Happy Pancake Day!

God knows I am a far cry from Catholic. And there is no way you'll catch me giving up booze, sex, chocolate, coffee or any of my other precious vices for the next forty days. But there is one tradition of those who hold the next two months as the holiest of days that I observe with a religious zeal that the Martyr St. Somebody-or-Other would be proud of. Pancake Tuesday, the last day before the beginning of lent, which is also known as Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras. I have no idea why, but somewhere along the line, my mother let slip that Pancake Tuesday was a special day, a tradition. And since then, I cannot remember a Fat Tuesday that was not observed in my household with Pancakes. Even now that the kids have left the nest, my Mother tells me that Daddy pouts if she tries to get away with not having Pancakes.
The Pancakes I made this year turned out awesomely. I made whole-wheat banana pancakes, which had the advantage of being delicious, reasonably healthy (until the maple syrup deluge, that is) and using up two of the ugly black bananas on the counter.
If you didn't have pancakes tonight, but would like to in the near future, I highly recommend the following recipe:

Mix in a blender until smooth:
2 very ripe bananas
1 and 1/4 cup of milk
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla

Add 1 cup of ww flour, 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, and 2 tsp of baking powder. Stir gently to moisten, and then blend very briefly on low power to mix more thoroughly.
Pour onto a hot pan.
Blueberries may be added to the pancakes as they cook, and add a very nice touch.

Enjoy. Happy Pancake Tuesday!

The Answer - It's a Llama!

Andy and Huey got it right. The answer is (c).

This is because when the male monkey is selected, it forbids selecting a female ostrich or a female panther (condition 3). Condition 1 tells us that at least one panther must be selected, or else both ostriches must be selected. But we have eliminated the femal ostrich as per condition 3. So we have to select a panther. The female panther is forbidden by conditions 3, so we know we have to choose the male panther. And, based on condition 2, if we want to select a male panther, we must also select a female Llama., which is answer (c).

Big Giant Bruise (Mom don't look!)

I have the coolest bruise from Rugby on Sunday. It's four days old, and still violently indigo. Check it out:

The return of the Monday Quiz, brought to you by plagiarizing Kaplan

In honour of me writing the LSAT on Saturday, I have decided to share a sample of the fun questions I was practicing to get ready. Keep in mind that I was studying from a study guide called "LSAT 180 - Intensive Practice for the Toughest Questions" (180 is a perfect score). Well, I like to set reasonable, attainable goals always. So here's a question from the "Logic Games" section. Hopefully I don't get sued for copyright infringement. :)
A zoo curator is selecting animals for the zoo's exhibit. Exactly one male and one female of each of the following types of animal are available: hippo, llama, monkey, ostrich, and panther. The following restrictions apply:
- If no panthers are selected, then both ostriches must be selected
- a male panther cannot be selected unless a female llama is selected
- If a male monkey is selected, then neither a female ostrich nor a female panther may be selected
- at least one hippo must be selected

Question: If a male monkey is selected, then which of the following animals must also be selected?
a) Female hippo
b) Male hippo
c) Female llama
d) Female monkey
e) Male ostrich

Adding a link or two

So, rather than just throw up a bunch of links from my site, it has always been my intention to add links, and at the same time talk a little about them and why they are meaningful to me.
1. Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency - www.mcsweeneys.net
I check this every weekday morning before begin the relentless tedium of my job. The site features a daily humour piece as well as new additions to one or two of its feature sections. The features include Lists, Open Letters to People or Entities Unlikely to Respond, Reviews of New Food, and McSweeney's Recommends. A recent piece called The Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush Wish to Return Their Television was very good. Enjoy!
2. The Company Bitch - www.thecompanybitch.blogspot.com
She hates her job. I hate mine. If we ever met in real life, I am sure we would bond.
3. Environment Canada Weather Office; Vancouver - www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-74_metric_e.html
I like to know if it will be sunny on the weekend.
4. WhistlerBlackcomb - www.whistlerblackcomb.com
I like to know if it will snow this week.
5. My Amazing Girl Friends! - www.relishtheride.blogspot.com, www.hollywooded.blogspot.com, www.hykwok.spaces.live.com
6. CBC News - www.cbc.ca/news
I like to read the news and pretend I care about national and world events.
7. Rick Mercer - www.cbc.ca/mercerreport
The funniest man on earth. I am coveting the Made in Canada DVD and hoping they will put the whole series on DVD someday (the first disc is only the first six episodes)

WTFWJD?

I saw this on a t-shirt yesterday, and I thought it was hilarious. I am well aware that this parody has been probably been floating around for ages and I have just now caught on, but I don't care. I just love it. WTFWJD?
What I find most amusing is this: as a blaspheming atheist, "What Would Jesus Do?" has never meant much to me. But now that someone has made this sacrilegious joke about the WWJD thing, that joke might actually have the effect on me that the original acronym is meant to have on Christian type people. It's like this - in a difficult situation, you're supposed to think, "What would Jesus do?" and ultimately take the most charitable action. So now, in a difficult situation, perhaps I will have the thought "What the fuck would Jesus do?" and I will chuckle inwardly, cheer up a bit, and then maybe, be in a better mood to deal charitably with the confrontation.

"An arrangement"

Okay, this is too funny not to share. It really brightened my dull Friday afternoon. The email read as follows:

"...Through an arrangement I have with Cupcakes here in Vancouver, we (the investment practice) have been sending small 'thank-yous' to clients/prospects we've been meeting with (i.e., 6 or 12 cupcakes). We have received very positive reviews through these follow-ups and have spent relatively little effort/money in doing so.

If you're interested, I will put you in touch with the corporate order desk at Cupcakes for your respective clients/prospects...just let me know..."

The man who sent this is currently dating (and in all likelihood screwing) one of the owners of Cupcakes.

"...relatively little effort..."

I laughed long.