Mind of Pi (#5)

Did you know that vehicles can run on spices? Yeah, Mussolini made the trains run on thyme! Ah ha ha ha! Weee! Happy Father's Day!

p.s. comic from the delightful xkcd.

Free Comic Book Day

The first Saturday in May every year. The day when nerds everywhere can gorge themselves at the trough of freedom (free-comics-dom?). Here's the official website.

I got a Thor one, a Spider-man, a comic by Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame), a Green Lantern, and a Dark Crystal one. It appeals to my nerdish leanings AND my love of free things! Good stuff!

p.s. Cap'n McShanty points if you got the Simpson's reference!

Eh?! Why it's Christmas Day!

Comedy Tour

Funny times were had at the "Investors Group Comedy Tour" which featured John Wing, David Merry, and Ryan Belleville. I didn't even get suckered into investing anything (The joke's on them I don't have any money! Ha!)

Here's a bit of John Wing's schtick from the comedy network (most of the jokes in the clips he told in his act for us although he didn't sing any songs). Wing was the MC, I guess, as he opened the show and went after each of the others. He was quite funny, although I knew a few of his jokes already from Comedy Now specials (or something like that, whatever would have had him in it that would have showed on the peasant-vision channels). David Merry was the least funny, he kept prompting us to laugh more. We laughed as much as your jokes were worth dang it! But the magic was cool. Ryan Belleville was absolutely hilarious! I laughed and laughed! Wee!

The future is an adventure...

"Nihilism" courtesy of xkcd.com comics by Randall Munroe.

p.s. If you're curious about the fine print at the bottom of the xkcd page, here's what it says (I don't get it):

We did not invent the algorithm. The algorithm consistently finds Jesus. The algorithm killed Jeeves. The algorithm is banned in China. The algorithm is from Jersey. The algorithm constantly finds Jesus. This is not the algorithm. This is close.

Little known facts...

European pizza species are identifiable by their enlarged tubercles on the axial bones.






p.s. from the comic "Unstrange Phenomena" by Ed Allison

Cute With Chickens! #5

Ahhh Christmas memories. Good times :)

Buddy, the snow dog.
Snow dogs Cameo and Buddy. Très Chic.

For some reason that reminds me of a comic I saw recently. Look the poodle has shifty eyes!

Chickens! Concert Series #0.5: The posts that never were

Ahh the pre-blog concerts, what I can remember anyway (please feel free to help my faulty memory out anybody). In roughly chronological order:

pre 1999:
various Lionel Hampton Jazz Fests - Diana Krall/Brian Bromberg/Lionel Hampton/etc.

1999-2005:
Gob/Matthew Good/Moist - Dec. 4 at the Max Bell Centre. My first rock concert. I brought LP. He was sick. He's such a little trooper :)
Default/Nickelback - Fine! I admit it! I saw Nickelback! There! Are you all happy now! Bah! I don't care what you all say, I like Default.
54-40 - at the Stampede, it was raining. Shocked at how many songs I knew but hadn't realized were by them.
Finger Eleven - 1st time at the Stampede 2nd time here.
Sparta-Like 2 days before I left Calgary to go to S'toon.







post 2005:
Stabilo-at Louis', I was a little tipsy...
Theory of a Deadman - at the Ex with D. Fun times! Went on rides (but then I got a little sick and I had to sit down...But then I rode them again!) and showed D how to play skeeball.
The Tragically Hip-heard in the park with K (didn't shell out to actually get into the Bess courtyard to see them though).
various past Sask Jazz Fests - I've previously mentioned seeing Buddy Guy during the Sask Jazz Fest but also spotted there: Hurricane Cletus, Big Dave McLean, DJ Champion, Joshua Redman, Ndidi Onukwulu - these are just the ones I can remember, and they weren't all at the same Jazz Fest.

p.s. Gob circa 1999. "I Hear You Calling" from the album "The World According to Gob".

Pi and Comedy

Fun times catching Dan Quinn (and openers Amanda Perrin and Brendan Clark) at the Laugh Shop at the Parktown Hotel.


Also, a shout out to my cousin Daniel for "Pi Day". The comic is from Savage Chickens.



















Fun facts about pie:
Pies date back to Egyptian times (around 2000BC) and then spread to the Greeks then the Romans (there is archaeological evidence of Roman pie dishes from sites in Kent). These were probably only meat pies and fruit pies were invented later. They say Queen Elizabeth I made the first cherry pie (yeah I bet she did a lot of baking...nothing but ruling England and baking). Other great moments in pie history include, Oliver Cromwell's banning of mincemeat pies in 1657 (he also canceled Christmas but Charles II brought it back). They say the law was never repealed so mincemeat pies are still illegal (mmmm...forbidden pie). But Cromwell was really only against for gluttonous Christmas-celebrating pagans in England so most of us are off the hook I think.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I especially like the lollipop in his fur (from OffTheMark comics). Also a big HBD to my Uncle Luigi!

