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I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

Welcome to the most boring page on Myspace. I apologize to those who surfed over here hoping to see something interesting. A glance at what I’ve set up here should give you the impression that I’m inept at web stuff, and lazy to boot. Let’s assume this is essentially true, so please don’t be offended if you send me reams of advice on how to glitz up my page, and I don’t follow through.If you’re a relative, friend, colleague, teacher, or student of mine – the chances are that you already know how to reach me. If you decide you like me for whatever reason, and want to get in touch, send me a message with specific stuff in it (so I can tell it's not generalized spam) and I’ll write back. So don’t be shocked if someday you get a message that I’m in town for a meeting, guest lecture, or job interview, and am wondering if you could make time for tea or a walk. By the way, if a group or corporation sends me an add request, I’m going to assume that I’m welcome to drop by your HQ (real or virtual), whether or not you are officially a “person” under civil law – so there!Remember the film “The Paper Chase”? Timothy Bottoms plays a first-year Harvard student. One day he stands at the front of an empty lecture hall, staring out at the rows of seats. I keep remembering that scene whenever I come in to work. Teaching sometimes scares the living daylights out of me, yet at the same time I love it, and find it hard to imagine doing any other job. Weird, eh?I see that the weather’s cleared up, so I’m going outside now. After all, what’s the point of living somewhere as gosh-darned scenic as Vancouver Island if you don’t take advantage of it? And even if it isn’t nice out – to paraphrase Rick Mercer – dammit, we’re Canadian, so we’re going out anyway.

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

Friends who are now far away – from the NWT to the Gulf Coast to Virginia – and UK/Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.Lots of folks I’m currently in e-mail contact with, but haven’t actually met in person.I miss my family back in Ontario – I don’t get to see them very often because of my work schedule (especially around Christmas).My nieces and nephews, some of whom I’ve only seen in photos – I’m grateful I’ve got so many, considering that I’m an only child!

My Blog

California photos posted

Here's a selection of pictures I took on the trip to LA, several weeks back. If people are interested in the entire collection for teaching or research (I'm also putting photo archives organized by ...
Posted by on Fri, 29 May 2009 13:31:00 GMT

anthropomorphism at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

I went to the CIBC to (finally) get my bankbooks updated, and one of the other customers at the ATMs was a young mother with a boy who looked about 4 years old. The mom and I finished up at about the...
Posted by on Fri, 15 May 2009 14:48:00 GMT

for those who have given or received tech assistance ...

Which would be just about everybody reading this. Joanne and Jamie, I thought you might enjoy this video. Trev and Steve too!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GGAP7f_Onk
Posted by on Thu, 14 May 2009 12:12:00 GMT

"Star Trek" tourism

Posted earlier by my friend John Judy. http://trueslant.com/jeffkoyen/2009/05/13/trekkie-tourists-c an-visit-capt-kirks-birthplace/And Laurie reminds me that in Canada, you could always go to Vulcan, ...
Posted by on Thu, 14 May 2009 11:58:00 GMT

"inert reactant"?

Observed in the new Star Trek movie last night. Am I missing something here (such as most of my undergrad chemistry courses)? Just wondering.
Posted by on Mon, 11 May 2009 17:42:00 GMT

a quick message on a slow computer

So in Seattle today I took the monorail to the Science Fiction Museum near the Space Needle.  Highly recommended.  Also I found Star Trek souvenirs for a certain person back home, items that I wasn't ...
Posted by on Fri, 08 May 2009 21:39:00 GMT

LA update

Just a quick note ... several people have emailed me asking if I'm okay.  Yes, I'm fine, and having a really enjoyable time visiting friends/family and checking out the city.  Had a couple of adventur...
Posted by on Mon, 04 May 2009 10:07:00 GMT

I hope Stephen Hawking makes it

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090420. whawking0420/BNStory/International/homeThinking of that old Disney movie "The Black Hole" where (in the book anyway) the characters go throu...
Posted by on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:36:00 GMT

cultural throw weight

I was discussing the cultural impact of particular films with my friend Tim, who's a writer/director and big-time movie fan.  What started it off was talking about "Star Wars", which has had a tremend...
Posted by on Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:39:00 GMT

constituencies

So they called the provincial election for next month (not really a surprise since the date's been set by legislation, and the Premier was obliged to "drop the writ" earlier this ween in order to give...
Posted by on Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:06:00 GMT