Dec. 6. 11

NASA might have found
our home away from home!

READ THE FULL STORY - HERE!

Nov. 24. 11

DEADLY "ICE FINGER" IN ACTION
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY!


This... is a Brinicle!!!

Oct. 17. 11

Yoy're lookin' at a
COLLEGE GRADUATE!


Hi Folks!
I just returned from accepting my Digital Music Production Certificate from Algonquin College!
Let's hope this qualification will serve me better than my B.A. in History/Philosophy (2005)....

Jan. 20. 11

COOL!


This is about one of those instances where one night you're talking about something

...and then, the next day, it's magically on the Radio.

So... I randomly brought up a concern about the introduction of the electric car: what do all the petroleum producers do then?

I meant, if they're not making gas, won't they just make more plastic?

Electric cars will need to be pretty light, right? So their bodies and frames will inevitably be made with more plastic and carbon-fibre (reinforced plastic) which, for the most part, come from petroleum! By using less gas, we'll just have more plastic!!

That's where I started in on this whole freestyle rant about doing away with cars altogether. Rethink the wheel, and all that...

A long time ago I thought magnets were the answer - because the Earth is like one big magnet - but realize now that most of our information in this "Information Age" exists in a world that magnets can destroy (credit cards, 8-tracks, etc.).

No, I thought, there must be something else... 'think like Tesla,' I told myself.. 'think like Star Trek....'

And then, the next day, while cleaning my parent's basement and listening to Spark on CBC Radio One, Nora Young started talking about tractor beams and... well... that's where we came in.

Could this be that new wheel I was dreaming of???

CHECK IT OUT!!!

The Australian National University: "Tractor Beam One Step Closer to Reality" (click here, or follow the link below)
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=3631

September 9, 2010

Making the Connection:
The Lord of the Rings & Cancer.

 

  Hi folks.
Sorry to not have updated this page in a while - I've spent the majority of this year helping my father battle the cancer that, very sadly, took his life two Wednesdays ago. As I was planning on saying a few words at the funeral, I let my mind wander and came across this article at the Journal of Clinical Oncology, entitled "Multidisciplinary Care in Cancer: The Fellowship of the Ring"...

I remember quite recently trying to coax my father to do something his ever-weakening condition was giving him trouble with, and I likened him to Frodo in the final chapters of LOTR: Return of the King, struggling up the steep cliff - but not giving up hope. As I said this, I realized at that moment - alone with him in the room he called home since February - that perhaps I fit the role of Sam.

My father liked to discuss things. He liked to work things out until they either stopped making sense or a conclusion was reached. At that time, I remember briefly making the comparison between the ring that Frodo had to bear, and my father's cancer. I was trying to allude to the heroic journey Frodo had made, now nearing its end, and that kind of stuff... trying to be motivational.

After he passed away, I was compiling a CD of music that he liked that was to be played before the funeral and during the reception, when I came across the soundtrack for the Return of the King movie. There was a song called "The Grey Havens" that somehow stuck in my mind as being both fitting and meaningful. When I was reviewing the CD, Sasha warned me that the song sounded a bit too 'soundtracky' perhaps... It was only then that I recalled the discussion I had had with my father about the LOTR/cancer similarities. I wondered if someone else had put this to paper, and discovered the afformentioned journal article.

Upon reading that article, I now realize how much further we could have gone with our comparison. Frodo indeed represents the person carrying a very personal and heavy burden up a slippery and ever-dangerous slope. If you're familiar with the prequel to the LOTR books, "The Hobbit," you will realize that the creature "Gollum" also endured this task. The difference, which is the point here (and as the article notes), was that unlike Gollum - who had walked alone with the burden of the ring - Frodo had an indespensible fellowship, without which, he would never have completed his journey nor lived to visit the 'Grey Havens.'

And it's true. A fellowship matters. We do not go through these things alone.

Anyway, it is a very interesting article and I hope you read it. Pass along the link to anyone who is a LOTR fan, they undoubtedly will know someone dealing with cancer. It will probably make sense to them too.

I know my father would have loved to have me read it to him. He would have said "Interesting..." and I guess this is my overall point: that I wish I could have shared all this with my Dad. I miss him very much.

