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Rock Ruminations

"The Rock" - Newfoundland's nickname, attributed to the granite and rocky landcapes which wrap around coastlines of the province. It is an affectionate term towards Newfoundland, and highlights the significance of environment. Ruminations - the act of pondering; meditation.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Under the (not so) watchful eye of Natasha

I saw this entry, I think someone is bored, over at New Kid on the Hallway and it reminded me ot some pictures that Lisa took of my own cat, Natasha.

As I do some work in the living room, Natasha is keeping a close eye on what I'm up to.

It appears that Natasha is not only keeping a close eye on me as I work, but also keeping an eye out for those who may interupt my work.

Apparently watching me work must be a difficult job, as it seems to wear Natasha out.
Tags: cat, Flickr

Monday, July 25, 2005

I'm "Henry the Explorer"

Got this from my boss, she thought that I might like to use it with my pre-service technology integration class, given that they are all Early Childhood Education majors and we focus upon the Georgia children's books award winners.

Apparently...

I am...
HENRY THE EXPLORER by MARK TAYLOR.




When I get fed up
with my life, I run away for just a little while. You know, I do that in
life, too - whenever things get tough, I get a change of perspective.


Find
out what Children's Book You Are!


Tags: University of Georgia, education

Friday, July 22, 2005

Another reason that its great to be a Canadian

I saw an entry last week over at joannejacobs.com that was titled "Literate Canadians." Apparently, Toyota decided to build its new auto plant in Canada because "well-educated Canadians mean lower training costs."

The article cites the fact that "Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment. "

It seems that the U.S. states had offered much higher subsidies to Toyota to build in America, but they still chose Ontario because of the education issue.

My home and native land...

Tags: education, Canada

Monday, July 18, 2005

Gotta love those canucks...

I saw this over at What is The Message?...

"Best Line in the Karl Rove Scandal

...comes from today's Globe and Mail: "For Bush to get rid of Rove would be like Charlie McCarthy firing Edgar Bergen."

Tags: Marshall McLuhan, Globe and Mail, Canada

Friday, July 15, 2005

Man I need to go home

My wife sent me this "quiz on how well do you know Canada" (see http://www.theglobeandmail.com/special/canquiz2005). Apparently some American from her work sent it to her and reported that he "scored 12 out of 20 for this Georgia boy, not bad for guessing at about 2/3." I believe that when my wife took it the first time, she scored 15 or 16 out of twenty.

Well, I was killing some time this morning, waiting for a telephone call, so I decided to take it.

"You have scored 12 out of 20 - Good work! You did a good job of knowing the thoughts of your fellow Canadians!"

Damn, I've been in the US for too long!

For the record, the questions I got wrong were:
  1. Which province is most likely to support the decriminalization of marijuana?
  2. What aspect of everyday life is the leading cause of stress among Canadians?
  3. Where does Canada rate in the world in terms of Internet use?
  4. What would a typical Canadian do is he/she won the lottery?
  5. Which health concern is top worry of most Canadians?
  6. Which food do 91% of Canadian agree if healthy?
  7. Where in Canada are you most likely to get your heart broken?
  8. Who do Canadians think was the best Prime Minister during the 20th century?

Now, if you are planning to take the quiz yourself, stop reading here and go and do it. This is your SPOILERS coming notice...

Okay, for the first question I think I was robbed... I still think those tree-huggers in British Columbia are the answer, but the quiz says Quebec.

For the second question, I based it on my own experience and selected work, when the real answer is apparently finances.

In the third question they need to be more clear, the response is that Canada is number one (I selected five), but that must be a per capita thing and I was thinking straight numbers.

I answered the fourth questions as if it were me and said travel. Apparently the majority of Canadians would share it with family and friends. I think that's just the political correct answer though myself.

The fifth question was actually a little difficult... The response choices included diabete, high blood pressure, cancer and one other one. The first three are all plausible choices and I went with high blood pressure, the actual response was cancer.

The sixth question shows my television viewing habits and the fact that those "eat beef" advertisements that they have on television have clearly worked on me. I selected steak, the answer was yoghurt.

This was a funny one and the actual possible responses were surprising: Yukon, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. I knew that it wasn't Newfoundland (we're lovers, not heartbreakers) and I figured that Yukon was so cold that you took what you could get. Leaving Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, I figured that PEI was the more logical choice. The actual answer was Saskatchewan... Go figure...

For the final question, I just think that Canadians got this one wrong. The response the quiz was looking for was Pierre Elliot Trudeau. The correct response, however, should have Lester B. Pearson.

Anyway, a bit of fun for the early morning and something else to drone on about in my blog for an entry.

Tags: quiz, Globe and Mail, Canada

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Postcards from Athens


Sanford Stadium
Originally uploaded by mkb_nf.
I came across this entry over at The Blogging Baby that was titled Teaching a child geography, one postcard at a time. Apparently the idea for the entry came from an entry that they found on RedHairedGirl.com (which for the life of me I cant find). Anyway, the basis of the entry was that postcards can be a good way to teach people about geography.

I recall a former principal I had when I was still a high school teacher, who when he would travel anywhere would buy a postcard that pictured the hotel that he was staying at and send it back to his kids (he had five of them). When I asked him about it, he had said that it was his hope that when they gew up that they wouldn't remember the fact that he was gone a lot, but they would remember the fact that he always thought of them when he was gone.


UGA
Originally uploaded by mkb_nf.
In keeping with that spirit, since we have moved to Athens and I have started attended the University of Georgia, I have always sent postcards to both sets of my grandparents when Lisa and I have travelled outside of Athens. Just as a way to let them know that I'm thinking of them (as I am quite close with them).

So, here's a couple of postcards of Athens for everyone to enjoy: Sanford Stadium - the home field of the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team, and UGA VI - English bulldog and proud mascot of the University of Georgia.
Tags: postcards, photos, Flickr, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

MIT Weblog Survey

If you haven't taken it yet, take the six-eight minutes to do so...

Take the MIT Weblog Survey

Tags: , , , ,

Friday, July 01, 2005

You're never so patriotic...

You're never so patriotic as you are when you are in a foreign land. It seems that both Lisa and I felt the need to have Canadian cakes (she made her's, I bought mine) at work today. In my case, we were having the end of semester IT Studio showcase, so there were a lot of people around anyway.

As you can see from the picture, I was even able to get my fellow canuck who has just finished the program (Dr. Xornam Apedoe) to cut the cake at the beginning of the event.

The whole thing was well received, particularly by the other international students. Funny thing is that, other than maybe watching some fireworks, with the exception of the four years I was living in Ottawa I have never much been into Canada Day.

You're never so patriotic as you are when you are in a foreign land.

Tags: Canada Day, photos, Flickr, Georgia