And the word of the week is: jackass. Glad I could help educate! ;-)
Oct 26 - Monday Madness
Ah, boardgames - they're becoming a somewhat lost pasttime, what with the advent of home video game systems. Remember the classics you played as a kid, and perhaps still do? Well, here's a twist on some of those games: the original box art, with the titles changed to perfectly sum up the game in only a few words. I think the one at the end for the game of 'Diplomacy' is totally apt...
Ye gods! What are people thinking when it comes to custom collectables these days? I like a good sci-fi spaceship model as much as the next person, even moreso when it is one of Serenity.... but this takes the cake! Who out there can even afford one of those things?
Work today saw us launch a new payday loan product, which has been a pain to prepare for. Overall, I think it's a good thing for the business as it levels the playing field for everyone in the business, but the transition is going to be a bumpy one for a little while. Which means longer hours and more stress at work - what else is new? I don't find it depressing though: I'm too tired.
Oct 27 - Windows 7 arrives!
Guess what arrived in the mail today? Windows 7! Considering I was expecting it by Friday at the earliest, I was thrilled - as today was my day off, I spent most of the afternoon and evening getting it installed on my laptop. It went really, really smoothly - the most time spent was copying files and re-installing programs after Win7 was done. Which highlights the need for a fast file system not hampered by slow wireless speeds or sluggish USB cords - next on my upgrade list is an eSATA drive and connector card, both of which I should be able to get on the cheap nowadays from various sources, being fairly common current tech out there. I hate waiting... for... things... to... copy!
So far, it's been a joy to use. My laptop performs like it should have back when I first bought it with Vista on it: fast, responsive and zippy! My 'Windows Experience' scores have all gone up by a point each, which means that the new Win7 OS is a LOT faster than Vista ever was - it's what Vista should have been, instead of ending up as a bloated design made by committee.
And: what would be a blog post without some mention of Neil Gaiman? How about this for a change: an audiobook of Good Omens by Mr. Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - for free! Go have a listen, and try not to let the narrator's voice pull you under, never to return....
Which brings me to some JMS( J. Michael Straczynski )news: the creator of Babylon 5 is currently involved in adapting a video game about a future civil war in the United States - how cool is that? Shattered Union sounds like it will be quite the commentary about life in the near future, probably with a healthy dose of commentary on the human condition and politics tossed in, if JMS is true to form. Can't wait to find out more about this update to an old classic game!
Oct 28 - Paper and People
Now THIS is just incredible: an entire miniature city... made out of paper! Turns out it is the work of an art student in Tokyo, which is just incredible - it has electric lights and even a working train built-in!
I picked up a book called Plague Year a while back, which was a good yarn about what might happen should nanotech get loose in the world and wreak it's sub-micronic havoc on people and living things. Jeff Carlson, he author of the book, posted a great article on io9.com on why he likes to write about things apocalyptic, which I found really good reading - it's all about the human condition and what we make of it. Which brings Tolkien to mind: he recently made the Forbes List of Richest Dead Celebs - though if you're dead, it's probably no biggie as you're beyond caring. But if it's nice to be remembered, is it even better to be rich on paper too?
What's with Stoked on iTunes? I've been waiting... and waiting... and waiting for the newer episodes to come out( hurry up, Apple! )as I've purchased the entire first season - nada. Two episodes, then nothing since. What gives?
Oct 29 - How DID I get so punny?
Of late, I have been giving thought as to where my... eclectic... sense of humour arose from. After extensive thought, familial interviews and some lengthly research, I believe I have come to a conclusive origin: Asterix.
Filled with puns, satire and running gags along with stereotypes and allusions, the books are a joy to read for someone like myself... which begs the question of the chicken and the egg, really.
Seeing as today also happens to be the 50th anniversary of Asterix & Obelix, there's got to be some conspiracy or collusion at work here. The tales of the indomitable Gauls holding out against the Roman invaders captivated me as a child, especially as the stories unfolded with each new book purchased from trips to the Big City of Toronto. Classic Bookshop( now long gone )at the Eaton Centre was the source for many of my still-immaculate copies of Asterix & Obelix. As shown by the Google banner above, there are many millions of people out there who have come to love the characters created a half century ago, myself among them. Without Asterix, I don't think my sense of humour would have been nearly as sharp, and I recommend to anyone that they read a few of the Asterix books - you'll laugh out loud and always find something new that you didn't notice before. They're that good.
Also make sure you check out the November Guide to SciFi, courtesy of our friends at io9.com - lots of good things to check out.
