Diogenes's blog

So I'm back from the Drupal convention in Chicago last week and it was a great experience (with the exception of the airports and planes). It was my first ever convention, and I expected about 500 people, tops. There were over 3,000.

Chicago has an amazing skyline and some very impressive architecture, a blend of old and new. I've never seen so many cabs or stretch limos, but then I've never been to New York either.

One of the best things about the American experience are the restaurants and the customer service. A waiter is at your table in a minute. If you can make a decision quickly; you can order your meal when he returns with the drinks. I am no longer accustomed to this.

The Sheraton hotel that hosted the convention was full so I stayed at the Palomar - about 15 minutes away. It was a better price, the room and staff were wonderful, and the internet worked, unlike the Sheraton. No regrets at all.

There is a restaurant in the Sheraton called Shula's steakhouse. One item on the menu is a 48 ounce porterhouse steak. I must be in America.

Meet the Honourable John Baird.

The pit-bull of Question Period.

The Minister who can answer almost all questions by reminding the House of the Liberal sponsorship scandal. Under pressure, he can repeat the same non-answer 11 different ways, and still look at himself in the mirror the next morning.

This is a talking head page. Move the mouse over the mouth to hear what John Baird has to say.

So I was listening to one of my favourite songs the other day (no, it wasn't Stephen Harper singing A Little Help From My Friends - but keep reading) when a bit of inspiration struck me.

Loser

I'm a music guy. This song is one of the few I love for the lyrics alone. The music is pretty sparse, except for percussion. The lyrics are mostly nonsense, but the rhymes and the rhythms just get in your head.

My favorite music video of all times. Street musicians from around the world performing a great song.

Dedicated to all the street people in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain, and Gaza. We stand by you.

I have this 8 year old desktop computer that has been an endangered species for some time. It crashes randomly, sometimes once a week, but occasionsally up 6 times in a single day. Sometimes when it crashes it just beeps and reboots, sometimes it's a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

So - really boring, and really, really unreliable. Who could like something like this?

Nonetheless, this computer and its web page now has a fan club. You can sign up for a name and password, and leave a comment. A valid e-mail address is needed to activate the account but hey, with Google mail, that is no problem.

Now that the personal website is up and running with the latest version of Drupal, it is with some excitement that I announce that I'm going to Chicago for DrupalCon, a four day conference for Drupal developers. How nerdy is that?

I was originally planning to go the the conference in London, England because it's closer, and London is always fun to visit (though I would never live there again). But there was a conflict. So I'm going to Chicago.

This is the first update to this site in over 10 months but it's a big one!

This web site is now managed by Drupal, a "content management system" (or CMS). It's a program that helped me organize a very messy garage. Pardon the mangled metaphor, but the old website had become a garage so filled up with junk that there was no room to park a car.

I had been fooling around with web technology for about a year and had built a couple of silly web pages just for fun. Once I had registered an official domain name, I needed a car to drive, so I built my own. The first edition looked something like this.

It's been awhile since there was a new blog on this site. There have been other diversions, which shall manifest themselves soon. Hee-hee, I've been up to some mischief.

This blog draws its inspiration from one of Scott Feschuk's caption challenges, a feature that appears in the Maclean's magazine online edition. The picture above shows Prime Minister Stephen Harper making some kind of gesture while Governor General Michaëlle Jean looks on.

Today's Goo page is dedicated to Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who penned this incredibly stupid op-ed piece in the National Post, Canada's national racist rag.

International law defines "apartheid" as a crime against humanity. Labelling Israel as an "apartheid" state is a deliberate attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state itself.

Hogwash. Poppycock. Bullplop. Nobody with ½ a brain is questioning the legitimacy of the state of Israel. What they are saying is that Israel is behaving like that infamous apartheid state of several decades ago. There is a difference you big brained moron.

Welcome to the Stephen Harper Goo page, your chance to have some fun with Stephen Harpers mug.

This page makes use of a java applet so in order to work properly, your browser must be java enabled.