I did an 11 lb. turkey with stuffing on the BBQ for Christmas (so I wasn't an adult when Canada went metric -- why do we still buy our meat in pounds?). I took the temperature of the stuffing at three hours and it was ready (165 F -- again, still cooking in Imperial units). It was nice and moist so I don't think it had been ready for long.
The BBQ is great for a couple of reasons: The rotisserie keeps the juices in the turkey, not in the dripping pan. Also, gas heat is moister than the electric heat that many of us have in the oven in the kitchen.
11 lbs. is the maximum-sized turkey I could do in my BBQ, which is a fairly standard domestic gas BBQ. That's okay, as it's still way too big for our family.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Canadians in La Vuelta
Ryder Hesjedal, one of four Canadians riding in the Vuelta a España this year, won today's stage and finished second on Tuesday. Since I started following the grand tours on the Internet (1994?), this is the first time I recall Canadians winning a stage.
The Tour of Spain is the third of the three big three-week cycling races, along with the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
The Tour of Spain is the third of the three big three-week cycling races, along with the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Mt Seymour Again
Friday I did Mount Seymour again. 59 minutes from the old kiosk where the road starts the serious climb, to the far end of the parking lot. My iPhone said I was at exactly 1,000 m at the top, and coming off the Ironworkers Bridge I was basically at sea level. At the kiosk, I was at 118 m.
I had a mental collapse coming around the last hairpin turn when I couldn't see the parking lot. I just became completely unable to push myself anymore and I allowed myself to slow down to 10 kph (from 12 or so). Once I crested the small rise, the parking lot was right there and almost flat. Something to remember if I do this again: Be prepared for the fact that you can't see the parking lot from the curve.
Another thing to remember: After the second hairpin, the slope gets a bit easier and there's a couple of minutes where I could up the pace to about 16 or 17 kph.
I hadn't done a good job of marking my time the last time I did this. I remembered 55 minutes as my time, but it could be that I was slower then. Watching my speed this time I think I was going as fast or faster than last time. Most of the time I'm doing around 12 kph.
I had a mental collapse coming around the last hairpin turn when I couldn't see the parking lot. I just became completely unable to push myself anymore and I allowed myself to slow down to 10 kph (from 12 or so). Once I crested the small rise, the parking lot was right there and almost flat. Something to remember if I do this again: Be prepared for the fact that you can't see the parking lot from the curve.
Another thing to remember: After the second hairpin, the slope gets a bit easier and there's a couple of minutes where I could up the pace to about 16 or 17 kph.
I hadn't done a good job of marking my time the last time I did this. I remembered 55 minutes as my time, but it could be that I was slower then. Watching my speed this time I think I was going as fast or faster than last time. Most of the time I'm doing around 12 kph.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Camping at Goldstream Provincial Park
Marc and I went camping at Goldstream Provincial Park (Google Maps has bad imagery in this area) on Vancouver Island. It's a comment on the population of the Vancouver area that you can't get a campsite in most parks on the mainland on the weekend unless you book two months in advance. But I got a weekend booking two weeks in advance for a campground 20 minutes from Victoria. And what I spent on ferry I almost saved on gas (a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).
To top it off, there were all sorts of interesting things to see within walking distance of the campground: Abandoned mine shafts, a railway bridge over a deep canyon, and a very high waterfall. Marc was the trooper he always is, walking or running six hours on Saturday to all the different sights. We saw and heard owls in the campground on Saturday night, and a garter snake on the trail on Sunday.
The only bummer was the total campfire ban. It's for good reason, it's been dry for months here, but it's strange to go camping and not have a campfire. Trying to make smores over a Coleman stove just doesn't do it.
Here's the slideshow:
To top it off, there were all sorts of interesting things to see within walking distance of the campground: Abandoned mine shafts, a railway bridge over a deep canyon, and a very high waterfall. Marc was the trooper he always is, walking or running six hours on Saturday to all the different sights. We saw and heard owls in the campground on Saturday night, and a garter snake on the trail on Sunday.
The only bummer was the total campfire ban. It's for good reason, it's been dry for months here, but it's strange to go camping and not have a campfire. Trying to make smores over a Coleman stove just doesn't do it.
Here's the slideshow:
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Old Music
One of the interesting things about iTunes has been buying the soundtrack of my first trip to Latin America. And one of the interesting things about that is being reminded about when syndrums were cool.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
That About Sums It Up
Marc said, "Dad, just because no one listens to you doesn't mean they didn't hear you."
(Marc is my seven-year-old son.)
(Marc is my seven-year-old son.)
