Pitch yourself...

Yup, you heard me... I said Pitch Yourself... and not off the end of the dock either. Have you ever been in a situation where you were under the gun and needed a nice short, quick way to pitch your idea, event, or even something about yourself?

Well, if you have and found yourself stumbling for just the right words, perhaps you could use a 15 Second Pitch. Check it out... here's my just in case you were wondering!

Cool Interactive 2

This is one of the coolest applications of new technology I have seen. I found this on another site yesterday. Lost the link, so I apologize for not providing the reference.

Jefferson Y. Han, a research scientist at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, has come up with a cost effective multi-touch, multi-point computer screen, which he demonstrated to thousand or so attendees on the first day of TED 2006, the annual technology, entertainment, and design conference in Monterey, California

Here is a video of his demonstration at TED:

http://www.technacular.com/2007/02/09/minority-report-is-reality-now-multi-touch-interaction/

It's off to work I go I go...

Yes folks, that's right... it appears there are thousands more Newfoundlanders & Labradorians willing to make the move west. There is another Alberta-bound job fair taking place right here at home. Gone are the days of having to up and leave and go look for work. The companies are coming here looking for us. So why not right? We have the strongest work ethic in North America. We have some of the best and brightest this country has to offer. The only problem is that we don't have enough jobs for the best and brightest. To those of us that are making the move, I wish you all the best. I know what it means to work away from home, so all I can say is ".. hang in there. You will get what you want because you are a determined Newfoundlander like thousands that have left before you." To those of us that don't need to move... just yet... hang in there, because the future of this place is unknown. Don't turn your face away from this phenomenon, for it may be upon all of us before too long.

My First 5K Race

Well, since quitting smoking my goal has been to run the Tely 10 - a 10 mile race this coming July. So, in preparation for that race, I have decided to start running in some of the regular sanctioned events which take place almost every weekend between now and July.

So, this coming weekend, April 29th, 2007 will be my first official 5K race.... the Burton's Pond Timex 5K 2 lap race......

Running away from Smoking

It has been almost 3 months since I quit smoking and I honestly have to say that it is finally starting to become a little easier. Most days the thought of having a cigarette doesn't even cross my mind. Other days the thoughts appear, but quickly disapper. My main goal since quitting has become to run a 16km (10 mile) race this coming July. The race is called the Tely 10 and 2007 will be the 80th year of its running. Yes, some might say this is a pretty lofty goal for an unfit, non-smoke... but what the heck... why let that bother me!

So, my main priority since quitting is to replace my smoking urges with those of running. I have always hated running but this time I wanted it to be different. This time I wanted to ease into it, and make myself enjoy... if for nothing else then to get myself "fit" again. So I started out walking every other day, and have finally graduated to jogging and easy running. I typcially run 3.5km every other day, and on Saturday or Sunday I have started running a long run of 6.7km. Yes, that's still a far cry from 16km, but I take solice in the fact that I have still have 12 weeks of training left before the BIG DAY.

I am actually planning on signing up for a 10 week training group for this race... but I have to first get control of the major problem I am starting to have with shin splints. Hopefully with some extra rest this week I can beat this thing or at least get a better handle on what I need to do to control it.

The Bloc Newfyvois

Maybe The Bloc aren't as bad as we all think. Maybe they have the right attitude. Maybe we should start thinking more like The Bloc... after all, aren't they trying to get the same things for Quebec that we as Newfoundlanders want for Newfoundland? or maybe I am missing a key point somewhere along the way? No, I think I got it... we really are looking out for the same thing. The only difference being that Quebec has 3 million more citizens with a tonne more seats in the house than we here on The Rock.

Hmm... The Bloc... The Rock. Maybe we should consider a new political party called The Rock Newfyvois. I dunno... sad as it may sound, I think our up-n-coming generations should start serisously debating the pros and cons of seperation from mainland Canada. Not considering it is blindly shutting our minds to the possibility of a better way... isn't it?

'Hope' for unbaptized babies?

Please tell me they are kidding... Oh, before I go any further, this blog entry may offend some devout Catholics, so if you're not in the mood to have your religious views challenged, better to leave this one alone right now!

Now, down to the nitty gritty. Actually, before we get into it, why don't you first take a look at the article "Catholic Church sees 'hope' for unbaptized babies" which is the reason for this rant.

Okay, I don't care if you are the most devout Catholic on the face of this planet. Deep down inside this has to make you second guess some of the things your religion stand for. Any religion which would makes people believe that their unbaptized children are kept from being with God in Heaven is not something I want to be a part of. Now, I am by no means a devout anything... but I do believe strongly that, of any of us, our children are the least "tainted". Unbaptized children are not capable of SIN. Anyone that tells you different is doing nothing more than trying to control you.

This struck home with me many years ago when a very good friend of the family had a stillborn child. She was a devout Catholic and when it came time to bury her son, she was told by the Catholic church that her son could not be buried in the catholic church because he was not baptized and cleansed of all his sins. Only after the entire community rallied around her was she allowed to bury her son in the graveyard... but that's not the best part... they forced her to bury the child at the very back of the graveyard... as if he was being banised. This made her question her beliefs, and I mine.

How to tell your neighbour...

Have you ever been looking for just the right words to tell your neighbour to "butt out", or "buzz off", or just plain 'ol Kiss My @ss? If so, then this might be just the thing you're looking for.

It sure made me laugh when I seen it and I'm sure you're neighbour will get the message along with a good chuckle. ;-)

Political Shenanigans

Until last year I really had very little dealings with politics, other than those rare occasions when we all get the opportunity to vote in our oftentimes meaningless elections. However, last year was different. Last year we had a problem in our neighbourhood. The only way to address this problem was through our municipal council. Well... little did we realize what we were in for. A year later and we are still no further ahead. Every time we turn around we are getting a conflicting answer from each person we talk to. From council chambers to town offices, the left hands definitely do not know or care what the right hands are doing. There are shenanigans going on, but to figure out from which end is impossible.

Half an Hour Later

So for those of you not from these here parts, the title of this blog may have you puzzled. 1/2 an Hour Later. What a strange name for a blog. Well not really. After all, I live in Newfoundland & Labrador, a small (well, not geographically, but population wise I guess we are considered small) island off the east coast of Canada. And this small island has it's own Timezone! Yes, that's right, we have our unique timezone. If you don't believe me, go ahead and double-click on the date on your computer, and then pull up the Timezones setting. Scroll down until you find "Newfoundland Time".

We are actually GMT -03:30. That leaves us half an hour later than everyone else in North America. The next closet timezone is the Atlantic Timezone which is GMT -04:00.

So that can be a good thing... we are the FIRST to celebrate New Years and the FIRST to see the sun rise in North America. Of course, it can also be bad since we are the first to see the sunset! But that's never considered a bad thing here on The Rock... for whence the sun descends o'er them there hills, 'tis off to the stompin' grounds we flow......