by Yulene Olaizola, at the Toronto International Film Festival. It’s a fantastic film, a beautifully constructed exposition of a delicate, twisting story. (Nothing to do with Shakespeare or Victor Hugo though, the title refers to an intersection in Mexico City.) [...]

It’s certainly four more than Cheney…

From the latest Wonderella:
 

I’m back! And I’m going back!

Well I’ve been away from my blog for too long –as my internship got more involved I had more stuff to share and less time to do it. I’m officially done with my internship today, though. It was a great experience, and I have lots to write about. Until soon!

Angelus Novus

Found at Steven Johnson’s “The Ghost Map”:
“A Klee painting named “Angelus Novus” shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned [...]

PlanetEye launches!

PlanetEye, an online travel website that links geotagged pictures with local expertise, maps, and more standard travel services, is a start-up that I’ve been watching closely for a while — a good friend of mine is heavily involved in it and tipped me to their beta program. Well the service officially launched today, and to good [...]

Touched by His Noodly Appendage!

We were out at the Seattle Pride Parade today and found an unexpected group marching along: the Seattle Atheists, accompanied by representatives of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in full pirate regalia, and the Monster Himself! Here’s proof of His Presence:

The Monster deigned to walk towards me and to touch me with His [...]