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Marcos' Nikumi (2 Stripe) Karate Test
Marcos passed his test yesterday, so he now has two orange stripes on his white belt. Two more tests until he has his orange belt. Way to go, Marcos!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Products that Fit your Principles
I found this site via a podcast: http://www.goodguide.com/. Good Guide lets you rate products according to how they meet a variety of criteria. I haven't looked at it a lot but it looks interesting.
Here's a podcast about Good Guide, which I haven't yet listened to.
Here's a podcast about Good Guide, which I haven't yet listened to.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Another Nice Route
Now that the weather's nicer, I'm not so terrified of going over the Second Narrows Bridge. Just scared. Here's another interesting route.
Stanley Park Loop
Here's the Google Map of my Stanley Park loop. It's just over 9 km long. When I have more time I'll annotate it a bit more.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Stanley Park, Three Laps, Each One Faster
The headline tells almost all of it. The missing part is that I did the first lap faster than I think I've ever gone before: 17 minutes flat. The next two were 16:55 and 16:40. I'm feeling the effort now, and I suspect tomorrow I'll feel it even more.
Soccer 2009
Marc's having fun at soccer this year. He plays where the old Empire Bowl was, near our house. Here are some pictures from two different days. The pictures are deliberately framed to show Marc playing soccer in the sun and in the shadow of the north shore mountains.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Yes, This One's Close to Us
The Vancouver high school in the news today is close to us. I passed all the media trucks parked outside on my way home from my PMP course today. It would be Marc's high school if he were in the English program (and in high school already)...
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Science Fiction vs. Science Fact
With a 7 year old boy in the house, we've been on a Star Wars watching binge of late. I've been bombarded with questions about Star Wars, and
We were at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle a few weeks ago and they had an original Star Trek communicator on display. I whipped out my iPhone to compare: The iPhone is about the same width and height, and about a third the thickness. And it does way more than even Spock can trick out a communicator to do.
The only science fiction that comes close to current technology that I can think of is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Wikipedia serves a very similar role the to HHGTTG, minus the voice interface and the words "Don't Panic" written in large friendly letters on the cover.
- I can only answer questions about the first three movies (IV, V and VI), because I never saw the last three (I, II, and III)
- For some reason, I can't remember a lot about the first three movies even though I did see them. It was almost 30 years ago...
We were at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle a few weeks ago and they had an original Star Trek communicator on display. I whipped out my iPhone to compare: The iPhone is about the same width and height, and about a third the thickness. And it does way more than even Spock can trick out a communicator to do.
The only science fiction that comes close to current technology that I can think of is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Wikipedia serves a very similar role the to HHGTTG, minus the voice interface and the words "Don't Panic" written in large friendly letters on the cover.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Spelling
Seen in a Google search:
Jim I am a Linux novice so please bare with me.Either Linux geeks can't spell, or Linux support has got kinkier than I thought.
Friday, April 17, 2009
BC-STV is a Bad Idea
For the second time, we in BC are being asked to vote for a fundamentally flawed change to the way we elect members to the provincial legislature.
I went to the BC-STV website to "get the facts" so I could prepare a typical computer-geek detailed rebuttal to the single transferable vote system. I got that, but I also realized something more important: They're completely ignoring the social dynamics of what makes our current voting system, or any voting system, bad or good.
Before I go further, I should mention that I think the first past the post system of electing a single member for a geographic region based on who gets the most votes really sucks in many ways. However, I was able to describe it in a single sentence, and anyone can understand it.
More importantly, it's easy to implement a very transparent system to count the votes and ensure that the correct result is recorded. Immediately after the polls close in a Canadian provincial or federal election, a group of people representing different political views sit down together to look at and count every vote. Without widespread, serious physical intimidation, there's no way the votes will be recorded wrong in a significant way. The confidence we have in our voting system is like air, it's so all pervasive that we take it for granted, until we lose it and suffocate.
The BC-STV website doesn't even explain how the votes would be counted, or in fact what the exact rules for counting the votes are. They talk about "change back from your loonie" and "spending your vote", but they can't (or are afraid to) articulate how the counting would actually happen. That's not transparent.
In order to maintain transparency, the STV system would have to publish every single ballot (anonymously, of course) so that others could verify the election outcome. There's no other way to ensure transparency. Transparency is about people's perceptions. It doesn't really matter whether someone tries to steal the election somehow, it matters whether people think someone could steal the election somehow.
There are simpler systems that maintain transparency: straight proportional representation where you vote for a party and they get a percentage of the seats, or mixed, where your vote counts once for your electoral district and once for a proportional representation. All systems have advantages and disadvantages, but at least these approaches maintain the transparency of voting.
As someone who's voted all my life for parties that get fewer seats than their popular vote said they should get, I want a different voting system. But as someone who's seen in other countries how hard it is to build a society that can settle differences through voting rather than violence, I know that faith in the voting system is extremely important. And that faith will only come through transparency.
