Gas In Saskatoon, December 28, 2012.

Yep, we get one more of these in after a period of stability.  Once more the price of gas has dropped.  It is now 106.9 cents a litre at most locations in Saskatoon.  I suspect the first price change of 2013 will be a price hike, but who knows with the supposed "fiscal cliff" in the US about to do us all in.

Just Because.

I'm linking to this for no other reason than that it's fun if you're a Yes fan.  They did a very good job in my opinion of adapting it to the videogame music genre.

A Familiar Look.

The last couple of days I've been playing on the revived Full Tilt Poker, which is now owned by the same folks who own PokerStars.  They had an offer for PokerStars players that if you linked your accounts on both sites you would get a 20 buck ticket to use to play Full Tilt  ring games.  Interestingly any time the dollar balance on that ticket gets over 20 bucks you end up making money when you leave a ring game table.  At the moment my cash account is up to $3.17.

As for the game play itself if you played on Full Tilt before it will seem very familiar to you.  Pretty much everything seems to be the same as it was when the US government forced Full Tilt to suspend operations in April of 2011, including the familiar cartoon character avatars.  For example I use the cowboy one, which is what I used to use.  My old account was opertional, so if you're one of those folks who had their money frozen in a Full Tilt account you should probably sign on and see what your status is.

Goodbye Gerry.

Veteran British TV creator/producer Gerry Anderson died today at age 83.   He first came to notice as the mind behind such puppet/marionette series, most with science fiction themes as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet before moving to live action with the 1968 movie Doppleganger, known in North America as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.  Anderson's most successful live action production would turn out to be 1975's Space: 1999, starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain.  Although he had been working on a number of projects in recent years it was announced in June of this year he was suffering from Alzheimers.

In memoriam here's "Breakaway," the opening episode of Space: 1999

Rumours Confirmed.

I forgot about it, so I missed the noon hour changeover.  But now we know.  Wired 96.3's replacement, as the rumours suggested, is 96.3 Cruz FM.  The format is "classic hits," apparently ranging from the early '70s to the early 2000s.  Interestingly when I checked their Radio Data System feed a couple of minutes ago they were still IDing as Santa FM.  Their website can be seen here.  Will this new format work?  It seems to have too much overlap with Magic 98.3 and Rock 102 FM to me.  I guess it's a case of stay tuned.

Insert Applicable Seasonal Greeting Here..

Hope you're having a good holiday, becuase I'm pretty bummed at the moment, and expect to stay that way.

There, It's Done.

It's December 22nd. You're still here, I'm still here. The Mayan Long Count Calender rolled over, and nothing much happened. No giant earthquakes, no asteroid strikes, no UFO full of aliens to rescue anyone. So now you can relax and shut up about the whole thing. And maybe next time those of you who fell for the interpretations of a bunch of paranoid, mainly white, cranks will think twice. But I doubt it.

I have to admit I was expecting we'd see worse as December 21st approached. But fortunately for everyone it mainly turned out to be a lot of talk and hand wringing from believers. There were no mass suicides or other outbreaks of violence. I suppose there were probably some folks who did things like sell all their worldly goods, but if so they were isolated enough not to get much press.

My late grandmother Margaret Carr used to say that the world ends for someone every day. And it's true. Yesterday was the end of the world for some, not because of some silly prediction, but because we're mortal beings. Perhaps that;s why so many people like end of the world predictions, because it will make their end part of a spectacular event, not the result of the slow decline or mundane bad fortune that will do most of us in.

Still Nothing.

So here's a tune about someone warning aboiut the end of the world.  It's from Planet P Project's 1984 album Pink World, a concept album about a 7 year old boy, Artemus, who gains superpowers after drinkiing polluted water.  When WW3 breaks out his powers are used to save a group of "true believers" from the resulting nuclear wasteland.

It's OO:51 UTC...

...and the world hasn't blown up yet. 

Or do I have to wait until it's midnight someplace in Guatemala or Mexico?

Should Have Been.

It would be fascinating to know what processes bands go through when deciding to release singles.  Rush's 1990 album Presto produced 3 singles: "Show Don't Tell," the opening cut, "The Pass," and "Superconductor."  But if I'd had a say in the process, I would have tried to convince them to release "Available Light," the album's final track.



I really think this track could have been a hit.  For that matter it's a Rush tune that might actually do someone quite well if they covered it.  Unfortunately a hamfisted cover of "Tom Sawyer" is much more likely to be in some artist's plans.

Waste Of Time.

I have a Livejouirnal account.  I use it to post and comment on several places.  But my own Livejournal page never gets posted to.  Today I got a spam comment to the test post I have up.  All the spammer did is waste some time given that I have few if any visitors, and given that I instantly deleted the spam comment. 

Inverted.

How annoying.  As I write this the themometers we have say it's minus 7 outisde.  It's supposed to be warmest during the day, not late in the evening.  And that temperature is probably the warmest i's been in a week or more.

Haha, I Win!

As of today I'm done with all my Christmas shopping.  Hence I have beaten a whole bunch of you out there to the finish line.  No "Still looking for gifts 30 minutes before closing on December 24th" for me.  No having to stress out about finding something.  It's done.  Too bad for you if your shopping isn't.

Big Whoop!

So Rush is going to be indicted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The only thing good I can see about it is the Rush fans who for some reason think this is important won't keep going on about it.  Being in the so-called Hall of Fame won't make peoiple who don't like Rush like them, or make their music sound even better.  So why should anyone care?

As you sit there thinking about what nasty thing to say to me for not thinking this is the most important thing to happen in music, EVAH! you can listen to one of my favourite Rush tunes.  Surprise, it's not "Tom Sawyer!"

What To Buy, What To Buy.

The F35 fighter is back in the news again in Canada, with reports the government is reconsidering the program given that it may cost as much as 40 billion dollars, versus the 9 billion the government had been claiming.  So, if the RCAF isn't going to buy the F35, what would they buy in its place?

In fact it is arguably a good time to be out trying to buy a fighter.  There are a lot of choices out there:

Boeing F/A18E and F Super Hornet.  It's the 21st Century version of the original McDonnell Douglas F18 Hornet the RCAF currently flies.  Along with earlier Hornet models the E(single seat) and F (two seat) Super Hornets are the backbone of the US Navy's air combat capability.  The Royal Autralian Air Force also flies the F model, which replaced its Lockheed F111s in the long range attack role, and may buy more of them given the problems the F35 is having.

Boeing F15E Strike  Eagle.  This early '70s design is still in production, and Boeing has proposed a more stealthy version, the F15SE Silent Eagle.  Given its age it's likely a long shot for a Canadian purchase, and no one has purchased the Silent Eagle version, making it a risk for Canada to buy it.  The choice would also be ironic given that the original F15A was one of the contenders in the late '70s in the competition that eventually saw Canada buy the CF18.

Saab Gripen.  Sweden's current entry in the world fighter market.  It's flown by Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic, South Africa, and Thailand, and the Swiss have a batch on order.

Lockheed-Martin F16.  It's still in production, but for how much longer remains to be seen.  Another aircraft that took part in Canada's late '70s fighter competition., but the currently offered versions are heavily upgraded from the early A model.  Buying a Lockheed-Martin product instead of another, problem plagued,  Lockheed-Martin product might prove politically iffy.

Dassault Rafale.  The latest design from France's famed fighter producer.  It's flown by the French Air Force and and by the Navy's carrier squadrons, and the plane got a big boost earlier this year when India decided to order 126, most of which will be licence produced in India.  The Indians may order more in the future, and it's considered one of the frong runners in Brazil's on again/off again fighter competition.  Several Middle Eastern countries are also interested. 

Eurofighter Typhoon.  Built by a consortium of several European firms, it was developed to a joint design requirement for the airforces of the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain.  It has also been purchased by Austria and Saudi Arabia.

Sukhoi Su27/MiG 29 families.  I'm lumping these together because they're very unlikely choices.  Russia would certainly love to see more export orders for these aircraft, and no doubt would get a certain kick out of a NATO country buying them instead of an American aircraft.  But it would be quite the chore to modify them to meet NATO standards and take NATO weapons like the AMRAAM and Sidewinder missiles Canada uses.

Avro Arrow.  There was some ridiculous talk earlier this year about the much ballyhooed late '50s Canadian design coming back from the dead.  Don't believe it.  Trying to make Arrows makes as much sense as startng a car company to make the 1958 Chevrolet lineup in huge numbers. 

No fighters.  Some folks would no doubt say this is the best choice.  It's not going to happen.  Canada will replace the CF18s with something.  Ironically the people who don't want to buy new fighters would be no happier with a possible result, namely the US demanding the right to station fighter squadrons in Canada to patrol Canadian airspace if we don't.

Last Take.

Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck has died at 91. So in his hounour here is his best known piece, "Take Five." I got the chance to see him at the Sask Tel Jazz Festival several years ago. Even at his advanced age he still had it, even if he needed help getting on and off stage. Hopefully we'll all be still active in our late eighties.

Respite.

If you're in Saskatoon you'd better enjoy today's break in the weather.  After the predicted high of plus one it's going to get very cold again, and the long range forecast shows nothing approaching warm for the next week

Removed For Safety Reasons.

Coming home this afternoon on the bus I spotted a Christian tract sitting on one of the seats.  I took it with me when I got off, so that some poor unfortunate wouldn't be warped by reading it.

