Costumes, Collectables and Close Calls

What is a famous split infinitive?

Oct 19 - Neverwhere, not Never-When!

Can you juggle? If you can, your brain may have been.... rewired. Take a look here to find out more... cool stuff.

Today I had a bit of 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' while watching TV... leading me from Heath Ledger's A Knight's Tale all the way to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere! As it turns out, the blacksmith 'Kate' in the film on TV tonight is one Laura Fraser, whom I always liked in the film. Checking things on IMDB.com, I discovered that she had also starred in the BBC production of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere way back in 1996, which I've since discovered on YouTube.com ... amazing!

I've started to turn on a sunlamp that I bought a few years ago, to better keep my energy levels up in the darker winter months. I'm only using it during 'regular' daylight hours, and I hope that after a few weeks I'll be less tired early in the evenings than I am. According to my doctor and a few sources, a few hours of light therapy a day should do the trick.

Oct 20 - Audio Books

Brian sent me a link today to an audio novel of note: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I enjoyed it immensely, for quite a few reasons - not the least of which is that it has given me ideas about how to release my own work into the wide world. It is similar to the author's current work-in-progress, a novel based on pledges from the world at large - you can check it out here. Looks like it may be the wave of the future for publishing: find someone you like as a writer, and pay them to write a book for you. Nice idea, eh? There's a lot more to discover at Audible.com... thanks again, Brian!

Though my skill resides more towards the written art forms, I have to say I really, really wish I could carve pumpkins like these guys. Wow!!!

Today was frustrating in some ways, annoying in others and only occasionally relaxing. I spent the morning trying to win a few things on Swoopo, but apparently a lot of other people with today off were also interested in the items I wanted, so nothing jelled - but I didn't lose more than a few dollars, as it was so very crowded. The afternoon was spent trying to get my Xbox Live account to work properly: the Xbox360 just doesn't want to connect in less than ten tries on a good day. I've discovered that if I 'Test Connection' then go back to the login screen, it sometimes works more quickly. Posts on the 'net indicate this may be a function of my 'Lite' internet connection, so come the new year I'm thinking I'll have to go back to the 'Standard' monthly rate, despite the extra cost.

Oct 21 - 12 hours of stress

I was late for an early start today, thanks to forgetting to charge my organizer battery - the downside of tech. Fortunately things went very well, and the store was open only 30 minutes late after the audit was complete. I'm certain I didn't impress my district manager while she waited for me in the rain, but live and learn. In the evening I took the bus into Victoria( with some colourful company in the surrounding seats )to attend a business conference, which turned out to be a bust for marketing work. Still, I had some company from the company, so my co-worker and I traded pointers about the finer things of being professional until it was time to leave. Again, live and learn.

So, I'm fairly stressed out about work - moreso this morning than the rest of the day. I found this link where 5 tips for de-stressing at work are given - I liked the one about using company resources, as many of us pay for health services we never use, myself included. I'm still not sure about massage therapy, but since acumpuncture worked well on my leg( and improved my circulation to boot! )then I am willing to give it a try.

At least the night ended well: I received a call from Pierre tonight, who is interested in having me lend my skills to help him with his web business. Huzzah!

Oct 22 - Handy Halloween

For some reason, I can't stop staring at my hands today. A while back, friends of mine( you know who you are )told me that my thumbs are rather on the short side. Looking at my hands, I see them as perfectly proportioned... yet today I found myself sneaking looks at people's hands. It was weird, but I managed to stop by the end of the day, though a few looks were made at TV hands in the evening. That's genetics for you.

Ten days until Halloween, and I still just don't know if I am going out or not. So why not have a look at some of the incredibly cool costumes out there! One great place to go is WTFcostumes.com, which categorizes all the entries - check out the Transformers Bumblebee costume!

Neat! Collectables of various kinds dot my shelves, though few of any real monetary worth( maybe to posterity in future years? )so when something out there catches my eye, I have to mention it. Today, it is the head prop from the short-lived TV series The Tick. Cool, huh? I mean, it's blue!

And: a black hole... in your pocket?

Oct 23 - How I got my sense of humour...

Windows 7 was released today... anyone else out there non-plused by the ads so far? They make me want to take a step back, not to join these people in their purchses... in the meantime, I am backing things up. I'm also going to be trying out a few backup progames, like Macrium Reflect - Free Edition... it's free!

On the subject of Zombies: today was also Zombie Fest in Monroeville USA, site of the film that started it all at the Monroeville Mall: George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. 2,000 walking 'corpses' took to the halls and walkways of the mall to celebrate today - I wonder if deoderant was banned, for a more 'authentic' experience? Maybe there were a few superhero fans in the crowd - surely someone has to be buying copies of this kind of zombie comic lately.

Last but not least: today it was also announced that there will be a live-action version of Ghost in the Shell... huzzah!

Oct 24 - Yikes! Deer me!

Almost a tragedy today: on the way home from work, my dad hit a deer with the car. In actual fact, the deer was hit first by another car and tossed into my dad's path. Fortunately, the only damage was to the car: my dad managed to keep control and move out of traffic to stop safely by the side of the road. The car was able to be driven home, but needs extensive repairs - from what I can tell, only the hood and the front right quarter panel / headlight need replacement, but internal damage has been done to the engine and components. Check out the picture... there's still some fur from the deer in there, sadly. But better it than my dad. One more bullet dodged, of many over the years...

Borderlands seems to be the game-de-jour right now, with an interesting mix of constant combat and co-op online multiplayer mahem. It has some good reviews, and the price is right at Wal-Mart at the moment, though 'Limited Quantities' means they keep selling out... the same at the local Best Buy, unfortunately.

Yet the game lacks a critical component that is among my Top Five for apocalyptic video games: vehicular combat! Thankfully, an old favourite game of mine has bee released once again into the wild: Death Rally. Back in 1996, this was insanely popular... and it's back, but just for the PC, again validating the need for more than just a console in your media arsenal.

Oct 25 - Sunday slips away...

Just your usual Sunday: sleep in, a solid breakfast and then some COD4 until mid-afternoon - yesterday I  managed to get a 15-kill streak for the first time in, what, a year? And I did it solo, no team-mate friends by my side... which made for a lack of conversation and jokes, let me tell you. Maybe that was the ticket? If so, I'd rather talk to my friends.

I've also been assisting the downstairs neighbours, who though nice people keep reminding me why I've chosen never, ever to be a tech support call rep. I may still consider giving lessons, seeing as I don't mind one-on-one teaching, but it's still something I'm thinking about for my ever-rare spare time. Geeks and retirees?

On a Niagara news note, I saw today on Facebook( hi Shawna! )that there was a large fire in NOTL - sad news for the historical buildings now lost, and for the folks who are now homeless, without any insurance to boot. Bummer.

And still no sign that these are shipping soon... one more week until the end of October, and they're still on pre-order.


Ah well. It seemed like such a good week on paper to start with... but it ended with me wanting very much for the next 2 months to be over with.

Birthdays, Butchart and Buckaroo

11 days to go until I am Niagara-bound! Whooo-hoooo!!

July 13th - What do you mean, she's not there???

Today was my day off... or so I thought. After a meeting this morning with a few folks, I received a call on my work phone that my staffer had not shown up to work on time. After some frantic phone calls per procedure, she was located... at home, having forgotten she was working and was in no shape to do so today. Which meant that as of 12pm, I was at work and getting the store open. On my day off. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed. Not in the least.

