Fireworks, Friends and Fuel

Well, that was an exciting way to start the week. Good thing the Tall Ships only stop in here every 3 years - I need the recovery time!

June 29th - Boom, Sizzle, Sad

After work in the evening, I heard the boom of cannon again from the Tall Ships battle just outside the harbour to the west. I didn't go to see though, as I was still nursing my sunburn with hourly applications of aloe, at home and at work both.

Speaking of which, it's been going better and better of late work-wise, which I find heartening. Though I am loathe to admit it, settling into a routine has helped eased my daily stress, especially since I am at a 'slower' branch. My skills and experience may enable me to hold my own at even the craziest of busy locations, but I do not thrive on the sort of stress and conflict that often entails - some of my co-workers do, so I happily let them work the stressful locations.
On a sobering note, Don S. Davis passed away today. He played General Hammond on Stargate SG-1, with humour and great force of personality. I am saddened by his loss; you can see more about this fine actor and person here.

June 30th - Lobsters and Moon

Yes, the sunburn is still with me, but I have thus far managed to avoid loosing any skin, as much as folks may still call me a flake. But I have earned the name 'Lobster Boy' from my co-workers - and I am glad that it has not driven me insane as it has this poor guy named Doug. Given that my last bad sunburn was in Mexico in 2006, I do need to be careful of having any more. As it stands now, some freckles have made their merry way to my forehead already, gleefully dancing in groups under the redness. *sigh*

I finished reading The Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy by Elizabeth Moon, as lent to me by a friend at work. It was written by the author to "Do a paladin right" in her own words and was a fascinating read from start to finish. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a gritty no-holds-barred view of how someone can rise from nothing to become someone who can change their world for the better - at least in a fantasy setting. Don't we all want that, in some way or another?

July 1st - Happy Canada Day!

A nice relaxing holiday. Just a day at home, in good old Canada, eh! Though there was a lot to do here in Victoria today, I was just too tired to get to it...

In the evening I cycled over to my parent's place to watch the fireworks from the 9th floor of their building. Since the walkways are all open to the air, there was quite a gathering of people up there. The view was spectacular across the harbor, looking towards the parliament buildings, which were lit with white running lights as they have been for more than a century now.

The fireworks themselves were impressive, all the more so for being so CLOSE - the launching site was mere meters away on Songhees Rd, which was closed to vehicles for the show. Amazing... my favourites were the red and white shells, of which there were a LOT, far more so than any other Canada Day show I've seen. Definitely not just a few token ones.

The crowds on the way to and from the events were a blast too. One group that stood out was about a dozen girls, all dressed in Canadian colours and singing all the way down to the harbour. The same sort of folks stood out on the way back, though a few were less sober than on the way to the event - again, par for the course. Everyone was happy, friendly and thrilled to be out to celebrate our country, even more so this year which is the 150th anniversary of British Columbia's founding as a province. Spectacular!

July 2nd - Cool air and Smoke

Early mornings in the heat... Yeesh. The weather for the last weekend was fantastic, with sunny skies and warm temperatures - finally. I have to figure out a better airflow model for my apartment however, as the place stays quite hot despite the breezes. Not good for my computer or other electronics, or me for that matter. I picked up a large fan on the weekend, so I am trying to decide on which side of the place to pull the air in from. This is not as simple as it seems, as the side by the main entrance is a favourite for smokers... whose fumes rise up immediately to permeate my apartment, which happens several times each morning and evening.

Ah well. At least the air is fresh and cool when it's not laden with carcinogens - I am but a block from the sea, so the cool night air often carries with it the smell of the ocean. One thing though: I have noticed that most homes and apartments here in Victoria have no screens on their windows. While this speaks well of the lack of flying insects, such as mosquitoes, it does still leave things wide open for other creatures... such as spiders. I am loathe to allow such into my apartment, especially as the nice warm interior is very attractive considering the outside temperatures are much colder - very enticing to spiders, which like to lurk in warm dark places.

All joking aside, I do not fear spiders but rather the unknown. If it was a spider that got me back in the mid-90's during my family's move to Fonthill, then I have good reason to be careful. I have pain from that ordeal to this day, from the arthritis that came from the swollen joints to the side effects that the idiot doctor's steroid overdose caused to my health. But I am grateful, as at the time I did not know for a few days if I would regain the use of my hands, or my right leg. Considering I have full use of all my limbs, albeit with some daily pain, I am fortunate, I feel.

July 3rd - Rain, Scooters and Cars

A little rain fell today, just in the morning and had cleared up by the time my evening shift rolled around. It is interesting that we have yet to have a thunderstorm here, which I find surprising. One of the customers I talked to today mentioned that she was originally from St. Catharines, and that we rarely have thunderstorms here in Victoria. The rain comes as though from a celestial gardener, gentle and not lasting longer than needed to refresh the green of the land.

Riding a scooter in the rain doesn't appeal to me much, but considering the rising cost of fuel these days, it's not a bad idea. This seems to have occurred to quite a few folks, as there is a shortage of scooters right now worldwide. Though if I did decide on an electric scooter, I'd get this one. I am pleased that my planned move to Victoria did not include a car, as the hideous expense that is vehicle ownership can only be made all the more horrible as gas prices rise.