In reality I suspect that tracts don't have much effect at all.  Religious upbringing, personal relations, and other interactions strike me as much more likely to have an effect on one's religious choices than an easily ignored piece of paper.  Of course part of the thinking of those who distribute tracts is that they, like the religious works they're based on, have some sort of God given power to effect others, that they're a magical talisman.

The Snow...

...is sapping my will to post.

Help.

Come here and take it away.

Gas In Saskatoon, November 30. 2012.

This post won't be much of a surprise.  Gas prices have dropped once again.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 109.9 cents a litre at most locations.  Looking at my old posts I see that gas hasn't been that cheap in Saskatoon since December of 2010, with the low point that month being 105.9 cents a litre the week of December 24th.

Gas In Saskatoon, November 23, 2012.

If you're thinking, "Hmmm, the price of gas has dropped in Saskatoon again," you'd be right.  In fact we had a double drop this week.  Prices fell to 115.9 cents a litre on Monday.  |Today they dropped once again , this time to 111.9 centa  litre, although not every station had changed their prices when I came home this afternoon.  It now seems that my prediction we'd see gas below 110.9 cents a litre before Christmas is probably correct.

Surprisingly Fresh.

After much delay the remake of the 1984 Commie invasion flick Red Dawn finally hit the theatres this week. Seeing a review in the paper this morning I decided to check the Rotten Tomatoes page for the film.  It currently has a rating of 11 percent.  Sure, the film is a failure with the critics, but it's quite a way above the "Watch this film and you might die, it's that horrible!" level of something like Ballistic:  Ecks vs. Severe. It actually has several positive reviews, although even those are of the "damning with faint praise" genre.  Still, positive reviews are positive reviews.

No doubt some US right wing commentators will claim the bad reviews are because US movie reviewers are all a bunch of leftist traitors.  But the reality is that the concept of the film is ridiculous.  It's even more ridiculous given the decision to change the villains in the film to the North Koreans from the Chinese after the bulk of filming was done, delaying the release of the film.  The change came because the studio was afraid the film might not get played in the increasingly lucrative Chinese market with the Chinese as villains.  But it's a decision that may have hurt the film.  Viewers might have a slightly easier time suspending their disbelief with Chinese baddies, but the North Koreans?  Even with the help of the macguffin used in the film they'd have trouble invading a Sandals resort, let alone the United States.

Thinking about the 1984 original I realised this morning I remember nothing of its debut, or the critical reaction at the time.  I remember other Cold War oriented pieces of the era, like The Day After and the later "Soviets conquer the US!" miniseries Amerika, but not the original Red Dawn.  I wonder what distracted my attention.

It will be interesting to see how much money the film makes.  Will the nostalgia some people have for the original fill theatre seats?  Will the premise draw in younger viewers?   The initial box office results will probably tell the tale.

A 96.3 Update.

This afternoon I spotted an ad on a bus shelter for the upcoming replacement for Wired 96.3.  The sign gave no clue as to what the new format will be, merely indicated the planned debut at noon on Boxing Day, December 26th.  If there aren't some already I would imagine we'll see large ads on some of the many advertising billboards in Saskatoon in short order.

It would be interesting to know how long the changeover has been in the works,. and why the Wired on air staff was let go.  I would guess the latter is to give the new station a fresh start, and perhaps we'll see an older group of DJs more in keeping with the rumoured oldiers/classic hits format.  One or more veterans of the Saskatoon radio scene, perhaps?

My previous posts on the demise of Wired 96.3 can be read here and here.  Harvard is currently running the transmitter on 96.3 megahertz as Santa FM, so if you're a |DXer that's why you're hearing nonstop Christmas music if you've got your Yagi aimed this way.

Burn!

James Nicoll does not like Michael Ignatieff.  And he has come up with a rather nasty putdown of "Iggy."  He says Ignatieff is our Mitt Romney.  Somehow I doubt James is going to be sent a copy of Ignatieff's next book for review.

Waterproof PC?

I'm guessing there probably is such a thing, and this morning I thought it would be nice to own one.  I swear that some of my best blog post ideas come when I'm in the shower.  But in the end it wouldn't be a good idea for me to have one.  I spend too much time in the shower as it is.

Wired Update.

Here's a followup to my post from earlier today about the demise of Wired 96.3.  Owners Harvard Broadcasting have announced the station will begin broadcasting in a new format  at noon on December 26th.  Presumably Harvard has already hired a new on air staff for the new format, as a little bit over a month would seem a rather tight timeline to launch and complete a successful search for new employees.  Of course this being the 21st Century it is possible that there won't be any local on air personalities, that the station will present programming from elsewhere, controlled by computer.  What will it be?  As I said in my previous post I'm not sure what might be a viable replacement format, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Addenda:  Just after posting this I did a bit of looking around to see other reactions about Wired's demise.  Apparently there are rumours floating around that the new format may be classic hits or oldies under the name Cruise FM, or Cruz FM.    

Gas In Saskatoon, November 16, 2012.

It's Friday again, and I have yet another gas price change to report.  And the trend of dropping prices continues.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 117.9 cents a litre at most locations.  If this keeps up we might see 110.9 cents a litre gas, or even lower, by the time Christmas rolls around.

UnWired.

The Saskatoon radio scene has taken a hit.  FM station Wired 96.3 closed up shop yesterday.  The staff was let go, and the station will play Christmas music for the remainder of the year as Santa FM, when owners Harvard Broadcasting will decide what to do with the transmitter.  Ironically this is the same format the station used when it was doing its final tests before officially hitting the air in July of 2008.

I was skeptical when the station opened that there was enough listenership, and hence ad revenue, to support another contemporary pop station.  It would seem I was right, unfortunately.  I think it's telling that the station would fire its staff with more than a month to go until Christmas, instead of waiting until year's end.        I'm guessing the station's revenues weren't covering its staff costs, and it was losing too much money to continue operating even a few weeks longer.

Next July would have been the station's fifth anniversary.

What format might Harvard replace Wired with?  I really don't have an idea.  We have 2 country stations, one each on AM and FM, so that seems unlikely.  A rock station?  Competing with Rock 102 FM might not be a much better idea that competing with C95 was in the current format.  I can't imagine a news/talk station, as that would seem to be a waste of an FM stereo transmitter, and the format is already served by CKOM and CBC Radio One.  Even a Christian music format would have competition in the form of Free 100.3, although the tiny Free would likely be the loser in that kind of battle.  Would an oldies format work here?  Perhaps.  There is an AM oldies station easily heard in this market, Melfort's CKJH on 750 khz AM, but a stereo FM format might take much of their Saskatoon listernship, whatever it might be.

Beat You!

Haha, American right wing conspiracy types, you won't get to publish this silly conspiracy theory first!  here we go:  Michelle Obama will run for President in 2016, so she can continue Barack's evil plan to...do whatever the hell it is you lot think he really plans to do.  Turn you all into Muslims?  Sell the White House and Statue of Liberty to China?  Whatever.

At the very least this idea will probably be coming to one of the tabloids sooner or later, even if Worldnedaily or some other part of the crankosphere doesn't do it.  But remember, you read it here first!

Gas In Saskatoon, November 9, 2012.

It has definitely been a while since this has happened.  For the third consecutive week we've had a gas price change, and it's yet another price drop.  Gas in \Saskatoon is now 119.9 cents a litre at most locations.  Will it drop agian next week?  Stay tuned.

Assembled For Your Convenience.

Here's a fun one via a post by Ed Brayton.  Mother Jomes has assembled a Venn diagram of various Obama conspiracy theories.  The one about Obama killing Granny Obama to cover up that  he's an evil Kenyan non-American is a new one by me.  The one that's he's trying to smuggle in 100 million Muslims to overwhelm the US wasn't.  But even that one isn't as silly as the Obama went to Mars theory.  So, do you have a favouite out of these?  And of course we all know there's likely to be several missing here.  Sooner or later someone will no doubt claim Obama isn't really black, but a white dude who used some secret trick to make himself look of African descent so he could impliment Communism at the behest of the KGB.

Stabby?

Here in Saskatoon we get our ABC, CBS, and NBC feeds from Detroit.  (Our Fox feed is from Rochester, New York for some reason.)  So I was treated(not) to various Michigan political ads, including those for and against Senator Debbie Stabenow.  Smartypants that I am I found myself calling her Stabby when I saw her ads.  Does anyone else call her that?

Incidentally, for those who weren't following the Michigan campaign, Stabenow won her third term as Senator.

Vote, Americans.

Chances are by the time you read this it will be time for you to vote.  So, if you can, make sure you get out and vote today.  Honestly, you owe the rest of us for making us put up with your damn campaign for the last year and a half.  You seriously need to find a way to make the process less complicated and less drawn out.  It's just getting to be too much.

Oompah.

Remember this one? If you remember hearing it in the '70s, you're old. "Good Friends" was released in 1971, and in a way it sounds like kind of a throwback for 1971. Susan Jacks sounds a bit like Connie Francis, and the tune has a feel like the kind of weepies Francis was known for. Then there's that bassline, which sounds to me like it came from a polka tune, and is kind of odd for a pop tune in the aftermath of hte more melodic bass playing people like James Jamerson and Paul McCartney popularised.

