tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81531682024-03-07T02:19:46.784-05:00Cameron's House of FunFatherhood, politics, education, random thoughts (heavy on the random thoughts) and stuff (always stuff).Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.comBlogger322125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-45937584402173995442008-10-12T03:30:00.002-04:002008-10-12T03:33:00.503-04:00MovingHi there. After years (has it really been 4? WTF?) of blogging here on Blogger, I've finally registered a domain and moved everything over there. So you should go to: c2plusl.com/cameron/blog to read my thoughts on stuff and things and politics and education and design and New Zealand. Let's be realistic, there will probably be more stuff and things than any of that other stuff, but it will be Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-54212100665291803322008-03-29T15:37:00.003-04:002008-03-29T15:40:12.890-04:00Near epic fail (but still a fail)So this morning, I'm all stunned with sleep and stressed about the day etc (as is my want), I got up, got Lucas downstairs and went to make breakfast.So I got the loaf of bread out, chucked it onto stove top, got the tea water going (there wasn't enough coffee for two cups) and then went away to the computer to check the news and the weather...A minute or so later I smell something, pretty much Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-22408890110745799732008-03-29T15:31:00.002-04:002008-03-29T15:36:53.512-04:00The most astounding thing...... happened to me the other day as I was leaving to go and pick Lucas up from the daycare.This late 20's guy came up to me at the door and said "Are you the owner of this house?"I was prepared for "yes I am, but seriously I don't want your cleaning service/painting service whatever". But he surprised me, he said "I'm here to applogize and to try and make amends. It was my birthday last night andCameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-10943967444282191072008-03-12T12:00:00.003-04:002008-03-12T12:01:48.423-04:00Bad web! Bad!Sometimes you see design so stupifyingly bad that you wonder if it was done on purpose... to that end I present you with this.I would suggest you wear goggles, but they will probably do nothing.Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-70710804821346962432008-03-05T09:29:00.002-05:002008-03-05T09:32:17.506-05:00BeatsSo about two weeks ago Lucas started making rhythmic sounds with his mouth.I asked him what he was doing and he looked up at me, and said, with a great deal of incredulity "Daddy, those are my beats. I have lots of new beats."He's not going to be giving Biz Markie a run for his money any time soon, but it's fun none the less.Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-63328385492123985132008-02-26T07:09:00.001-05:002008-02-26T07:10:27.359-05:00Back from TOBut first, at breakfast today Lucas asks "Mama, what's the French word for snotz?".. sadly I was laughing to hard to hear the answer.Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-11483107923874707702008-02-13T10:05:00.002-05:002008-02-13T10:08:57.015-05:00Dumber?In January Apple released the January Software Update for iPod Touch. Let's leave aside the fact that you have to pay $20 for it, and talk about the update stream.They're using iTunes to push it on you, so that you can then buy it through the store and update right away. This is smart, this is easy etc etc. I'm all for it.The problem is that, for a number of reasons, I just don't have the $20 to Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-74151577799408746882008-02-13T10:04:00.003-05:002008-02-13T10:04:55.833-05:00DumbHey you!Yes you!The one without the hat.You don't look cool. You look fucking stupid. It's -20c, you're not fooling anyone.Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-31431887869991020222008-02-06T11:06:00.000-05:002008-02-06T11:28:27.034-05:00Super Tuesday Language Use ThoughtsWhen exactly did the world "conservative" get redefined to mean "social conservatives/raging nutbars"?All last night CNN and other media outlets were on and on about how McCain wasn't doing well with "conservatives". I kind of thought to myself "hmm.. he's winning states, as a Republican, in the Republican primary, doesn't that make him a conservative?"Then they started to unpack what they meant Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-56669222953782914832008-02-02T18:35:00.001-05:002008-02-02T18:42:25.167-05:00Of short screws and annoyanceToday we installed a couple of light fixtures we got at IKEA the other day. One (in Lucas' room) went up super fast and easy, but the other became an annoying series of trips up and down the stairs to find longer machine screws to hold it up.Why doesn't IKEA sell their lights with these screws included? Why are these screws always so fricking short? Why doesn't anyone sell lights with the widest Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-51035376190148877822008-01-30T15:06:00.001-05:002008-01-30T15:10:03.361-05:00Oh you little bastard you!I love the Undergraduates, I really do. With out them in their multitudes I wouldn't have a job. This would suck in so many ways.But I went for a walk to the science building just now to go and get some money and then a Pepsi (every time I see that word in writing Suicidal Tendencies lyrics pop into my head unbidden) and opened a door at the same time as a student was coming through. We kind of Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-46802619381782209182008-01-24T18:01:00.000-05:002008-01-24T18:17:14.230-05:00Design, failures ofOk, I'm not an architect, though I have an amateurs love and understanding of some of what's involved (which is to say I obsess over my Frank Lloyd Wright books, Gerry books and Chris' Dwell magazines). I also figure that as the ultimate user of architecture (even if it's as a passing pedestrian) I'm entitled to an opinion on it.So here's the thing, any building that needs an area around it ropedCameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-12019936777446536602008-01-20T16:17:00.001-05:002008-12-11T01:10:08.168-05:00Strange