A hero never goes it alone.    My Dad was a hero.    He is still my hero.

~Lloyd Smiley.

 

 

John B. Smiley: 1940-2010

Photo: Me and my dad, circa 1982. 

May 23 2010
MORE LINKS: YOU WILL FIND THE FULL STORY IF YOU FOLLOW IT...
~Oncolytics Biotech REOLYSIN webpage
~Matt Coffey, PhD interview
~Science Daily (March 10, 2010)
~Oncolytics Biotech Clinical Trials
~Reovirus-based Reolysin may cure Kras mutant colorectal cancer (May 19, 2010)
~Reolysin FAQ page

LATEST NEWS ABOUT REOLYSIN:
~June 27, 2011 - Just found a new YouTube video explaining a few things. A bit cheesy, but completely worth watching.
~May 20, 2010 - From TopNews.in: 'Reolysin' May Help Fight Untreatable Cancers

And here's some more new news on the subject of cures for cancer:
There is more coming out of the University of Alberta, where they are using Dichloroacetic acid (or 'DCA') to treat things like Brain Cancer (!!!), etc.. This 'DCA' is apparently great at reviving damaged mitochondria and even shrinking tumors.
Why haven't you heard of it yet???

~Physorg.com: "DCA research on brain cancer" (May 12, 2010)
~Brain Cancer Success Story

March 17, 2010

St. Patrick was probably not Irish*!
*He was an Irish slave from England!
*He grew up to be a missionary who converted Celts to Christianity (heroic? no)
*He worked for Rome!
*His 'lucky' colour was probably BLUE or RED (being British), not Green!
*The 'snakes' he is famous for driving out of Ireland may have actually been Gypsies!
*He is said to have used the (3-leaf) clover to teach about the "Holy Trinity"... so what's lucky about 4 leaves?
He most likely died in Egypt!?!

Enjoy your green beer. Whatever that symbolizes!...
lol...

 

 

October 30, 2009

This just in: new YouTube Video of William Shatner's "Gonzo Ballet"...

April 6, 2009

Why Fluorescent Lights Are Freaking Me Out:

So recently, at work, I've been noticing a marked increase in 'near-headaches' and eye-fatigue... You might say, "Gee Lloyd, sounds like a regular day at work for me!", and I'd probably agree if it wasn't for my sinking suspicion that it has something to do with the hundred-odd fluorescent light tubes we have all over the store. I only just came to this conclusion the other day, after I found myself inexplicably drawn to the darker areas of the storage room, in order to 'recharge' and refresh my mind. This sounds crazy, so I thought I'd Google fluorescent light tubes, to see what (if any) health-related articles have been written about them.

Here are some of my findings:

The flickering of the tubes is annoying and draining. But it's not the tubes' fault. It turns out it's what regulates power to the tubes that can alternate in voltage, and has not much to do with the tubes themselves. Regardless, the flicker happens and can lead to increased fatigue, anxiety, unexpected aggravation, 'drained' feelings, headaches, and eye irritations. I'm experiencing all of these symptoms more and more each day. Am I just over-worked? Or is there more to this flicker than meets the eye???

"Although humans cannot see fluorescent lights flicker, the sensory system in some individuals can somehow detect the flicker. Ever since fluorescent lighting was introduced in workplaces, there have been complaints about headaches, eye strain and general eye discomfort. These complaints have been associated with the light flicker from fluorescent lights. When compared to regular fluorescent lights with magnetic ballasts, the use of high frequency electronic ballasts (20,000 Hz or higher) in fluorescent lights resulted in more than a 50% drop in complaints of eye strain and headaches. There tended to be fewer complaints of headaches among workers on higher floors compared to those closer to ground level; that is, workers exposed to more natural light experienced fewer health effects."

[Wilkins, A. J., Nimmo-Smith, I., Slater, A. & Bedocs, L. (1989). Fluorescent lighting, headaches and eye-strain. Lighting Research and Technology, vol. 21, 11-18]

Now, I'm no scientist... but I don't appear to be alone in my discomfort. If only I could convince my boss that better lighting would ensure the longevity of his worker's chosen employment and thus, a worthwhile investment....