According to Wikipedia the two Poppy Family albums remain unreleased on CD or digital download. Weird. There must be an interesting ownership story involved. And perhaps at this point there's another problem, namely that the multitrack and master tapes don't exist anymore or can't be found. So if you've got this on vinyl you should treat it well, as you might not get another chance to own it.

Gas In Saskatoon, November 2, 2012.

A day late on this one, but just as well.  This week turned out to be a double dip.  Early in the week gas prices fell to 124.9 cents a litre.  Then over the course of Friday they fell again.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 121.9 cents a litre.  The price drop may be due to the Co Op refinery in Regina going back into full production after damage from an explosion in October last year, and a fire this year in May, was repaired.

When I Rule The World 15.

All businesses will be required to have multiple clocks located in various places.  That way customers will have an easier time of keeping track of what time it is, how long they've been shopping, and so on.

Today's Cassette, October 31, 2012,

Seems I'll get one more post in before month's end.  And it's a long overdue return of the Today's Cassette feature.

In the Sanyo tonight is Across The Universe, the major label debut by Minneapolis indie rockers Trip Shakespeare.  I'd read an article or two about them just before or just after they were signed, but it was some years later when I picked this one up from a cutout bin someplace.  The case even has a notch cut out of it, a sign it actually was a cutout, as opposed to a store just clearing out old stock.  Apparently the band were less than pleased with the final result, and it only sold 33 thousand copies.  The band would do 2 more albums for A&M before the label dropped them.  Guitarist/keyboardist Dan Wilson and bassist John Munson would later be members of Semisonic, who had a hit in 1999 (wow, it's that long ago) with "Closing Time."

Could You?

If you're watching the WSOP Main Event final table you just saw Steve Gee eliminated in 9th place when his all in bluff move failed.  Could you make a move like that, knowing that if you failed your chance at the bracelet would be done?  I don't think I could.  On the other hand I don't think I could call something like that either.  Hopefully we'll get a chance to find out some day.

2000

According to the archive for this blog, this is the 2000th post I've made here.  It actually isn't, since I've made a few test posts over the years that were deleted just after they were posted.  But this is the 2000th post in the archive.  In one sense it's a bit odd for me to think that I've done this 2000 times since 2004.  On the other hand my output is low compared to some other bloggers of my acquaintance, and if I'd kept up the pace I posted at in the first couple of years of activitiy here post 2000 would have gone up sometime in 2009.  Still, I keep going at it.  Twitter and Facebook get more press these days, but they really don't offer me anything that I can't do here.  And frankly I spend way too much time online as it is to get sucked into them.

Here's to the next 2000 posts.  Coming soon to a computer near you.  Yes, there will be more, more, more.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 26, 2012.

I'm taking a bit of a risk here, since I writing this before heading out for the day.  But I'm pretty secure things won't change.

After more than a month of stability the price of gas has changed.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 126.9 cents a litre at most locations, down 3 cents from the previous level.  A new player entering the market in Saskatoon, Safeway, had no effect on prices, as they follow the going rate of the big guys.

Safeway's gas station is located on the west side Centre at Circle and 8th parking lot, the same side the Safeway grocery store is located on.

Vote, Saskatoon!

It's civic election day in Saskatoon.  As I write this the polls are just about to open.  You have until 8 PM tonight to vote.  So get out there and do it.  Just remember you can only vote once.  They tend to get a bit upset with people who come back for a second round.

Snow News...

...is not good news.  We had our first snow of the season today, starting around noon. There;s currently a snowfall warning out, stating we might get up to 15 centimetres tomorrow.  And I broke out my winter jacket this morning because of the cold.  If only it could have stayed away for a while longer.

Will Work For Airtime?

Talk about hard up for work.  I just saw a Telus cell phone ad with Richard Simmons in it.  Does he really need money that badly that he's willing to be mocked in a Canadian market TV ad?

An Obvious Crossover.

Last night saw the debut of a new TLC "lets look at them wacky folks" show, Extreme Cheapskates.  Frankly their behaviour strikes me as more mental problem than extreme frugality, given that they do things like wash their clothes in the shower while taking a shower.  Or only flushing the toilet once a week.  Yeah, I don't think I'll visit them anytime soon.  But watching did make me think of an obvious crossover.  Have the cheapskates go along on the cleanups on Hoarding: Buried Alive.  In some of the less horrid hoarding situations they might find things they could use, and the hoarders might be more willing to throw things out if they go immediately to someone who wants them.

Go Tigers!

With Baltimore knocked out there's only one choice in the American League.  I want the Tigers to beat the Yankees. 

Four More Weeks.

Bleh!  We have another month of the US election campaign to go through, and it's already been interminable.      The seemingly neverending campaign cycle is why I'm not a fan of fixed election dates.  The first primary may have been in January, but the actual campaigning probably started almost a year before that.   Unfortunately the chances of the Americans moving to a much less complicated and drawn out system is virtual nil

And While I'm At It...

...anyone want the remains of a cold?  You can have mine, Id be glad to get rid of it.  And it's an import cold, as I caught it from my parents after their trip to Italy.

Ham It Up.

It's Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend.  Most people associate it with turkey.  But in my family it was ham for the official Thanksgiving meal.  A big turkey is kind of ridiculous for three people.  There's still lots of leftover ham to eat as it is.  Anyone want a sandwich?

62 For 53.

It's been a while since I've posted about my 100 Sit and Go Project, but here's the latest results.  I just played number 53, and I came in 9th, winning 62 cents.  My current balance at Pokerstars is $20.71.  So I've won some money, but I've used that money to play other things, not always successfully.  Still, I've got a lot of banroll to have fun with.

Ouch!

Injuring the nail on your right index finger is a pain in more ways than one.  I often have the nails on my right hand slightly long for guitar fingerpicking, and I managed to jam the index finger one against my leg yesterday, bending and cracking the nail.  And of course being right handed that finger takes part in pretty much everything I do with that hand.  A real nuisance.

Gas In Saskatoon, September 14, 2012.

As in other parts of Canada gas prices went up in Saskatoon this week.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 129.9 cents a litre.

If you're a regular visitor you know it's been a long time since I posted one of these.  The price of gas here hit 125.9 cents a litre in mid May and stayed there until this week.  I don't have a clue how long it;s been since we last had such a period of stability.  So what was a regular or semi-regular feature here disappeared.  It will be interesting to see if the change this week marks a new period of instability, or whether it will be months until I do the next one of these posts.

The Thirteenth of Thirteen.

Time keeps marching on.  It's the thirteenth anniversary of September 13, 1999.  What was the future is increasingly the past.  In any case, Unhappy Breakaway Day.

Addenda:  I just checked, and I missed noting Breakaway Day last year.  How embarrassing.

Bad Combo.

This morning I saw a poster for a missing cat.  It described the cat as an outdoor cat, yet its front paws were declawed.  That doesn't sound like a good idea.  You'd think a vet wouldn't declaw a cat if it regularly went outside.

Thumbs Down, Globe And Mail.

I was going to comment on a news article on your site today.  Unfortunately you want me to register.  You need to get with the times and allow your comments section to be logged into by readers using their existing accounts on places like Google and Facebook.  Your competitors do.

A Different Mount.

I saw something today that surprised me.  It was a pair of Mounties on motorcycles.  I didn't realise they had bike cops.  I definitely wouldn't have imagined them having bike cops in the Saskatoon area.  Saskatoon Police Service has a couple of motorcycles that see warm weather use, so motorcycle cops aren't entirely a new experience locally.

Poker Will Make Me Rich.

The title of this post is sarcasm.  I did win some money yesterday.  A stunning $1.06.  One of the things that resulted from depositing at PokerStars was getting to participate in a month's worth of freerolls.  I won 56 cents in one.  In the evening I played number 25 in my 100 Sit and Go Project.  Through sheer stubbornness  I won 50 cents.  Yep, Viktor Blom had better look out, I'll soon be playing him on the really big tables.

Jeph Cuts Loose.

If you've read much Questionable Content you're likely familiar with Yelling Bird.  He's the foul mouthed little guy used for filler strips.  It's no surprise there was a Yelling Bird strip for Labor Day.  But this one stands out, because it's a political rant about the current US election campaign.  All done without a single bit of profanity.  Jeph Jacques is apparently very pissed off.  I wonder how many readers it might cost him, but I suspect the answer is not many.  The kind of folks who think the current course of the Republican Party is wonderful probably don't read webcomics with openly gay and lesbian characters portrayed favourably.  On the other side a lot of potential Democrat voters seem to be going to vote this year holding their noses, not being happy with Obama but seeing the alternative as far worse.

Mark And Lou?

So, I'm sitting here listening to the Fall's 1990 album Extricate.  It was the first or second CD I bought way back in 1990, and it still plays.  I probably haven't listened to it in 15 or 20 years.  But it got me thinking.  What would happen if you put Lou Reed and Mark E. Smith in the same room with some instruments?    A songwriting collaboration?  Violence?  Smith has written some Lou Reed-ish lyrics, but Reed has never written something like "Arms Control Poseur."  I suspect their egos coming into contact would not be a good thing.

It's So Hard.

Watching and listening to Blue Jays games this year can be horribly disheartening.  But if you think it's bad for the fans imagine what it must be like for the players.  However they seem to be taking it better than the Boston Red Sox players.  I guess that's the difference between a team that's been out of the playoffs for some years, versus one that expects to be in them every year.

