Gas In Saskatoon, September 18, 2015.

The prices at the pumps go up and down, up and down, up and down!

Unfortunately the direction in Saskatoon this week was up.  Gas in Saskatoon rose to 105.9 cents a litre at most locations.

This did lead to one interesting thing.  The gas pumps at the Shell station at the corner of 8th Street and Acadia Drive are currently out of service for maintenance.  Yet the price displayed on their digital sign went up just like the other stations.  This makes me wonder whether their sign isn't automatically adjusted someplace else, with no input from them.

Taylor Swift, The Next Merzbow?

Taylor Swift hit the Canadian iTunes chart this week with an 8 second clip of white noise.  Her record company is claiming this release was an accident.  Me, I think she's just testing the waters.  Soon, she'll be releasing albums of power electronics with Patty Waters style vocals, just watch.

Not A Sibling Act.

When Jeopardy started tonight I couldn't help but smile when I saw that two of the contestants were Carl and Chloe, and were beside each other.  This was because siblings Carl and Chloe Crashman were characters in the Canadian cartoon Carl Squared, which aired on Teletoon.  Too bad neither of the Jeopardy contestants had the last name Crashman, which would have been even cooler.  And of course neither were related, as relatives can't play against each other.  Not that the animated siblings would be happy to be on the same show anyways.

Poker Doppelgangers.

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

What Timing.

Walking through the Centre at Circle and 8th Zellers this afternoon I passed through the kitchenware section just as Bill Haley and the Comets performing "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" began to play over the PA.  The song's opening line "Get out from that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans" fit perfectly with my location.  Quite the unintentional timing on my part, and the kind of thing that would likely get me saying all sorts of silly things if I put much significance into coincidences.

Even Odds?

I spend a couple of bucks a week on Western 6/49 lottery tickets. For a dollar you get two lines of six numbers. One is always a "quick pick" by the lotto machine. I bought my ticket for the Wednesday draw today and the quick pick numbers were amusing. They were all multiples of 2: 4, 8, 20, 22, 34, 40. In theory this number combo is just as likely as any other to win the main prize, but I sometimes wonder if such a combination was drawn if WCLC wouldn't do a redraw because people might not believe those numbers were drawn legitimately. Of course if this does turn out to be a winning group of numbers I may be sorry about revealing them here if a visitor decides to try them as well.

Doggy Dollars?

I had a bit of a chuckle today when I got a couple of twenties out of an ATM. The prefix on the serial number on one of them was ARF, making me wonder if the Bank of Canada has taken to hiring dogs. Last week I had one that had the prefix ALL.

Yesterday I saw a license plate that had a letter combination that I'm surprised got past whoever makes sure offensive letter combinations aren't used: FKK. I'm sure most readers can imagine how it could be pronounced like a popular swear word.

The Blue Jays Versus Tommy Hunter.

If you're Canadian and old enough the title to this post sounds like a lawsuit instead of a baseball game. I couldn't help but be amused when I turned on the Blue Jays game tonight and found out the starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers was rookie Tommy Hunter. This is the second time the Jays have faced a celebrity name alike this year, with Corey Hart playing for the Milwaukee Brewers when the two teams faced off. For those of you who are too young and/or not Canadian here is Tommy Hunter's Wikipedia entry and his official website. As for Tommy Hunter the pitcher the Jays have beat up on the kid pretty good as I write this, having scored 6 runs, including 2 home runs.

Admit It.

If you're a Canadian who remembers the '80s when you saw Corey Hart was playing with the Milwaukee Brewers you Googled him to find out if he was named after the Canadian singer. He wasn't, being born a year before Corey Hart the singer released his first album. Besides, his first name is actually Jon, Corey being his second name.

Of course I couldn't mention Corey Hart, '80s teen heartthrob, without posting the video for "Sunglasses at Night." Enjoy. Or not.

The Universe Coughs Out Another Funny.

I was watching Jeopardy tonight and two of the contestants had the first names Toho and Sara and were seated in that order. I knew the combination sounded familiar, and sure enough I was right. Toho Sara is a Japanese avant garde rock group that includes Makoto Kawabata of Japanese neo psychedelic band Acid Mother's Temple. There's little doubt this was sheer coincidence, as I doubt anyone on the Jeopardy crew has ever heard of Toho Sara.

Unintended Free Advertising.

Last month saw the Bank of Canada introduce a new series of five dollar bills, which incorporate the security features used on the current issue tens and twenties. The new five also has a new varnish on the Laurier side, intended to improve the life expectancy of the bills. So far I've received two, and I found the serial number amusing. Both serials begin with AOL. I doubt America Online needs any more advertising, but I doubt they'll mind such subliminal support either.