Three generations of scientists

Bottom row, left to right.

Marc Perry: Bioinformatics researcher and former graduate student in my lab.
Mike Ellison: Professor, University of Alberta (Alberta, Canada) and former graduate student in the lab of my colleague David Pulleyblank.
Trevor Moraes: Professor in my department at the University of Toronto and former graduate student with Mike Ellison.
Kim (Bird) Ellison: Professor at the University of Alberta, former undergraduate student in my lab (where she met Mike Ellison), Ph.D. at MIT.

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Vimy Ridge

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The battle invovled four divisions of the Canadian Corps and it has become a symbol for Canada of the sacrifices made during World War I. The symbol is remarkable for the beautiful Canadian National Vimy Ridge Memorial designed by Walter Seymour Allward. He intended it to be a "sermon against the futility of war."

It is remarkably successful as such a symbol since, among other things, it contains the names of more than 11,000 Canadians who died in World War I and whose bodies were never recovered. We visited the memorial in 2011 with my granddaughter Zoë [Canadian National Vimy Memorial] and found the name of Lance Corporal Robert Alexander Hood, a cousin of Leslie's grandfather and Zoë's great-great-grandfather.

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Edinburgh, Scotland

This is our first visit to Scotland. We rented an apartment in the top floor of this house in the middle of the city. It's a 20 minute walk to the port (Leith) and about the same distance to the old city (Edinburgh).

We'll be staying for two weeks in Scotland.

Our first meal in Scotland was at a pub in "the shore" near the main port.

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Bastille Day

Today is the Fête Nationale in France known also as "le quatorze juillet" or Bastille Day.

This is the day in 1789 when French citizens stormed and captured the Bastille—a Royalist fortress in Paris. It marks the symbolic beginning of the French revolution although the real beginning is when the Third Estate transformed itself into the National Assembly on June 17, 1789 [Tennis Court Oath].

Ms. Sandwalk and I visited the site of the Bastille (Place de la Bastille) when we were in Paris in 2008. There's nothing left of the former castle but the site still resonates with meaning and history.

One of Ms Sandwalk's ancestors, William Playfair witnessed the storming of the Bastille.

In honor of the French national day I invite you to sing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise. An English translation is provided so you can see that La Marseillaise is truly a revolutionary call to arms. (A much better translation can be found here.)

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Check out Uncertain Principles for another version of La Marseillaise—this is the famous scene in Casablanca.

Reposted from 2009.

Research for a book

I'm on sabbatical this term, working on a possible book whose working title is "What's in Your Genome?: 90% of your genome is junk."

Here's some of the most important books I've read (or re-read) in the past few months.

I've also read a lot of papers and scribbled notes on what's important and what's bullshit not. The most difficult part about keeping up with the scientific literature is organizing it in some meaningful way so you can quickly find it again if you need to—something I do just about every day.

Everyone has their own method. What works for me is to keep an electronic reference with key words and links to a file folder on a particular topic. (I use EndNote.) Here are the folders with all the papers I've been reading in the past few months.

I don't know how other authors behave but for me the most difficult thing about writing a book is organizing my thoughts and planning how to present them in the most effective manner. I tend to write too much on too many topics so the initial drafts usually have to be pared down considerably. Keeping that in mind, what are YOUR favorite topics?

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Who was Saint Valentine? Nobody really knows very much about the Saints Valentine (there were about a dozen of them). The whole idea of romantic Valentine's day seems to have been invented by Geoffrey Chaucer¹ sometime around 1380.

It seems like people in England just wanted to enjoy a bit of debauchery fun on February 14th so they connected their frolics with a Roman Catholic saint in order to get the permission of the church! Pretty clever, eh?

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1. Geoffrey Chaucer is my distant cousin by marriage [My Connection to Geoffrey Chaucer and Medieval Science ].

I'm going to London!

I've just registered for the Royal Society meeting on New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical and social science perspectives to be held on Nov. 7-9, 2016.

I'm looking forward to learning about all the paradigm-shifting work on evolutionary theory from the likes of Denis Noble and the Third Way crowd [Physiologists fall for the Third Way]. There may even be some famous members of the Altenberg 16 [More calls to extend the defunct Modern Synthesis].