First And First.

First post of the month, and the first on my new computer.  I had to pick up a new one after my previous one went kablooie this week.  The old one was a Dell GX270 picked up for a hundred bucks from XS Cargo a while back.  If you are offered a refurbed one of these you should probably pass.  Apparently these had capacitor problems on both the mother board and power supply, the former being what killed mine.  The swollen and leaking caps were obvious when I popped it open to check.   The new box is an HP tower with a dual core AMD E2-3200 cpu.  300 bucks and tax from Staples.(Now cue the inevitable "You bought an HP?  It'll give you brain cancer!" comments.)

A Gentle Letdown.

In businesses that sell Western Canada Lottery Corp. tickets in Saskatchewan you'll find ticket checking machines.  If you check a ticket that isn't a winner, the message they display is "Sorry Appears To Be A Non-Winner."  I find the use of the term "non-winner" interesting.  I would imagine this was chosen after consulting an expert on such things.  Presumably there's good money to be made determining the most effective message for electronic displays.  "Non-winner" probably is less likely to offend or upset people than the term loser.

Lucky 13.

If this keeps up you're going to think this is becoming a poker only blog.  It's not, I promise.

Tournament 13 in the 100 Sit and Go Project turned out to be the best one yet.  I came in second and won $3.82.  I've played better than I did tonight, but sometimes all you need to do is play well enough.

I Played There.

I've been playing poker online since June of 2006.  During that time I've played on various sites.

The bulk of my playing has been on PokerStars.  It was the first place I played as a result of their World Blogger Championship of Online Poker.(Watching Spike's gambling competition show King of  Vegas was also an influenc in getting started.)  PokerStars has become the dominant online poker site, and unlike some of its rivals managed to survive the US crackdown on Americans playing online poker.  As noted in recent posts this is the only site I've ever played on using my own money.

I played on the ill fated Full Tilt Poker.  I played on it occasionally, and first had an inkling about the goings on in the US when I was unable to connect to the site.  However it's possible Full Tilt might have had trouble even without the crackdown.  It was already facing a number of lawsuits, including one from one time Team Full Tilt member Clonie Gowen.  PokerStars has picked up the assets of Full Tilt, and apparently will reopen it in November of this year.  I never managed to win any money off of them. 

Probably the most obscure poker site I played on was ScorePoker.  This was a site run in conjunction with Canadian sports channel The Score.  I did manage to win a golf shirt in one of their freerolls.  One feature that I liked about their software was that if you didn't play at all in the first levels of a poker tournament you would be booted out.  It eventually ceased to operate, presumably because the network didn't see any value in keeping it going.

For a while I played on the European based MansionPoker.  I signed up for their card room because of the TV series Poker Dome Challenge, which Mansion backed.  I did win some money at some point, but eventually decided to stop playing there.  I think I may have a software disc they sent me stuffed in a drawer someplace.

Then there was UltimateBet, the site that Phil Helmuth and Annie Duke were the spokespeople for.  As I remember it I stopped playing there after its software increasingly disagreed with the computer I was using at the time.  UB was another poker stite that was having trouble even before the US crackdown, having to reveal in 2008 that it had been heavily comprimised by cheaters able to see the hole cards of other players.

I briefly played on PartyPoker.  I didn't stay for very long, as for some reason I found the table software they were using at the time hard on the eyes.

Now I Have Two.

I've added another video onto YouTube, this one of a chatty magpie.  So click on it, and marvel at my cinematic genius. 

AK, Blech!

No, I'm not refering to Alaska here, but rather Ace King.  I think that pair of cards is the most overrated in poker.  I never have much luck with them.  Tonight was a good example.  In tournament 11 of my 100 Sit and Go Project I had a fairly good stack as we approached the bubble.  I picked up AK, and then one of the short stacks decided to go all in.  I called him, but it cost a lot of my stack to do so, on top of the chips that I'd already put in.  Another player called him as well.  The flop came, and it was a complete miss.  Into the muck goes AK, and I was way down, and starting to look like I might not make the bubble.  Meanwhile, all in player caught a hand and  won a lot of chips.  Ironically a few hands later he went all in again with his much larger stack, only to be called by a player who had him covered.  He lost, and only one more player had to go out to for the remainder to reach the money.   Fortunately I had more than the short stack, and made the money when he was all inned by the blinds.  I ended up going out in 12th place, winning 50 cents. 

Don'tcha Hate It...

...when you visit a blog you regularly visit, and there's no new material?  And when there is, it's meaningless filler, because the blogger is too lazy to write something interesting?

Conflict Of Interest?

I just saw an online ad for a company called Clearly Contacts.  But the ad was selling glasses. Should a potential customer be worried they'll give you crappy glasses to convince you to switch to contacts?  Nah, because a lot of customers probably want both.

If I Believed.

Today I found a dollar on the ground.  This happened just after I bought a one dollar scratch ticket that didn't win me anything.  When I got home I decided to play sit and go number six in my 100 Sit and Go Project.  I won $1.08.  If I believed in the idea of lucky things I might have given the coin the credit.

But I don't.

Goodbye, Joe.

I don't remember when I started reading comics.  But a good hunk of my early comic reading was war comics, a genre that's largely defunct.  Most of them were DC, and a lot of them were drawn by Joe Kubert.  Kubert died over the weekend at age 85.  Even at that advanced age he was still working, still doing what he'd first done in his early teens.  Besides his own work Kubert helped aspiring comic artists through his Kubert School, founded in 1976.  His sons Andy and Adam followed him into the business, and there were traces of their father's distinctive style in their work. 

Another important figure from my childhood gone.  Unfortunately I expect to see several others pass away in the near future.

When I Rule The World 14.

A system will be developed and installed on each roadway so you can't drive faster than the posted speed limit.  I might be magnanimous and give you a 5 or so kilometer overage.  Of course police and other emergency vehicles will be exempt.  Serious, a large percentage of you drive too fast.  Those speed limit signs in Canada?  Are in kilometers per hour, not miles per hour.

First Result.

How did I do in the first official tournament of the 100 Sit and Go Project?  I came in 15th, 3 places out of the money.  I did very well initially, including quad aces in my secon hand, but I didn't manage to capitalise on that.  Oh well.

On the other hand I just had a nice present.  I just picked up 2 bucks in a freeroll I stumbled across.  I came in 11263rd out of a field of 50,000.  I'm currently playing in the Weekly Round 2 freeroll, and I'll be playing in a couple of freerolls connected wtih making a deposit.  So maybe I'll get some more morey in those.

The Not So Big 100.

Prior to this week the only real money I've poker with online has been money I've won from the poker site.  But this week I changed that, although I've been thinking about it for a while.  I decided to make a one time deposit to PokerStars so I could launch what I'm calling the 100 Sit and Go Project.

A sit and go is a poker tournament is a tournament with no fixed starting time, but a fixed number of players.  Once that number of players has signed up for the tournament it begins.  It's a format used both live and online.  I intend to play 100 25 cent sit and goes.  Primarily I'll be playing the 90 player No Limit Hold 'Em version, although I'll probably play some of the 45 player version as well.

Why 25 cent tournamemts?  That should be pretty obvious.  You can play 100 of them for 25 bucks, versus a more expensive tournament.  PokerStars does have cheaper sit and goes, but they're turbo and hyper turbo tournaments, where the blinds rise a bit too quickly for my style of playing.  The cheapest is a 2 center, and as you can imagine a 2 cent tournament where the blinds go up every 2 minutes is pretty much a free for all where people play exceedingly loosely.   "Hey, it's only 2 cents!"  I want to mainly play the 90 player version because the payoff if you make the money is better, even if you have to get through twice as many players. 

As I said this is a one off deposit on my part.  So I paid with a prepaid credit card, a Vanilla brand Mastercard in this case, which is currently usable for deposits from Canada.  It cost me a bit in fees to buy it, but it meant not using my bank account.  I have no reason to suspect PokerStars of any wrongdoing, but the fewer people who have access to your bank account the better.  It also keeps me from being tempted to redeposit if I don't have much luck.

I'll only play one of these in a day, and chances are not every day.  I want this little experiment to last a good long time.  After all it would be pretty easy to burn off 25 bucks in no time, and what fun is that?

Gas Guzzlers.

As if the RCMP needed more bad publicity.  An officer from the Rosthern detachment, and his wife, have been charged  with theft for using an RCMP fuel card to fill their personal vehicles.  The charges include theft over five thousand dollars and fraud over five thousand dollars.  The amount makes me wonder how long this has been going on.  Or are they driving tanks, 18 wheelers, or some other vehicles that have really crappy gas mileage?

Weird Numbers.

"Roy Halladay, four and six" is not a statement you expect to hear.  Of course such an odd win-loss total for Halladay is presumably part of why the Phillies are tanking badly this year.

Gold Medal For Goofiness.