To change the topic: are you a transumer? I'd not heard of it until today, but I can relate to some things in the article... renting, really. Having moved literally a ton of stuff across the country a few years ago, I can see the benefits of just renting what you need, when you need it. Much like Brewster's Millions, where Richard Pryor had to get rid of thirty million dollars in thirty days, You can read more about the trend here... just rent the time and read. I also suggest reading The Cheapskate Guide's 50 Tips for Frugal Living, which is a great way to examine if you are being too materialistic in your life. In particular, I like the article that goes in-depth comparing the merits of Renting Vs. Owning your home - something I have always said needs to be examined for each person, and that I personally feel leans more towards renting than owning, given the experiences I have had myself in that department.

Speaking of the Eighties, loyal readers may recall I am a fan of most things Ghostbuster, so when I came across this short interview with Harold Ramis where he talks on That Topic, I was thrilled. Especially as I have yet to pick up the recent game release - so many things to play, so little budget / time. Maybe when I retire... in the meantime, I'll be re-watching my copy of Buckaroo Banzai, one of those films that you won't admit you own but can't stop watching - cult status, really. Rewind...

Oh, and a month ago: it was the World Naked Bike Ride in Victoria, which I commented on last year. Missed it again this year...

July 14th - Fallout

Today I worked again, instead of taking the day off to compensate for yesterday - I can't leave my trainee off for an extra day, as it will throw off her training schedule and we have to get her ready ASAP. The more trained staff we have, the better it will be in the next few months. Did I mention I wasn't impressed with what happened yesterday? I'm less so today.

As yet I have not picked up a copy of Fallout3, which I may hold off on until later in the year; even the used copies are more than $60.00 for the Xbox360. I may grab the PC version if it drops further in price, though I am tempted to get a copy of Fallout2 from GoG.com for $10.00 - how can you beat that? In the meantime, some Russian Fallout fans put together an incredible photo collage that seems to be lifted straight from in-game scenes - but in real life. Check it out!

So does that make me sound cheap? Well... I DO like things for free. Or close to it. So when I found ALL 7 seasons of Family Guy available to watch online for free, I bookmarked the site so fast I sprained my fingers. See for yourself here - I still can't believe it.

Inflation is one of those things that confuses people almost as much as programming their VCR's used to, before we all got PVR's that did most everything for us. Unfortunately, inflation will be with us for far longer and still be as difficult to get your head around. I did come across this excellent article that explains the basics, and why in some countries they've printed billion-dollar bills, just like in The Simpsons. Can you imagine that in loose change? Yikes!

July 15th - Moving Friends

What the heck? After dancing a jig a few months ago upon hearing that Futurama is being brought back to life, this bit of awful news surfaced - what the heck is Fox thinking? I mean, really... if you have a Good Thing Going, don't MESS with it. Now I'm going to stew for a bit and hope it works out properly while searching for an online petition to sign...

On a happier note, I received an email when I finally got home( late )from 2 of my former neighbours over on May St. in Victoria. It seems they recently decided to jump on the condo bandwagon and purchase one right here in Langford! So now I have 2 people I actually know here in town, which is great - while I'm great company, it gets a little wearing being with myself all the time. Gah... next I'll be comparing myself to some form of social butterflies!

Things are pretty stressful here right now, and have been for a while. I have to say I am really looking forward to my trip to Niagara at the end of the month, to symbolically get away from it all, though as we all know your problems usually don't diminish with just a simple thing like distance. However, going to a familiar setting, being among friends and not having to work... I hope all that adds up to loosen some of these knots in my shoulders, not to mention the mental ones.

But when things get too stressful, just... have some bacon ice cream. Mmmm.

July 16th - Happy B-day To Moi

Up early-ish today for a doctor's appointment in Victoria, which went very well: he said I was looking healthy & fit, which was gratifying. Looks like it's just a good diet & exercise for me, now that the faulty gall bladder's gone for good. Though I'm still getting nausea, it's only after some meals so I'm working to track down a food-related source for that. After that, it was a pause for a few minutes at Clover Point, to take in the magnificent view of the Olympic Mountains to the south from the parkway along Dallas Road - I also found a really interesting rock that resembles a flattened moon( yes, it's odd... but that's what I like! ).

Work was great; along with a few birthday wishes, I was given CAKE! Not just ANY cake, but some confectionery ambrosia that combined ice cream, coffee cake, caramel and a hard chocolate shell into something that was stunningly tasty down to the last tiny morsel. Thanks for that!

Back at home, I settled back and typed quite a few thank-you's to everyone for the many birthday wishes; it means a lot to me being way out here that people are still thinking about me. Thanks, everyone. I finished off the evening with a solitary( and long-saved )Guinness while watching Two Week's Notice, which stars two of my more favourite actresses: Sandra Bullock and Alicia Witt. Hugh Grant was in there too, doing his usual bumbling-but-charming British Fine Fellow act - he had some great lines, surprisingly.

And I went to bed dreaming of one of these - only available at the San Diego Comic Con, darn it! The Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies showing at the Con is listed here courtesy of Spike.com - Megan Fox is in there, Transformers fans... a neat tie-in to the above dream-toy. Mmm-hmmm.

July 17th - SciFi Supreme

When writing, there are a myriad of things to consider, not the least of which is the audience. This is even more critical in TV-land, where audiences can be fickle and finicky beasts. Some of the best writers out there have figured out how to write AS the audience, at least when it's necessary if the story has more holes than the US Military Budget. So, io9.com has put together a list of favourite characters who speak what the audience is thinking, which is really worth a look - many of my favourite shows are mentioned.

Though it may not matter - io9.com also posted this article, about a 15-mile-long biological ooze just spotted drifting south from Alaska. It's The Blob - run!

Which brings me neatly back to this: some really, really cool concept art for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, one of my all-time favourite stories. Superb artwork, along the lines of Steampunk but with an edge I've not seen anywhere else before... I hope, I hope, that any reboot of 20K Under gets this artist on board!

I really hope that someone remembers that R.A. Salvatore is a writer also brimming with talent untapped for other media( though Stephen King seems to be getting The Dark Tower up and running in movieland ). I just finished reading Salvatore's book The Highwayman, which was written around a rather original idea for the protagonist hero. Given that originality is something sorely lacking, according to people in the book business, I've always enjoyed following amazing authors like Salvatore or Ed Greenwood. Nothing like having high standards to live up to!

July 18th - Signs of Life

For the more artistically inclined amongst you, I present: the Wacom Guitar. That's right, a USB-enabled guitar mated with a genuine Wacom touch tablet. Will music ever be the same again? Watch the video on the page and judge for yourself. What's next? A hydrogen-powered bass guitar? Hopefully something better than this glow-cube Gmail notifier - something almost totally useless but hideously complicated to construct. Why, I ask? Why?

Work was somewhat wearing today: a busy Friday with a trainee is no time to be trying to solve problems that crop up continuously all day long. All part of the job, but for the next few months it's going to be very, very busy for me - more responsibility for the same pay, really. But I'd rather that than otherwise, I think, despite the grey hairs I can feel curling their way finally into my rakish mop.

Though I wouldn't want to be the person held responsible for solving this one - despite it being pretty funny. Vandals: 1 - City: 0. Rematch? Maybe someone should submit the picture to FunnySigns.com for posterity's sake...

