Rotundus.com

Sometimes people have suggested that an arts degree leads to you asking "would you like fries with that?", but last week I hit a fairly similar question (albeit, it was "tie" rather than "ties"). I decided to buy a new suit in conjunction with my M.Sc. thesis defense, and the question was asked when I grabbed an extra dress shirt when picking up my new suit.

On the subject of my thesis, I passed my M.Sc. thesis defense this morning. I need to do a few tweaks to the thesis before I can submit the final copy, but am hoping that I can accomplish that within the next couple of days. I'm hoping that, unlike last year, this time I'll actually have a true end-of-year break (depending on what I can get done before I leave I may look at extending my time away).

Then in January begins what for me will be post-secondary degree #3.

Some people tend to think of me as a traditionalist, but others (who I think know me better) think of me as being somewhat atraditional or even antitraditional.

In a somewhat odd move for me, I figured that I'd plug some music that could be called Christmas themed (although not with traditional "Christmas" tunes). Honestly, this gets little play at my place in December compared to other times of the year, but, since most folks seem relatively traditional, now seems a good time to plug it (although it's probably too late to order for Christmas at this point)

A days ago ago I posted about the new executive edition 7-day alarm clock. It's not the only alarm clock available though.

First up is the Nanda Clocky robot (also available in Canada). To keep you from constantly hitting the snooze button, this alarm clock will move around the room to prevent you from just slapping a stationary button.

A close competitor in the "cool" category is the Flying Alarm Clock. To shut off the alarm here you need to run across the room to retrieve the key that flies off the top of the alarm.

(Yes, this is a 2:30am post - I've been a bit of an insomniac this week, and tonight seems no exception. Kind of fitting that the topic of the post is alarm clocks I guess.)

This is rather weird. Richard Dawkins, for those of you who haven't heard of him is known for books like The God Delusion. He, for example, has called the act of parents passing on Christian beliefs to their children a form of child abuse.

Prof Dawkins, who has frequently spoken out against creationism and religious fundamentalism, replied: "I'm not one of those who wants to stop Christian traditions.

"This is historically a Christian country. I'm a cultural Christian in the same way many of my friends call themselves cultural Jews or cultural Muslims.

"So, yes, I like singing carols along with everybody else. I'm not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history."
(BBC)

Here's an excerpt of Albert Mohler's response:

We can only wonder which Christmas carols are Richard Dawkins' favorites. The sight of an avowed atheist joining in the Christmas chorus is a bit hard to imagine. At the same time, there is something comforting about the idea that even the world's most famous atheist will move his lips to the songs that celebrate Christ's birth. Perhaps those words will move from his lips to his head and his heart. We should pray that it might be so.

(HT: Boundless Line)