I'm taking Ms. Sandwalk and hope to show her Down House. She loves old English houses.

She'll also be really excited to see Darwin's tomb in Westminster Abbey and tour the Natural History Museum. We'll make it a fun-filled week of science and evolution! Why don't you join us?

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Celebrating Lucy Maud Montgomery

Today Google celebrates the birthday of Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942). She is the author of Anne of Green Gables and other books.

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Prince Edward Island (Canada) and after getting her teaching certificate from Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown (P.E.I.) she attended Dalhousie University in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada) before taking up a teaching position in P.E.I. That's when she wrote Anne of Green Gables (1908).

In 1911 she married a Presbyterian minister, Ewen Macdonald, and moved to Uxbridge, Ontario (northeast of Toronto). In 1926, she and her husband moved to Norval, Ontario, a small village due north of where I live in Mississauga, Ontario. We've passed her house many times. She lived there until 1935 when she moved to Swansea, Ontario, now a part of western Toronto between the Humber River and High Park. She died there in 1942 and was buried in P.E.I.

Lucy Maud Montgomery is a distant cousin of mine. I descend from the Coles. The genealogy is confusing but at some point in time a Mr. Cole and his wife Mary (maiden name unknown) came to North America, probably New York. Their son, Benjamin Cole, is my great⁴-grandfather. Mr. Cole died sometime around 1765 and Mary married George Penman. The history is confusing, they may have lived in New England and moved to P.E.I. just before or after the American Revolution. They self-identify as United Empire Loyalists.

Mary is my great⁵ grandmother and she had several children with George Penman. Two of them were Nancy (b. 1768) and Elizabeth ("Betsy") (b. 1769). Nancy married Donald Montgomery of the "New Moon" farm in Malpeque, P.E.I. (Emily of New Moon). Her sister married David Murray.

Donald Montgomery, the son of Nancy & Donald, married his first cousin Ann Murray, daughter of Elizabeth & David. Their son, Hugh John Montgomery, was Lucy Maud Montgomery's father.

Thus, Lucy Maud Montgomery's great grandmother is my great-great-great-great-great grandmother.

Hawker Hurricanes and Typhoons in World War II

Last week we went to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) with our grandson Luca [see The Latest Excursion]. Here I am with Luca standing beside a Hawker Hurricane from World War II.

My father, F/L Laurence Victor "Vic" Kirsch,¹ was a fighter pilot in World War II and he flew Hurricanes and, later, rocket-firing Hawker Typhoons with the RAF 164 Squadron known as the Argentine British Squadron because of the volunteers from Argentina. (My father was seconded from the RCAF (Canada)).

Here's a picture of him (below) in the cockpit of one of his planes.

I have his log books. The first page (right) shows him flying Hurricanes ("Hurry") in sorties over France in December 1943. This was just when the squadron was preparing to switch to Typhoons and become specialists in ground support in preparation for D-Day.

The next entries (below) are facing pages from June, 1944. Note the entry for June 6, 1944. On the left is "DER TAG" in red and on the right is "LONG AWAITED 2nd FRONT IS HERE." The entry for June 5th reads, "Deas and self flew to Cherbourg and reported the weather. Flew over the invasion fleet, impressive sight. Hundreds of naval craft and A/C cover. Wouldn't have missed this sight for the world. Dark when we landed and silly old Deas practised landing on his belly."

The entry for June 6th (D-Day) reads, "Followed SQDN across channel. Saw hundreds of ships. Jumped by 90's."

On June 14th (one week after D-Day) the squadron lands at their new base in Crépon, France.

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1. He died in a plane crash when I was four months old. My mother remarried and I was adopted by my stepfather, K.R. Moran.

Café Scientifique in Mississauga

Some of you might recall that I gave a presentation at a Café Scientifique in Mississauga (Ontario, Canada) [Café Scientifique]. It was a lot of fun and there were many interesting people at the meeting.

The new season continues on Monday, October 26h with a meeting at 7 pm at The Franklin House, 263 Queen St S., in Streetsville, Mississauga (Ontario Canada) [see Meetup]. Come and join us for a discussion about teaching critical thinking in Ontario schools. My friend Chris DiCarlo is the speaker.