After a final, long day at work, I cycled home... then caught a ride into Victoria to visit with some of my friends there, who had sent me a last-minute invite to a backyard BBQ. I arrived too late for anything more than a Mike's Hard Lime, but we did spend a few fun hours traipsing about the neighbourhood discoursing on various topics, winding up back at their house to discuss other things while a few folk showed off their musical guitar talents. Also brought up for some reason: Flappers. Don't ask.

July 19th - Flower Power

After adjusting my room to include some solid blackout blinds, I've been sleeping better this last week. So much so that I managed to wake myself today, instead of jumping up to the blare of the clock radio. I was awake enough to put in a few solid hours of COD4 with my friends, which I had a decent run with before having to head out for the day - after one helluva nice turkey dinner which was held over from my birthday a few days past.

Where did I go? Off to Butchart Gardens, to try and relax for the day to forget about my worries. It was the perfect day for it: sunny blue skies without a single cloud, hot but not uncomfortably so. Which meant that the place was crowded nut not unbearably so - everyone who was there had made the trip to enjoy the natural beauty, so apart from the occasional small child it was quite a pleasant crowd moving along the paths. I took some great pictures, though most of them were simply closeups of blooms whose colours looked almost surreal in the perfect sunshine. Too bad the ice cream prices were surreal as well: $6.50 for a double-scoop? C'mon... that's closing in on Canada's Wonderland prices, where two pizzas can set you back over $50.00 - and we're not talking party trays from Domino's here, either. I came back by way of UVic, where I finally managed to see firsthand some of the many feral rabbits that blanket the campus, which is huge - it makes BrockU look like someone's backyard patio in comparison. However cute the rabbits may be, they have become quite a problem because... well, they breed like rabbits.

In the evening, I played another hour of single-player COD4 just to get in some practice so I wouldn't stink so badly next time around. Then, work on my blog for an hour or two, while listening to songs via the Musiic player I recently installed - another Freebie. Nothing like using YouTube to stream music legally through the 'net - another gain for Tech, another loss for the media barons.

No closing comments... just Save and Quit early on the blog for a change; going to bed to ease my aching head.

Moving, Movies and May St

Tuesdays... what happened to updating these things Sunday nights? Well, maybe next week... I have a few more things to add to the blog, which I will do tonight - I wanted to get it posted today, so here you are:

Jan 25 - Tensity

I've been trying something different at work, to see if I can change my daily stress levels around. I've made the effort to smile and make small talk with every customer who comes in, moreso than usual, to see if the level of Friendly can be raised - for the most part, it seems to be working. This is different from the false cheer that I can't stand when I deal with some in the customer service industry, that gets turned on and off like a spigot - I'm making the honest effort to be nice and jovial despite being tired, cranky and stressed for the last few weeks. So far, it seems to be working, as I've enjoyed my time at work a lot more than I thought, even though I work alone every day.

Not that there's a lot wrong with that, really. I suppose if I was a slob, I could leave the place a mess out of sight of the customers, or not wear deodorant, or do a ton of other things that would annoy co-workers, if I had any right now. Instead, I enjoy the freedom of keeping tabs only on myself, not having to put up with other's habits, and allowing the occasional gaseous expulsion to waft free. Which has been happening far more often of late, thanks to one of these before every meal. Digestively snap.

Jan 26 - Snopes, you say?

Bacon: now for dessert... on chocolate chip cookies! Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?

Speaking about fattening... well, not really, but I couldn't quickly think of a way to transition from bacon to internet scams; did I mention I am tired? Anyway, everyone receives emails, often daily, about things that sound too good to be true: scams, offers, spam, and urban legends all clog up email inboxes, not to mention those annoying chain letter emails... If you tire of these things, just go have a look at Snopes.com to see if what you suspect is true, that the sender( if a stranger )is trying to scam you or a friend( if they are known to you )is passing along something they really shouldn't. Every known spam or scam on the 'net is on Snopes, which makes it a GREAT resource to tell Aunt Bertha about next time she fowards you a 'warning' about gangs tossing shoes onto telephone lines in YOUR area... :-)

Jan 27 - Green

Green is the way to go these days in all things... which is great, as it also happens to be my favourite colour. Nowadays, David Suzuki is feeling like he's part of the mainstream, as the rest of the world is finally waking up to the message he's been preaching for the last few decades. Looking around the globe, there are some fine examples of green architecture out there, quite aside from the R2000 home program started in the 1980's and current market trends towards ultra-green residential housing. Though what a hand-crafted wooden iPod housing really has to do with green homes is anybody's guess.

It also occurred to me that there's an opportunity for a major spokesperson for environmental causes to step forth and take up the flag. One whose very appearance both speaks for the difficult task of protecting the planet, and the consequences of not doing so. I am speaking of a fictional character, one who has a long history in the comic industry, as well as other mediums:

The Hulk. He's literally green, and gets angry...with polluters. Perfect fit, no?

Jan 28 - Comics and Tigers

Calvin and Hobbes. Who among us DIDN'T read this fantastic comic strip in its heyday, and mourn it's sudden demise by Bill Watterson's decision to just stop? Well, for all of us out there who still wish for some Wit of Calvin's, I present to you: 25 Great Calvin and Hobbes Strips - not perhaps THE Greatest Strips, but certainly some of the very best. You decide.

Which leads me back to The Far Side... did the general public really understand that comic? It was so far out there in terms of funny for its time that it made Peanuts look like the scribblings of children... though considering it WAS a comic, maybe that's a compliment. I do know the Far Side Halloween TV Special was WAY out there, but it was great to see those out-there comic panels come to life... creepy, distorted, surrealistic-in-some-way life at that. Gary Larson, we miss you and Bill Waterson both.

Of Fumes and Final Thoughts: Unfortunately, I had to go back to the old apartment tonight to finish cleaning the oven, which was the only thing that had to be done again - I'm not one for using Easy Off due to the fumes, but in this case the landlord insisted. At least he sprayed it in the morning so it had all day to work, as well as for the fumes to( mostly )clear.

Jan 29 - More on Moving

The unpacking goes well, coming along apace. I do some in the mornings, then more as I find the energy after work. My mom, though she is limited in mobility and has other major health issues, has been great as she plugs away steadily at the work - most of the rest of the house is already put to rights.

I suppose I should talk a little about the place: it's on the shore of Langford Lake, about ten minutes north of Victoria. Langford itself is a bustling place, with a lot of new construction and a ton of things going for it, with all the amenities including a huge 'power center' for shopping in addition to a vibrant downtown.

The house itself is a large backsplit, nestled down away from the road tucked between neighbouring properties and so sheltered from noise and weather both. The lower level is given over to another apartment, whose occupants we've met - friendly, quiet and accommodating folks. The upper level is more than spacious, with a giant kitchen flanked by a living room and dining room. The front has a sunken living room for my use, that has to be seen to be believed - pictures coming soon. There are two bedrooms, plus a master bedroom, two bathrooms( one of which with a massive skylight )main floor laundry, double garage... and a hot tub on the rear deck that faces the lake - what a view! All of this means plenty of space for my stuff, as well as privacy.

Jan 30 - Boxes Are Evil

Now that most of the boxes are either emptied or relegated to the Toss In Storage Pile, the place is looking mostly livable... except for my den / living room. I just haven't had the energy to get all the books onto the shelves, or do more than hook up the TV and the 'net routers to the cable connection. Which is odd in itself - the cable, that is. When I first attached MY cable modem earlier in the week, the blasted thing didn't work and still doesn't - naturally it's the one I bought, whose 1-year warranty expired two weeks ago. The one from my parent's place works fine, thankfully... and it's the one they're still renting, 'natch. *sigh* I swear electronics come with Warranty Suicide Chips.

