Tag: Fatblogging

13/15

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Despite not having nasal passages clear enough to support running, the  no-chocolate thing seems to be doing some good. Lost 1.5 pounds last week.

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 224
  • Weight this week: 222.5

.:.

I’m just getting ready to start the intensive session of my course. Just finished unpacking and having a snack, building up some energy before class begins at 1:00. This week won’t be pleasant — the topic is corporate finance — but I believe it’s the last tough course, and the third last overall.

[tags]fatblogging, mba[/tags]

"Immigrants, liberals, weirdos, atheists"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It occurred to me this morning that I’ve completely forgotten the whole fatblogging thing. Just as well; not much has happened since it slipped my mind back in November. Stayed pretty much the same, went up around Christmas came back down to about 224 where I’ve been sitting for weeks. The cold this past week hasn’t helped anything. I’m hoping to start running again on Tuesday, maybe.

.:.

Watched the remake of 3:10 To Yuma (imdb | rotten tomatoes) today. It was pretty good indeed. I don’t normally care much for Russell Crowe, but I think he was well-suited to this role and Christian Bale was great as always. Funny how a Brit and an Aussie would play two cowboys, no? Anyway, it was a solid film, especially if you like westerns.

.:.

This article in the New York Times [via Richard Florida] contains some interesting insights on the threats to science in the U.S.:

Many Americans remain ignorant about much of science, the board said; for example, many are unable to answer correctly when asked if the Earth moves around the Sun (it does). But they are not noticeably more ignorant than people in other developed countries except on two subjects: evolution and the Big Bang. Although these ideas are organizing principles underlying modern biology and physics, many Americans do not accept them.

“These differences probably indicate that many Americans hold religious beliefs that cause them to be skeptical of established scientific ideas,” the report said, “even when they have some basic familiarity with those ideas.”

Florida takes issue with this explanation:

This is not just a question of religion, many Americans are more than skeptical, they dislike, are fearful of and are angered by the institutions which develop science and help provide the broad eco-system of innovation. They view leading universities as places filled with “immigrants, liberals, weirdos, atheists” and so on, who’s views are antithetical to “family values.”

I’m not sure I agree with Dr. Florida’s theory, though I admit I have no data either way. It simply seems easier to accept the religious influence suggested in the article, as I know the that schism exists in the U.S. I cannot, on the other hand, figure out how the opinion described by Dr. Florida could have taken hold. I’m not saying it didn’t; I would just be stunned if it had. Stunned, and even more fearful of what’s happening south of the border.

[tags]fatblogging, 3:10 to yuma, richard florida, new york times, science, evolution, big bang[/tags]

"This is my first torture."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

The weekend of awesomeness continued today. We both slept in a little before going for breakfast at Fran’s and picking up groceries on the way home. We dropped the bags and walked over to the Scotiabank theatre to see Rendition (imdb | rotten tomatoes). It was ok…a little heavy-handed and too scattered to really flesh out most of the characters, but worth watching. Weird part was the couple in front of us. They alternated between fooling around and taking phone calls. It was distracting and, frankly, confusing. And the dude had Sideshow Bob hair. Anyhoo.

After the movie we decided to stop at Smokeless Joe’s for a couple of beer (Great Lakes Pumpkin Spice Ale for Nellie, Hacker-Pschorr Dunkel Weiss for me) and a late lunch. We got there at 3:40 and the place was empty. I mean, literally empty…even the staff was nowhere to be seen. Finally a guy showed up; turns out they don’t open until 4, but he let us stay. When we left 90 minutes later only one other customer had come in, so it was like we had the bar to ourselves all afternoon. Fun.

.:.

Late last night we finally watched The Last King Of Scotland (imdb | rotten tomatoes), and I’ll say the same thing every other critic and person I know has said: pretty good movie, but Forest Whitaker was amazing. Pretty decent performances all around, and a good job recreating the Uganda of the time, and Kerry Washington is my girlfriend du jour, but really, it’s Whitaker who steals the show. As usual. Looking at the man’s imdb profile it’s almost hard to believe he hadn’t won many awards until this film. He should have won an Emmy just for his role on The Shield two seasons ago.

.:.

Christopher Hume, the Toronto Star’s architecture critic, wrote up our building yesterday. He gave it an A, which is nice to hear.

