On the night of the 76th All-Star Baseball game, I thought I would reflect on the reasons why a number of people I know aren't too interested in watching baseball:
Continue reading "Why some find baseball boring (and why I'm a fan anyway)"
Posted by Isaac at 10:11 PM
I think a combination of a few things motivate people to create web logs:
I'm trying it out as a way to publish thoughts and ideas, and as a trial to see if it could be used by my family as a way to share stories and articles.
I had rather hoped that Blogger would have more intelligence in how it chooses to add <br />, <p>, and other markup into my text. My initial tests reveal very rudimentary logic, unfortunately. I'll probably try making all my entries in pure HTML.
Posted by Isaac at 6:36 PM
In short: no particular reason...
When the Web started to become popular, I thought (along with every other high-tech worker) about creating a web site. I did start running a web server at work and wrote pages for my team, but I never got around to putting any real content in the web space provided by my ISP.
Continue reading "Why Blogger?"
Posted by Isaac at 7:54 PM
Back in the early 90's, I initiated a family newsletter for my mom's family. When trying to think of a name, I thought of my sister's high school newspaper, which was called The Troubadour. I liked the idea of the newsletter being named after poet-musicians, so I named it The Minstrel, with the thought that travelling minstrels probably brought news to far-off places, just as our family newsletter would.
The newsletter unfortunately did not last, but perhaps this blog will become its successor...
Posted by Isaac at 9:24 PM
WARNING: The following entry contains spoilers for the 2004 movie, I, Robot. You should not read it if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to have the plot revealed.
I recently saw the movie I, Robot, based on Isaac Asimov's book.
The various reviews I have seen criticize the movie's lack of faithfulness to the Asimov universe, in particular, the Three Laws of Robotics. I agree that the movie is strongly biased towards action, and the plot has little to do with any particular Asimov story (other than one sequence which is reminiscent of the story "Little Lost Robot"). But I think the criticism based on the Laws of Robotics is unwarranted, as it fails to take into account a later creation of Asimov, the Zeroth Law.
Posted by Isaac at 11:16 AM
Once again, Tom Hanks shows his ability to immerse himself in a role in a believable way. The character of Viktor Navorski could have been played broadly for laughs, playing up the stereotype of a foreigner coming to America for the first time. (Think of the characters in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, or Jim Carrey or Will Ferrell in anything.) The Terminal still would have been funny and commercially successful. However, after suspending your disbelief on the overall situation (which is, in fact, loosely based on a real situation in Paris), Hanks's portrayal of someone stranded in a foreign country is very true-to-life and fascinating.
This is one of the keys to Hanks's success -- his characters have the touch of the common man, to which we all can relate. Viktor Navorski could be any one of us, under similiar circumstances, or perhaps I should say Navorksi is the person we would like to be, if thrown into the same environment.
Posted by Isaac at 1:25 PM
After seeing Notting Hill on TV for the N-th time, I realized that the slightly bashful, stuttering, yet endearing persona of the characters played by Hugh Grant is the same persona that has been performed so well by Bob Newhart. Their timing when delivering lines is practically identical.
Just as everyone can relate to Tom Hanks's characters, due to their down-to-earth nature, the slightly nervous, needing a boost of self-confidence, tentative air of Grant and Newhart's characters allow us to feel like they have something in common with us. This works well for Grant despite his movie star looks.
Posted by Isaac at 2:00 PM
On September 5, 2004, Stephen Su was presented at Donway Baptist Church. His parents, Karen and Souyie, dedicated themselves to nurturing his Christian life, and the congregation accepted the responsibility of assisting.
Following the church service, Karen and Souyie held a barbecue. All of Stephen's aunts, uncles, and grandparents were present, as well as his cousin Rachel. He was very well behaved at the barbecue (having slept late the night before, he was full of energy).
Earlier that weekend, Stephen had taken his first few steps without anyone's help or holding on to anything. (He is currently fully mobile and walking about.) Stephen loves crawling about and peeking into rooms to see who's there (and who will play with him).
May Stephen continue to be blessed with the love and care of his family, and may we be continually grateful for the joy he brings us!
Posted by Isaac at 12:06 PM
At the beginning of August I visited Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland, and DCA. It was my first time to a Disney park since 1990, so a lot had changed. (I was there with Karen and Julianna on July 17, 1990 for the actual day of the 35th birthday and I proudly own a "35 Years of Magic" T-shirt with "July 17" printed on it, only sold on the actual day.)
Continue reading "Trip Report: Universal Studios, Disneyland, and DCA"
Posted by Isaac at 12:01 AM
It's snowed quite a bit the past couple of weeks in Ottawa. Nothing like the 120 cm of snow in PEI or other places in Atlantic Canada, but almost every day I've had to clear off an inch or three. It hasn't been the nasty, wet, heavy stuff -- the snow has been dry, light, and a little bit granular.
Continue reading "The Zen of snow shovelling"
Posted by Isaac at 10:27 PM