While I am not exactly in the business of Evil Lair Decorating, there is something to be said for Evil on a Budget... which also segues into setting up a great Evil Lair. Yet what use would be an Evil Lair without superheroes to defend it against? Here is a list of the most popular superpowers that wannabe-heroes of today are wishing for. Strangely, being bulletproof is not high on most people's lists...?

And if you want to see something truly evil, have a look at this - "Roxanne" by the Police as sung to the tune generated by Microsoft's Songsmith program. Ouch, my bleeding ears! The horror!

Jan 31 - End of the Old

The month wrapped up in a blur today, which was even busier than yesterday. Again, I find it odd that I can go an hour without any customers, then five show up all within five minutes. There is no common thread I can discern, as they don't do it at lunch hour, or all get off the same bus, or show up just after picking up the kids from school... damned odd, but it keeps me on my toes.

Do you ever get the feeling that things are being recycled in Hollywood? Or in the entertainment world in general, mining old hits for new viewer ratings? While I usually deride such mediocre efforts, sometimes a few of these reworkings work out, like BSG and (hopefully) the upcoming The Prisoner too.

There are a few movies I am looking forward to seeing in the next few months: Coraline, of course - it's Neil Gaiman, why would you NOT see it?? Also the Transformers sequel, plus one I'd not heard of before this week with a catchy title: Monsters Vs Aliens - no word on a cameo by a Predator though.

Feb 1 - A New Month, a New Place

Sunday found me crawling around the new place, puttering and poking into odd boxes to find things. While I kept a numbered list of box contents, there are still quite a few things stuffed into various odd boxes and other places to try and find. I found myself in dire need of relaxation today, as the week has been simply exhausting with the move and the very very busy month-end at work. Fourteen hour days are no fun for a week, especially when time not spent earning a wage is spent hefting boxes around and cleaning. When was this even fun, I wonder? I know I enjoyed moving to Port Dalhousie, but after that things just became a chore... good thing I was able to do a lot more under my own power back then.

I went to my delayed company Christmas party this year, which was a subdued affair - since we had our budget cut in half, only two stores( plus me )were able to get together, compared to last year, when everyone met for dinner... darn economic crunch. We all met at Nautical Nellies, which is a steak and seafood place downtown which bills itself as "the Best restaurant in Victoria BC." The food was very good in decent portions, if a big pricey - similar to the Keg, which sits on a corner as well just a block down the road. It was nice, in a way, to just sit at a large table and talk with people, as I don't see much of any of them while working on my ownsome. I left after only a few hours, heading home in the rain as I was rather tired.

For those who like moving reading, I suggest Ebon Musings, where the author digs deep into the Bible for his own amusement much akin to the spirit of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. If God is watching, I don't think He would be amused... but I know He WOULD want a word with His editor about doing a Revised Bible. Or maybe a Coles Notes version?


All for now - next update Sunday night, since I have Sundays off. For now.

Packing, Parks, and People

I'm dead tired from the move as I write this, so I'll keep it brief. With links. Still no comments though? I'm mostly prepared... last year around this time, we saw a few.


Jan 19 - Good, Bad, Not Paying Attention

Copasetic - an odd word. Look it up.

I could write a lot of things here, but today I choose to simply say I am ambivalent. I've had a lot to think about lately, and it's left my mind feeling rather wrung-out. Coming to a lot of realizations about Life, The Universe and Everything has not been fun some days. One thing that has bothered me has been what I term 'Life Withdrawal' where someone finds too many thing are causing them emotional distress, so they stop getting emotional... at all. While this works fine for stress reduction when your car drops its transmission, it really muffs you up when the time comes to find yourself caring about other people's life joys, or even being social. Most people are quite able to tell when you are going through the motions, pretending to be interested in what they are saying... especially when you can't recall anything about WHAT they were saying later on - can't be bothered, you know.

So that's it for today.

Jan 20 - Packing Green

I took time today to visit the park at the end of my street, the one that I've never managed to climb around in. Yes, that's right: climb. The park is a series of rock outcroppings of various sizes and levels, covered in scrub and trees with paths in between. It faces south, so that those who work their way to the top of the cliff are rewarded with a stunning view of Fairfield and the Olympic Mountains beyond. Being a beautiful sunny day, it was just amazing... the rocks, the green of the trees and grass( in winter! )and the misty cloud layer that the mountains rose above like the homes of the gods.

Too bad I'm moving out of the area.

While packing, I've found a few things that I didn't know I still had, forgotten about, or that I just haven't used - the usual. Take for instance, the Milton Bradley Gamesmaster series - lovely games that came out in the 80's, the most popular of which was Axis & Allies. While I still have the games with me, I have no-one to play them with any more... devoting an entire evening to a game session just isn't in the cards for folks in my social bracket / age category. A shame, as they're great games.

I just don't want to find myself talking about duplicate Bridge with someone anytime soon.

Jan 21 - What, me evil?

If you are an Evil Genius, you may find yourself too busy to take care of the smaller things... hence, hiring the Henchmen, those poor underworked slobs who are cannon fodder for the villain's plans. Thankfully there is help for these minimum-wage, high-mortality fellows: the Henchman's Helper.

Plus, if the Evil Genius boss decides to leave you hanging in the wind when the heroes come calling guns-a-blazing, good news: cloaking devices may soon be in the local Henchman Depot.

In the meantime, while you wait for your personal invisibility hoodie, you can look over the original handbook for wannabe Evil Geniuses: How to Win Friends and Influence People. Lots of laughs.

Next week: Evil Lair Decorating - without a single doomsday device in sight!

Jan 22 - So I told the Jedi I didn't want any lightsaber insurance...

Someone told me today I look like George Lucas, and not for the first time. Though I am not sure it's a compliment, as Mister Star Wars has totally gray hair and is not exactly slim and trim anymore.

Better than resembling Rush Limbaugh, I guess.

As you may have noticed, this week I am running rather short on sentences. For those of you that brevity appeals to, I offer you One Sentence - stories told in a single sentence. Go see.

Jan 23 - Countdown

Another busy day at work, but at least it was jerk-free. The sun was out most of the day, so people were in a cheerful mood. It also helps that I am now quite familiar with most of the regular customers at the branch, as I am there almost every day the place is open, being the only staff member. So that helps with keeping things smooth, as I know the names of 9 out of 10 people who walk in the door immediately. We do a lot of Western Union sends, especially to the Philippines, so I imagine if I ever attended a local Filipino cultural event, half the people there would know who I am... strange but true.

After work, I helped my parents pack some final items at their place, large or awkward things that they couldn't do themselves. Which twigged me to a realization that perhaps older people stay in the same residence for decades because it is just too much effort to pack things for a move... not to mention expensive if you're on a limited pension. Lifting TV's around, even smaller or flat ones, is not easy for those no longer in their prime. Even wall mirrors become heavy, awkward things that are best left in place rather than risk a shattering drop if they prove too much to handily.

Jan 24 - Tick... Tick... Move

Up early to do some final packing. My parents are moving today, so they're up too in order to, well, get things in order. Not me though; I have to work today.

