And yet -- that picture makes my ears look big. I don't usually do the "What XXX are you?" thing, but this one humoured me.

Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not - for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life greets it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter! You must feel the Force around you, everywhere.

It's all Star Wars, all the time around our place these days -- this morning, Naomi, while getting dressed, was clutching the ESB Princess Leia, and the ANH Luke (who happened to be wearing Darth Maul's cloak). Frances said she was a little worried, since she had seen Naomi putting Luke and Leia under a pillow together.

And from the G-man, overheard at hockey last night:

Parker Orchard: "Gareth, you're the smartest kid in our class!"

Gareth: (In incredulous tone) "I know!"

Funny.

2.5 miles, 6.5 mph, 2.5 degree incline

A few friends and I have been working on a point-to-multipoint wireless network since (feels like forever) April. We've run into a number of bumps in the road, which have resulted in spending of cash, pulling of hair, yelling at each other, climbing on rooftops in the dark, and cutting down large trees.

Tonight, we had major success -- three-player Halo 2 via xbox with voice mics, and no lag. (yes, we've been testing with something other than game consoles. We're not *completely* stupid – this was just the fun test.) And, most importantly, running on the final spec'd hardware, of which we finally had all the pieces. I plan to document all the equipment ths weekend with the camera, but it includes:

• Three homemade steel cantennas with feed horns
• Two 19db panel antennae
• One 100cm StarChoice dish, with a reverse cantenna as a feed horn
• Over 150 feet of LMR400 antenna cable
• Over 300 feet of Cat.5

Look for the pix this weekend.

On the CBC this AM, I heard that the IOC wants Italy to "suspend" their tough anti-doping laws during the Winter Olympics in Turin next year. Quote from Mario Pescante, IOC member and the government supervisor for the Olympics:

""They expect Italy will respect the duties it took on when it was assigned the Games," he said.

What the hell?!?

I've been stewing on this since I heard it, trying to find *one* remotely-logical reason for why the IOC would want this, other than wrecking the show with cops raiding the Olympic village during the Games.

How is it possibly Italy's "duty" to rescind criminal laws during the Olympics? It's not like they have a law making it illegal to participate in an Olympic sport – however appropriate it might be in some circumstances. Once again, we have the IOC sending a clear message on doping – Just don't let us, or anyone else, catch you.

At least the Foreign Minister Gianfranco has the sfere to stand up to them:

"I believe that one of the principles of sports is fairness. An athlete who uses banned substances comes under this principle, and therefore I would not support measures to render our legislation - which is one of the most just and severe in the world - weaker for people who use (banned) substances."

I sincerely hope that Italy doesn't cave – and that, come February, Olympic "athletes" from all over the world find their asses warming a jail cell floor.

2.5 Miles, 2.5 incline, 6.5mph.
With the 2006 Freeze Your Gizzard Blizzard 10K scheduled for January 20th this year, I'm setting up my schedule again to get up to 10K (again). Ever since my beermaking injury in the summer, I've been a major slacker, but after talking to a fellow runner at the gym today, I'm ready to start getting serious again. And, I'm still looking to get my weight under 200lbs before then -- stupid home brewing goodness. I've determined that half of the battle for me running is the fact that I'm carrying 20lbs more than I need to -- shave that off, and I'll be in fighting form.
Well, breathing form, anyways.
So, running days, walking nights, and serious cutback on pain-go-away juice.