The Magic Moment

From my wedding on Friday (July 10th) ...

Nuptials

Well, gentle readers, I will be getting married tomorrow.  My wild and crazy bachelor days are over.  Sorry ladies!

Above is a picture of my soon-to-be-wife, taken early in our courtship (Galway, summer of 2007).

Montreal

I spent last weekend in Montreal.  It was my bachelor's party.  On Saturday, after a night of rather heavy drinking, five of us marched up Mount Royal in order sweat out the remaining poisons in our system.  Unfortunately, it was not a very sunny day.  Above is a picture of the downtown, taken from the top of the mountain.

And here is a picture of four of my compatriots: Marcus K, John S, Peet P, and John C.  Not shown is myself, and the sleepy-heads: Brendan N (my brother), Brian R, and Jean C (the native).

Happy Canada Day, eh!

Changes

As you may have noticed, gentle readers, I have added a picture to the title page of this blog.  It is a view of University College at the University of Toronto, the place where, despite my remarkable propensity for procrastination, I managed to eek out a B.A. degree in 1992.

I also have started another blog, this one focused on my fascination with 'old school' fantasy role-playing games.  It is entitled Akratic Wizardry and can be found here.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this blog.  I doubt that I will close it down before late summer, however, as I would like to post some wedding pictures here, for the sake of friends far away and unable to attend.  Beyond that, though, the future of Daily Akrasia remains uncertain.

Student Insights 2009

I just finished grading undergraduate essays for yet another year.

As usual, I learned a lot from these young visionary minds. Here are some of their more profound insights.

“There are numerous accounts on what a legit political system is.”

The student continues to use the word ‘legit’ throughout his essay instead of the word ‘legitimate.’ MC Hammer lives!

“My argument for the harm principle may be cold but it is no less persuasive on that account: Darwin’s survival of the fittest.”

What? (This essay reminded me of one of my favourite lines from ‘Trailer Park Boys,’ when Ricky announces that the possible death of the fools Trevor and Corey is simply the consequence of “survival of the fitness!”)

“Overall Rousseau had the right idea when it came to uniting the people as one. Although not everybody is likely to be hunky dory to just give up all their rights and property to the sovereign when they join, when they do we see better results than in Locke’s society. Sorry Locke. Go cry in a room by yourself, as the individual you are.”

Good grief. This guy is a bully! Stop picking on Locke, dude.

“Our government functions best when it reflects all the good nature of the people it governs, including elasticity.”

Um yeah, elasticity, it’s the best thing about people.

“In a universe that is potentially endless, resources are also potentially endless. Interstellar travel is taking huge strides every year.”

Beam me up, Scotty!

I remain 'Akrasia'

Replace St. Peter with a "Tenure Committee" and you can understand why I blog under a nom de plume.

Of course, I haven't been doing much blogging lately -- let alone 'controversial' political blogging. Still, there are some things here from a few years ago that would not make me any friends in the philosophical community (including some things that I no longer think or endorse -- but sorting all that out would be tedious and unrewarding, to say the least).

(Hat tip: Grognardia)