"But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth." - Umberto Eco
My first summer, night drive podcast of the season. The photo above is the intersection I recorded from... only about 55-60 years ago when Ryckman's Corners was considered well outside of Hamilton proper.
A long (no, I really mean it - LONG!) podcast which encompasses a talk that I gave on October 26th, 2010 at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. There were questions at the end which I did not gain permission to use others voices, so (instead of assuming) I just chose to edit the questions out and leave the answers. The questions were hard to hear anyway as they did not get up to microphones.
The first question [from a faculty member] concerned the threat to traditional and accepted written language when short-hand and catchy acronyms become part of the communication process.
The second question was a supplemental to the first around the the quality of in-depth thought and expression when communication gets reduced to short social interactions.
The third question was more about what Prezi was all about, but it served to launch me into a final statement on how I gave permission for the university to post the talk on their website and for anyone to remix or otherwise use the words to spread the message.
The link to the Prezi visuals I used during the talk can be found by clicking here.
Closing the book on my Summer 2010 Vegas escapades and recalling thoughts of old friends and the art of character building.
I'll never forget the months in elementary school where grade seven students became aware of physics became aware of the power of compressed air. I have no idea who passed down the sacred knowledge of the Bic Pen Orange Peel Gun, but it surely was the bane of many a teacher's existence at my school. It was MacGyver before the show existed. They actually banned oranges for a short period of time from lunches because they were finding mini orange peel bullets everywhere - plus, it was easier to ban orange peel than pens. You would be shocked at how much fun these could be in a school that was designed "open-concept". One could launch peel from the Grade One area to the Grade Six area with a proper arc and sufficient thrust... sorry... that sounded dirty. I hope my indiscretion didn't cause this post to lose its "ap-peel".
The Weapon:
One Bic Pen (see below) - although not essential, it was often preferable to have the pen with the small hole half way up the casing to help ease the pneumatic effect when loading. It could be easily covered to ensure full pressure upon firing.
The Ammo:
One Orange Peel (see below) - the thicker the peel, the better. Remember, the ammo has to hold the air in the cylinder when plunged.
Instructions:
Luckily enough, someone else beat me to it. So YouTube, bring it on home.