December 2007
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man...”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“Canadians would have to pay $400 for the iPhone, and to use all the iPhone...”
– Larry Borsato
Is It Sameer Vasta's Birthday? →
Now you never have to guess.
“How would you feel if you had no fear? Feel like that. How would you behave...”
– Vernon Howard
Inevitably, you’ll get gifts you don’t really want during the holidays. Now there’s a site where you can share those crazy gifts.
“People said, ‘Does it bother you that girls want to sleep with you because...”
– Michael J. Fox
This Year In Film: Respect to the 'burbs →
It may be outside the official boundaries of Toronto, but the 905 has a lot to smile about when it comes to film this year. And in the spirit of giving some love to the entire GTA, in today’s installment of our yearly film wrap-up, I want to give some respect to the ‘burbs. (I’ll drop some respect later in the post to the core too, no worries.)
2007: Year In Review →
So the end of the year is upon us, which generally means that tomorrow night, a lot of people are going out partying and going to do things they regret the next morning. And after that, they’ll make resolutions to never do those things again. My kind of holiday.
“Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you...”
– Leo Buscaglia
Bhutto Killed In Attack
Say what you want about Benazir Bhutto (and I know she wasn’t all too popular in some parts) but you have to admit that her assassination this morning is bad news. Not only will this clearly undermine any plans for reconciliation in Pakistan, but will also give Musharraf an easy reason for not holding elections early in 2008.
I could see that Bhutto wasn’t the best option to lead...
I’ve always been critical of the NFL’s decision to broadcast some games on the NFL Network, particularly because nobody that I know gets the NFL Network, even my die-hard football fan friends. I have to admit that I respect Roger Goodell’s decision to simulcast this weekend’s Patriots-Giants game on NBC and CBS, because not only will it allow people across the country to...
“The magazine’s relentless focus on high-end consumption as a literal way of life...”
– Adam Greenfield on Monocle
The photo album of my year →
After the (relative) success of the Soundtrack to my Year post (the idea for which I shamelessly stole from Andy Budd) I decided to recycle the idea but use photos instead of songs. Smart idea, no?
My Christmas Gift to You
Thanks to a pretty awesome tip by Tabish, I give to you some links to TIME’s Top 10 lists that kept me chuckling this month. The lists include…
Top 10 Quotes: “The planet is in distress and all of the attention is on Paris Hilton. We have to ask ourselves what is going on here?”
Top 10 Buzzwords: Vajayjay
Top 10 Gadgets: Obviously, the Apple iPhone
Top...
“If you think the rest of the Internet needs net neutrality laws, that’s nothing...”
– DeWitt Clinton
How should men wear a scarf? →
Like Richard, I’m a flinger, but I’m thinking of trying the Arctic Tuck later today. I love scarves.
This Year in Toronto Film →
A lot of people were excited when the loonie passed the US dollar in value earlier this year. Me, I was a bit upset: a big reason big movie studios came to Toronto to shoot their films was because of the relatively cheap price of resources because of our low dollar. Luckily, the Toronto film scene doesn’t seem to have suffered much (yet) from the rising dollar.
Because I’m totally not above shilling for products I absolutely love here on this blog, I just thought I’d let you know that I can’t get enough of Mighty Leaf Tea. Great tasting teas, awesome silk pouches, and easy online ordering with free shipping. Check them out.
“It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and...”
– J.K. Rowling
Sameer Vasta, essayist →
I just finished reading Alain de Botton’s Essays In Love, and was reflecting upon the perfect de Botton made in using the word “essays” in his title. As someone who spent over ten years in a French-language education system, the word “essay” has always been tied to the concept of trial and error. The French word “essai” literally means to attempt an therefore an essay to me is an exercise in...
Honey Treats Coughs Better Than Drugs →
I’ve been using cough syrup for two days now in order to control this insane cough. This afternoon, I’m going to give honey a try. (Thanks!)
“Social networks with a purpose are the future… that’s why I think...”
– Jason Calacanis
I’m not quite sure yet what I feel about this: you pay thirty euros, and some guy writes your message for you on the Israeli West Bank barrier. I mean, I’m sure it’s a great business opportunity, but if you object to the wall being there in the first place, does this actually help?
“Thou shalt honor the Macs and the IBMs equally in your heart, for while they are...”
– Ten Commandments of Design
I just can’t shake the little hater →
About a week ago, Jay Smooth posted one of the best videos I have seen on the web in a long while. I’ve been taking a lot of time over the past few weeks to evaluate the way I approach work and life in general, so Jay’s post was quite timely.
Question of the Day
Today, Tom Martin asks:
Would you live the life of luxury in exchange for an Alien eating a body when you died? You’d get £1 million a year for life but when your life was over, you’d be human soup. What would you do?
The answer, Tom, is easy. Hell yes.
When I’m dead, I’m totally cool with whatever you want to do with my body. There are, however, tons of things...
Ventures in babysitting →
Were you a babysitter in high school? Good for you. Did you turn it into a multi-million dollar business? No? Well then you’re obviously not ambitious enough. (via)
Bravo Nation →
Anybody know what this is? Or how to get an invite? New Yahoo! products always get me all excited.
Tumblelogging isn't microblogging
Cameron Hunt has written a great article dispelling the surprisingly-common notion that tumblelogging is blogging. Like Cameron, I’m a heavy user of Twitter, which constrains me to a 140-character limit and can easily be defined as micro-blogging. Tumblelogging, however, has no such constraints, can even be considered the anti-thesis of micro-blogging. Instead of being defined by...
The highlight of the second season of Heroes for me was when Nicky got blown up in the building fire. I thought she was the worst character on the show, and it looks like Cracked.com agrees with me.
The soundtrack to my year →
They say that smart people take good ideas and reuse them to make something original of their own. In that spirit, I’m taking a fantastic blog post idea by Andy Budd and using it here on Eloquation. It’s fun. In fact, I encourage you all to do the same.
“Dorks like Mark Zuckerberg and Kevin Rose are not about openness and idealism,...”
– Brian Clark
Jon Gruber (one of my many heroes) tore apart Adam L. Penenberg’s December cover story for Fast Company on Daring Fireball today. The critique is absolutely fantastic, but the best part is the title of the post:
“Yet Another in the Ongoing Series Wherein I Examine a Piece of Supposedly Serious Apple Analysis From a Major Media Outlet and Dissect Its Inaccuracies, Fabrications, and...