Minor Observations

The back yard hammock is so more enjoyable when the next-door neighbour isn't blasting guitar-rock. Thanks to whomever rang the doorbell and got him to turn it down. I'd assumed it was melted_snowball... but it wasn't.

Window washing always feels a bit pointless beforehand, and OMZG such an improvement when it's done. ...I vaguely wish I could get a frontal-lobe wipedown. I mean, I feel better when I get my schedule and todo items recorded and not cluttering my brain, I wonder what other cruft is knocking around up there.

The Globe and Mail's business magazine had a (mostly useless) article on learning to haggle in day-to-day life. I hate haggling, and I'd hate living in a culture that expects it for everyday activities. But this article did have a nifty side-bar explaining Quaker influence in reducing haggling in 1700s and 1800s Britain and New England. There was a short list of companies that succeeded through their Quaker "fair trading" business practices. I knew Lloyd's and Barclays, and Cadbury's, were all started by Quakers, but I hadn't known that R. H. Macy, of Macy's was also Quaker. Neat.

Finally: I wish I were in Boston on May 15th. xkcd@MIT! :)

Open Ears day 4

On Sunday, I went to see "Finger". The performance was titled "Smile!"

It was set up as a wedding banquet, where it was ambiguious what peoples' roles were- the introduction segued into a reception speech complete with awful corny jokes ("The brain is a wonderful thing; working busy from the moment of birth up until the moment you're asked to give a speech...")

The speech faded into percussion which faded into digital loops which fed back into some more speech.

The only bit of note was they took a break to go around the audience and take polaroid photos, which they stuck under a video camera, so a blurry photo of myself was up on stage for the second half of the performance.

The percussion was OK, though nothing memorable. The only other memorable bit was at the end, they served food (from Ellison's Bistro down the street- tasty chicken skewers).

...it was a fairly low-key but enjoyable ending to the festival for me; I made my way back home, laid on the hammock for a while, and enjoyed the wonderful weather.