signs I have seenIn our quest for signs and icons that don't need words we often stumble (the sign that is meant to signify "baby changing center" but winds up looking like "baby vending machine" springs to mind).In our quest to make the world safer we often over compensate and solve problems that don't exist.When we are at our very best, when we really strain ourselves, we manage to hit the nexus of both Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-35944632758513153622008-01-13T18:55:00.000-05:002008-01-13T18:57:14.131-05:00Lucas and TechnologySo we're getting some baby stuff ready to send to my sister in England (0 to 6 month clothing mostly) and we were talking about how to best send it and how much it would cost.Lucas listened to the whole conversation and then asked "why don't you just throw it into the computer and send it to her like that?"Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-83984486324237018612008-01-10T19:03:00.000-05:002008-01-10T19:27:56.053-05:00The Dentist!So today was Lucas' first trip to the Dentist. We'd gotten him ready for the whole thing by telling him about it.Christine told him that the Dentist would tickle his teeth.I told him that there would be a big camera to take pictures of his teeth.That was kind of it.We left out some steps.Like the whole "don't chew on the films for the XRAY" thing or the "stay still means really still" thing... orCameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-18083683967476318582008-01-07T13:40:00.000-05:002008-01-07T13:44:26.001-05:00GackI don't like to engage in the "my OS is better than your OS" holy wars, but why is it that every time I launch Parallels Windows needs to update something?Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-84252149300609570322008-01-04T09:31:00.001-05:002008-01-04T09:43:09.536-05:002008 - so far as poopy as 2007 but with one number addedSo, as is traditional, Christine is off to her early January doctor visit to get (I assume) anti-biotics. Because, as is also traditional, she has a throat thing going on. That has morphed into an ear thing...I, in a fit of dumb, spent part of the evening playing Halo 3. I say dumb because I managed to get in such a contorted, twisted, uncomfortable position that I wound up with just about every Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-57362070154376906072008-01-03T07:30:00.001-05:002008-01-03T07:36:12.114-05:00What exactly were they thinking?It's days like this, when there is about 60cm of snow on the ground and when it's -23C (-32 with the wind chill) that I ask myself the following:Why in the name of all things good and sacred did any of my relatives move here? Seriously. Just what the hell were they thinking? How bad were they lied to in the pamphlet?Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-9433849719776920622007-12-30T13:44:00.000-05:002007-12-30T13:46:04.880-05:00Yes. Exactly.This puts into words what I feel is going on in Quebec right now far better than I ever could.Contrary to what outside observers may think, it is not always about sovereignty.Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-32674140917500589902007-12-29T10:44:00.001-05:002007-12-29T10:45:38.066-05:00Lessons LearnedSo it turns out that several beers and several glasses of good port and a bunch of good food and conversation with interesting people and cute kids doesn't actually make your cold go away, but only makes it feel like it has.Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-36928825633506563092007-12-27T20:06:00.000-05:002007-12-27T20:08:01.114-05:00A random thoughtGood red wine really is much better than bad red wine.That is all.As you were.is the bottle really done now?wimperCameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-29884026608520531462007-12-27T09:16:00.000-05:002007-12-27T09:20:11.258-05:00The icknessSo, the best way to spend Christmas is not huddled under a blanket shivering. Nope.Nor is the best way to spend it checking your temp every 15 minutes...That said, I went to bed at 11ish on the 25th and woke up at 11ish on the 26th. Then, for my next trick, I had a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon. Last night was a more normal 8ish hour sleep. I don't feel great, I'm still achy and hopped up on Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-56954378791334496432007-12-23T16:07:00.001-05:002007-12-23T16:20:23.109-05:00Of Shortbread and NostalgiaI never knew my maternal grandmother, she died way before I was born. She was a Scottish immigrant to Canada and brought with her many traditions from the old country.One of them was shortbread at Christmas. Not the fancy English shortbread cookies, or fancy things that were jammed out of a cookie gun or some crap like that. No. Shortbread, thick slabs baked in a baking pan. The average piece Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-73904544930986379772007-12-21T20:45:00.001-05:002007-12-21T21:31:53.201-05:00The tenticles of my memoryI've got a bad memory for certain things.Numbers, postal codes, names, combinations for locks, bank accounts... all elude me.Stupid details stick in my head like glue.I read an article recently (god, how I wish I could remember where - oh the irony) about how we're all losing the ability to remember because so much of our memory is stored online and we don't have to remember.My first thought was Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153168.post-51427885718956539792007-12-21T20:42:00.000-05:002007-12-21T20:44:44.082-05:00The lights are growing dim Otto. I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am.I've been in a bad mood.And hiding.Also working like a mad man.And in a bad mood.And stressed.There is snow on the ground and a Christmas tree in the living room.I'm relatively healthy, my family is amazing. I have a home and friends and a good job.So I'm going to deal now and stop being a stupid ass (well about blogging at least).Cameron Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457101409245763699noreply@blogger.com0