Cue The Whining.

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and the Blue Jays didn't make any big movies.  So now we'll have to listen to whining from fans who think the Jays should have picked up Jon Lester, John Lackey. and David Price, along with half the prospects from the Rays and Red Sox, and should have done so for only a minor league pitching prospect and one of Gregg Zaun's suits.  It won't matter if the Jays' current five game winning streak turns into a twenty game winning streak, and everyone else in the AL East crashes and burns, we'll still hear the same whining.  And if a big trade had been made today that ultimately backfired we'd hear whining about how the Jays should never make big trades.

I suspect the Jays would have had to trade off someone damn good to have made a deal with anyone else.  Some folks had been suggesting other teams might be willing to trade for Marcus Stroman given how well he's been pitching.  Yeah, that would have been real bright, trading off a kid who may end up being a great pitcher, especially if it was an attempt to get Jon Lester.  There's been a lot of speculation that the Lester trade is actually a loan, and that the Red Sox will just resign Lester, who will be a free agent when the season ends.  A team has to think about the long term, not just trying to make one post season.

No Money, The Sequel.

Unfortunately I didn`t make the money in today`s Weekly Round 2 either.  But I came very close.  And I know exactly which late hand it was that cost me the tournament, one where I had aces, but folded because I thought another player had a stronger hand than he did.

Hey, Stud. Nice To See You.

I'm back at it on PokerStars, playing another Weekly Round 2 freeroll.  I'm doing a lot better today, which is a bit odd.  Today's game is Limit 7 Card Stud, a game I don't play that often.  Perhaps I'm taking less questionable risks than I would with No Limit Hold 'Em.  Then again it just may be my day.

Oddly a game I do more poorly at than I think I should is Limit Hold 'Em.  I think it might be because I play too many hands, and don't fold quickly enough.

No Money Today.

I just got knocked out.  Boo hoo.

Made It.

I'm not exactly burning up the table today, but I made through the first hour of the Weekly Round 2.  Unfortunately I only have managed to win one hand so far. 

Look Out!

I'm playing in PokerStars Weekly Round 2 this morning.  So if you're thinking about taking part as well, withdraw now, because I'm going to crush you all.

Hopefully you believe such boastfulness.  I could really do with the money right now.

I'll Pass.

I just saw an ad on Spike for a new show, Gym Rescue.  Sorry, Spike folks, but even having Randy Couture in this won't make me watch it.  I can't imagine there's enough differences between gyms to make it watchable more than once, and I'm not convinced even one episode will be interesting.  I suspect this will last as long as last year's Car Lot Rescue did. Bar Rescue works because bars are all different enough to interest viewers.

Gas In Saskatoon, July 25, 2014.

Prices are heading down again.  Today saw most Saskatoon gas stations reducing their prices to 121.9 cents a litre.  I don't think it  will go down much further, but I've been wrong before.

I'm Popular In India.

Strange.  I'm getting a lot more hits from India lately.  Unfortunately if they're looking for what I think they're looking for my Indian visitors are likely to be disappointed.

Like Father, Like Son?

Prince George, third in line to the British throne, will turn one in a couple of days.  Thinking about how long his great great and great grandmothers have lived I found myself wondering how old he might be when he takes the throne.  And then the thought came to mind about whether the American tabloids will be writing the same kind of things about George and William they currently write about William and Charles years from now.  Namely that the succession should go to the son, instead of the horrible father no one likes.  Yeah, people like William now, but the same could have been said about his father Charles at the same age.  Not that it matters, the reigning monarch has no say in who replaces them. 

Gas In Saskatoon, July 18, 2014.

The downward trend continues.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 125.4 cents a litre at most locations.  It will be interesting to see if the escalation of tensions in Ukraine and Israel will have any effect on prices over the next week.

Lucky Me.

Several thunderstorms passed through Saskatoon last night.  One knocked out the power here in East College Park around 8 o'clock.  Fortunately it wasn't out for more than 10 minutes or so.  Other folks aren't so lucky.  Power is apparently still out as I write this in some areas, going out at 10:30 last night.

Besides having to reset several clocks I was a bit worried about the oldest computer in the house having problems, as it was on when the power went out.  Fortunately it booted up normally this morning.

Today's Cassette, July 13, 2014.

It's been a long time since I've done one of these.  Whirring away in the player today is Primeval, the fifth album by Canadian Celtic fusion band Rare Air, released in 1989.  Primarily an instrumental group, they combined various instruments, including bagpipes.  I actually saw them play in Place Riel on the University of Saskatchewan one lunch hour, probably circa 1987.  Quite funky.

A quick look on Amazon indicates this one may still be in print, along with their albums Hard to Beat and Space Piper.

Watch It Now!

Before Big Brother declares it doubleplusungood!.



(Warning, ads are put in annoying places.)

Gas In Saskatoon, July 11, 2014.

A bit of a price drop to report this week.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 127.9 cents a litre at most locations, a drop of three cents. 

Be Careful.

Today I got a hit from the United Arab Emirates from someone looking for gay material of some sort.  I hope whoever it is won't face problems as a result.  The UAE isn't the most gay friendly place in the world, as a Wikipedia article makes clear.  There's nothing on here that is in any way explicit, but when has that stopped bigots from taking action?

Filling A Niche.

A lot of people in the West are into anime and manga, Japanese cartoons and comic books respectively.  Apparently there's enough of them that cosmetics maker L'Oreal thinks it's worth marketing Miss Manga mascara. Yeah, they're selling a product to help you get the big eyes people associate with manga and anime.  It would be interesting to know what age range they're hoping to reach with this product.  Teenagers, perhaps?  Older manga readers who use makeup probably aren't going to be interested in such a gimmicky idea, but perhaps I'm being unfair to younger folks.  Is it a case of cultural appropriation?  I'll leave that for others to decide, although the great anime and manga artist/creator Osamu Tezuka, who helped popularise the big eyes look for anime and manga characters, said the concept was taken from the eyes of Disney characters like Mickey Mouse.

What The Hell?

Does anyone have a clue what B.J. Penn thought he was doing in his fight tonight against Frankie Edgar?  Whatever he was trying to do by laying on the ground waiting for Edgar to attack didn't work, and you'd think any fighter with his experience would quickly change tactics.  Towards the end I found myself wondering if he was deliberately trying to throw the fight for some reason.  I suspect we'll soon have Dana White saying Penn won't be fighting in the UFC again.

Gone Except For The Ads.

In the past I've mentioned Blip, a webcomic by Sage Leaves, a couple of times.  Unfortunately Sage Leaves stopped updating, and a few months ago the webcomic itself disappeared when its account was suspended.  But oddly enough it's still being advertised online.  You'd think word would have gotten back to whoever runs the advertising to stop the ads.  Wherever Sage Leaves has vanished to they apparently haven't been in a position to do so, but you'd think the Rampage Network, which had been hosting Blip, would let them know.  Then again they still have Blip listed as one of their member webcomics.

It makes you wonder how many other ads for things that no longer exist are floating around the web.  Not that some of the advertising providers probably care, as they presumably have already been paid for the advertising.

Hey, Flickr!

Please stop screwing around with your website.  You've made a mess of things again.

Gas In Saskatoon, July 4, 2014.

As in the US this was a holiday week in Canada.  But instead of going up, as people often expect it do just before a holiday, the price of gas went down.  Gas in Saskatoon is currently 130.4 cents a litre at most locations.