Conservapedia isn't a place I've spent much time looking at.  But someone posted a link to their 2012 Olympics page, and I just couldn't help myself.  As expected it's full of some rather weird ideas, such as the statement "... the pagan origins of the Olympics have been replaced by faith-based achievement by the participating athletes."  Really?  There's a difference between pagan running and faith based running?  And of course by "faith" they mean Christianity.  It's not like pagans had faith, right?  Then there's the weird question about athletes from public schools not winning gold medals.  Of course it's not so weird if you consider that the kind of folks who write stuff for Conservapedia don't like anything run by government that doesn't involve law enforcement or the military.  I also wonder how one defines an "increasingly atheistic nation," which seems to be an obsession of the page creator.  After all the number of atheists and others that the Conservapedia crowd would consider non-believers is growing in the US as well.

In any case if there's an Olympic competition for dumb Olympic themed web pages this one would certainly be in the running,  I suspect there are worse out there.

Addenda: The word faith being in purple is due to copy-pasting that line from Conservapedia.

But You Don't Have To Understand Math.

I know some of you have ad blockers running on your web btrowser, but you really shouldn't.  You're missing all the fun.  I just saw an ad for something that will help you avoid  "3 Awful Guitar Mistakes."  Apparently that something doesn't involve math, as the ad copy states "If you do either of these 3 things yo will NEVER play guitar well."  Of course maybe I was wrong in assuming that you can't use the term either when there are more than two choices.  Number things have never been my strong suit.

Need A Kitty Fix?

Go check out James Nicoll's new companion.  What a charming shade of orange he is.

I like cats, but I can't imagine owning one.  I'm too lazy to do the necessary cleaning up after them.

Exit Music.

Another familiar face from my '70s childhood has left.  Sherman Hemsley has died at 74.  He came to widespread fame as George Jefferson, the cantankerous neighbour, and African American reflection, of Archie Bunker on All in the Family.  The character proved sufficiently popular that a spinoff was created, the highly successful The Jeffersons, which ran for 10 seasons from 1975 to 1985.  Interestingly Isabel Sanford, who played George's wife Louise, was  20 some years older than Hemsley, although there was no acknowledgement of any  noticeable age difference between the characters they played onscreen.

If you've read  the obituaries today you've probably learned that Hemsley was a fan of British progressive rockers Yes.  He was also a fan of other bands in the genre, such as Gentle Giant and Gong.  He even did an album with Jon Anderson of Yes in 1999, which has not been released.  His favourite Yes song is said to have been "Roundabout."  Not a huge surprise, since it's lots of people's favourite Yes song.  So, here's some exit music for him.

They're Here.

A post I made back in April about the Hells Angels holding their convention in Saskatoon has generated a lot of hits.  It's being held this week, and here's the latest report from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.  The police expect some 400 Angels and associates to show up.  However Saskatoon police say they expect little if any trouble, as the Angels have better things to do than draw heat to themselves.  Not that they won't be watching, and they'll be joined by officers from other jurisdictions.  The Saskatoon chapter of the Angels apparently has 20 members, but police say they're looking to expand their numberrs.

You're Discriminating Against Me!

I can't believe how many of you out there are running contests and such forth that require going to some Facebook page to enter.  Some of us aren't on Facebook, you evil people.  So please stop your disriminatory ways!

Of course the reality is that if not being able to participate in something because you don't have a Facebook account is the worst problem in your life, you really don't have any problems. (And I'm not one to discuss my problems online.)  

It will be interesting to see if Facebook is still so prominent a few years ago.  After all a few years ago everyone and their brother seemed to have a Myspace page, and now it's pretty moribund.

Saw A King.

This being Thursday I went on my regular annoy the guys at Long and McQuade trip.  As I was looking at the Gibson/Epiphone side of the main room a couple of guys caught my eye, and I quickly recognised I was in the presence of a king.  Well, okay, the man sometimes refered to as King Buzzo, Buzz Osborne of the Melvins, along with drummer Dale Crover.  They played a gig as Melvins Lite last night in Saskatoon and must have decided to take a quick peak at L&M before heading out of town.  I left them alone as they took a quick look at the guitars, and they soon left.  I suspect I might have been the only one who knew who they were, as none of the staff seemed to give them any special attention.

Sorry, Peter.

Famed British actor Peter O'Toole has announced he is retiring from acting at 80.  I must admit my slight surprise reading that this morning, as I had kind of thought he'd passed away.  I guess I should keep better track of such things.

Oh No!

I just found one of the bills in my pocket has a serial number that ends in 666!  Whatever shall I do?

Spend it like I normally would.  Seroiusly, did you think there would be any other answer?  People who worry about the number 666 should stop being so paranoid.  Besides, I hear there's some dispute whether 666 is the correct number anyway.

She's Still Here.

Hard to imagine that it's been 35 years already since this hit the air.  And it's still the same monarch on the throne.  I wonder what John Lydon thinks of the actual content of the song these days.

Happy Canada Day!

Have fun, everyone.

And by that I mean everyone.  All you foreign types have to celebrate Canada Day too.  That's an order.

A Few More Innings.

Jamie Moyer pitched his first inning in the majors before some of you reading this were born.  Specifically Moyer's debut was with the Chicago Cubs on June 14, 1986.  As I write this Moyer is at the Toronto Blue Jays AAA affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s, hoping to be called up by the Jays.  Moyer started the year with the Colorado Rockies, who let him go June 1st.  While there he became the oldest pitcher in Major League history to earn a win, and the oldest player to hit an RBI, at age 49.

So, why does he keep going?  What makes him want to keep pitching, to spend months away from his wife and family, after 26 years of the same thing?  Makes him want to so much he's willing to spend time in the  minor leagues?  But you could ask the same about many other players.  Omar Vizquel is still playing at 45.  And many players go on to work as coaches, scouts, or broadcasters after their playing careers end, continuing a similar lifestyle.  It seems like an interesting area of research, finding out what it is that keeps them at it, and what effect it has on the lives of their families.

It would also be interesting to know what leads so many of the sons of these players to follow in their footsteps, having seen from the other side what such a career will be like.  This includes Moyer's son Dillon, who was drafted in 2010 by the Minnesota Twins, and currently plays baseball at the University of California Irvine.  Somehow I doubt he'll have as long of a career as his father if he makes it to the bigs.

Menace Of The Endless Campaign.

I was not amused.  I just saw an anti-NDP attack ad, courtesy of the Conservative Party.  If you're not a Canadian you aren't likely to know that we aren't in the middle of an election campaign.  In fact the next election, barring some major surprise, won't be until October of 2015.  So why the hell are we seeing this stuff now?  Do we face a neverending election campaign, where the parties never stop harrassing us?  The party hacks who support such activities may wish to read the story of the boy who cried wolf. Bash the other guys too much and the voters may come to ignore your claims.

Overwatch.

It's a late night for me.  Sitting here playing a Pokerstars 25 cent sit and go I can hear what sounds like a plane overhead.  Sounds like Eagle 1, the Saskatoon Police Service airplane, might be busy tonight.

Odd Choice.

One of the Canadian Bravo channel's weekday offerings is Flashpoint, a series about members of a Toronto Police emergency response unit.  I caught part of yesterday's episode, and was a bit surprised it was aired.  In the episode "Attention Shoppers" a bullied teenage girl shoots one of the girls assaulting her in a crowded shopping mall, leading to a lockdown of the mall and further violence from the injured girl's fellow gang members. 

It's less than a month since the June 2nd shooting at Toronto's Eaton Centre shopping complex.  Two people died as a result, and several others were injured.  The shooter and the two dead men were all alledgedly connected to the Sir Thugs gang.  So it seems a bit odd to me that Bravo would air an episode with obvious parallels to a real life tragedy so close to the event.  The central characters in the TV episode may have been all women, and the reason for the shooting different, but it still revolved around a shooting in a mall.  You'd think Bravo would be worried about offending or triggering viewers.  On the other hand Bravo airs the series five days a week, so it may be hard to skip an episode without causing problems for your schedule.

Incidentally if you're a fan of Fresh TV's Total Drama and Stoked! cartoons you may want to catch this episode when it airs again in a few weeks.  The leader of the gang girls is played by Kristen Fairlie, the voice of Bridgette and Emma in the two series respectively. 

Here Comes The Sun.

Finally.  It loos like Saskatoon is going to see dry skies until at least Monday.  So get out and enjoy it.  Or get that outdoor work done you need to do.

They Love You J.R. Maybe.

Wednesday saw the premiere of a new version of the classic nighttime soap Dallas on the US cable network TNT.(It also debuted in Canada on Bravo.)  The ratings have come in, and TNT is calling it a success.  It drew almost 7 million viewers, which TNT is claiming is the number one series premiere for a scripted series on cable this year.  But if you were suspecting a lot of folks tuned in to see what a 21st Century version of an old favourite looks like, you may be right.  Only 1.9 million of those viewers came from the coveted 18-49 demographic, the rest skewing largely older, with the 25-54 grouping accounting for 2.5 million viewers, and the rest older viewers.

So, will Dallas keep up these ratings?  Or will it quickly slump as, curiosity satisfied, viewers go elsewhere?  I won't be surprised at all if it's 13 episodes(or less) and out for the series.  And as the L.A. Times article notes these ratings are tiny compared to what even the final episode of the show generated, demonstrating how much the TV market has changed.

The original was hugely influential, spawning various imitators of varying quality and success.  "Who shot J.R?" was a major pop culture concern for many when the series ended its 1979-80 season on that cliffhanger.  The series also became the butt of jokes for its notorious return from the dead of Bobby Ewing. He had been killed in a car accident at the end of the 1984-85 season when actor Patrick Duffy wanted to do other things.  But when there was general discontent with the following season Larry Hagman convinced Duffy to come back,   The season ended with his wife Pam, played by Victoria Principal, finding him taking a shower.  The opening episode of the next season explained that the events of the previous season were all a bad dream, and that Bobby had never died.

