I Should Have Paid More Attention.

It seems I should have paid more attention to the National League East this year.  If I had I would have seen that the annoying Atlanta Braves got pounded this year.  While the Washington Nationals easily took the division, the Braves and the rest all will end with losing records.  Hopefully the Nationals will make it to the World Series this year.

I Blame You.

I want my bus service back.  I blame you, City of Saskatoon, for it not being there.  After all you were the ones who locked out the transit workers.  I think you're trying to play games, both with city council ramming through the changes in the city pension plan, and perhaps with operating expenses for transit.  After all if there are no buses running for X days that's X days gas isn't being burned, along with whatever other expenses you pay to keep buses running for 18 hours a day.

In general I don't think the current city council has munch interest in transit.  After all the downtown bus mall has long been a source of complaints, and what has been done about it?  Pretty much nothing.  They seem more interested in ridiculous plans for when Saskatoon has a population of 500 thousand, or even a million, a situation that may never occur.   They don't seem to think that if you get things right now it makes for a stronger base for the future.

A Rare Bird Soars.

If you're into electronic music this might be of interest.  UK musician Dan Wilson has acquired a Crumar GDS, one of the earliest digital synthesizers to be commercially sold.  Just barely sold, since apparently only 10 were actually built.  Wilson's unit was formerly owned by Klaus Schulze, and used to record his album Dig It.  Other GDS users were Wendy Carlos, and Chris Franke of Tangerine Dream.  He's started a thread on it on Vintage Synth Explorer forums, and has very good news to report.  He's managed to get it to boot up, and it plays.  It's really cool that such a rare instrument, which probably hadn't been turned on in years, or even a couple of decades, can actually be played. 

Snip, Snip, Buzz, Buzz.

Because I get lazy about shaving I keep ending up with these stupid beards.  The longer you let a stupid beard grow, the harder it is to get rid of.  So I spent a bunch of time this morning with a cheap pair of scissors cutting it down to size, then using the razor(electric user here) to get rid of what's left. 

You'd think I'd know better given how much of a bother it is.  And I look better without a beard, especially since it makes me look some years younger without one.  The only advantage I can see for me having one is in the winter, when it might keep my face a bit warmer at times.  Even then the moustache part of it just ends up collecting condensation, which turns to ice, which doesn't help.

No, you won't see any pictures of my facial hair.  Don't even bother asking.

Gas In Saskatoon, September 19, 2014.

The price keeps ticking down.  Gas in Saskatoon dropped to 122.9 cents a litre at most locations this week.  Will this trend continue?  I doubt it, as I can't imagine the price dropping below the 120.9 mark.

The Standin.

I've had some more hits about an old post I did about the demise of the Malted Milk chocolate bar in Canada.  Since people still seem interested in it I figured it would be worth asking what, if anything, Canadian visitors have found as a replacement.  If you have found one feel free to leave a comment in the comments section of this post.

I Got It In.

As I mentioned in  my previous post I planned to watch "The Dorcons" for Breakaway Day.  And I did in the last hour of September 13th.  So I watched both the first and last episodes of Space: 1999 on September 13th.

Watching "The Dorcons" the thought came to mind that they're a bit like Stargate: SG1's Goa'uld.  Incredibly dangerous if you face them at a distance, but not so dangerous close in because of their arrogance.  After all the Dorcon ship apparently has no way of tracking down intruders other than having security goons look for them on foot, which implies it's been a long time since anyone has dared to stand up to them.  Especially when you consider that the ship is carrying the equivalent of an emperor.  And Malik, the out and out villain of the episode, almost succeeds because Counselor Varda isn't willing to deal with him as harshly as she should. 

The obvious question is whether the Dorcons would have returned if a Year 3 of the series had been filmed.  After all Maya describes them as the most powerful civilisation in the galaxy.  Apparently there was consideration during the later stages of filming Year 2 that a Maya spinoff series might be developed, and that possibly she wouldn't be seen in Year 3, so perhaps the Dorcons might have shown up in that spinoff.  (The fact the proposed spinoff, and for that matter Year 3 itself, was only supposed to be 13 episodes might have made it a hard sell in the North American market, which expected 24 episodes a season for a drama in those days.)

