I am astounded to learn that there are 30,484,761 (chemically distinct) organic and inorganic substances currently known to man. (And they’re all indexed here.) I wonder if anyone has put a bound on the number of substances there could ever be.

keywords: substance, another substance, yet another substance, …
mood: aspirant
music: Haydn / Symphony no 48 in C major.

Pictures are usually worth more than a thousand words, each!, but let me parse these two for you to make the extra point that the emotion you get from them is not accidental, but rather planned.

On the left is an under-construction photo of the Development of King Abdul Aziz Endowment:

The development consists of a large podium topped by seven towers of various heights… The podium includes commercial retail center; restaurants and food courts; prayer areas for 3,8000 [sic.] people and a public plaza which will accommodate a future convention center. It’s topped with a four-level car park… The tallest tower with over 100 floors - a 2,000-room, 5-star hotel - is located on the southern side facing the Haram … The tower is designed to be the visual focal center of this mixed-used development and is flanked by the remaining six, lower residential towers … The tower features plaza levels accommodating the reception lobby and information desks, lounges, restaurants, cafeterias, and a ballroom designed for a large, high-end international conference center … The hotel’s typical stories are divided into two sections: residential section at the upper part of the tower and the hotel section at the lower part of the tower. Four Royal floors, VIP Penthouse and a three storey “Astronomy Centre” are located on top of the residential portion of the hotel tower…

and the farce goes on and on; boil more of your blood here.

Compare this to something like the picture on the right; an aerial photo, facing south, of the Parliament hill in Ottawa, Canada. According to the City of Ottawa - Official Plan:

1.4.3 Policies
d. Primacy of Parliament Hill: City Council recognizes the symbolic primacy and visual integrity of Parliament Hill and supports its preservation and enhancement. In this regard, City Council shall protect the visual integrity and symbolic primacy of the Parliament Buildings and other national symbols, and shall ensure the preservation of the scale of Parliament Square by promoting an appropriate building profile on the south side of Wellington Street.

I am sure my Introduction to Architecture professor would be proud that I remembered something from his course. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t mention this to him in a million years, cause I know the mere sight of it would break his heart.

God bless you, Prof. G. H.; May you never come across this atrocity.

(I honestly forget where I first saw this; I will post a link if I remember.)

SmashingTelly is your station:

Smashing Telly is a hand edited collection of the best free, instantly available TV on the web. Not 30 second clips of a dog on a skateboard, or the millionth person to mime the Numa song, but full length programs. Smashing Telly, not Gimmick Telly.

keywords: TV, no-TV, TV, no-TV, etc
mood: defiant
music: وجيه عزيز / قول معايا

(previously on surfing…)

Thank goodness for the nytimes wedding section. They have come up with a list of questions that couples should ask each other before marriage. Questions, which -apparently- people seldom have the presence of mind to ask, like: “4) Have we fully disclosed our health histories, both physical and mental?” “7) Will there be a television in the bedroom?” and “10) Do we like and respect each other’s friends?”

Now all you have to do is print out the article, and take it with you on dates. Maybe ask your date to take the time while you’re in the restroom to fill out the answers.

The article neglected, though, to provide model answers. I mean, how else are we going to know who to select for further interviews dates? — I should ask them about that in the comments section.

Quite a few people have toyed with the idea of blogging. Many have quit. 200 million according to a study conducted by the analysts Gartner (bbc report.)

“A lot of people have been in and out of this thing,” Mr Plummer said. “Everyone thinks they have something to say, until they’re put on stage and asked to say it.”

I am no expert, but I’d like to add that I think some people also stop blogging because the response they get falls short of (or is in some other way different from) what they had imagined or desired.

CBCtelevision has been running promos for the upcoming sitcom: Little Mosque on the Prairie, which premieres Tuesday Jan 9th at 2030 EST on CBC. The clips suggest that it could be funny. I am definitely going to tune in, but I’m hoping it’ll only be a half-hour affair, cause the time slot at 2100 is currently reserved by House.

update (Jan 11th): I watched the premiere last night, and it is quite funny — sitcom funny.

A big chunk of ice (66 sq.km — roughly the size of Manhattan) broke off the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 kilometers south of the North Pole, but no one was present to see it in Canada’s remote north. According to the cbc, this happened back in August of 2005, and was only picked up 16 months later. Apparently a researcher was going through satellite photos of the area when she noticed some changes, which tipped her off to the event.

I have two questions; One: How (obsessed,) diligent and systematic do you have to be to catch something like this? and Two: Given that it took that much time to catch it, how many events of this size are we missing?

Just thought I’d let you know what’s on my mind…

It was quiet in the field, a silent huge meadow open to the sky…the only sound: a little stream I had to listen pretty hard to hear. Lonely again. A person gets used to being alone, but break it just for a day and you have to get used to it again, all over from the beginning.

Richard Bach, Illusions.