I kept in touch with them to ensure all went smoothly, as we were using the same movers as last time, A to B Moving - they impressed me with their speed, careful handling of our possessions, and their reasonable rates. They were done moving my parents after only 4 hours all told, from packing the truck to unloading, with nary a dropped box in the lot. Very low stress, and I will be adding glowing reviews of them to a few websites as soon as I get the chance.

After work, I went back to my condo to finish packing a few final boxes, around a dozen all told. The piles of cardboard are man-high in most places, and have the added benefit of really retaining the heat despite the very low temperatures outside. I finally left around 11pm, tired but confident of a successful move tomorrow.


And... more on the move next week. No mention about the visitor from Jan 15th, though I will get the pictures posted... once I find them.

Weirdos, Writing and Weather

No mention of spiders in this week's blog... though there IS a new entry in my Nemster list...

Oct 13 - Humans... and not.

Newt and John, a webcomic by my good friend Mike, reached their 20th episode milestone today. I've greatly enjoyed their adventures so far, as their antics capture the hilarity of two roomies dealing with bizarre adventures. I should also mention that I have a great custom image of Newt, John and myself in a spaceship, that Mike made as a going-away gift for me last year when I left for B.C. - it hangs proudly by my door, so I can get a grin every time I arrive or leave my home.

Along the same vein, I give you: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. Not to be confused with Human Idiocy, or even the silly things people do when they think No-One Is Watching. One VERY early internet List I love is the Evil Overlord List, which manages to combine villainy, cliches and stupidity remarkably well... if you don't laugh, then you haven't thought hard enough about how to take over the world. You should watch a few episodes of Pinky and the Brain, just to see how NOT to go about it... especially if you're two lab mice.

Which brings up movies. Now, I've already posted about how I MUCH prefer to watch movies at home nowadays, so I won't go into that. Here, I will instead briefly blog about Things That Only Happen in the Movies... like every car explodes in a fireball when it crashes, or how locks magically vanish from doors with a few quick shots from a pistol. A show that has done its fair share of debunking movie myths is the much-loved Mythbusters, who by and large have managed credible experiments to test the accuracy of many a Myth. If you visit their site, you can see the many myths they have discussed but NOT brought to the show to test, for various reasons. I guess testing to see if humans mutate into anger-driven giant berserkers after massive gamma-ray exposure would be one of those off-air theories... darn.

Oct 14 - Hard work and gadgets

I had an interesting thought in the shower today, and it was entirely unrelated to hygiene. It occurred to me that everyone who achieves success always includes the phrase "it was a lot of hard work" - we hear it so much but it makes little visual impact. I had the image of a chain hoist pop into my head, like the ones mechanics use to hoist engine blocks. The analogy almost writes itself: the huge, complicated engine needs lots of work and know-how to run, but the initial process of GETTING to it is the hardest work. Each long pull on the chain hoist raises the massive engine a tiny bit, so long minutes of hard work are needed to raise the final product fractionally until one reaches the point where the detail work can begin. It is an analogy I like, and I hope to employ at a future date.

As for the future: I love gadgets, and one of the places I loved to go to FIND gadgets years ago was The Sharper Image, which had a store at the Walden Galleria mall in Buffalo NY. You could wander in, and on every shelf or floor display was a gadget you had never before imagined, or knew you needed, until that moment. Looking back, it is easy to see how most of it was overpriced and usually fufilled only a single, quasi-time-saving. That and Smithbooks were the two main reasons I liked to visit the Walden Galleria... as well as the fact that most of the food there seemed damned cheap compared to Canadian restaurants at the time. Lower standards or higher volume consumption? You decide.

Oct 15 - Writing, yep!

I have been plugging away at various writing projects, but progress has been slow of late - low energy and higher stress levels do not bode well for the creative spark. Still, I have been trying to keep various bits of writing advice in mind, including 'use your mood' to find different aspects of character and story that one would not find if you are feeling happy, energetic and relaxed... none of which relate to grim stories, villains or dire plot threads. So, with that in mind, I have been plugging away at outlined plot points, as well as tossing together little 'pastiche' bits to try and capture the mood at various points in my Novel Story.

One amusing place I have come across is How To Write a Best-Selling Fantasy Novel. Go see it.

Among all the great advice given, one common thread seems to be "You won't likely get rich from writing," which is fine by me... Fame, Fortune and Respect do not always go hand in hand, with J.K Rowling as the glaring platinum Ideal of Writing Success that everyone else has to try to follow. I figure if I can say what I want to say, in a way that other people want to read, and that brings in a little income, then all for the good. Like the other writers state, everyone is full of great ideas, so it is the few who learn to use the TOOLS of writing to HONE their skill, that will bring those with Talent to the top of the heap... with a little luck. *grin*

So if you cannot tell your adjectives from your adverbs, or what narrative perspective to use, or even notice why your page-long paragraphs seem to be boring people... then perhaps writing is not in your cards. So go be a professional poker player instead - from what I hear, your odds of success are much higher!

Oct 16 - Triad Thursday of Stress

Well, today COULD have been the day from hell, but it worked out nicely when all was said and done, despite a lot of unavoidable stress. Right after I opened the store, who showed up but... a company auditor! We had been warned that this week was a likely time for an audit, which they do quarterly( or more often )so I was not as dismayed as I could have been. Still, it meant I spent most of my day worrying that we had forgotten some detail that would crash our overall score - not having a manager at the branch will make you thing like that.

Adding to the joy was a visit by the head honcho for all of BC for our company, attended by our district manager. He was nice, but I got the impression of laser eyes noting every tiny flaw in the branch, and likely an unconscious urge to slip on a pair of dapper white gloves to run along the counters for dust. Still, I was busy enough that everyone stayed in the background doing their thing and not underfoot or looking over my shoulder, which was nice...

Did I mention yet that Crazy Lady came in today TOO? Yes, she managed to add to the Stress Triad today by coming in for NO reason other than to ask the most inane question I've heard YET. Apparently her sister, which she sent the money transfer to last week, is not in the UK but Zimbabwe... so she wants ME to call Western Union to ensure the transfer is 'held' ... and ALSO she did NOT want ANY calls made to HER residence about it! Apparently she is doing this on the sly... which I do not care a whit about, only that she vacate the branch and stop bothering me. Especially with inane questions and demands that I have NO ability( or desire )to fulfill, even if I wanted to. Amusingly, the Head Man from Head Office( heh )tried to break into the conversation, but backed off quickly as the Insane Gaze rolled in his direction... kind of like seeing that normal-looking dog in the park turn around to reveal the foam dripping from its jaws. Yeah.

Anyway, she left, the rest of them left... and then I left, to sprawl at home in a daze before relaxing with a few episodes of Atlantis. The second season has a commentary for almost EVERY episode, which is amazing - some of the details and directorial chatter is simply fascinating, as it shows how MUCH thought goes into every episode, and how you never catch some of it as it goes by so fast on-screen.

Oct 17 - Is it Day-ta or Dah-ta?

The morning vanished quickly getting the usual household doings done, then it was off to work. Fortunately, it was another nice day out; I have yet to run into the chill combination of very cool weather and rain, so cross yer fingers, as biking in that is no fun at all.

I found out today that the branch hours will be changing again in November, which will be for the better in several ways. Not the least of which is that I can sleep in EVERY day now, and manage to get home early enough to catch an hour or so of daylight around dinner - nice in the winter!

