Month: April 2013

Click to see the picture at full size.

It depends on your perspective. Five-year-old me would be entranced by the dancing and music, fifteen-year-old me would think this was the best dad ever, twenty-five-year-old me found strip clubs boring, thirty-five-year-old me would think that that was some bad parenting.

As for present-day forty-five-year-old me: I just think that it might be nice to go “the peeler” with the Old Man (yes, Dad and I have gone to “the ballet” a couple of times), if only to hang out with him once more.

(Looking at the picture again, that may be the toddler’s mom onstage, and it’s “take your kids to work” day. That might be all right.)

I’m in Tampa for the week, visiting this special lady…

…and getting work done in her living room while she’s at work at the office. I typically set aside 2 p.m. for a workout break, which means hitting this lovely place…

…and doing 60 to 80 lengths, depending on how much time I can spare and how I’m feeling that day. Today was gorgeous and I was feeling great, so it was an 80-length day. As an added bonus, at 2 p.m., I’m pretty much guaranteed to have the pool to myself. Still, I’ve managed to say “hi” to some of the neighbours, and we’re at the point where they recognize me when they see me.

I’m here until Sunday, after which the second leg of my trip to a very different clime — Calgary and places farther north — begins. In the meantime, I’ll make the most of the sunshine.

Click to see this shameful display at full size.

Just. Don’t.

Want to look deeper into the abyss and see more people outside with their anime girl body pillows? I have another article on the topic.

Set in “Los Santos”, the Los Angeles of the fictional world in which the Grand Theft Auto series of games takes place, Grand Theft Auto V is scheduled to hit the shelves on September 17th. I’m pretty sure I’ll pick up my copy on “opening day”.

More and more these days, I’m finding videogames to be better movies than movies themselves, and that applies to the trailers as well. Check out the three-in-one trailer for GTA V, featuring the three protagonists whose stories you’ll be playing in the game: Michael (voiced by Ray Liotta), Franklin and Trevor. I think it’s better and more promising than some of the trailers I’ve recently seen in theatres:

Dim Sum Pop’s Guide for Dim Sum Virgins

Click to see at full size.

If you’ve ever gone for dim sum and had trouble picking items, you might find this guide handy.

The only suggestion on the chart that I disagree with is chicken feet, simply because it’s a scam: it’s the restaurant’s way of getting you to pay for bones. Unless you’re ordering and eating them to either freak out your less-adventurous dinner companions or win a bet, don’t bother ordering them.

Dim Sum Pop’s Dim Sum Badges

They’re like merit badges, but tastier! Dim Sum Pop, the people behind the guide above, have also created these 1″ badges featuring some dim sum favourites. I may have to order the pack.

The Return of Toronto Techie Dim Sum!

It’s time to bring back Toronto Techie Dim Sum! How does Thursday, May 16th at Sky Dragon (Spadina and Dundas) grab you?

There’s really no story behind this photo. Does anyone need an excuse to post a lovely picture, especially one of bacon?

Ann Friedman’s Disapproval Matrix. Click to see the original.

Here’s Ann Friedman’s Disapproval Matrix, a quadrant chart that she created in her “ongoing quest for the perfect framework for understanding haters”. You may have seen her piece on haters earlier this year in New York magazine, which featured this other clever chart of hers:

The two axes that span the Disapproval Matrix are:

• Know you / Don’t know you, with people who know you intimately on the left end, and complete strangers on the right.
• Rational / Irrational, where the disapproval is completely rational at the top end, and completely irrational at the bottom.

These axes create four quadrants, which Friedman covers quite well in her article. Her recommendation is to listen to the negative feedback coming from the upper half, and pay no mind to the negative feedback coming from the lower half.

I love this graph. Be sure to read Friedman’s post!

Found thanks to AKMA, on his Facebook feed.