Home Theater Basement - Pondering Acoustic Fabric for Acoustic Wall Panels

I ordered samples of the special acoustic fabric from Guilford of Maine fabric manufacturer.

We'll see how the samples look in situ before ordering.

It's Just (dr.) Horrible!

Sadly the Hulu version of Dr. Horrible with advertisements is now only available in the US.

I'm pulling this down so as not to tease my fellow Canucks.

Steampunk Love, Ingenuity and a bit of real history:

World's First Submarine: 1775

There is no doubt that Bushnell's Turtle - a submarine designed to help break the British blockade of New York harbour during the US Civil War was a masterpiece of epic and "Steampunk" proportions.

Made from a huge log hewn in half and shaped to be hollow, the idea was that this little sub would allow the pilot to attach a bomb to a British ship while undetected underwater.

A study of its reproduction can be found at
http://www.handshouse.org/turtle.html

Intelligent Design Crop Circles

Pithy!

The Changing Face of Calgary

Before:



After:


This rendering apparently includes all of the currently approved real estate developments for the downtown core and belt line area. (2008).



This rendering is what Calgary would look like if the Burj project from Dubai (Tallest Sky Scraper in the world) was transplaned to downtown Calgary.

Where's Chthulhu?

Astronomy Picture of the Day, June 18, 2003

Official Government Issued Gas Coupons.

Order of Canada - Returned

In the wake of Dr. Henry Morgentaler being awarded the Order of Canada for his commitment to women's rights, a spate of other recipients are threatening to return their own awards.

Gilbert Finn, former Leiutenant Governer of New Brunswick.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/07/09/nb-finn.html?ref=rss

Rev. Lucien Larre
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/03/priest-order-canada.html

So instead of being a symbol of recognition for service to Canadians, these men have transformed this honour into a tool to be used for political grandstanding. It would be the same as an Atheist refusing the order because a Theist had received it in the past, or a Theist (like Rev. Lucien) returning the order if it were awarded to an open Atheist.

Shameful, really, when politics can mar the symbol of admiration used to celebrate a person's contribution to Canadian Society.

"Defenders of Science shouldn't let the sophits carry the day."

from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008001029_rhetoricop17.html

[quote]
"Third, today's sophists exploit a public misconception about what science is, portraying it as a structure of complete consensus built from the steady accumulation of unassailable data. Any dissent is cited as evidence that there's no consensus, and thus that truth must not have been discovered yet.

A more accurate portrayal of science recognizes it to be a process of debate among a community of experts in which the side with superior evidence and argument wins. Unanimity of belief never exists, but the process of science moves forward with the weight of a supermajority.

It is perverse to continue debating an issue that has already been settled for the vast majority of scientists merely so that policymakers will delay action, or so that the losing side can be taught on an equal footing in the classroom.

Aristotle believed that things that are true "have a natural tendency to prevail over their opposites" but that it takes a skilled user of rhetoric to defeat sophisticated sophistry. I concur. The manufactured controversy must be exposed for what it is — the assertion of an important scientific debate where none exists.

Science will continue to be the victim of anti-science sophistry until the defenders of science learn to use my field — rhetoric — to achieve what Aristotle envisioned for it: to make strong arguments carry the day before an audience of non-experts."

[/quote]


Indeed. The "Teach the Controversy" school of debate often must first manufacture a controversy. "Manufactroversy". What is the best response to a "Manufactroversy"? IS it ridicule, illumination of the fallacies inherent, satire, responsive sophistry, or a combination of these and more?

Home Theatre - Basement Update - Soffit Work

View from the Projection wall:


Left-hand Stub:


Right-hand - past the projector barn:


The infamous Custom-cut:
(Measure 10 times, still cut twice....*#$#%&!!)


Over the Wet Bar:



I know. Progress is slow, but we're getting there slowly but surely.