Larry Hagman reprising his role as J.R. Ewing in the new series could be considered a minor miracle.  He had a long term alcohol problem, and as a result in 1995 had a liver transplant.  Yet here he is, at 80, still with us, and still acting.  But it's pretty obvious that, whatever happens, this is likely his last hurrah.

I'm A White Guy.

I don't have a picture of me that goes with this blog.  I have what to many people is an odd last name.  So I figured it would be worth pointing out, in case anyone cares, that I'm a white guy.  Gueguen is a Breton name.  My ancestors were French, English, Scottish, and German.  So if for some reason you thought I was something else, I'm not.   In the past I've had a couple of people make comments elsewhere that indicated they thought I was Chinese or Vietnamese, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's happened again.

A Small Sound.

A heads up for anyone who has been reading the webcomic Blip.  Sage Leaves has finally managed to make an update.  Sage's health problems have been slowing things down, but we finally have a new panel.  So go show your support if you're a fan.

Flip The Flip Programs.

A thought for TLC and A&E:  Retire your old house flipping programs.  Flip This House and Property Ladder both date from before the big real estate collapse in the US.  Flipping a house is a different and much more iffy proposition in 2012 than it was in 2007.  So some of the stuff in those shows is kind of out of date.  At the very least anyone who is interest4ed in them has probably seen them all multiple times.  But I suppose that they must still get the right ratings or you wouldn't play them.

Here Come The Kookies.

If you're a night owl and like kooks you're in luck if you live in Saskatoon.  I just heard an ad on CKOM for Coast To Coast AM, the talk show formerly hosted by Art Bell.  It apparently will be debuting Tuesday at 1 AM. Given the local air time I assume you won't be hearing it live.  I'm pretty sure it aired in the past in Saskatoon, but I can't remember what station it was on.  Presumably CKOM figures that the listeners it attracts will be worth the cost of buying the show, instead of playing repeats of their own programming.  I personally won't be tuning in, as I can get my weirdo fix from other sources.

I Won't Read Them.

If you haven't heard already Toronto's Eaton Centre was the scene of a shooting today.  One person is dead, several others were wounded.  The thought came to mind of how long it took the idiot squad to start going on about how if only someone had been carrying a gun they could have stopped the gunman.  I would imagine it happened in fairly short order.  You'll excuse me if I don't go look, as their claims will just make me annoyed.  I can think of few things that would make things worse when someone is shooting up a mall than some amateur tying to play the hero by shooting back at him.

Interestingly one of the earliest online reports of the shooting may have been from a celebrity.  Brett Lawrie, the Toronto Blue Jays young Canadian third baseman, was in the mall when the shooting broke out.  He Tweeted about what he heard and saw after fleeing the mall with other patrons.  As you can imagine Lawrie has a lot of followers on Twitter, some 125 thousand according to the Toronto Star, so word got around very quickly.

I'm Still Here.

I wonder sometimes why I am, but I am.

A Surprising First.

Tonight marks a baseball first.  The Toronto Blue Jays called up Yan Gomes from the minors to replace a struggling Adam Lind.  With his start tonight Gomes is the first Brazillian to play in Major League Baseball.  I was honestly surprised to find this out.  I would have thought a country with the population of Brazil would have produced multiple players, but that's not the case.  Perhaps Brazil isn't a great place for young players, as Gomes moved to the US at 12, and wasn't recruited in Brazil. 

Wither The Sunglasses?

If you haven't heard, CSI MIami has been cancelled. 

If you've watched CSI Miami you know about The Sunglasses.  The black sunglasses worn by series star David Caruso's Horatio Caine character were almost a character by themselves.  They were used like an exclaimation point in a written story, or a horn stab in piece of music, as accents to a scene, telling the viewer to pay attention.  If Caine was putting on his sunglasses, or taking them off, you knew something was going down. 

Or that was the intent, anyways.  For a lot of viewers the whole thing quickly became a joke, a sign of the cheesiness of the show.  This of course included the inevitable drinking games based around Caine's glasses hijinks. 

So, should we feel happy for The Sunglasses, as they are now free from their burden?  Or should we feel sorry for them, as now they will fade to obscurity, just like most of the rest of the cast probably will?  (Of course it presumably wasn't the same set of sunglasses through the whole series.  I wonder how many pairs they went through?)

It's not hard to see why the show lasted as long as it did.  Although there was the use of story arc elements, which had become increasingly popular with viewers when the series appeared, they weren't as central as some other shows.  The plot of each episode was generally self contained.  So casual viewers could watch a random episode without being lost. 

Caruso is one of those guys who seems, to use an old line, to have a lucky horseshoe up his butt.  He first came to widesrpead attention as the star, along with Dennis Franz, of NYPD Blue.  The immediate success of the series went to his head and he soon left, thinking he was about to be a big screen star.  It wasn't to be, his shot at being a movie star fizzling out in short order.  He looked set to be one of those actors who end up being a footnote, the kind of guy who ends up playing the creepy next door neighbour in a Z grade straight to video horror movie or a perrenial member of the Lifetime Movie of the Week cast pool.  But then he was chosen, for whatever reaason, for the Caine role, and quickly became the star of another hit.

In one way I'm surprised it's been cancelled.  I had gotten the impression its sister show CSI New York was closer to being chopped, but it will be back for at least one more season.  Okay by me, because Gary Sinise is a better actor than Caruso.

Don't Buy Me Cashews.

If you do I will eat too many in one day.

Hey, CJYM.

Please fix your automation equipment, or whatever is currently not working right.  Hearing a commercial, your promo announcement, and the Blue Jays game coming back up all at the same time is really annoying.

Gas In Saskatoon, May 11, 2012.

It's been a good while since we've had a change here, but the pattern was broken today.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 125.9 cents a litre, down a cent.  Just think of all that extra money you'll save compared to your last fill.  You might be able to buy a piece of gum or something.

Don't Be These Folks.

How's this for a blog with a specific topic?  Ohh Shoot presents news reports of accidental firearms discharages across the United States.  It makes for pretty sad reading given how many of them result in injury or death.   So if you've got guns around, don't be like these people.  Always assume they're loaded, and handle them appropriately.  Especially don't leave them where someone who might not handle them what way, like a child, can get their hands on them.  This would all seem to be Gun Safety 101, yet far too many people forget even these basics.

Long Days.

At the beginning of today's Blue Jays game Jerry Howarth sent out birthday greetings to a woman celebrating  her 107th birthday.  We should all be so lucky to live that long.  At that age it's hard not to think any day you make it through is a good day.

The Big 600.

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here.  I finally have had my 600th bill hit at Where's Willy?  My current hit count is 600 bills hit and 734 hits total, since a bill can get hits from as many unique individuals as enter it.  I'm guessing the next milestone,, the 800th hit, will be a good long time in coming.  My 500th bill hit was way back in January of 2009.

Misdirected.

I really should look in my Gmail spam folder more often.  In there at the moment is somethng from  "MarryMeSugarDaddy" with the subject line "Beautiful Women Seeking Wealthy Men."

Boy, did that get sent to the wrong place.

Tax Tick Tock.

A reminder to Canadians.  For a large number of you tomorrow at midnight is the deadline to file your 2011 tax return.  So, if you haven't done your return you'd best do it today.  Too bad if you have a complicated one.

Hog City.

If you like motorcycles you might want to be in Saskatoon in July, as you might see a whole bunch of them.  However you may not like who's riding them.  On CFQC's supperhour newscast the lead story was that the Hells Angels intend to hold a convention in Saskatoon in July.  This was confirmed by an unidentified member of the local chapter.  As you can imagine the police will be keeping a close watch on them.

The Saskatoon chapter of the Angels isn't something I've had much reason to think about. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times over the years I've seen an Angel wearing colours.  On the other hand the location of their clubhouse is no secret, and as is the case with the other chapters of the organisation they're known to be involved with drug trafficking and other organised crime. So it's not as if we move in the same circles.

Cartoon Crazy.

I've made quite a few cartoon related posts over the years.  And sometimes it seems like that's all anyone is interested in looking at on here.  This is another week where a good percentage of my hits are for those posts.  But even with that trend I don't think I'll be starting a cartoon only blog.

Not Actual Size.

This picture may be old news to some of you, but it's still rather amusing.  Was whoever wrapped this bus trying to be silly,  or were they just clueless?

Vote, Albertans.

If you live in Alberta please vote in your provincial election if you can.  Especially if it might keep the Wildrose lot out.  They sound like real charmers.

Contradicting Conspiracies.

As I've mentioned before the US Globe tabloid likes to publish anti-Barack Obama stories.  The latest one I've seen claims that Bill Clinton has evidence that Obama isn't a real American citizen. However, he supposedly hasn't revealed it because he's afraid Obama will have him killed.  I found this amusing given that during the Clinton Administration the right wing crankosphere was obsessed with Clinton death lists, lists of all the people Clinton supposedly had killed.  Merely dying in Arkansas at some point could probably get you on a list, no matter how little connection you had with Clinton.  But apparently Clinton must have lost his death squad at some point, since he's apparently worried about Obama's death squad.  Of course if you take the story at face value the best way to avoid being killed would be simply to reveal the information.  There wouldn't be much point in Obama killing Clinton once the cat was out of the bag.  But hey, that's me using rational person logic, which is just what the conspiracy wants me to do.