July 4th - B5, with a twist

This week I moved into the fifth season of B5, and I am still enthralled by the story. Some of you may not know I was( and still am )a part of a video game based on Babylon 5, called "I've Found Her"in which I voice the part of Alpha 4, one of the Starfury pilots. I am proud to have been even a small a part of such a game, as it shows what fan-based projects can achieve and the talent that many of us have within themselves, waiting to be shared.

A sobering thought on the future and the rate of technological progress: it seems the world is in immediate danger of running out of various rare-earth elements. You heard it correctly; our lust for flat-screen TV's and copper frying pans may lead us to asteroid mining sooner than you think. So invest in rocketry, or in mineral futures... before the prices rise like fuel costs.

July 5th - Bad Company

Mostly I finished up some stories I had been working on, deciding to plug away at them today and get them DONE.

I popped onto XboxLive a few times, but didn't see anyone who wasn't playing BF: Bad Company, which is a first-person shooter based on... You guessed it: greed. While the premised of fighting for stacks of gold bars seems a little thin to me as a writer, the gameplay itself seems a step or two above COD4, which is saying something. However, I wonder at the longevity of these games... A year or two at most, and then it's on to the next New Thing. How many folks still play Halo3, I wonder? Or Battlefield2( 2005 )or even Battlefield 1942( 2002 )? I sometimes wonder about the loss of good games, tossed aside because they are no longer 'cutting edge' in the graphics or gameplay department. Yet many of them are still solid games, but in the MMO market, it seems the crowd is solidly set on the new, and easily forgets the newly old.

July 6th - Fridges and Frodo

My fridge has changed. Yes, that stalwart symbol of the single guy, the bachelor's bulwark against hunger, as been undergoing a metamorphosis these last few months. I have noticed that very little pop has wound up in there, and of course no dairy products for months now. No, now it is the home of soy, of greens, of juice and many a healthy thing... Which amazes me, as I am not one to spend highly on healthy foods. Yet apparently I have, bit by bit, without really noticing. Even the cupboards are bare of chips, or cookies, or tasty snacks with ingredient labels that read like chemical warfare shopping lists. While I am not yet considering things like Raw Food, I am finding my own way towards health. Perhaps soon I will even dig into my nemesis, that has sat on my counter for half a year now: Cook With Jamie. Considering that I am limited in some of the meals I can eat, perhaps the time is coming soon where I will be able to spare the time to really train myself to cook, not just to eat food prepared in the easiest way possible.

After a lovely uneventful and daresay relaxing day at work, I watched The Return of the King while doing other things around the apartment. The music for the film fills the air with wonderful sound, and really makes the experience special. I remember waiting eagerly for this film to be released on December 17, 2003... hard to believe that is almost 5 years past. Wikipedia has a ton of fascinating information about the LOTR Trilogy, including all the deviations from the books as well as fascinating facts about the film process itself.

And, as I mentioned back then, there are too many blue eyes in the 3 films( see the ill-named 'Racism' section of that last link ). Really.

All for now. One of my weekends is going to have to be spent re-reading the LOTR trilogy, and the next weekend watching the three Extended Versions of the films. Joy...

Tall Ships, Short Trips and Sunburn

Come One, Come All, to the Blog Of Stars.... !

June 23 - Dialing in the Cool

Ten-digit dialing started here today, so the old-style comfort of only having to remember seven digits while calling someone is gone. I knew it couldn't last, but I enjoyed the nostalgic feeling nonetheless.

Last night set a record for the coldest recorded temperature in June for Victoria - seven degrees. Yikes! With the window just a tiny bit open, the cool air is refreshing but not chilly. I still wear my cycling jacket to work in the mornings, despite the fact that I can't seem to get the knack of proper airflow through it. At least it's not that far to work, as I've mentioned before - fifteen minutes, even uphill. Nice!

June 24 - Healthy Happy

It's been a month now since I cut dairy products out of my diet, and so far so good - no stomach cramps or nausea. Though I still get them when I look too closely at my bills.. but that's normal for most people. I've just located a lactose-free milk product by Natrel at my local Thrifty's, so I'm going to give that a try this week.

Why? Well, Getting used to tea with soy milk is tough, as it totally changes the taste. I may end up just having small containers of fat-free milk on hand just for that purpose, on the theory that small occasional doses may not cause problems.
Larger problems may not wait. I have been having more and more gall bladder related twinges, so I have the feeling that it's going to have to come out before one of the what-feels-like-golf-ball-sized stones decides to plug up the works. But DAMN, I really hate the thought of surgery... though the scars could be cool. I'll have to do even more research soon into the long-term lifestyle impacts that its removal will have.

June 25 - Skip the CD's

I've brought my old 7-disc cd-changer to work, to give it a new lease on life. It's amazing to think that in its day, it was a wonder of technology, to be able to listen to seven different audio CD's at random. Now it is literally a clunky leftover from another age, with each disc changing in a rattling clash of gears. The age of the MP3 has all but killed the CD; even my alarm clock has an MP3 input, a sign of the times.

