Happy Square Root Day, Math Nerds!

Today is Square Root Day, 3/3/09.

Square Root Day is a day in which the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the year.

So, eat something cut into the shape of a square, such as a square radish.  Or even better, a root vegetable cut into square shapes.

If you forgot to have a square root food, or perform a square root dance, today... don't fret!  The next Square Root Day is April 4, 2016.

Happy New Year, Muppet Style

Happy Birthday, Princess!

Exactly one week ago, my darling reached a birthday milestone.

Happy birthday, Princess!  ;)

I love you!

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Here are some suggestions on what to get me for Father's Day, should you want to get me anything.

DVD National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)


DVD National Treasure (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)


DVD Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl (Three-Disc Special Edition)

This edition may be difficult/impossible to find.
DVD Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)


DVD Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

I used to have this, actually, but don't anymore. Bummer. :( So that's why it's on the list again. If you like a challenge, try to get the Best Buy version that includes a bonus "Best Buy exclusive" disc.


flash memory card memory stick pro duo (any size at least 1 GB)

book Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning by Jonah Goldberg


music CD An Ancient Muse by Loreena McKennitt


Dilbert books This is the Part Where You Pretend to Add Value, Cubes and Punishment, or Positive Attitude




And, of course, things I always like:

• Starbucks French Roast coffee, pre-ground
• macadamia nuts
• Indy-edition whopper from Burger King
  
• mixed nuts sans peanuts
  
• M&Ms
• chocolate milkshake from McD's or Wendy's
  
• the new strawberry-flavored Mountain Dew... it's quite tasty!
  
• pizza
• lasagna
• Wok In Wok Out
• gift certificates: Barnes & Noble, and restaurant

And, of course, cards are nice, too. :)

Happy Smurfday!

The Smurfs turned 50 on Monday, 1/14.

What are the Smurfs, you ask?

Well, for those poor souls who haven't ever heard of them, Smurfs are small humanoids, roughly three apples tall and having sky blue colored skin and live in forests and other wooded areas. Especially in Belgium.

The Smurfs are fictional creatures created by Belgian artist Peyo when he realized that the world needed small blue-skinned forest creatures, especially since the gnomes weren't really pulling their own weight.

When I was younger, I remember my sister watching their Saturday morning show every morning (at least when it was a Saturday), laughing and giggling at the crazy antics of those little blue creatures. (editor's note: Dave's sister has contacted us and confirmed that he was the one who watch their animated program... she hated them.)

The best part of their animated program was how it changed our language. Soon people everywhere, I mean everywhere, were saying that things were smurftastic and that they were feeling just smurfy. (Yep, that's a good thing!)

So when some asks you how your day is going, rather than responding with the old boring "fine", say, with enthusiasm, "Just smurfy!"

note: Thanks go to WZZM for tipping me to the birthday of the Smurfs. Thanks, dudes!

Day of the Ninja

Today, December 5th, marks the international celebration known as the Day of the Ninja. Annually, since way back in 2003, people around the world use this day to celebrate ninja culture and discuss why ninjas are better than pirates.

How will you celebrate the Day of the Ninja?

I will celebrate by remember someone who, for me, was the ninja. That's right, Lee Van Cleef from the 80's classic, The Master. Don't remember The Master? Well, we here at Spike the Wave do. And as long as we live, he will not be forgotten! Arrrrrrgh!

Thanksgiving and its Aftermath

We had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Day. I hope you, gentle reader, did as well.

Dinner was hosted by my parents. Along with my family, excluding the girl (who had fled the state for the week), attending dinner there were Brother Jon's family, Sister Mary's family, and Heather and her wee bairns. And my parents were there, too, since it was their house after all.

For dinner we had turkey, hot dogs (for those who don't eat turkey), mashed taters, corn stuff, two kinds of stuffing (double the goodness), some sort of weird red gelatinous substance (my wife claimed it was something called "canned cranberry"), black olives, and gravy. Lots of gravy. Thanksgiving dinner just would not be complete without gravy. Why? Because gravy makes it better. Mmm...

But I digress.

After dinner, some of us shuffled into the family room where we watched the remainder of the annual Thanksgiving football game, at which NFL players give thanks by tackling each other. Then we watched Judge Judy scold people for being idiots. The kids played board games, with the older kids playing one board game where they followed the rules of play, and the younger ones playing another board game in which the game pieces became fascinating toys.

My wife, Sarah (with an "h"), and I celebrated Black Friday, the big day after Thanksgiving day of super-duper sales, by not shopping. Though The Doug did go out super early with his hunting friends... he was successful! Actually, I did go out later in the day for duct tape ("it can fix anything!"). And I put up the exterior Christmas lights, since walking around on the roof is one of my favorite pastimes. Then that night, we all got stomach flu. That was fun. But we're all feeling much better now. Especially now that it's snowing! (see FSOTY post)

Smiley Face Emoticon Turns 25

Yesterday, September 19th, 2007, the humble electronic smiley face :-) turned 25.

It all began at 11:44 AM on September 19, 1982, when Scott E. Fahlman posted the first emoticon, the smiley face, to an online electronic bulletin board.

From an Associated Press article:

Fahlman posted the emoticon in a message to an online electronic bulletin board at 11:44 a.m. on Sept. 19, 1982, during a discussion about the limits of online humor and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly.

Imagine, if you will, a world without :) :( :O :P ;) :D and all the other emoticons. I for one shudder in horror at such a thought.

Since you undoubtedly crave more information about the smiley face emoticon, check out the links below. Enjoy!

:-)

Carnegie Mellon University's smiley page:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/smiley/

Scott Fahlman's official story of the smiley's origin:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/sefSmiley.htm

Arrr!

Ahoy, me mateys! September 19th be International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

In honor of that day, I provide fer ye a picture of the most famous pirate of all time, Long John Silver (aka John Newton, pictured) from the Disney documentary Treasure Island.

As is my habit, I forgot all about this most illustrious of holidays until after it was over. But this year, I've only missed it by one day. Arrr!

I also provide fer ye a wee little pirate game called Sea Pirates - A Flash Game of Piracy (screenshot below). Here's a good description of the game from Webware:

If you've ever played Zelda, you'll know the importance of sailing a ship around while trying to avoid oceanic peril. This game involves pillaging local islands at whim. It's up to you and the wind to make your way through the ocean while staying alive. You get bonus points for boarding enemy pirate ships and digging up buried treasure, too.

Interested in learnin' more about pirates, are ye? Then read the classic history book, Treasure Island, written by famed writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

Arrrrgh!