Come hear TVO 2008 Best Lecturer winner Christopher DiCarlo talk about “Introducing Standard Critical Thinking Skills to Ontario High Schools”.

The topic follows Dr. DiCarlo's efforts over the last five years or so to personally lobby the Ministry of Education and various School Boards in an effort to start a pilot project which introduces both teachers and students to the value of basic Critical Thinking skills. The Pilot Project began in September, 2014 with the Upper Grand District School Board. The first year of the project was a great success. It is now entering its 2nd phase which involves the development of video footage and written materials for Learning Modules which will be made available to all teachers throughout Ontario and eventually, Canada. These modules can be used for any grades, though they are intended for grades 9 and 10 in order to introduce these skills as early as possible in High School. The eventual plan also includes the development of a stand-alone course for Grade 12.

Dr. Christopher DiCarlo is a philosopher, educator, and author. He currently teaches in the Faculties of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. He is also a lifetime member of Humanist Canada and an Expert Advisor for the Centre for Inquiry Canada.

He has been invited to speak at numerous national and international conferences and written many scholarly papers ranging from bioethics to cognitive evolution. His latest book entitled: How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass: A Critical Thinker’s Guide to Asking the Right Questions was released worldwide by Prometheus Press in August, 2011 and is currently in its fifth printing and is a best-seller in the U.S.

He is currently working on his latest book tentatively entitled: Flying Without A Pilot: A Determined Look at the Future of Ethics, Law, and the Value of Human Behavior.

In April, 2008 he was awarded TV Ontario’s Big Ideas Best Lecturer in Ontario Award for his lecture “The Relations of Natural Systems”.

In August, 2008, he was honoured with the Canadian Humanist of the Year Award from the Humanist Association of Canada.

Dr. DiCarlo is the Director of Critical Thinking Solutions, a consulting business for individuals, corporations, and not-for-profits in both the private and public sectors. He is also the developer of the first Pilot Project in Canada to introduce Standardized Critical Thinking skills into the Ontario Public High School curriculum which has begun in the Upper Grand District School Board.

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"#For the King" nears the end of its Kickstarter campaign - add a Darwin statue!

My son's new game, For The King (#ForTheKing), is doing well on Kickstarter. So far they have over 3000 backers and over $120,000 [Kickstarter: For The King]. They met their launch goal within 24 hours and now they're closing in on the last defined stretch goal at $125,000 (balloons and highlands).

There's less than two days to go and the team [IronOak Games] has provided some incentive. Every time you post or tweet about For The King using the #ForTheKing hashtag your name will be put in a draw and the winning name will get a statue of him/her in the game.

If my name is chosen I'm going to ask for a statue of Charles Darwin. Help me get a stature of Darwin into the game by tweeting and posting #ForTheKing and promising to substitute Darwin for your own statue if you win.

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For the King gets greenlit and furry companions

My son's new game, For The King, is doing well on Kickstarter. So far they have over 1600 backers and over $78,000 [Kickstarter: For The King]. They met their launch goal within 24 hours and now they're adding stretch goals when additional support comes in.

I'm excited that they've reached $75,000 because that activates the "Furry Companions" addition to the game. You'll be familiar with the concept if you remember Hack and NetHack [see Pet - WikiHack]. You now get a pet in For The King. But be careful! Sometimes your pet can turn on you and you don't want that to happen if you have a pet dragon or a pet cockatrice.

In other news, the team has created musicians ...

As we near the inevitable Furry Companions stretch goal, we have our sites now on The Sound of Music stretch goal. The Sound of Music will add musicians and musical instruments to the game along with some potentially awesome mechanics. Primarily a support class, musicians make everyone around them better through their inspiring songs and ballads.

We'll be experimenting with some unique mechanics for this class like having them guarantee a successful slot for other party members if they successfully play an inspiring ballad. However if they miss a few notes it may have the opposite effect, so you'll have to use this ability wisely. They can potentially use the reverse of this ability against their enemies, forcing them to fail a slot. In this manner they can neutralize enemy special attacks and critical strikes if they're on key.