I wonder if The Globe did any Clinton death list stories back in the '90s.

Me Too! Me Too!

It's a little known fact that I have a video up on Youtube.



Unfortunately as you can see it's boring as hell.  "A train backing up?  Big whoop!" you might be thinking.  I was fiddling around with my camera's video function while waiting on the bus and decided to post the results.  But since it's not something cool, like kitties doing cute things or people getting mashed in the crotch by fast moving objects, it's never gotten many views, preventing me from becoming a viral video sensation.

How Do They Do It?

That thought comes to mind when I compare my blogging output with that of some of the bloggers I regularly read.  But then I consider how many posts a week I was writing in the early days of this blog.  Then I wonder where my ambition went.  It must be nice two write several posts a day regularly, especially when you can arrange them to autopost at multiple times.

Checks And Balances.

"Jesus is Lord," and its variations, is a phrase anyone in a society with a large Christian presensce has enountered many times.  I'm afraid however it's a concept I can't support.  I prefer my rulers to have their powers limited by the rule of law.  Jesus supposedly isn't, making him too likely to abuse his power.

For Want Of A Number.

I didn't notice at the time, but I entered one number wrong on my Western 6/49 ticket slip.  It was one number off from my usual selection of numbers.  The results were devastating.  If I had entered that number properly I would have won.  Instead last night I won nothing.

Just imagine how much different the course of human history would be if I had won that ten bucks.

Just imagine.

Remain Calm.

Friday the 13th is no different from any other day. 

It took me half the day to realise what today is.  Personally I think that's a good thing.

It Always Wins.

There are reports floating about that Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe may be dying.  He's in Singapore, and according to some rumours being treated for prostate cancer.  Whatever the reason the story is a reminder of a simple fact, that the ultimate victor is death.  Mugabe's wealth and power may have given him access to medical treatment that can prolong his life, but in the end it can only delay the inevitable.

Easter Sunday Shopping.

In Saskatoon you could shop for groceries today.  The Sobeys grocery store nearest to me is open, and I assume the others probably are as well.  The malls were closed.  Walmart?  I don't know, but being open or not wouldn't surprise me.  The websites of Best Buy and Future Shop seem to indicate they're open today.  As I understand it Saskatoon no longer regulates store hours, so businesses can be open when they wish.  With the change of demographics in religious belief, or lack thereof, in Canada it will be interesting to see how much longer Easter remains a largely closed day for shopping, as for many Canadians Easter Sunday is no more important than any other Sunday.

Sportsnet Annoys Again.

Feh.  I was sitting here watching the Blue Jays play Cleveland on Sportsnet.  The game is in extra innings.  In their infinite wisdom they decided to switch to the scheduled Calgary Flames game.  How annoying.  Just another not so subtle way to make you subscribe to more than one Sportsnet feed to avoic such problems.  Won't work on me.

Mel Would Disapprove.

How bad is The Looney Tunes Show, the most recent incarnation of Bugs Bunny and friends?  Very bad.  Why would I want to see the classic Warner Brothers cartoon characters doing bad sitcom plots?  Not to mention that they're done badly. Bad execution just makes a bad idea worse.  Whoever is behind the idea should be ashamed.

Looking For A Few Good Men, Elsewhere.

If you're a resident of Saskatoon or the surrounding area and are interested in joining the Canadian Forces the processs may soon get a bit more difficult.  The Department of National Defence is considering closing 9 recruiting centres across Canada, including the one at the corner of 22nd Street and Forth Avenue in downtown Saskatoon, as a cost cutting measure.  They're considering relying more on the Internet for initial recruitment in rural areas.

It could be argued that Saskatoon doesn't need a separate recruiting office.  Recruiters could be stationed in Sgt. Hugh Cairns VC Armoury or HMCS Unicorn, the homes of Army and Navy Reserve activities in Saskatoon respectively.  But it seems a bit ironic that recruiting activities are being considered for contraction in the middle of the F35 controversy.  It might give some people the impression that fancy equipment is more important to the Forces than the people to actually use it.  It also follows a report this week that the RCAF is trying to recruit former Royal Air Force pilots who are looking for work as a result of the UK's own controversial defense cuts.

And speaking of defense spending, I have to wonder how much last year's decision to revive the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force designations is costing.(Before you ask, no, the Canadian Army was never the Royal Canadian Army.)  The move was a rather meaningless PR act.  It has no effect on operational effectiveness, and soaked up money that could be used on more meaningful projects.  After all changing vehicle markings, uniform badges, paperwork etc. etc. actually does cost money to do.

Bucking The Trend.

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about the future of the print newspaper.  Even The New York Times has faced questions about its very existence.  But Saskatoon's daily paper, the Star Phoenix, apparently doesn't have to worry.  An article in today's edition states that readership is actually increasing.  A survey by Newspaper Audience Database Inc.  shows that readership for both the print and online editions has grown more than 8 percent in 2011, the highest gain of any Canadian newspaper.  Newspaper readership in Canada reportedly remains high, with more than half of Canadians over 18 reading a print or online newspaper daily.  It would seem people find something in the written word they can't get from video newscasts or things posted to Youtube.

Meanwhile, a new paper is about to hit Saskatoon streets.  Paper boxes have begun to appear for a Saskatoon edition of Toronto based  "commuter" newspaper Metro, which will launch its debut issue April 2nd.  However, it seems they may want to be a bit careful where they put their boxes.  The other day I saw the maintenance staff at the Centre at Circle and 8th grab pick up and haul away a Metro box that had been placed by the bus shelters at the bus mall in the rear of Centre East.  I'm guessing they didn't bother to get the permission of mall management to put it there.  Not a good way to get in the good graces of a potential advertiser.

A More Important Worry.

Actress Alicia Silverstone has recently gotten attention for her parenting methods.  She prechews, or to use the fancy term for it, premasticates, food for her baby.  It's no surprise that a video of her doing this has gone viral, for it seems odd to most folks, although the practice is common in some cultures in Africa and elsewhere.  Silverstone is also a vegan, so food practices different from the mainstream aren't new for her.

Personally I think people should be more worried about the fact her kid is called Bear Blu.  Sounds like a name for a cartoon character.

Sound Of Thunder.

It was kind of a wacky Winter, with Saskatoon having unusually warm temperatures for most of it.  And the end of March seems a bit wacky as well.  This afternoon we had a thunderstorm pass through.  You couldn't see any lightning, but there was a bit of thunder.  It will be interesting to see if odd weather patterns continue.

And speaking of the sound of thunder,,,,,

Gas In Saskatoon, March 30, 2012.

The price held here for a month, but Monday saw it go up again.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 126.9 cents a litre a t most locations.

Go, Before It's Too Late!

If you're in need of pennies you'd best get them now.  Today's federal budget included the news that the Canadian penny is being discontinued.  The last ones will roll out of the Royal Canadian Mint in this fall.  They actually cost 1.6 cents a piece to make, so the government has decided to drop them as a cost saving measure.  It will be interesting to see how long it will be before prices of goods in Canada change subtly.  There will be no point in offering things at prices that lead to an odd number like say 73 cents.  Prices could stay at their current values and the stores could round down or up to the nearest 5 cents, with the latter much more likely.  But doing that is bound to upset some consumers, who will think they're being ripped off.  It will also be interesting to see if there's a sudden flood of pennies onto the market that have been hidden away in drawers, jars etc.  The fact that so many pennies end in such places, not circulating, has been one of the reasons calls for the penny's end have been around for years.

A Small Busriding Pleasure.

Having a couple who were involved in an increasingly loud argument decide to get off the bus early, preventing me from having to listen to said argument for the next 15 odd minutes.

Sign It.

I'm not normally one to sign online petitions, but this one is an exception, especially since my MP probably is too much of a backwards thinker to suppor this idea.  Bill C-279 will prevent discrimation against transgendered people, who currently are not protected from discrimination in various forms.  Sounds like a good idea to me, so I signed this petition in support of the bill.  The petitioners are looking for 10 thousand signatures, but they've got a long ways to go.  So if you think this is a good idea, sign it.

I Need A Different Accent.

It sometimes seems that all you need to get a reality show on channels like TLC and A&E is to have a cool accent.  I doubt my rather bland Canadian Prairies accent would make the cut.(The bit about having a boring life probably wouldn't help either.)

Attention, US Republican Voters!

Rick Santorum is a Catholic.

Just thought you should know.

Recycled.

I just logged into Pokerstars to see what freerolls are playing tonight.  I found they've got a new feature in beta.  It's called Zoom Poker.  Each hand you play takes place on a different table, with a different group of players.  When you fold or win a hand you are instantly transferred to the next table. 

Sound familiar?  If so it's because you played on the ill fated Full Tilt Poker, which debuted this idea back in 2010 as Rush Poker.  This brings up the obvious, did Pokerstars pay for the rights to use the concept?  Of course given that Full Tilt is currently in limbo because of last year's US crackdown on online poker there may be no one to pay any fees to, assuming they would actually have to.  Some might also wonder why it took them this long to take up the idea given that there's no sign Full Tilt is coming back soon, or at all.

