Tally.

We had 27 trick or treaters tonight.  Definitely not the biggest crowd we've had, and given the nice weather we had today and this evening there could have been more.  Not surprisingly we have candy left over.  Gonna have to make sure I get a lot of walking in this week.

Act, Don't Whine.

I was just playing a freeroll over on Pokerstars, and just got knocked out\.  Before I did however another player who had been doing quite well before me got knocked out.  He then proceeded to whine about the site being rigged and so on.  Yeah, like they'd really rig a 40 thousand player freeroll.  But whether they are or not the solution is simple.  If you think a site is rigged, don't play there.  It's not a hard conclusion to come to.  Don't keep playing there and then turn into a crybaby when things don't go your way again.  But guess what?  If you play on pretty much any poker site you'll see the exact same complaints. So maybe it's best if you don't play online poker at all.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 29, 2010.

Down it goes again.  Gas in Saskatoon is 100.4 cents a litre at most locations.  Note the unusual .4 cents versus the usual .9 cents division.

That Mournful Sound.

Listen carefully and you might hear the lamentations of many Texas Rangers fans.  The late innings of tonight's game were pretty awful  The way this is going the Rangers may end up getting swept and have that conclude at home.  Nasty.

It's Not Just Me.

I'm sitting here watching the World Series, and a bit ago I saw someone who looked for all the world like Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins.  It seems I wasn't the only one who thought it was him, as I accidentally stumbled across people Twittering that they saw him.  If it wasn't him it's someone with identically styled grey hair.

Take It Easy, Saskatoon.

That unfamiliar white stuff is called snow.  It makes things slippery.  Please don't drive in your usual maniac manner or you'll be slamming into everyone in sight.

Les Quebecois Funky

For some reason I decided to search YouTube last night for stuff by UZEB, and came across the above, which I remember watching on the CBC, probably within a few months of it being filmed.  Great version of this tune, featuring guest percussion from the late great Don Alias.

Don't Drop It.

I briefly stuck my head into a Source store to look at their radio selection.  As I did I walked past the remote control display.  This included a 300 buck model.  Who buys a 300 buck remote control I wondered.  Of course the answer is someone with a 10 grand home theatre system.  Given how often remotes get dropped, sat on, or otherwise abused I'd hate to have one that expensive to damage.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 22, 2010.

The trend this week was down, but only a cent.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 101.9 cents a litre at most locations.

Throwback.

I can't help but smile at the name of this kid catching for the San Francisco Giants, Buster Posey.  With a name like that he sounds like he should be playing alongside Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.  You don't run into too many people named Buster who are say under the age of 80.

The Muslim Mayor Menace.

In case you missed it the people of Calgary elected a Muslim Canadian, Naheed Nenshi, as their new mayor, the first Muslim mayor in Canada.  So, how long do you think it took the "He's an evil Mooslim, Calgary is doomed!" talk to start?  I'd say it was almost instant.  The fact that Nenshi was born and raised in Canada and is a Harvard grad of course makes no difference to these types.  Muslims share a hive mind, and the goal of that hive mind is to conquer us all, in their paranoid world view.  There's even "Look out, he'll be Canada's Obama!" talk, which isn't much of a surprise.   Not to mention invoking the Sharia Law boogeyman.  Same old song and dance.  Like other forms of paranoia it won't matter how little Nenshi does to meet their expectations of the Muslim Mayor Menace, they'll keep crying wolf.

When I Rule The World 2.

When I rule the world roving squads equipped with Electric Cattle Prods of Correction will patrol the streets to instantly correct those who say "eye-ran," "eye-rack," and "eye-talian."

Well Supplied.

If you're planning on visiting Saskatoon and are worried about getting your Tim Hortons fix, don't be.  Saskatoon currently has 21 different Hortons outlets.  And we'll soon have a symetrical number of them, as a new downtown location will open early next year on 22nd Street.  Non-Saskatoon readers may be surprised to learn that this will be the first Hortons outlet downtown.   For whatever reason no one set one up in the city centre until now, the closest being the outlet on 33rd Street just across from Kelsey Institute.   And there are also rumours that if the city ever gets around to building a new 23td Street bus mall it may contain a Hortons kiosk.

Given our population this works out to roughly one Hortons store per 10,000 people.  And if you go to some outlets at certain times of the day it seems like every one of that 10,000 will soon pass through the doors.

As for the donut competition?  There are still 5 Robin's Donuts outlets, the chain that previously dominated the Saskatoon market before Hortons moved in.  Country Style once had a presense here but it is long gone.  There was no indication that Krispy Creme ever planned to set up shop here during their ultimately disastrous attempt to enter the Canadian market.  Dunkin' Donuts have no stores here. 