Different instruments will allow for different abilities so the option will also be there for them to play ballads of destruction doing AOE type damage to groups of enemies. Think Fire Lutes! We're really excited about this class and can't wait to share our ideas and progress on it with you.

I'm relieved at this description 'cause I was worried that the musicians would play the kind of music that my son used to listen to when he was growing up!

Give them more money if you want The Sound of Music. (I suspect that this stretch goal is aimed at Ms. Sandwalk and my daughter and granddaughter.)

The most exciting news is that For The King has been Greenlit. I suspect that most Sandwalk readers don't have any idea what this means. It means that the game has been accepted by the Steam community so it will be published on Steam—a fantastic gaming platform: Steam Greenlights For The King. They got voted in within 5 days!

I'm beginning to think that this game will be a success and my son and daughter-in-law won't have to move into our basement. Thanks to all Sandwalk readers who supported my son.

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For The King: Kickstarter meets its launch goal in 24 hours!!!!

Recall that my son, Gord, and his friends Colby Young, David Lam, and Sean Hoyle [The Dev Team] formed IronOak Games to create "For The King." They need money to pay for development. I promoted their Kickstarter campaign at: Kickstarter - For The King.

I'm delighted to announce that they have met their threshold goal of $40,000. That means that all the donations will go through and the project has launched! (You need to achieve a minimum goal or none of the Kickstarter donations count.)

Gord posted a little happy dance video to celebrate.

They are now at $52,000 with over 700 backers. Because they reached the minimum goal, they have activated "stretch goals" where they can add extra features to the game. Here's what the Dev Team said in a email message to the supporters.

What a few days it’s been! First of all.....we did it! Thank you to so many people for backing us, sharing the project and showing interest! It’s really amazing, we’ve been humbled and just couldn’t be happier. An extra special thanks to our friends, family and colleagues who supported us as soon as the campaign was live, you people are awesome!

We worked immense hours as the launch date got closer and closer, fine tuning and polishing everything we could think of. It was a great feeling to hit the green Publish button, but I’m not going to lie, we were terrified. It feels really good to have people appreciate something we believe so firmly in.

The next order of business is that we already hit a mini stretch goal, The Dead Shall Rise! As a big thank you, all of our Kickstarter backers will be able to play as the adorable undead and carry on with their adventure even though death clearly came knocking a long time ago. To clarify, the undead skins are just aesthetic alternatives for our 6 core playable characters which grant no gameplay advantage whatsoever.

Looking ahead we are beginning to creep up on the Frost Realm stretch goal! I am so excited because we were forced to make some cuts from the our core set of realms and we made the hard decision of removing it. This was done not because we didn’t want it in the game but because it needs the extra attention to be everything it should be!
The Frost Realm will be a whole new biome with its own crippling weather and secluded boroughs to discover. New scourges, yetis, ice dungeons and other frozen abominations terrorizing the foolish who seek adventure. This will be a truly savage addition to Fahrul’s colorful kingdom.

I should mention that the speed at which this all unfolded blindsided us, sorry for any delays! Stretch Goal reveal will be coming shortly!

For The King!

I bought a university and a professor-sage character who gives players advice on how to win the game. Ms. Sandwalk bought a village fair with a princess who lets you win valuable prizes in the midway games. Now we have to design our characters. You will encounter them in the game!

The Frost Realm is cool¹ but I'm looking forward to the next stretch goal at $70,000. I'm not supposed to tell you what it is but here's a hint ... it's one of the most important features in Hack!

Keep donating to make the game even better.

Here's a video that I hadn't seen before. It features my son (and a few other dudes)! I'm so proud of him. He couldn't have done any of this without a business degree from McGill!

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1. Pun intended.

For The King Kickstarter Campaign Begins

My son, Gord, and his friends Colby Young, David Lam, and Sean Hoyle [The Dev Team] formed IronOak Games. Their first game will be "For The King" and they need money to pay for development. I am shamelessly¹ promoting their Kickstarter campaign at: Kickstarter - For The King.

I'm buying a university and a professor-sage character who gives players advice on how to win the game. Ms. Sandwalk is buying a village fair with a princess who lets you win valuable prizes in the midway games.