Straight Only.

This morning I heard a bit of a CBC report on the YouTube based campaign to get Joseph Kony, leader of the Ugandan terrorist group Lord's Resistance Army, captured.  One of the people being interviewed mentioned that Lonely Planet, the well known travel book publisher, had named Uganda one of its top ten countries to travel to in 2012.  This made me raise my eyebrows given a major problem Uganda has.  A look at LP's website turned up an article on these picks, which does mention the problem.  It quotes the UK Foreign Office warning:

There is very little social tolerance of homosexuality, which is illegal. There have been moves, initiated by a Ugandan MP, to introduce reactionary legislation that would further criminalise homosexuality and introduce the death penalty for some activity… you should be aware that homosexuality is generally seen as taboo and exists on the margins of society.

Uganda's treatment of gay people has generated a lot of negative press for the country.  Equally disturbing is that much of the recent prominence of the issue in Uganda is due to the work of US evangelists, who have been pushing the issue of late.  One of them, Scott Lively, is being sued by an African group,  Sexual Minorities Uganda, that advocates for gay rights.

Althougfh they do mention that Uganda is not a gay friendly destination, Lonely Planet still chose it as one of their top ten travel destinations for 2012.  You'd think this major human rights problem would keep it out of the top ten, but that's not the case.  You'd also think they'd be worried about this creating a perception problem amongst its target audience, which one assumes is more likely to be the kind of crowd that thinks anti-gay sentiments are a bad thing than buyers of some of the more traditonal travel guides.  Apparently that's not the case.  They apparently also don't seem to worry that a significant percentage of their readers might be gay, and might reconsider their patronage as the result of this recommedation.

When I Rule The World 13.

When I rule the world going all in with ridiculous hands like 8-5 offsuit during the first few hands of an online poker tournament will be severely punished.  If you're dumb enough to play hands like that you probably shouldn't be playing poker.  This rule will be for your own good.

Rise Up!

It's that time of year in Canada again.  Time for the changing the clocks foolishness.  Except in here in Saskatchewan, where common sense prevails.  Seriously, why are the rest of you putting up with that nonsense?  Get off you butts and force your politicians to end the silliness of Daylight Savings Time, which doesn't save any time and just causes problems. 

Caffeine, Ugh!

I really need to stop drinking the damn crap.  It seems to get me hyped up in a bad way much of the time after I drink it.  And I'm drinking it in Coke Zero, not cofffee, so I can only imagine the effect it would have if I did drink coffee.  Coming off the stuff is annoying, but I'm sure I could do it.  Time to kick up the will power a bit I guess.

Pay Up.

This morning I decided to pay the overdue fees I owed to the Saskatoon Public Library.  Doing so made me think about those fines.  SPL is mellow about fines.  As long as your fine amount is under five bucks you can still take out stuff, and they don't pester you to pay the fines.  Given that I assume there must be a lot of unpaid revenue to be had.  Just imagine all the new material they could buy if everyone paid up.  So, how about it?  If you've got fines how about paying them, so your library system has more money to buy material for you to take out?

More Loonies Abroad?

Here's an interesting possibility I found out via James Nicoll.  Iceland, which has been severely effected by economic problems since the 2008 collapse of its banks, is considering adopting a foreign currency to replace its current krona.  Surprisingly, it seems that not only is the Canadian dollar one possible choice, it's a very popular idea amongst Icelanders.  And Canada's ambassador to Iceland, Alan Bones, is going to tell them tomorrow that Canada is interested in the idea.  Iceland won't get a say in Canadian fiscal policy, which will limit how much they could control their economy.  But given the problems with the krona apparently many in Iceland are willing to take the risk.

The possibility is a bit ironic given that there have been various calls over the years for Canada to adopt the US dollar as its currency.  Unlike with Iceland however Canadians who supported the idea believed it would have to involve joint US-Canadian control of fiscal policy.  That always struck me as a highly unlikely possibility, and is why I never saw such a union happening.  Funny to see the shoe on the other foot.

Happy Leap Day!

Time sure flies.  Once again it's Leap Year, and we get an extra day.  In a way it's too bad it just gets labelled as February 29th.  There should be an extra day added to the week with its own specific name.  No doubt people think it would be too confusing to have an 8 day week even if it was only once every four years.

Since we don't have an 8th day this week how about some Beatles instead?

Gas In Saskatoon, February 24, 2012.

Up it goes again.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 122.9 cents a litre at most locations, a 6 cent increase sioce last week.

To some Americans this may not seem like much of a rise.  But note that the price is in litres.  One US gallon is  approximately 3.785 litres.  So this price rise is equivalent to an increase of 22.71 cents a gallon.  Or if you prefer gas is roughly $4.66  a gallon in Saskatoon.  So, to fill a 30 litre gas tank costs $6.81 more than it did last week.  And lots of folks are driving things will gas tanks rather bigger than 30 litres.

How Rumours Start.

Today I had an example of how interesting rumours start. While viisiting the east side Long and McQuade I overheard someone telling the staff that a new law would force you to have a breathalyzer and a spare in your car or be fined.  He was outraged about this apparent infringement on his rights, and how much it would probably cost everyone, 30 or 40 bucks each I think he said.

The claim sounded suspicious to me.  So when I arrived home I looked it up, and found it was true.  But there was a missing part of the story.  This new law is coming into effect in France, not Canada.  Under a new French law you will need to have a couple of one use disposable breathalyzer kits in your car, and you can indeed be fined if you don't.  However these kits only cost around 3 bucks, not 30 or 40.  The fine will be 11 euros.  The idea is to have drivers who have been drinking self test themselves, and not drive if they're over the French limit.  France is trying to reduce its road fatalities, of which it had some 4000 last year.  And this requirement will simply add to the safety equipment French law already requires you to carry, such as a warning triangle and a flourescent vest.  You can be fined for not having those already.

Presumably the fellow I heard talking about this missed the locale.  So he and the others he told the story to may spread this mistake, and get more people riled up.  Of course I say "presumably" because I may have misheard what he said, and he did mention this was in France.  Fortunately I took a look before doing my own rumour spreading.

Bridging The Two Solitudes.

This morning I rode Saskatoon Transit 504.  This is a late '90s Nova Bus manufactured bus that used to be part of Montreal's transit fleet.  You can still see signs, literally, of its previous ownership, as the "Stop Requested" signs are still the French "Arret Demande" signs appropriate for French speaking Montreal.  Given that this and the other used Montreal Novas Saskatoon bought last year don't seem to see much service I guess they feel no need to change the signs.

Walking On The Moonbase.

Fans of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's mid '70s sci fi TV series Space: 1999 have often wondered about the idea of a  remake.  Some dreaded the idea, some wanted it, and many just didn't think it was possible.  Now, 12 and a half years after the year 1999 itself has come and gone we've got word that someone is taking the plunge.  ITV America is teaming up with HD Films, who were behind the ABC revival of V, to produce Space: 2099.  We can now write off at least one possibility that I personally have always suspected was the most likely way we'd see a "revival;"  namely as a spoof of the original a la The Brady Bunch movies.  Producer Jace Hall says the series won't be a "dark and gritty" reboot, although such  a tone would in fact fit quite well with the first season of the original, which had its share of what I'd call gothic horror.(A good example would be the episode "The Troubled Spirit," where Alpha is menaced by a man's vengeful ghost before he dies.) 

This new version is of course a reimagining/reboot, as the date change from 1999 to 2099 should make obvious.  When discussing a new 1999 you always see fans who want a direct continuation of the original, which isn't a viable idea.  All that would do is utterly confuse viewers who have no contact with the original.  Will this 21st Century version work?  It's still early days on the project, and more than one series revival project has sputtered out or been unable to find a buyer.  The Andersons' own UFO was the subject of 2 remake attempts in 1996 and early 2000s that never went much further than some concept art.(A big screen movie version is currently in production, with a projected screen date of 2013.)  No doubt some will be skeptical given the failure of HD's V remake to thrive, but that series did air. 

HD Films has a webpage up for the series.  Obviously not much real detail is available yet, but they are interacting with the fandom.

Don't Bother.

Spam in the comments to the posts here will be removed if I spot it.  So don't waste your time, and mine, by posting that crap.

Bienvenue A Tous.

Today seems to be international day for me.  So far I've had blog traffic from France, Romania, Germany, Denmark, Brazil, the Phillipines, Croatia, India, and Senegal.  Oddly enough I've had no American traffic yet, which is unusual.  I'm pretty sure the Senegal visitor is the first I've had from that country.  Welcome to all.

Gas In Saskatoon, February 17, 2012.

This week saw our first gas price increase of the year.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 116.9 cents a litre at most locations.

Hello, Mister Pot.

While driving around this morning I had the radio briefly tuned to CKOM during John Gormley's show.  Gormley was discussing a new study by a group of Alberta reseachers that argued the ingredients in junk food should be labeled as pathogens because of their effect on health.  Gormley read a bit from one of the participants and accused him of grandstanding.  Yeah, a right wing radio call in show host accusing someone else of grandstanding.  Tell us another one,  John. 

In case you're wondering, I have been eating some junk food today.  I'm hoping to cut back some over the next couple of weeks or so, both for the good of my weight, but more importantly to save money.