Yeah, that's it for today's entry - I had something, but then I lost it. Oops.

June 26 - Fry-day

After a pancake breakfast( remember the ones I made at the Blue Mountain Lodge Trip of oh-so-long ago, folks? )I worked on some story ideas this morning, based on some conversations from last night on NWN. One in particular was very amusing - I'm tentatively titling it "Dinnertime at the Dragon Sands."

I've also been listening to some new music of late, which may come as a shock to those of you who know that my CD collection could fit, with cases, into a size-6 shoebox with room to spare. One that I picked up recently was Resilience, by Annabelle Chvostek, whose song "I left my Brain" keeps popping up in my head at odd times. Well, maybe not all that odd, considering the title... and I am the first to admit that my musical tastes can be considered eccentric by almost anyone's standards.

June 27th - Ships Ahoy, lubbers!

Up early and out the door at 8am today for a semi-leisurely breakfast at Smitty's on Douglas St, all part of the Tall Ships Plan. First a stop at the bank, which was crowded of course being end-of-month and full of pensioners too boot... then to the harbour area for.... the Tall Ships 2008 Festival!

Amazingly, I ran into two of my friends from Victoria while standing in line to board the Bounty - they were dressed in Pirate gear, and gave me some swag of my own: a pirate eyepatch! We had a blast standing in line to the amusement( and entertainment )of the crowd around us. Never let it be said I'm too quiet.
The Bounty was HUGE... well, bigger than I remember from the last time I was aboard her, back in 1978. Which is odd, given that I was MUCH smaller back then. The smell of the varnish on the wood, the fresh smell of the sea, the gentle creak of timber and rope as the ship rolled with the occasional wave - it was swell!

All too soon I had to leave for work, but I took with me an inexpensive souvenir... a sunburn! I'd packed everything BUT sunblock into my bag early in the morning, and being too cheap to blow $40.00 on a HAT( yes, they really liked their profit margins at the Festival )I sucked it up and fried. Though I did stop at a Shoppers on the way for some Aloe... boy, was my face red! To add insult to injury, my co-worked exclaimed "Oh, if you wanted to spend another hour or two there, I would have said fine..." - so it goes.

Oh, and Martin called today. Uh-huh. Yer blogged dude; s'good!

June 28th - Tall Ships Part Duex

Again, I was up early to pack in as much 'ship time' as I could. Yet one look in the mirror convinced me to stay my trip until mid-afternoon, so that I could slather aloe on my face / neck / arms at least once an hour( with the occasional rinse of the layers )before I tempted fiery fate again.

I arrived at the Festival a little after three, and immediately got into line to see the Nina( yes, Columbus' ship )and a few other ships. Then I got out of line, just before boarding... as I'd discovered my KEYS were missing. After some quick questioning of festival personnel, it turned out that a passerby had found them at the entrance way and given them to a policeman directing traffic - whew! I wish the good Samaritan had left their name, as they saved me some major grief. First time in twenty years I've lost my keys... even if for a brief time.

The delay meant that I missed the final boarding of the last set of ships by five minutes... which really burned me, compounding my sunburn pain a bit. It was quite an impressive fleet of ships that were moored in the harbour, all of which looked impressive in the sunshine. I soothed my annoyance by sitting on the patio at Milestones Habourside and managing to secure the ONLY table in the shade. I sipped on mint iced tea and supped on a veggie burger while watching the crowd go by... and BOY was it crowded today.

After dinner, I cycled down to Ogden Point, where I set myself up to watch the Tall Ships Cannon Battle performance by a half-dozen vessels. The first roll of cannon fire made the entire crowd gathered along the shore jump and exclaim, it was SO loud - magnified perhaps by the open water and a little TOO much powder? ;-) I'll post some of the pictures on FB, which turned out very well despite my lack of a zoom lens. An amazing and majestic site, seeing the sailing ships of yesteryear plying the azure waters under the bright blue skies, puffs of cannon fire the only clouds visible and the only thunder the cries of those same shots echoing...

June 29th - Shaving Sunburns

Bah... had to spend the day working, which is a shame given that I had a weekend pass for the Tall Ships. Still, it meant I was out of the sun, and that I could slather Aloe on my face once an hour and enjoy the refreshing cool A/C on the burn... which doesn't look too bad now, given how often I've treated it.

I can hear the cannon battle of the Tall Ships continuing as I write this, around 8pm tonight. The echoing roll of charges firing is strange in this quiet neighbourhood of Fairfield, but oddly soothing.

For those of you in a piratical mood, you can walk the plank while watching the hilarious Bus Pirates episodes while you wait for the next Talk Like a Pirate Day to arrive. Sadly, it's AFTER I'll be back from my trip to Niagara... but hey, there's always next year friends!

And finally... it's HOT here now - what a change from Monday! I logged 31 decrees C here in the apt, even with the windows open and fans going. Guess I've been spoiled the last few years with A/C ... and I should be careful what I wish for. No sweat; I can sense the irony!


Look at that - not a single mention of Babylon 5, did you notice? I 've been watching an average of an episode a day, but I thought relating a play-by-play might alienate some of my readers... But fear not, for next week we have: alien hairstyles!