I've been looking at some storage options for my data for some time now, as I always like to have backups handy in case of disaster. Up to this point, that has always meant storage on an external hard drive, or putting critical files like family photos on DVD; annoying given their 'small' capacity, which meant a few years ago after a PC went wonky that I used THIRTY DVD's to back up and then restore my data. Impossible today, as I have ten times the data stored now as I did back then.

One solution may be a FREE service called aDrive.com, which gives ANYONE free online storage - 50 gigabytes worth! Their business model is based on duplication; they predict that among their entire userbase, many users will have copies of the same file, so all that aDrive has to do is determine that yes, two files ARE the same, and store just ONE copy while allowing both users to access it. In this way, the 'actual' space used by files such as MP3's or YouTube videos is greatly reduced. Nice, and if it keeps the service FREE, then I am all for it!

Oct 18 - Leafing Sunny

Cold this morning, not TOO bad at 7 degrees C, cold enough to see your breath though. The leaves are falling in small drifts along the roadside, though many trees are still quite green and leafy. I did see the most massive Canadian maple leaf today - the thing was as large as my two spread hands together! Wow! It could almost serve as a plate of sorts, though being dead and slight decayed might put a person off.

The sun is blazing outside, albeit without a lot of warmth... and people are smiling! I've always been fascinated by how people's moods and the weather are related, so today goes a long way towards adding data to that file. Without exception, every single customer today has been smiling, even the usually dour regulars, and all of them are busily scurrying about Doing Things.

It's amusing to see how quickly we get busy when the sun comes out... and odd how busy we remain when it is raining - my theory is that people don't like being 'trapped' at home on rainy days, but instead want to get out and shop or socialize at a mall or coffee shop. Group social dynamics is a fascinating field, which has elements of psychology and statisical analysis that combine in interesting and unusual ways.

Oct 19 - Sunday Harry

The third of my Month of Sundays today, and it was Not Too Bad. Relaxing, actually, as it was steady enough a flow of customers to make the clock move nicely towards closing time. I still love the fact that I have such a great view - the branch is located near a major intersection, and I have previously mentioned that a bus transfer point is next to the plaza too. Lots of activity to watch, which is great - no view of the mountains mind you, but it beats hell out of the backside of a building.

My neighbours are HUGE fans of Harry Potter, so when I ran into one of them on the stairs today, of course the topic ran to old Harry. Seems the latest film has been delayed until spring 2009, which still gives us( my neighbours )time to 'catch up' on all the previous films in HD - thanks for the sale, Amazon! I still find it odd that so many HD-DVD's are still so pricey, even six months after the annoucement that Blu-Ray had won the DVD War in early 2008. Which annoys me still, as Blu-Ray is still quite feature-sparse compared to HD-DVD; being able to pop up a scene menu WHILE still watching a movie is immensely liberating, as were other features of HD-DVD. Again, the Market Has Spoken, not the techs... too bad. My experience has always been that people will buy whatever's cheapest, and learn to live with it - hello, Dollar Stores.

Notice how the links tapered off towards the end, and the last entry had NO links at all? Ta!

Cookies, Subway and Sadness

This blog ran a little late in being posted... see the Aug 11th entry as to why. No pictures either, but they ARE on the way. I'll let you know. :-) 300 page-views since I started the counter back in January.. amazing!

Aug 11 - Cookies and Stress

Today was a five-cookie day. Nearly ten hours of continuous stress….yeesh! We rolled out an update of one of our major products today, Victoria being the test-market for the rest of the country. Can you say ‘fiasco’ with me? Repeat ad nauseum… it was horrible. Bugs in the program meant that my first customer, who had the patience of a saint, spent 45 minutes in the lobby while I tried desperately to get the product working. It finally did, after a band-aid solution was found to work around the issues. It was like that all day long, and I finished the ten-hour-long day with my teeth gritted in a solid mass. Doesn’t do much for headaches, that – I try not to grind them, which is foolish.

I’ve noticed that stress hits me differently these days. In years past, I would wind up a bad day by ending with incredibly tense neck and shoulder muscles, to which I quickly applied a fantastic Homedics back massager ( looks like E.T. ) – made a world of difference, and I still have it for the occasional use. Now, stress tends to add up over a few days, where I will have a day where its just a struggle to get some energy and focus on things, even relaxing. Different from the end-of-a-single-day stress, and more difficult to deal with, as I don’t get anything done at the end of one of those days – staying focused at work takes it all.

Aug 12 – Reboot Revival / Zeroes2Heroes

One of my favourite shows from the 90’s is Reboot, the first computer-animated television show. It ran for three seasons, as well as having two two-hour movies, which were actually the fourth season cut down a bit when the series was nipped short. Recently, I have discovered that a ‘ReBoot Revival’ is underway. This makes me happy, as I very much enjoyed the series for its characters and its story; the third season was a non-stop thrill ride with an ending that did not disappoint at all. No ‘kiddy show’ by then, I tell you! Too bad the DVD’s are incredibly difficult to get, which I find odd.

A movie pitch was made for a ReBoot idea, on a website called Zeroes2Heroes where anyone can put up their creative ideas… with the possibility that they will be picked up and produced, in some form or another, by a major entertainment company! What I find fascinating is that anyone at all can submit their ideas or art, and the community of registered users will vote on it… to the point where it may be developed! Sure beats the heck out of trying to find an agent and getting them to add your manuscript to the massive piles of slush that are an editors cross to bear daily. Nobody likes slush piles.

Aug 13 - Subway

Work is going to be interesting in the next month, and not in a good way. With the departure of one of my co-workers earlier in the month, and the news that my other co-worker is leaving, I will be the ONLY staff member at my branch – not good. My DM has already asked me if I was willing to cut short my vacation and start working almost as soon as I return from Niagara – since this is the sort of thing that usually happens when I take vacations, I agreed, as it’s either that or close the branch for the rest of the week… seems it IS hard to get good help in a lot of sectors these days, as it’s a buyer’s market. Too many people are staying only for a few months, then hopping to ‘better’ jobs – which is good, as it indicates a strong economy, but bad for employee retention. Yep.

While having a chai tea with my neighbour over at the Cook St. Starbuck’s, I noticed something new going in just down the road: a Subway. Amazing, as that was the only thing that my neighbourhood did not already have – kind of freaky actually, like wishing for a new toy and finding it some months later by the side of the road. Well, not exactly like that, but you get the idea. Made me wonder how careful I should be about wishing for a movie theater down this end of the city… don’t want to wipe out a block of homes! A library might be nice though, as the nearest one is downtown, where I don't usually go. Too much to ask for with all the other conveniences around here, so I'll stick with my own massive book collection.

Aug 14 - Sadness at a Distance

I found out that a friend’s father passed away today, and that he had been sick for some time… damned hard news to take, especially from this far away. Coming from a large Italian family, I can remember much of my youth was spent going to funerals( or weddings )so my feelings are still quite strong on BEING there for people...

Distance and friends are always hard to juggle. Though the internet makes it easy to communicate, it can’t help when you need to BE there for someone – phone calls just aren’t the same, it’s just a voice on the line and not a shoulder to lean on.

I wonder, in this coming age of rising fuel costs, if travel will become a barrier again. I recently wrote an article for Cyberwalker about webcams and videophones, the latter being something we STILL can’t buy down at the local FutureShop as easily as we would a regular phone. You think that someone would come up with a simple, reasonably-priced unit that uses compatible standards so ANY videophone would work with any other manufacturer’s unit… but no. To date, it’s still webcams and fond wishes, which annoys the heck out of me – I had those back in the 90’s, and they’re only marginally better for the non-techie to set up and use, despite a decade of ‘progress’. At least theyr’e cheaper, and no longer suffer ‘pixel burn’ from bright light sources like sun on snow through a window… I learned THAT one the hard way during a call to Mexico one day.

