Archive for February 2007
Lets Dance The 'Time Warp' Again!
Sun, 02/25/2007 - 23:30 — Sean CarneyYesterday was International Dance The 'Time Warp' day, and untold numbers of people danced the 'Time Warp'. This show of togetherness through dance really warmed me heart (please don't ask me why I started talking like a pirate). Congratulations to everyone who danced, and for all those who did not - well... let's just say I am not amused.
For the occasion, I decided to mount my camera on a tripod and take some pictures of myself dancing the time warp. Most of the pictures turned out really good. Here are the first four steps to the song:
Images missing due to site migration.
Okay those are all easily recognizable 'Time Warp' dance steps. The most interesting dance steps caught on camera I have no recollection of, and appear to be stolen from Napoleon Dynamite.
Images missing due to site migration.
So there you have it. The first ever International Dance The 'Time Warp' Day was a success, and I really need to pick one style of dance and stick to it.
- Add new comment
- 49 reads
International Dance The 'Time Warp' Day
Wed, 02/21/2007 - 23:16 — Sean CarneyA while ago everyone was lamenting the lack of holidays in the long, cold winter months. People need a statutory holiday every now and then, so I've decided to remedy the situation. I am declaring February 24th to be International Dance The 'Time Warp' Day. The dancing will occur at 2:30 pm central time (8:30 pm Greenwich mean time).
Why? I hear you asking. I shall tell you why:
- The 24th is the perfect date for a new holiday because it is the number 42 read backwards. (If anyone does not know the significance of the number 42 look here)
- It will foster unity across the globe as everyone dances the 'Time Warp' at the same time.
- The 'Time Warp' is a great song to dance to because the song also includes directions on how to dance.
Did I also mention that the 'Time Warp' is fun to dance?
I can hear you skeptics in the back saying "It can't be international, Sean could never pull that off!" to which I say "Nay! Emily who is currently in South Africa has agreed to participate so the event will be legitimately international."
Some people are also liable to say "I am a visual learner! I can't simply listen to the song's instructions." Well fine! You can find a visual learning aid here.
So what are you waiting for? On February 24th at 2:30 pm (10:30 pm in South Africa, 5:00 pm Newfoundland) dance the 'Time Warp' with all the other cool, hip people who read this blog.
Also, please pass word of this along to other people. I would like to hear of people other than Emily and myself dancing on the 24th.
- Add new comment
- 41 reads
Choose Your Own Adventure
Sat, 02/17/2007 - 01:56 — Sean CarneyThis evening was the "Choose Your Own Adventure" event of the DIY Fest. Heather, Heather, and Girish joined me on the expedition to a secret location.
We met up with the organisers at the Paddlewheel restaurant, and they told us the venue (the health sciences centre), offered advice for which bus to take (the #19), and handed out the some booklets that would lead us around.
After running around trying to find a # 19 bus stop, we boarded a bus with some other explorers headed for the hospital. It was kind of funny because when the bus stopped at the hospital, half the people on the bus left with booklets in hand. We arrived on foot at the Brody building, which is where the intermediate difficulty level booklets all started. The booklets cautioned that we should be discrete, so I picked up a copy of the Manitoban and slipped the booklet inside.
The adventure worked like this, you were told to go to a certain part of a building and find a number (such as the number of fans on the ceiling, or a room number on a door), you then used this number to find your next destination in the booklet. Simple eh?
Following the booklet lead us through the bowels of the University of Manitoba Bannatyne campus. Areas of interest we passed by were a large display case of old, scary dentistry equipment, and later on, the animal testing labs. The U of M area was deserted except for fellow explorers, and we pressed on to the hospital for the next part of the exploration.
After a bit of searching around, we found an entrance to the hospital from the U of M area and pressed onwards down to the tunnel networks. We slowly worked our way to the parking garage for the next clue, which involved consulting the numbers on some lockers. We then 'won' the adventure by being instructed to head to the general hospital cafeteria.
At the cafeteria we waited and ate while other explorers streamed in. The majority of people doing the intermediate level completed the adventure and 'won'. After about ten minutes many people who were doing the advanced level came in and nearly all of them had 'lost';.
The large group of explorers really stuck out in the cafeteria, not that we didn't stick out everywhere else. Some people chose the worst possible attire such as oilskin fedoras, or the one person who was sporting an infiltration t-shirt (and they probably were wondering why they were caught by security).
The concept and booklets were a great idea, a guided urban exploration session. It was a really fun evening.
- Add new comment
- 119 reads
The Winnipeg DIY Festival
Wed, 02/14/2007 - 00:25 — Sean CarneyI was once under the impression that reading week was going to be boring, apparently not.
This morning I was checking the Make magazine blog and read of the Winnipeg DIY Festival which Leif had previously told me about, and I had promptly forgotten. Anyways I have changed my plans for the weekend (for the third time in as many ways) to accommodate it.
The festival has several events I am interesting in attending. The large scale Choose Your Own Adventure looks to be lots of fun, and there are also workshops on a variety of diverse topics from bookbinding to soap making. It's really cool that people have come together to organize an event like this, and get it coverage from some large blogs.
I may not be reading this reading week, but I'll be learning none the less.
- Add new comment
- 40 reads
The Smallest Bathroom
Tue, 02/13/2007 - 00:09 — Sean CarneyLast spring, I brought you a tale of woe about what some might say is the smallest kitchen they have ever had the opportunity to cook in. Today, in Mississauga, I found it's long lost twin.
I'm staying in a Holiday Inn, and the bathroom is so small you cannot open the door all the way because it hits the toilet. Now, I am not saying that it opens halfway and then hits the porcelain, it doesn't even make it that far.
To use the toilet (or shower for that fact) you need to do a silly little dance where you walk into the bathroom, stand beside the toilet, turn around, close the door, and then approach either the toilet or shower.
Now say there was a fire in the building while you were in the shower. In order to escape quickly, you would need to reach out, open the bathroom door, vault the toilet, and then run out of the bathroom while trying to put some clothes on. Vaulting the toilet, while it sounds like fun, would probably lead to a broken neck considering how nice and slippery tile floors can be when wet.
Here's hoping there isn't a fire tomorrow morning.
- Add new comment
- 38 reads
Your Papers Please
Fri, 02/09/2007 - 23:42 — Sean CarneyToday I think I found the most absurd piece of potential legislation. At first I laughed, but then I realized that for some people it wasn't a joke. What am I talking about? Washington state initiative 957 - the Defense of Marriage Initiative.
I can't even begin to describe it, you just need to read it for yourself.
The Washington Defence of Marriage Alliance is putting this initiative forward to help the cause of equal marriage. Their plan is to put forward this legislation, see it get passed, and then get it deemed as unconstitutional, hoping it will take prior decisions and laws down with it when it falls. The idea is simply ingenious.
- Add new comment
- 37 reads
Night Photography
Sat, 02/03/2007 - 12:58 — Sean CarneyLast weekend at the winter retreat we finally had some good clear skies and I was able to do some long exposure photography far away from the city lights. I took three shots and two turned out really nice. You can hardly tell that these were taken at night except for the stars in the sky.

Taken at 12:40 am for 40 minutes at F 5.0.

Taken at 7:30 pm for 27 minutes at F 4.5.
I really enjoy taking pictures like these, but they are slightly annoying to take. They need at least half an hour to look good, and I don't want to be freezing outside for half an hour at a time.
With any luck I will be able to take some more pictures like these during reading week next week.
- Add new comment
- 40 reads