Given the number of food posts I've written of late perhaps this blog should have a temporary "Reading this may make you hungry" warning.

The Onslaught Begins.

I just saw my first Canadian commercial for KFC's Double Down Sandwich.  If you chomped down on one today feel free to leave a comment on what you thought.  I doubt I'll be eating one anytime soon.  For those rare times I go to KFC I'll stick to their Big Crunch chicken burger.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 15, 2010.

It's funny that prices were so stable during the Summer, and now they're in flux.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 102.9 cents a litre at most locations, a decrease of 2 cents.

Oh, KFC, You Shouldn't Have.

In the paper this morning was KFC's latest coupon flyer, which included the announcement that their Double Down Sandwich will hit the Canadian market(or the Saskatoon market at least) October 18th.  That's my birthday, so I'm really flattered you guys went to all the effort of getting it out in time to honor me.  But really, you didn't have to.

To be more serious a lot of people are probably saying "Oh no, they shouldn't have!" for rather different reasons.  For those not familiar with it the Double Down consists of two chicken fillets with two slices of cheese, bacon, and "secret sauce" between them.  No bun, leading some people to dispute it's actually a sandwich.  The amount of calories and fat in this thing has of course led to criticisms that it's an unhealthy addition to an already unhealthy fast food market.  It's also very high in sodium, no doubt due to the spices used in the chicken and the bacon's inherent saltiness. 

Will I eat one?  Perhaps some day.  But really, the last thing I need is another fast food/junk food item to salivate over.  I eat too many different kinds of crap as it is. 

Gas In Saskatoon, October 8, 2010.

Gas in Saskatoon is currently 104.9 cents a litre at most locations.  Of course this week's price rise has nothing to do with it being Thanksgiving long weekend, right?

(Yes, American visitors, we have Thanksgiving in Canada, just a month earlier than you do.)

It Could Have Been Ours.

If you're a Blue Jays fan the events of this afternoon are both wonderful and bittersweet.  Starting today for the Philadelphia Phillies Roy Halladay pitched only the second no hitter in Major League Baseball playoff history.  The Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-0.  The only other pitcher to do this was Don Larsen for the New York Yankees way back in 1956.  This comes on top of a season where he threw a perfect game(no hits, no runners on base) on May 29th.  Not to mention that Halladay actually hit a single and scored an RBI in today's game, and it was his first postseaon start.  But if you're a Jays fan you can't help but think that if things had worked out a bit differently over the last couple of years maybe he would have done this for the Jays instead.

Trump's Greatest Trump?

Donald Trump announced this week he is thinking about running for US President in 2012.  If I were his potential competitors I'd be quaking in my boots given the financial resources he can bring to a campaign without having to solicit donations.  On the other hand if Trump did take the office he'd find running a country is quite different from being a coporate magnate.  You just can't say "You're fired!" to Congress if things don't go your way.  And what about that hair of his?  Do Americans really want a President who looks like he's got a dyed skunk's tail on his head?

A New Domain.

A thought just came to mind.  Perhaps it's time for the online gambling industry to push for its own Internet domain.  Specifically it would be .bet.  Although for all I know being close to .net might cause problems. 

Today's Cassette, October 3, 2010.

Busy day here on the blog.

I dug out an old Sanyo cassette player(not the Sanyo I regularly use, but an older one) out of a cupboard to see if it works.  It does, but there's obviously a loose connection someplace, because when you turn it at a certain angle it conks out.  I've got other cassette players around so it's not much of a bother.  To test it I grabbed Luck Andro, which is probably an iffy translation, by Thai morlam singer Pornsack Songsaeng.  I'd really love to get more of this stuff someday since it has a nice groove.

Poker Doppelgangers.

Right now I'm playing on two different poker sites.  Just a few hands ago I was dealt A8 on both at the same time.  Too bad it wasn't the same A8 on both, that would have been really wild.

He Can Drive 54.

Congrats to Jose Bautista for hitting 54 home runs.  Only a tiny handful of players have hit that many or more home runs in a season.  It's appropriate that it happened in Cito Gaston's last season as a manager.  And the Jays ended the season with a winning record, which many didn't expect when the season started.  Good work, guys.

When I Rule The World 1.

When I rule the world, all houses will have mail boxes or the equivalent.  Seriously, I find it strange and possibly evil when a house doesn't have a mail box.  So when I become Supreme Leader you'd better have one or else.

Yep, the number 1 indicates I hope to make more of these posts.