Aug 15 - Writing practice and Civ

In writing this blog, I have been getting in some good practice with my word-skills, and just recently realized than on average I am writing about ten thousand words a month just for this blog alone – surprised the heck outta me, that did. It is also rather difficult to keep this blog flowing along, in terms of never retreading the same topic as well as not just creating a boring play-by-play daily journal on washing socks. No, I try to put in something different, something amusing, every week – my thoughts on various subjects, my observations about Victoria and even the occasional profound thought as it scampers pell-mell through my mind.

I played Civ:Rev for far too long this evening, trying to win the game in specific ways yet being frustrated as usual by random chance that set my plans askew. I have also noticed that the game is not as polished technically as I would have liked for a console game. Graphical glitches, slowdowns, slow access to some features and odd sound-level variances all make me wince on occasion; I hope that Firaxis Games is hard at work on a patch to smooth things out. While the glitches do not interfere with gameplay, they are annoying.

Aug 16 - Overtime and Bad Gameplay

I worked an overtime shift today at another branch, to help out. It always amuses me to work somewhere else, as the regular customers usually ask “Oh, are you new?” to which I always reply “Why, yes!” just to see what they will do. Some of the slightly sneaky ones will try to convince me that they are ‘allowed’ to do something that tries to get around our work policies… which again amuses me, as I let them go on for a bit before snapping them back to the reality of how things really work. It never fails to amaze me how people will try something with a ‘new’ person that would never do with a ‘regular’ staff member. But I guarantee they’ll never try it again when they see me next.

Surprisingly, I had a bad experience on NWN tonight, though in hindsight the stress of work this week perhaps provided a tipping point for my frustrations. Given the unstructured nature of a NWN-run gameworld, every DM running ‘quests’ is there on their own time, volunteering to run people around and tell their own story in the overall framework of things. As an aside, this usually works, but give the ‘catch-as-can’ nature of unscheduled events, some nights there aren’t a lot of people around, and other nights you can miss out on an amazing experience by but a few hours if you are unlucky – annoying, that is.

Well, in a nutshell( before your eyes glaze over )a few friends and I were out to do what seemed to be a simple rescue… but turned out to be a Mexican Standoff. I grew very frustrated at the seeming lack of options, and when the NPC ‘hostage’ was lost, despite our frantic efforts, I grew very angry – the first time that has happened to me in an online game. I quickly cooled down, but this clarified the problem that a lot of online games have compared to well-crafted single-player games: good gameplay structure with MULTIPLE means of problem resolution, most of which are NOT too difficult to distinguish – it should be hard to MAKE the choice itself, not to just SEE it initially. In any case, I logged off after chatting with both the DM and other players, to ensure this sort of thing did not reoccur and so frustrate people who would be less better able to deal.

Aug 17 - Heard the Thunder

I felt a little better about working the weekend through( again today )as the weather was nowhere near as sunny as promised earlier in the week – go figure. Again, the rain here doesn’t last, similar in some ways to rain in Florida: it rains for a few minutes and moves on, though the sky may be cloudy for most of the day. A week of get skies and rain is unheard of here, just like thunder or lightning; some people here have never SEEN lightning before, if they grew up in Victoria.

Amazing, to think that something so common in Ontario is a rare wonder here. Good thing too, as it’s damned dangerous… and that so many fools take so little note of that. I’ll never forget a violent thunderstorm that hit Niagara some years back, while I was staying at the Prince. The winds blew the rain horizontally so hard that it penetrated into the building( since sealed )and managed to cause my bedroom ceiling to partially collapse – we ended up having to move for three months while the unit was repaired, including new carpets. No, what got me was DURING that storm, a family of crazy fools was IN the pool, with lightning strikes flickering in the sky all around. They huddled for shelter, all of them still IN THE WATER and UNDER an overhanging tree as the wind and rain whipped all around. I remember shouting out the window for them to get out of the water, but the noise of the thunder and rain was too much. Incredibly lucky they were, as lucky as they were stupid! Dumbest thing I’ve seen in a long, long time, I tell you... and I work with the public.

At least I do not have an early morning tomorrow; we’ve scaled back our hours on Mondays and Tuesdays, so( for now )it’s guaranteed that I can sleep in, even to 9am, on a Monday – how many jobs can you say that for? Mind you, there’s a lot of other things that balance that out about the job, but since I rate sleep rather highly( never getting enough of it )then anything that increases sleep time is good in my books. Reminds me of someone I worked with, a long time ago: a figure skater, who told me that due to the incredible demands that that sport puts on a person, she needed to sleep at least eight to TEN hours a night before practice or performances – incredible, since I feel logy if I get more than eight hours… or less than six, which shows there’s a balance needed too.

Another week blogged and logged, and that makes TWO weeks without comments... has Anonymous given up? Or is he plotting some fiendish comment campaign the likes of which this blog has never seen before? Tune in next week for another exciting episode...

UPDATE: we have a NEW commentator... a holy figure, no less! Welcome to Comment Christ. We'll find out if he's just cross, or if he can really nail those comments in coming weeks... and thanks Jen - glad you keep coming back for more! Surprising, but welcome!!!

Singing, Shock and Sweat

I am still working on those pictures. There's literally thousands of them that I am going through, so what I am doing is going through this Blog week by week and picking out images that go with each entry. I wanted to do that in the first place, but it was hellish trying to get images properly attached / hosted when I started this blog. Again, I hope to have it done before my trip to Niagara!

Aug 4 – B.C. Day

After work, I headed home for a quick supper and then cycled down to the Inner Harbour area to catch the festivities. The weather was simply perfect: clear skies and balmy temperatures that did not start to feel the least bit chilly until well after 10pm. Part of BC 150 Years, this article gives a great summary of the event.

When I arrived, the crowds were dense but not heavy, with quite a few people content to sit much further back from the massive stage set up in front of the Parliament Buildings. Hundreds were spread over the vast lawn of the Fairmont Empress Hotel. Famous local son Burton Cummings was playing when I made my way to the corner of Government and Belleville St, which was close enough. The crowds were much heavier just the opposite side of the street, covering the lawn completely. Where I was, I could see the stage as well as the two huge screens on opposite sides. I even had a tall guy to my right, who neatly blocked the blinding rays of the setting sun – perfect, in fact.

Burton Cummings was a blast of energy, singing his heart out along with his band. I was sorry I had not got there sooner, as they left the stage not even a half hour after I arrived.

Sarah McLaughlin was next. I was interested to see her, as I'd been first introduced to her music back in my days working at The Brock Press. My editor at the time, Nick, was a HUGE fan of hers. So much so, that he was on a first-name basis with the staff at her record label – he would call them up weekly to see if there was anything new happening with her, which I found amusing. I should also mention that the last Sarah McLaughlin concert I attended was back at the Molson Amphitheatre, when she first returned from hiatus after having a child( I believe ). That was a great show, but I ended up not enjoying myself after the halfway point. I had gone up to the 'cheap seats' rail that separated the grassy seating fringe from the 'paying customer' seating to take some pictures, with my lowly 3-megapixel Olympus C3000 digital camera( but DAMN could it take good low light pictures! ). Amazingly, there are still reviews online of the camera. I barely got two pictures before security dove on me, lectured me about not 'filming' ( ?? )and took away my camera for the rest of the concert. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed.