Oct 30 - Torches and Borderlands
This morning was a busy one: I was in Victoria early today, down by the Parliment buildings to watch the lighting of the Olympic Torch... as well as hand out freebies from work in the crowd, which was as good an excuse as any to be there. The rain held off, which was great for the crowd that had gathered - you can get a sense of it all in this video here, except for the ten minutes it took to actually light the torch. Seems the flame burns continually, but not hot enough to ignite a stubborn transfer cauldron. Go figure... plus, the extreme low-altitude flight of 3 CF-18 Hornets woke up the entire city - I've never seen an entire street full of people clap their hands to their ears so fast in unison!
And YAY ME! In the interim from returning from Victoria and heading to work, I managed to win a Swoopo auction, in only 4 bids! Instead of paying $69.99 for the hot Xbox game Borderlands( which is sold out everywhere here ), I got it for... $3.24. Yep... total of just $10.22 with taxes and shipping. I'll be checking the mail all next week for it! Huzzah! Too bad it takes far more effort( and deep pockets )to win auctions most of the time on that site - when people start to bid-fight, I sit back and usually just walk away, not worth the pain to my wallet. Timing is everything!
Have you ever had the feeling when watching a TV show or movie, that you've seen someone from it before, somewhere else? IMDB.com is a great place to search for links between shows for actors, and this week I came up with a find linking The Fifth Element and new new Star Trek reboot: Sonita Henry. I suppose if you watch something often enough, eventually your subconscious brain starts to put things together and you notice details, like noticing a particular model of car that you like and suddenly picking it out of the background of vehicles passing you by in a day. In Sonita's case, her exotic looks apparently lent themselves to making her look particularly alien in Star Trek...
Has it really been 30 years since Mad Max first hit the big screen in a blast of blaring horns and burning rubber? For those fans who still watch Max take on post-apocolyptic punks, some good news: Max Max 4 is in production!
Oct 31 - Tricky Treats!
Costumes... there's something about dressing up as What You Aren't that is key to the appeal of Halloween, I think. Much like the rise of Cosplay in recent years, being able to go out on the town in a skin other than your own is very liberating. Plus, it's just plain fun - especially when you see all the creativity that's gone into people's costumes! This year however, I did not go out, as all my plans fell through... and I didn't feel like being a lone barfly all dressed up with nobody to talk to.
One costume meme that I hope never dies out is from Return of the Jedi: what else but the Slave Leia outfit? It's been twenty years, but every year there are still a bountiful number of Leia's out here in bikinis, searching for their Jabba to deal with. What's not to like?
And what the heck? I had no idea that the economic crisis had hit Iceland so hard - apparently today was the last day to get a Big Mac there, as every McDonald's in the country is closing up shop! Whoulda thunkit? Not that I mourn the loss, as I've not eaten at a McD's in over a decade now... makes my stomach turn just to think about it, really.
Nov 1 - Two Years already? Wow...
Oh, the humanity! It seems half the Island was in my lobby today as I worked at our Colwood branch. I spent the entire 7 hours we were open standing at the counter, serving people as fast as I could... because MORE were piling through the door. By the end of the insanity, I had averaged one customer every 3.5 minutes, with no break, no lunch and no energy - I was totally knacked by day's end and had to spend even more time putting things in order. I can honestly say that it was the hardest shift since I started working here, especially since it was just me there -even the SA days were more bearable with a few co-workers to allow breaks every few hours. But I don't think anyone else there could have handled it, so that's a feather in my cap... but I do NOT want to do that again ANY time soon! Gawds...
Today marks two years that I've been living in Victoria. No pithy words today, not fond reminisences about Niagara shall you find in today's entry: I'm here to stay, barring lottery wins - even then I may simply get a nice cozy place here on the Island. As I wrote on this day last year, it's been different and though I am currently not in a place of my own, I don't see that situation lasting longer than the current economic crisis - when things start moving again, I will too. For now, I have my hands more than full dealing with incredible work stress, family stress and financial stress... I'm finding new depths of willpower to deal with such, but it's wearing. Having friends around to relax with would be fantastic, but right now the closest I get to that are COD4 days online... shooter games are VERY good for stress relief!
I do get this a lot: "Move back to Niagara..." people say to me. Right now, that's not in the cards, though from what I'm reading apartments are getting bigger, while houses are getting smaller - check it out here. Smaller IS better!
Overall, I think the choice to move to Victoria has been the right one for me despite some unforseen bumps along the way - which is almost always the case anyway.
Well, it's actually Tuesday AM now, but the blog's done and I'm a-bed. Cyas!