April 04, 2009

Here's something you may or may not have heard about...

ELECTRIC CARS - A REALITY!

Now, I swear this to be true: I was carrying on some kind of usual confrontation-esque debate [the way I do] nearly 2 years ago, over the feasibility of the 'electric car' - that would eliminate vast amounts of carbon being emitted into our collective air supply.

The argument against it was, typically, one of convenience. "Can you imagine how long it would take to recharge the batteries?" This was one of my opposition's presumably rhetorical questions, to which I replied: "Well, I guess you'd have to figure out a way to swap out the batteries… like, instead of going to a gas station, they switch your dead battery for a fresh one." I was rebuked by, "oh ya? Who's paying for these batteries?" To which I answered, "I dunno, maybe some company who owns them? That we rent them from? Like a cell phone provider!"

 

Well, holy crappa'moe'lee, it's happened again. Apparently there's this company called "A Better Place," run by a guy named Shai Aggasi, who was setting this all up AS I WAS THINKING IT (I forget the word for this phenomenon - but I think it explains the development of math and gunpowder somehow as well).

 

Anyway, as this is the "NEWS" page, I thought I'd tip you off to this fantastic development. You may or may not have caught Mr. Aggasi's appearance on CBC Television's "The Hour" with host George Stroumboulopoulos a month or two ago... 

If not, the link to The Hour's interview: IS HERE.

 

HERE IS A YOUTUBE VIDEO I FOUND ABOUT IT - ENJOY!


Sounds great, doesn't it?!!!

Mar. 08. 09

Sasha and I went to see The Watchmen movie last night and... crap. What crap!
It was the most beautiful waste of time I've ever experienced.
Now folks, I rarely voluntarily go to movies that are bad... but this one just kept on sucking.
I don't know if it was the unsuitable soundtrack of late 60s/early70s hits, the horrible acting of the 'bad' good guy, or the 20ft tall glowing blue penis that swung as the guy walked around, slaughtering Vietnamese peasants.

Offensive? Yes. Enlightening, no.

I felt, at some points, that it was merely satire... but it turned out to be a parallel universe... and then turned out to be a parody of that parallel universe... and then... I stopped caring and felt trapped in the theatre, forced to witness the fantastic shit show that is this movie.

Avoid the Watchmen. You will leave angry, confused, or fall asleep in your chair. It is a slow, overly complex, obscure film - with uneven acting and so much bad cheese -- it stinks!!

If you have 10 bucks to blow, go see it so we may begin commiserating. Boooooo!

Feb. 16 2008
Did I forget to mention I am empLloyd again?! Hooray!
It's like going to the gym for 8 hours... but THEY pay ME!

Feb. 14 2008
Hey it's BUY CHOCOLATE AND CARDS OR SOCIETY WILL SHUN YOU AND YOU WON'T GET LAID DAY!

Feb. 12 2008
Hooray for Obama!

Nov. 24. 08

Since I've been in Costa Rica, I've seen Toucans, Sloths, Blue Morphos Butterflies, Coati(s), Iguanas and lizards, a tarantula hanging over my pillow (!), and, worst of all, I nearly stepped on a Fer-de-Lance snake - often known as Costa Rica's most feared poisonous snake.

I've been a "Cowboy for a Day," galloping around on the beach at Hacienda Baru and herding cattle (I'll post the YouTube links)
and for the past 24hrs I've been a "Surfer Dude" ... my board rental ends @ 2:30... when I'll just go back to being a 'regular dude.'

Nov. 12. 08

Well, it's certainly been a while!

I had been channeling my inner Hermit for the past few months up at Lac-des-seize-iles in Quebec...
At the moment, however, this message is coming to you live from the town of Dominical, Costa Rica!

September 21, 2008

Sad news... my grandfather, August (Gus) Chalin, passed away today.
He was 93 years old. It is a very sad day. He was a truly great man.

Grace, Gus, Me. (ca.1984)

 Feb. 25. 08

~ OSCARS (Academy Awards) coverage... here

~ BEAUTIFUL WEATHER OUTSIDE
- - - If you're unemployed, go outside!!!

Jan 22, 2008