For only $50 you can name a ghost after yourself or your favorite creationist! And for $175 you can become a dead adventurer or name one after Richard Dawkins or Stephen Jay Gould! For $500 you can become a Scourge in the game. This is ideal for the trolls who infest Sandwalk.

$15 - TRAVELER
+Digital Copy of the Game (Includes Early Access on Steam, PC or Mac)

$20 - QUEST RUNNER
+Closed Beta Access
+Backer Forum/Poll Access
+KS Exclusive PC and Phone Wallpapers
+Digital Copy of the Game (Includes Early Access on Steam, PC or Mac)

$25 - ADVENTURER (EARLY BIRD) Limited reward (250 left of 250)
-Get everything from the Adventurer Tier below at a discounted price!

$30 - ADVENTURER
Includes all rewards from the tiers below plus:
+KS Exclusive In-Game Hat Skins for each of the main characters
+Your name in credits
+Digital "Illustrated Adventuring Guide"
An experienced adventurer never leaves home without their favorite hat. Unlock hats for each of the main characters so you can adventure in style.

$40 - BANSHEE (EARLY BIRD) Limited reward (100 left of 100)
-Get all the Banshee level rewards at a discounted price

$50 - BANSHEE
Includes all rewards from the tiers below plus:
+A ghost named after you in game!
+A digital print of the lore page for your ghost
+Original soundtrack by John Matz as digital download
Your body is no more, but your spirit lives on! Your ghost will appear near the graveyard as an enemy (with your name) which players can encounter and fight

$70 - WRAITH
Includes all rewards from the tiers below plus:
+Upgrade your in-game ghost to a Wraith
+A digital print of the lore page for your Wraith
+An exclusive KS BackPack skin for your characters
Be directly responsible for even more carnage and suffering by being able to attach your name to a powerful Wraith that roams the areas surrounding the graveyard and places deep underground.

$80 - LET'S GET PHYSICAL! (EARLY BIRD) Limited reward (25 left of 25)
+Get the rewards of the Let's Get Physical Tier at a discounted rate!

$95 - LET'S GET PHYSICAL!
Includes all rewards from the tiers below plus:
+Physical "Illustrated Adventuring Guide"
+For The King or IronOak T-Shirt (Your choice)
-Shipping included for anywhere in US or Canada
-Please add $20 for shipping to other countries

$125 - DESIGNER - BLACKSMITH Limited reward (30 left of 30)
Includes all rewards from the tiers below plus:
+Design an in game item, weapon, or armor piece.
+Receive a one of a kind physical print of your item in a lore page style
+Designer Credit
-Shipping included for anywhere in US or Canada
-Please add $20 for shipping to other countries
Work with the design team to create an actual item that will appear in the game. Choose between a weapon, helmet, herb, or other trinket. Describe it's appearance and positive/negative effects!

$175 - DESIGNER - REAPER Limited reward (25 left of 25)
Includes all rewards from the non-designer tiers below plus:
+Become a dead adventurer whose body can be found in game.
+Receive a one of a kind digital print of your dead body in a lore page style.
+Designer credit
-Shipping included for anywhere in US or Canada
-Please add $20 for shipping to other countries
Your quest has come to an untimely end but you can still serve the king. Choose how you died, your appearance and name, and what you may have been carrying for other more fortunate adventurers to find.

$250 - FOR THE KING! - NO PHYSICAL
Includes all rewards from one of the designer tiers below plus:
+Includes 2 additional digital copies of For The King (3 total)
+Receive any future For The King DLC, Expansions, or Add-Ons for free
+Choose to design an in game item or dead adventurer (see designer tiers for more details, no physical print)
+Special Executive Producer Credit
Great for international supporters, no shipping costs. Bring along your friends with a total of 3 copies for the ultimate cooperative adventure with free DLC forever on all 3 games. Plus you get to choose to design an in game item or dead adventurer (see designer tiers for more details).