The episode really doesn't work as a closure to the series.  When filming ended in December of '76 Gerry Anderson and ITC still thought there was a chance of new episodes.  Besides, TV shows weren't as likely to have definite endings in those days as they have in recent years. 

Breakaway Day +15.

The years go by, don't they?  Today is the 15th anniversary of the Moon leaving orbit in certain universes.  When I first saw Space: 1999 September 13th, 1999 was 25 years away. I was 8 years old, and now I'm...somewhat older than that.

Since it's Breakaway Day I watched "Breakaway" this morning.  I intend to watch "The Dorcons" tonight as a "first and last" thing.  Someday I should really watch a bunch of episodes in a row.  For those of you who don't have access to the series on DVD or some other format here's "Breakaway" from YouTube.

It Lives.

It's been a long time since I've used our VCR.  So when I decided to watch a VHS cassette this morning I wasn't sure what would happen.  But it worked like it should, and rewound properly too.  I guess I should watch some more of what I have lying around.

Meaningless Late Night Post.

Nothing to read here, really.  But since I'm still awake I figured I might as well post something.

Gas In Saskatoon, September 12, 2014.

Another Friday, another gas price change to report.  Gas in Saskatoon is dropping at most locations today to 125.9 cents a litre.  It would be nice if any price changes always happened on the same day, but that's highly unlikely.

You Have To Be Impressed.

If you're a Blue Jays fan you have to be impressed with Marcus Stroman.  The rookie pitcher gave us another fun game to watch, giving up only three hits in a 93 pitch 8-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.  And this came after a first inning comebacker that knocked him off his feet.  It looked damn scary at first, as it ricocheted off his glove, but Stroman popped back up with a grin on face and went back to work.  It's his second time he's pitched a complete nine inning game this year, although his August 8th start against the Tigers was won in the tenth inning.  Hopefully this is just the beginning of lots of highlights to come.

One of the interesting things about Stroman is that he's short, only 5'8".  It's that lack of height that made some doubt he could pitch in the majors.  After all major league starting pitchers under 6 feet are rare as hen's teeth these days.  Position players of Stroman's height are almost as rare, one notable exception being the Red Sox Dustin Pedroia, who is an inch or two shorter than Stroman.  But Stroman is proving the doubters wrong.

To cap off the fun Jose Bautista hit his 200th home run as a Jay last night, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to do so, and the quickest  to reach the 200 mark.  It's a reasonable guess that he will pass both George Bell, who has 202 home runs, and Joe Carter, who has 203 home runs, before the season's end, if not before the end of this week, which will put him in third place after Vernon Wells, who has 223.  Catching the all time franchise leader, Carlos Delgado, will be a rather tougher nut to crack, as he has 336 home runs in a Jays'  uniform for the all time lead.

Poor Guy.

While I was lying around trying to keep weight off my sore foot I spent some time poking around YouTube, and ended up watching a bunch of old Sesame Street animated bits.  If you're old like me you'll remember this fellow.  I kind of know how he feels in this clip.

When I Rule The World 23.

Someone very strong will be on 24 hour call to carry me around when I have some problem like bad feet.  Or just when I feel like being very lazy. 

Sore Feet Are A Pain In The Ass.

My foot is still bugging me.  I'd rather have a better reminder of how helpful feet are than limping around the house with only one working properly.  Fortunately I can take at least another day to let it heal before having to do large amounts of walking again.

Footage.

Anyone got a foot they could spare?  I've got a very sore foot at the moment.  I don't have a clue why it's sore, but it's going to be a problem if I have any walking to do tomorrow.

Gas In Saskatoon, September 5, 2014.

I hope you gassed up your vehicle before yesterday, as prices have gone up.  Gas in Saskatoon has risen to 127.9 cents a litre at most locations.