For Dads who like the math:
Did you know that in a group of 57 people the odds are 99% that at least two will have the same birthday? It's true! It's a math thingy called the birthday paradox.



p.s. You may remember Dad/Groundhog Day from previous posts.

If these walls could talk...

From Off the Mark comics.

Merry Boxing Day

The .gif image to the left is from the Bear and Kitten comic (their animated gif contest). Reminds me of little cp's kitten Thea (see right, click to embiggen). She just couldn't help it! She snapped!

Also, this is what the house is like (from Strange Brew).

Simpsons Movie and Spiderpig

You may remember the Simpsons movie from such posts as this one and this one. Well, turns out I liked it enough to actually purchase the DVD! The main menu is sweet, if you watch for a bit spider-pig swings across the screen. There are a few Easter Eggs as well (lingo for Moms: Easter Egg = hidden extra on a DVD):

1. Colin:
Main>>Special Features>>Deleted Scenes>>highlight "Deleted Scenes" (press UP arrow then ENTER)
2. Russ Cargill:
Main>>Special Features>>Special Stuff>>highlight "Special Stuff" (press UP arrow then ENTER)
3. Mutant Squirrel:
Main>>Special Features>>A Lot of Trailers>>highlight "A Lot of Trailers"( press UP arrow then ENTER)
4.Turn it up!
Main>>Language Selection>>highlight "Audio" (press UP and LEFT then ENTER)

p.s. Spiderpig a rip-off of Spider-Ham? You decide...










p.p.s. other super pigs include:

For little cp who is sicky

and cute too (comic from Strange Brew).

Also, here is the walk off scene from Zoolander in Spanish just for you:

Little CP's a drivin' fool

Hurray! You're a driver-bean!
(I've been saving this comic for you! Click the comic to embiggen).

And now Some Handy Tips for Driving in Chile:

-Right-hand turns are prohibited at red lights unless otherwise posted.
-Major roads are generally in good condition throughout the country, but there are a lot of tolls so have cash to pay them. Some secondary roads may be poorly maintained and may be Rossland-esque in the mountains.
-If the air quality is bad in Santiago, you may not be permitted to drive your car in the city. The government selects numbers corresponding to the last digit of your license plate the day before those numbers will be subject to restrictions. Also, in Santiago, certain major arteries switch directions during morning and evening rush hours.
-Aggressive and inconsiderate driving is common throughout Chile (buses especially are jerks). Especially when changing lanes and merging because drivers rarely signal or yield in these scenarios.
-It's a good idea to drive with the car doors locked (because of thieves and such).
-You should have an international driver’s permit in order to drive in Chile (ICBC also has info). Although car rental firms may rent to customers with only a regular driver’s license, the police fine foreigners for driving without a valid international permit.
-The public bus and subway system was significantly overhauled recently. If you're going to be in Santiago, you should purchase a “BIP” card, a prepaid ticket required for public buses (this handy blog tells about it and a bunch of other stuffs).

p.s. KP is also a soon to be drivin' fool. Happy 16th Birthday!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Avast me hearties! Sail ye to yon official website lest yer oily weevil hides be damned to Davey Jones locker by his great and wondrous noodleyness! Arrrr! Remember: stop global warming, become a pirate!

Also, you may also like to peruse past fine pirate related offerings from Chickens!. Umm...ye scurvy bilge rats!


p.s. In honour of ITLAP day Google has added the "pirate" language option to it's growing list of amusing interface choices. Just go to the Google homepage and click "preferences". Then change the "interface language" to pirate and click save preferences. It joins the ranks of "Bork bork bork", "Elmer Fudd", "Hacker", and "Klingon". Oh Google, you canny wastrel!

p.p.s Facebook also hoped on the yardarm with a pirate language setting! Shiver me timbers!

Squirrel miscellany

That squirrel is a genius!


I saw the video and it put me in mind of this comic. Hilarious! It was so funny LP's vball team even used it as their logo. There is a different (more recent) version of Danger Squirrel here, but I like this one better. I'm pretty sure it's the same guy though, the comics at lonely fetus are pretty weird and usually quite dark but there are a few pretty funny gems in there.

Also, just to nerd it up a bit, here is some of the diagnostic features of the Sciurid skull. I believe the example used is the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). The image is from the immensely useful Animal Diversity Website.

El Grillo

Mike Bonales is a Spanish artist, animator, and designer. I found him through his comic South Pole, which was originally in spanish, but was translated to english here. He has also done some very powerful stuff couched in a deceptive animated format. Below is my favorite, entitled "El Grillo" set to the song “Persigue los sueños que hay en ti“ by the Spanish band El Grillo.

Savage Chickens

Thanks to HF for finding this. She pointed it out to me a million years ago in the comments of this post and I'm only now getting around to making a post about it. I like the pirate chicken.

The Abominable Charles Christopher

Another in the accidental series on webcomics that I appear to be doing. These are snippets from a comic called The Abominable Charles Christopher. It's about a sasquatch and some talking animals. Here is a sample (click to embiggen):




















(animals have no natural defenses against advertising)













And here's one with the Sasquatch and a bunny in it that I thought was really cute: