December
25
2011
There’s nothing much I have to say here beyond my belief that creativity and engaging multiple senses & sensibilities truly is the best way to learn. That’s something our education system and the way we teach children could really benefit from. You’ll hear more about that in the last video.
December
24
2011
I hadn’t been to Sushi Time at 325 Queen West since I was a university student many years ago. I remember enjoying that long-ago meal, but I don’t remember anything about the food itself. What I – and my friends who were there – definitely remember though is the way I ordered tons of small dishes and took up my own table space as well as the empty “corner seat” next to me on the bench with all my plates of food.
I like food, what can I say?
When my friend suggested doing her birthday dinner at Sushi Time, I knew I was going to do something similar and order a number of different items. First, I think that’s the best way to really enjoy a meal, particularly at a Japanese restaurant. Second, I think it’s a great way to test the place. Third, I figured it’d be fun to just let loose on the pursestrings a bit and do it for old time’s sake.
I ended up ordering:
- agedashi (deep fried) tofu
- grilled salmon belly
- grilled squid
- maki set B (with 3 types of uramaki inside-out rolls)
- a-la-carte maguro and hamachi nigiri, and ikura gunkan sushi
- katsu donburi
Hmm. Now that I write all that out, it doesn’t seem like a lot of food. I actually did fill up quite a bit of table space with all of this, though.
I’m not going to comment about each item specifically because one phrase sums it all up: the food is okay, but not great.
My favorite items were the grilled salmon belly and the ikura gunkan. Very tasty, very enjoyable.
My least favorite were the maki set and katsu don. The maki were pretty poorly done, in my opinion. They were loose, the rice was patchy, and the rice was (predictably) unseasoned. The pork cutlet for the katsu don was overdone and as result was dry and stringy.
I had fun with the meal, but it wasn’t because of the food. I don’t recommend Sushi Time. It’s not so bad that you should never go, but really, you have a lot of choice and your money and time are much better spent elsewhere.
Perhaps my girlfriend’s comment is the best clincher here: “It’s not any better than all-you-can-eat food.” If you’re paying a-la-carte pricing and that’s what you get, do you really think that’s good value for your dining dollars? I’ll let you decide for yourself.
December
18
2011
Okay, so the Ferrari 458 isn’t brand-new, but it’s still a great little car. I was doing a “dreamlining” exercise yesterday – part of my experience going through the book “The 4-Hour Workweek” (which has been pretty good so far about 3 chapters in). As part of that exercise, the Ferrari 458 came up and I started trying to configure and price out what it would cost. It costs a little bit, but nothing really extravagant by high-end sportscar standards.
It was enough, however, for me to just watch a good video of the car to hold me off for a little while longer. Car videos like this always gets me smiling and even laughing for joy. Yes, cars and other such performance toys always reveal my never-too-far-from-the-surface boyish nature 
And here’s another one to wind you down…
BTW, I’ll take mine in yellow. Not, as my girlfriend surmises, because it gets attention. I don’t care about attention – indeed, I don’t want it. I just think yellow is a fun, vibrant color that fits best with how I see a sportscar like this.
December
18
2011
Fanboy is a term used to describe a male who is highly devoted and biased in opinion towards a single subject or hobby within a given field. Fanboy-ism is often prevalent in a field of products, brands or universe of characters where very few competitors (or enemies in fiction, such as comics) exist.
I’ll admit it: I used to be a fanboy. I know the kind of tunnel-visioned enthusiasm that drives fanboyism. I think it is a natural – though hopefully in most cases, short-lived – phase that many guys will go through. I don’t know if girls go through something like this, but there’s something about the competitive nature of men and their pursuits that makes it particularly easy to fall into fanboyism at some point in our lives.
I used to be seriously into paintball. I still like and enjoy the game, but I get out to play about once a year at this point. I used to play about once a week. So that’s a 50-fold reduction in my playing frequency. I never had any real, practical justification for owning multiple paintguns, but I did. Then I sold all but one. Then when I had a bit of a resurgent interest in the game – and got to play a few times within a 3-month span – I restocked my arsenal. I once again have 5 paintguns in my possession.
All, without exception, are Palmer paintguns. 4 out of the 5 are handmade items.
For some time, I argued along with other fanboys that these were simply the best out there – in terms of accuracy, reliability, and quality though not technology or rate of fire – but I’m not so sure anymore. In fact, it is far more accurate to say that my appreciation for these guns has evolved. I still love ‘em – and I won’t use anything else – but it’s because they suit me and therefore I play best with them. It is not because they are inherently superior guns. They sure as hell haven’t been the most reliable things in the world over the past 12 years. I just futzed around with an air leak earlier today (which prompted me to write this post!). They aren’t necessarily the most accurate – I’ve now owned 9 different Palmer guns at some point or another and while some have been absolute wonders for me, others have been less so. It’s not them, per se, but some subtle differences between them that when I use them in my hands, some are phenomenally precise and accurate, and others just never get there. If performance and reliability are the ultimate measures of quality, then something isn’t quite top-notch with Palmers.
Add to that the fact that the sight rail on my longest-owned, no-longer-produced Pug pump pistol isn’t quite right. The notch cut into the sight rail doesn’t line up with the front sight bead. Duh. That’s poor attention to quality, and I noticed it on day 1 over 10 years ago.
In the years since then, Palmers has slid further and further behind the pack in the paintball world. Where they once were a pre-eminent name in the game, today none but other “old-timers” like myself really know them or their guns.
Handmade should mean better quality. I think that my guns are very nice guns and they shoot very well in my hands. I have just learned over the years that they also have some notable shortcomings. They aren’t the bullet-proof-reliable super-performers that they once had a reputation for – and which I once, in my fanboy enthusiasm, argued. They are, however, very beautiful works and ever since the day I started using them, they just fit me and my style wonderfully. It’s just that handmade doesn’t necessarily translate into being the very best where it counts: performance and reliability.
The world of paintball and my time taking the game seriously has taught me a lot – many of them valuable life lessons – but it surprises me still that I continue to learn from the last vestiges of the game in my life.
This lesson now about the nature and quality of hand-made – the lesson that my guns reminded me of this morning – is something I take with me into other realms, including cooking knives, food, sake, wine, and perhaps one day into sportscars, fine furniture, carpentry and others.
Fanboyism is a dangerous thing in one’s life if it isn’t short-lived. It is particularly dangerous for one’s wallet and bank-account when one treads into the realm of hand-made or even custom wares. It’s always good to have our eyes and minds open, and to really appreciate the pluses and minuses of what we’re getting, whether hand-made, machine-made, mass-produced, or custom.
Thought-Provoking Arguments Presented With Animation
Multimedia learning truly draws in an audience – and its attention, active participation, and cognitive engagement. I may very well take this kind of approach with some educational projects that I have in mind for the new year, but in the meantime, here are some really cool and interesting examples.
Does money really motivate people to perform at their best?
What impact does different time culture and time perception have on our understanding of others and how today’s youth perceive the pre-digital, pre-Internet world?
What does the use of innuendo reveal about human relationships at all levels?
Why does choice not always become change?