What's sorely missing from the debate here is a discussion of the social dynamics that distort any voting system. Big money advertising, toeing the line on internal party politics, attack ads, lying during campaigns, lobbyists, powerful special interest groups (for example, white males) and others, are issues that need to be looked at in this context.
I went to the BC-STV website to "get the facts" so I could prepare a typical computer-geek detailed rebuttal to the single transferable vote system. I got that, but I also realized something more important: They're completely ignoring the social dynamics of what makes our current voting system, or any voting system, bad or good.
Before I go further, I should mention that I think the first past the post system of electing a single member for a geographic region based on who gets the most votes really sucks in many ways. However, I was able to describe it in a single sentence, and anyone can understand it.
More importantly, it's easy to implement a very transparent system to count the votes and ensure that the correct result is recorded. Immediately after the polls close in a Canadian provincial or federal election, a group of people representing different political views sit down together to look at and count every vote. Without widespread, serious physical intimidation, there's no way the votes will be recorded wrong in a significant way. The confidence we have in our voting system is like air, it's so all pervasive that we take it for granted, until we lose it and suffocate.
The BC-STV website doesn't even explain how the votes would be counted, or in fact what the exact rules for counting the votes are. They talk about "change back from your loonie" and "spending your vote", but they can't (or are afraid to) articulate how the counting would actually happen. That's not transparent.
In order to maintain transparency, the STV system would have to publish every single ballot (anonymously, of course) so that others could verify the election outcome. There's no other way to ensure transparency. Transparency is about people's perceptions. It doesn't really matter whether someone tries to steal the election somehow, it matters whether people think someone could steal the election somehow.
There are simpler systems that maintain transparency: straight proportional representation where you vote for a party and they get a percentage of the seats, or mixed, where your vote counts once for your electoral district and once for a proportional representation. All systems have advantages and disadvantages, but at least these approaches maintain the transparency of voting.
As someone who's voted all my life for parties that get fewer seats than their popular vote said they should get, I want a different voting system. But as someone who's seen in other countries how hard it is to build a society that can settle differences through voting rather than violence, I know that faith in the voting system is extremely important. And that faith will only come through transparency.
What's sorely missing from the debate here is a discussion of the social dynamics that distort any voting system. Big money advertising, toeing the line on internal party politics, attack ads, lying during campaigns, lobbyists, powerful special interest groups (for example, white males) and others, are issues that need to be looked at in this context.
Parent Advisory Council Website
Since I'm "between contracts" I've been setting up the infrastructure for Marc's school's Parent Advisory Council website. It's now live at: http://hastingspac.ca/. For those interested in technical details, check out my technology blog posts about the PAC website.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Free Press
Last week I was reminded how really lucky we are to live in a society with "freedom of the press". One of our local dailies trumpeted, "One year to go," while the other had another point of view: "365 days to go."
They were referring to the 2010 Winter Olympics, which true to Canadian form are going to leave those of us who voted against them in the first place, paying for them years to come. Not a word about that in the orgy of Olympic boosterism last week.
They were referring to the 2010 Winter Olympics, which true to Canadian form are going to leave those of us who voted against them in the first place, paying for them years to come. Not a word about that in the orgy of Olympic boosterism last week.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Lego at Science World
There's a new exhibit of Lego at Science World. Marc spent an hour just studying the city. He was much more interested in the intricacies of the city, than in the really big items that, frankly, weren't that impressive except for their size. After we checked out the rest of Science World and saw the Roving Mars Omnimax movie, we came back and looked at the city for another 45 minutes.
Winter Cycling Vancouver Style
I went for an hour ride last Monday, out to Port Moody along Hastings and the Barnet Highway. It was -7 C when I left and -4 C when I got back. I used to commute all winter in Ottawa, but I was wearing big winter boots in really loose toe straps, not clip-on racing shoes, and I had a coat the covered down to my crotch. Going out dressed like a racer at those temperatures, I need to put on some wind protection for my crotch, and wear booties even if it's dry.
To top it off, I had a flat. There's so much crud on the road, and I took one of those big staples in at the edge of the tread. At least I was in the sun, so I didn't freeze while changing the tire. Had it happened a few hundred metres later, I would have been in the shadow of Burnaby Mountain. As it was, I was warmer standing in the sun than riding. Obviously that's the effect of the wind when I'm riding.
Whinging aside, it was really nice to go out and just ride.
To top it off, I had a flat. There's so much crud on the road, and I took one of those big staples in at the edge of the tread. At least I was in the sun, so I didn't freeze while changing the tire. Had it happened a few hundred metres later, I would have been in the shadow of Burnaby Mountain. As it was, I was warmer standing in the sun than riding. Obviously that's the effect of the wind when I'm riding.
Whinging aside, it was really nice to go out and just ride.
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