But back to the concert. Sarah put on a lovely performance, her songs as always making the crowd smile. I noticed 'Aida' seemed to be the most popular, with a lot of the crowd singing along. It was a mixed lot too, with a lot of families and older folk present; officials put it at around 45,000 people all told. Suffice to say it was a relaxed, happy and well-behaved group of people out to enjoy a perfect summer evening with a free show.

Fiest was on after Sarah, with an intermission by a local singer named Shawn Hlookoff. He was energetic, but you could tell by the absent-minded chatter of the crowd that they were really waiting for Feist. There was a small group at the front who would occasionally chant her name during the setup after Shawn, and the roar that went up when the lights came on( low of course )was almost as big as for Sarah's low-key entrance.

And an interesting entrance it was. Fiest had set up a 'silhouette screen' and started off the show singing with her backlit silhouette on that very screen, a theme that continued throughout the show. I did not know any of the songs, but BOY could you hear her – they must have amped the bass ten times over the other performers, as very asphalt was vibrating enough to rattle the gravel. Loud, I guess, is another way to put it – glad I wasn't any closer. Too bad I had to leave before she got to the one song I did know, the Apple iPod commercial-famous "One, Two, Three, Four…" I really wanted to stay for that, but I was just too tired at that point, so off I went home in the gathering chill – I'd not brought a jacket( again )and forgotten how quickly things cooled down here at night. MUCH different than Niagara, where the hot summer nights can make sleeping a chore.

Aug 5 - Weather to Sleep

I almost got to sleep in today… until the garbage truck came at 7am. Very similar to how the landscaping guys used to show up around 7:30 am at The Prince every Tuesday to start mowing the lawn – great timing when you're tired from the night before. Not that I managed to get much done before work, mind you, but that's not the point.

The weather has done a total reversal during the weekend – it's back to sunny skies and balmy temperatures. Only a few clouds forecast for later in the week, so it's back to chilly mornings, sweaty lunchtimes and cool evenings again. Again, hard to get used to needing to bring a jacket, or wear 'layers' of clothes as the locals put it. Makes sense, but I'm so used to sandals, shorts and a t-shirt for summer weather, day and night. At least the need to shower more than twice a day is alleviated somewhat here due to the lack of humidity. Heck, the glaciers on Mt. Olympus to the south see to natural A/C for the city! No sightings of Zeus or other gods though; they must be laying low in the heat.

Aug 6 – Surprise Work Problems

Well, a shocker today: my co-worker was let go from the company. While I cannot go into why it happened, the reasons were a surprise to everyone. It is especially hard when working at a small branch like ours, when there ARE only the two of us there. It's stunning when someone you work with every day, who you have great respect for their abilities and like as a person, is suddenly gone for reasons that come as a hammerblow to the now-revealed-as-fragile-glass gestalt image you had created of them. In the business I am in, one learns to read people very well… but that still cannot ferret out well-kept secrets, and will never restore the blow that you take to your sense of trust. Damn, it sucks. So now our trainee is back, who ironically has the SAME name as my newly-departed coworker( yes, it was very confusing when they were both there at the same time ). Fortunately, we get along great, and we'll both move along from this incident as best we can… a little wiser, and a lot more conscious of how fragile a thing our jobs can really be.

Aug 7 – Looking for Group

I stumbled across a GREAT webcomic, called Looking for Group. It's based off WoW, but not overtly so. The art style is colourful, the writing is decent… and it has a GREAT character or two in there as well( see if you can tell which one I like ). Reminds me of another great comic I've not had the time to read in many years: Thieves and Kings, whose creator was a friend of a friend from quite long ago. Though why the site is in Australia beats me - last I heard, the creator was in Toronto. Hmmm.

On a related stress note, I've been cutting back on a lot of foods lately. Not buying cookies, chips and other snacks has made a difference in my food cravings, though the balance has not yet swung the other way to the point where fresh fruit and veggies fill the fridge. Yet. The one indulgence I still permit is something I discovered at the local Thrifty's I pass twice a workday: the Kilo Bag of Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Measuring daily stress levels by the numbers of cookies consumed has proven both amusing and tasty, so it's something I will continue for a while. Inexpensive yet delicious, the fresh-baked K.B.C-3 is something to look forward too, trivial though a cookie may be in the grand scheme of things. In terms of stress measurement though, the average day at work is about a two-cookie day in the end, with perhaps a half-cookie thrown in for good behaviour or a witty retort. A full cookie if they actually get said retort.

Aug 8 - Where the heck AM I?

I may have posted this already some time ago, but I like it and feel like sharing it again, as people keep adding to it – what's not to like about something continually updated? The 117 Things to Do in Victoria List is chock-full of Goodness for the South-Vancouver Island dweller to dig into. Speaking of which, a little geography for you folks, to clear up something that often confuses people who aren't familiar with exactly where Victoria is. The city is located on South Vancouver Island, which can be confusing as it's over 100 km SOUTH of the city of Vancouver… which is on the mainland well to the north-northeast. Most of Vancouver Island is reserved as forest parkland, with communities mainly situated on the south-east shores, radiating from Victoria north to Sidney. This website in particular has some great info, including interactive travel guides.

Aug 9 - Rain at last

Saturday mornings without cable – has it comes to this? The foundations of my world have become shaky and cracked… no Spiderman, no Robotech – what am I to to?

Oh, right. Work. That's it. How could I forget? I mean, when you take away the PC games, Xbox360, PS2, TurboGrafx, the DVD collection( movies, TV shows, recorded TV episodes ), the several thousand books, the TV available on the internet and those old Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories… there's practically nothing to do here. *grin*

So aside from writing up a few more articles for Cyberwalker.com, finishing up a few story outlines and digging into a few old stories, there's still a lot to do around here. It actually rained for most of the morning and early afternoon here, which was fine by me as I had a lot of laundry to do. Seemed like the perfect time for it too, as everyone else in the building was apparently out doing their Weekend Thing. As I mentioned earlier in this blog, Victoria is FULL of things to do and it seems that especially during the Summer months, there just aren't enough hours even with the longer days.

Aug 10 - Damn, I'm hot!

My apartment gets rather warm with the PC or the Xbox running for any period of time, but as I have mentioned before, the %##@! smokers out the front of the building manage to pollute the air every couple of hours – it seems even more than that, of late. Kudos for not smoking IN their units, but it pisses me off NO END that I have to run to the window to slam it shut when I sniff the foul stench of their killing clouds drifting my way. Even reversing the flow of air does not help; the prevailing wind blows from the southwest, and going against that means I get no cool air – so I either swelter with little airflow, or I have to do a yo-yo act to constantly close the window, wait, then open it again and see if the air is clear so I can get some cool air again. Damn all smokers and their addictions( present friends and family members excluded ).

I played COD4 for a few hours until 5pm, and as usual it was a varied performance. Since my final game of the day was 0 kills / 18 deaths, I took that as a sign to quit before it got worse… as if that were possible? At least I am managing to keep up with my friends, most games - nothing is worse than being the team anklebiter or headshot dummy.

Amazingly, last week's blog was the first one since March that had no comments posted for it. Seems to support my theory that this is the busiest time of summer, when people are packing all they can into the fading daylight hours of warmth.