Sitting on the northwest corner of Church and Adelaide Sts., this is one of the most elegant condo towers in Toronto. It isn’t fancy and the materials – glass and steel – aren’t expensive; what makes this building attractive is the elegance and simplicity of its form. At 45 storeys , it’s one of those rare structures designed to take advantage of height, indeed, height is what makes it so appealing.

Up close, there’s just enough detailing to maintain a sense of engagement. Glass Juliet balconies, perforated banding, operable windows and other touches enliven surfaces that could otherwise be sterile and boring. Just as important, the utilitarian functions have been hidden away from the main facades on Church, Adelaide and Lombard. Keeping in mind that the original proposed site was the park surrounding St. James’ Cathedral (which would have been disastrous), the final location across the road and slightly north is perfect; a rare happy ending.

The design and integration to the neighbourhood were almost as important to us as the unit itself. We’re glad it turned out so well.

.:.

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 222
  • Weight this week: 221.5

I did get to the gym three times this week and did lots of walkin’ around the city this weekend; I believe what kept me to a scant half pound dropped was the steady influx of Hallowe’en candy to the office

[tags]rendition, smokeless joe’s, last king of scotland, forest whitaker, girlfriend du jour, spire condominium, christopher hume, toronto star, fatblogging[/tags]

And a bucket of my finest diet pepsi on ice

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I am the hold steady:

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 222
  • Weight this week: 222

Break-even’s about as good as I could have hoped for last week. Time was hard to come by and I spent a couple days at the IFL, which never helps. It should get a little better now, though, because…

.:.

I finished my paper today! Well, just about. Still have to proof it and throw SW’s revised references in at the end, but I believe we’re pretty much done. To celebrate I went downstairs and ran three miles. To keep the good times running tonight I may just watch a movie and fall asleep on the couch. Woot.

.:.

Last night’s Canadiens game was another good ‘un. Well, kinda; Montreal jumped out to a three-goal lead early in the game but let the Penguins back in it, finally allowing the tying goal with two minutes left. No joy in overtime, so it went to a shootout…16 shooters later someone finally scored, and thankfully it was Montreal. That was the first time in a few games they played a tight one…it was hard on the nerves. I’ve come to like the blowouts.

.:.

Robert Ouellette wrote a column today in Reading Toronto entitled Why I Am Cancelling My Globe And Mail Subscription And Why You Should Too*. I agree with that sentiment; I canceled my subscription long ago, partly for the reasons Mr. Ouellette describes (environmental concerns, lack of compelling content, abundance of ads and increasingly pro-war editorials) and partly in protest over their decision to charge paper subscribers to access online content.

Interesting side note: the asterisk in the article’s title points to a confession by Mr. Ouellette in which he states that he may be biased against the Globe because he occasionally writes an architecture column for the National Post. While his first three objections would apply to most any newspaper subscription, I should think that his objection to “fear-driven ‘dogs of war’ [having] their way in the paper’s editorial room” would sour him completely on the Post.

[tags]fatblogging, mba, reading toronto, robert ouellette, globe and mail, national post[/tags]

"A misanthrope is a bugger who hates every other bugger."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Oh dear.

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 222
  • Weight this week: 223

Not so good. All that talk last weekend of exercising and healthier eating devolved into working long hours and going out for drinks every night. Today I ran three miles as a sort of penance. Shame is a great motivator; ever wonder why I blog about how fat I am?

.:.

For the last couple of months, after I’d complained for the umpteenth time about UpCountry not delivering our bed, I started to get hits on my blog from people querying “upcountry bankrupt” and the like. I guess that was early warning; yesterday The Toronto Star reported that UpCountry has declared BankRuptcy. Glad we finally got our bed when we did; I guess our problems may have been less about their stellar incompetence than about their desperate attempts to remain solvent.

.:.

We spent the afternoon watching a couple of movies:

  • The Proposition (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was violent and dark and moody and beautiful and jarring. Written by Nick Cave and starring some awesome talent (Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, Danny Huston, Emily Watson, John Hurt), it was as artful as it was bloody. Reminiscent of the final scenes of Unforgiven.
  • Still on the dark side, Half Nelson (imdb | rotten tomatoes) is all Ryan Gosling, carrying a movie about a drug-addicted junior high teacher on his back. There were other good performances as well, but Gosling just owned this one, and it was a tough one to handle. He seemed just desperate enough to make it painful, and just caring enough to make it tragic.

Nellie’s now watching Mallrats just to shake off all the downer.

[tags]fatblogging, upcountry, the proposition, half nelson[/tags]