Fanatical Atheists?

Posted on Thursday March 26, 2009 at 9:07 PM

The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.

Tags: Atheist, Fanaticism, Fundamentalist, Deep quotes, Quotes

Thesis

Posted on Wednesday March 25, 2009 at 10:04 PM

This thesis is completely draining me

Blog to be resumed sometime on the weekend

Categories: Random Posts; Life

Tags: Thesis, School, Chemistry, Life, Work, Undergraduate

Los Angeles and Chuck

Posted on Saturday March 14, 2009 at 5:02 PM

I was just watching Chuck and I saw this. The show is filmed in Southern California (read: Los Angeles) and as expected, it has amazing scenes of the city at any time of the year.

Here's is what was shown on the program:

Larger Version

Compared with what you can see in Google Earth:

Larger Version

Categories: Internet/Computers

Tags: None

Warm!

Posted on Friday March 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM

Warmer in Hamilton, ON on March 7 than it was in Irvine, California! Unfortunately, the weather is cool again - it was -15ºC on Thursday.

Categories: News

Tags: Weather, Irvine, California, Hamilton, Ontario, Warm

Men Like Cards!

Posted on Thursday March 12, 2009 at 9:44 PM

A woman once said that a man is like a deck of playing cards... you need: A Heart to love him, a Diamond to marry him, A Club to smash his head in, and a Spade to bury the bastard!

Tags: Heart, Diamond, Club, Spade, Joke, Playing Cards, Woman, Man

-6 Minutes

Posted on Saturday March 7, 2009 at 10:03 PM

Very much like

Categories: Omnoratus; Internet/Computers

Tags: Broken, Self Link, Internet, Clock, Time, -6 Minutes, Gmail, Google

Restaurant Reviews: Abdul's BBQ

Posted on Thursday March 5, 2009 at 9:10 PM

Abdul's BBQ
Middle Eastern ('Authentic Syrian Shawarma') الشورمة السورية

1691-4500 Kingsway, Burnaby BC (Google Map)
Unknown Hours; Open 7 Days a Week

Food Taste:

Honestly, I hadn't had Syrian shawarma before this, so I had no clue how it's supposed to taste. Unfortunately, I went in assuming that it was going to taste the same as Lebanese shawarma, and as it turned out, Syrian food is a little different. Generally speaking, it is spicier and drier than Lebanese shawarma. They also rely more on hot sauce than hummus.

All food comes with a choice of three different spiciness levels, both for the bread and the meat. I tried medium for both meat and pita bread, and found it a little spicy. Mild probably would have been too bland, so I think perfection is somewhere between mild and medium.

I tried the special one time (Beef and Chicken Special Mini Combo), which came with rice, beef and chicken and a pita bread. Unfortunately there was no salad to accompany the meal, so it tasted a little dry. The next time, I tried the beef shawarma, and while it wasn't like Lebanese shawarma, it was still respectable (although a little spicy!).

Decor:

Dine-in

It's not a five-star restaurant, and it doesn't try to be.
You walk in, order what you want, eat it, order more if needed, pay at the end, and walk out.
Poor quality chairs and tables (probably capacity is around 20ish). Both times I went, it was only about half-full.

Service:

The store is owned by Abdul (obviously!), a nice gentleman from Syria (obviously). He is talkative and friendly, even during the working-week rush-hour, which is when I went. Service is very quick (food is made in less than 5 minutes if you order the common items)

Cost:

$$$ out of $$$$ (taking taste into account)

Times Visited: Twice, both in February 2009.

Waiter service:Non existent; walk-in and dine-in, or takeout.

Restrooms: Standard small restaurant rest rooms.

Delivery: Unknown (probably not)

Stars

★★★

Visit Again:

If in the close vicinity and really hungry, I might visit again.

Otherwise, I will choose another restaurant (even for shawarma)

Categories: Random Posts; Life

Tags: Vancouver, British Columbia, Restaurant Review, Abdul's, Shawarma

0 Comment(s)

The Moss on the Power Transformer

Posted on Wednesday March 4, 2009 at 8:38 PM

Moss growing on a power transformer pole in Vancouver, BC.

Categories: Photography; Random Posts

Tags: Vancouver, BC, British Columbia, Travel, Moss, Electricity, Power Line, Transformer, Abstract

0 Comment(s)

The Path (Zen Gardens)

Posted on Tuesday March 3, 2009 at 10:54 PM

A stony path at the Japanese Gardens in Vancouver. Second-last Vancouver picture ever!

Categories: Photography

Tags: Zen, Garden, Japanese, Asian, Vancouver, British Columbia, BC, Trip

2 Comment(s)

World's Safest Banks

Posted on Monday March 2, 2009 at 8:09 PM

I'm not in the finance field in any way (and am probably lucky that I'm not in these crappy economic times), but still think this is pretty cool.

Global Finance magazine just released a list of the world’s 50 safest banks and all of the Big Five Canadian banks made that list! Royal Bank, TD, CIBC, BMO and Scotia are all found somewhere on that list.

German bank KfW topped the list at #1 and HSBC came in at 19th position. Four American banks made the list, and only Germany and France had more banks than Canada on the list, at six each. Here is a PDF of their report.