chrisdye blog @ Vorg

Some parting thoughts

chrisdye — 2008-11-11T14:12:05-05:00

When Pakistan was partitioned from India on the basis of religion (Hindu vs. Muslim), both countries were given little enclaves in the other country where "their" people lived. Some of those enclaves themselves have enclaves, so that to walk a kilometre would mean crossing two, three, or even eight international borders.

Click on the map to see the full scale of this sillyness.

The Click Song

chrisdye — 2008-11-10T14:49:16-05:00

Miriam Makeba died today. She was a terrific South African folk singer in the 60s, with hits such as "Click Song" and Pata Pata:

and as cheesy as Paul Simon can be, this is a pretty moving rendition of Nkosi Sikeleli Africa with Miriam Makeba and Ladysmith Black Mombaso:

Nostalgia for Nosamours

chrisdye — 2008-11-07T16:36:16-05:00

Ah, remember the good old days? When Celine Dion was happy to get the anthem singing gig at an Expos game in an unfinished Olympic Stadium?

So malicious

chrisdye — 2008-11-06T20:08:49-05:00

Wikitravel is one of my favourite travel and tourism websites, especially while in Europe. It's a great way to get tips to make your holiday more relaxing or daytrip more fun. I just checked out its entry on Mogadishu; well worth the read for its entertainment value.

A way to waste an hour, five seconds at a time.

chrisdye — 2008-10-19T16:04:41-04:00

Five second movies

Yawn... election predictions... snore...

chrisdye — 2008-10-13T19:50:41-04:00

I predict exactly the same result as in 2006, except with one less Conservative and one more independent (ie., 2).

And I thought my RRSP was worthless...

chrisdye — 2008-10-11T08:02:56-04:00

Zimbabwe's annual inflation currently stands at 231,000,000%.
Here's a report from when it stood at a much more manageable 11,200,000%:

Why you shouldn't use cut&paste when writing a speech

chrisdye — 2008-10-11T06:51:56-04:00

She sings like an Angelil

chrisdye — 2008-10-09T11:19:56-04:00

Sigh. Look what I miss while in exile. Did anyone see this?

Jingle all the way

chrisdye — 2008-10-06T16:05:43-04:00

CBC has announced their five finalists to replace the Hockey Night in Canada theme:

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/home

The choice here is, in my humble opinion, so obvious that the contest isn't really necessary.

Narrr....

chrisdye — 2008-10-04T14:38:14-04:00

Sometimes, I don't think Somalis even know what pirates actually look like.

Why are there so many videos about rainbows?

chrisdye — 2008-09-28T17:49:31-04:00

Do flowers produce sap?

chrisdye — 2008-09-15T05:36:51-04:00

Usually, people put good things on Sillytech. I thought I'd mix it up a bit by putting some things that are terrible. Let's start with this song:

Hoppen ohne kopfen

chrisdye — 2008-08-30T11:38:36-04:00

While travelling, we saw this horrible yet hilarious story
(especially the video) about a bunnyrabbit serial killer in Germany. We found the names of German bunnyrabbits most amusing. The two best that we could come up with on our own were:

"David Hasselhop"
"Fluffthansa"

Any other suggestions?

Overheard in Beijing

chrisdye — 2008-08-25T08:56:19-04:00

(Korean baseball fans, impromptu, to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb):
"Dongjoo, Dongjoo, Kim Dongjoo
Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah!
Dongjoo, Dongjoo Kim Dongjoo!
[Something in Korean] Kim Dongjoo!"
(upon which Kim Dongjoo knocks in the winning RBI to beat Japan in the semi-finals).

American twentysomethings, on trying to understand the nature of the Ippon in Judo:
"Oh, faceslam!... Faceslam is a thousand points!!!"

New Zealand field hockey fan, during a 5-minute video review:
"The Chinese built the Great Wall faster than this!"

New Zealand field hockey fan, on seeing an injured Spaniard on the field:
"Get up, this isn't soccer!"

Baseball announcer, having to introduce the Olympic mascots, which have no traits describable in the English language:
"It's Fuwa time!...Fuwa for you!"

P.S. We saw Jackie Chan! 20 feet away! Beat that for Chineseness, Chronomorph!

Alexandre Despatie dives better than Jaromir Jagr

chrisdye — 2008-08-21T05:38:41-04:00

Did anyone see us on TV during the Olympic 3m mens diving? We saw ourselves on CCTV, trying to keep a stony silence while a bunch of Russians cheered their diver as loudly as they could.