$300 - FOR THE KING!
Includes all rewards from one of the designer tiers below plus:
+Includes 2 additional digital copies of For The King (3 total)
+Receive any future For The King DLC, Expansions, or Add-Ons for free
+Choose to design an in game item or dead adventurer (see designer tiers for more details)
+Special Executive Producer Credit
-Shipping included for anywhere in US or Canada
-Please add $20 for shipping to other countries
Bring along your friends with a total of 3 copies for the ultimate cooperative adventure with free DLC forever on all 3 games. Plus you get to choose to design an in game item or dead adventurer (see designer tiers for more details)

$500 - CREATOR - SCOURGE Limited reward (5 left of 5)
Includes all rewards from the non-designer tiers plus:
+Become a scourge in game!
+Receive a one of a kind physical lore page about the scourge you created!
+Special Executive Producer and Creator Credit
-Shipping included for anywhere in US or Canada
-Please add $20 for shipping to other countries
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Work with our design team to create, design, and name a scourge, give them some wicked game altering abilities and be immortalized in game as the one everyone loathes!

$1000 - CREATOR - HERO Limited reward (5 left of 5)
Includes all rewards from the non-designer tiers plus:
+Become a playable character in game!
+Receive a one of a kind physical lore page about the character you created
+Special Executive Producer and Creator Credit
-Shipping included for anywhere in US or Canada
-Please add $20 for shipping to other countries
The ultimate hero. Work with our design team to create a character's traits, appearance, class, starting items and special abilities. Immortalize yourself or just be creative. Your character will appear in game as an adventurer that everyone can play.

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1. Well, maybe a little bit of shame. But what's the point of having a blog if you can't use it to help keep your son from living in our basement?

For The King: Get ready for Kickstarter

Colby Young, Gordon Moran, David Lam, and Sean Hoyle of IronOak Games are making a game called For The King.

Follow them on Facebook at IronOak Games or on Twitter at IronOakGames.

For The King is a turn based RPG that can be played solo or cooperatively online. Featuring long term strategic adventuring, turn based combat, and persistent choices, For The King aims to distill the epicness of traditional RPGs into an adventure that can be completed from beginning to end in a single session. Players must survive cunning enemies and creatures, wicked weather and brutal traps in their quest to solve the mysterious death of the king and bring order to the land.

• Online Multi-Player Adventure: Embark on your own or with up to 3 people online. Travel and fight together or dare to set off on your own.
• Short, Epic, Replayable: All the grandness of an epic adventure distilled into a 2 hour highly replayable game from start to finish.
• Turn Based Combat: Turn based combat with unique slot and combo system, battle stances, focus points, items, and special abilities.
• Strategic Procedural World: The map, realms, and locations you'll encounter will be different every play through. Every time it's a unique adventure.
• Persistent Lore: Collect and research in lore to build a unique game world by unlocking special persistent game mechanics in the order of your choosing.
• Day/Night Cycle: New challenges and horrors emerge at different times of day.
• Persistent Weapon Crafting: Craft powerful weapons over multiple play throughs.
• Dynamic Weather and Nature: Encounter weather and natural events that have a variety of effects, good and bad.

Gordon Moran¹ is the artist responsible for most of the images you see in the trailer below. He did not inherit his talent from me.

This is a game for those of us who loved Hack and Rogue and don't like the modern games.

If you like the idea, get ready for the Kickstarter campaign that begins tomorrow. As soon as it starts, I'll post the link and the list of rewards. I'll also tell you what characters Ms. Sandwalk and I are buying. You will get to see them when you play the game.

If you give enough money you may be able to name an evil character. Wouldn't it be fun to battle "Casey Luskin" or Jonathan Wells"?

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1. He is my son. I have a personal interest in promoting this game. I don't want him moving into the basement. Just so you know.

What am I doing on my summer vacation?

Here's what I'm doing this summer (right) when I'm not fighting creationists, writing a book, giving talks, playing with the grandchildren, and visiting exotic cities in Canada and the United States.

I built the main part of the patio twenty years ago. I recall working on it for 6-8 hours at a stretch but today I'm pooped after three hours.

I think the stones have gotten heavier.

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Summer Reading

These are the books I've read, or finished reading, this summer beginning in June.

This is the book that I'm re-reading very carefully.

This is still my favorite book

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