Some other highlights of our recent travels:
- a guy chucking his bronze medal onto the floor and storm off the podium in disgust (that's right, 3rd place is 2nd loser!)
- seeing the Lakeside Pavillion of Washing the Tassle of My Official Hat in the Master of the Nets Garden!
- seeing 24 pandas: 2% of the world's population!
- 100 dumplings in 48 hours!!!
- this awesome song!

(P.S. If you don't think it's awesome, play it 49 more times in the next 8 hours.)

Il etait un fuwa

chrisdye — 2008-08-07T07:51:55-04:00

The Fuwa (ridiculously translated as "Friendlies") are the Beijing Games mascots. They each represent an Olympic ring colour and a traditional Chinese element, as well as being animated Olympic/Chinese characters: Beibei the fish, Jingjing the panda, Huanhuan the Olympic flame, Yingying the Tibetan antelope, and Nini the Beijing swallow.

We thought the Vanouver Olympics could also have five mascots, representing the regions of Canada:

- Toketoke the Vancouver joint
- Graingrain the motionless blade of Saskatchewan wheat
- Slagslag the lump of Sudbury coal
- Rockrock the Inukshuk
- Clubclub the baby seal

Also on our list as possibilities are curdcurd the poutine, puckpuck the hockey puck, and meme the Torontonian. Other suggestions are welcome.

The first epistle of Chrisdye from the Philippines

chrisdye — 2008-07-25T03:11:08-04:00

Some things you should consider visiting while in Asia:

http://siamniramit.com/ An awesomely cheesy musical dance show featuring all of Thailand's history and culture, featuring a live elephant (which you can ride before the show) and green deities with two foot crowns flying across the dry ice-filled stage.

Vietnamese water puppets: cheesy goodness at one fifteenth the price of Siam Niramit:

Possibly to avoid is the Petronas Twin Towers observation deck, which at floor 41 of 88 floors, is slightly higher than the lunch room at my office.

Phuket!

chrisdye — 2008-07-15T09:29:10-04:00

Thoughts:

1) Pandas like bamboo.
2) Thai massages are not for the uber-ticklish.
3) Mai tais are not particularly thai.
4) Three mai tais are not any more thai.
5) If you are going to buy a $2 watch, don't bother getting a Calvin Klein one, they are no better than regular $2 watches.
6) Contrary to what they tell you in law school, engagement letters are not strictly necessary.
7) Thailand is a wonderland of puns.

McCain on the liquidity crisis

chrisdye — 2008-06-10T22:01:22-04:00

CBC: Competitor Buyout Completed

chrisdye — 2008-06-09T16:04:49-04:00

Poor, poor English CBC television. Degrassi, the Olympics, the Junos, the Grey Cup, and now the coup de grace.

What's next: Beachcombers TNG on CTV? HGTV buying the I.P. rights to Rusty and Jerome?
Global buying the perpetual exclusive rights to boring documentaries on the Royal Family?

Terrorists attempt shooting down plane

chrisdye — 2008-05-30T17:54:56-04:00

Begin lame line. Put on sunglasses. End lame line. Collect Emmy.

chrisdye — 2008-05-23T20:11:10-04:00

Choose!

chrisdye — 2008-05-20T14:47:12-04:00

Leiden or Edinburgh?

When the bow breaks...

chrisdye — 2008-05-01T14:49:45-04:00

Don't tase me-tro

chrisdye — 2008-04-16T11:50:25-04:00

Vancouver transit cops tasering people who don't pay their fare.

In your face, Mongolia!

chrisdye — 2008-04-14T18:40:01-04:00

South Africa beat Mongolia 12-4 to win the silver medal in the International Ice Hockey Division III World Champions.

South Africa also beat Greece, Turkey and Luxembourg, before finally falling to those dirty Commies from North Korea . They therefore are promoted to Division II next year, to face powerhouses like Belgium, Serbia and Spain.

Elephant paints an elephant

chrisdye — 2008-04-03T18:25:24-04:00

CBC- Chrisdye before cable

chrisdye — 2008-03-30T11:16:38-04:00

When I was very young, I watched altogether too much CBC. Sometimes, I would get up really early to watch it sign on (!) It would begin with this awesomely hokey montage anthem (although I only really remember the last 15 seconds, where the kids cheer the highjumper): http://youtube.com/watch?v=U_vloXL52DI

At about 7AM, there was a 10-minute show called "Parlez-moi", which tried to teach French to kids. But they spoke so fast and introduced so many words at once that I watched hundreds of episodes without learning a word: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vilHNrxUdgs

Germanegypt

chrisdye — 2008-03-17T00:41:41-04:00

For my second posting on Borp, I give you: vacation movies!

Isn't technology wonderful? Now, when I want to bore you with holiday photos, you can just say, "Yeah, I saw them on Youtube."