Respite From The Heat.

Another month ends, and with it, at least for a couple of days, the heat and high humidity that has plagued Saskatoon for much of July. Perhaps it's my imagination, but the humidity this summer and last summer seems higher than it has in the past. Of course I must also admit I really hadn't paid much attention to this factory in the past. Usually we think of Saskatchewan as having relatively "dry" heat in the summer. But this year especially there seems to be more prominence given to the humidex rating in weather forecasts, and we've had several high humidex warnings this summer. It's possible this is yet another symptom of global climate change, with high humidity air masses appearing in places where they hadn't previously.

I did a lot of walking in the last week, and I was sure glad to be carrying a bottle of water during that walking. A 500 mL bottle fits easily into a pants pocket, and is especially pleasant to have if you freeze it solid the night before.

An Odd Choice.

Visiting James Nicoll's Livejournal tonight I found out that Dark Horse Comics, North American publishers of my fav manga, Blade of the Immortal, are going to reprint John Norman's Gor books. I've discussed the series before, but for those of you who missed those posts the short version is that the books took place on the planet Gor, where men are men and women are slaves or in their hearts want to be slaves. They'd likely be written off as crappy sword and sorcery fantasy if not for the bondage content of the series and the fact that John Norman by all accounts actually believes women really want to be slaves to men. And there are people in the real world who agree with him and base part or all of their personal lifestyles on these concepts. Interestingly the Dark Horse press release I linked to makes no real mention of the controversial content of the series, which I have to wonder about given that a lot of book sellers who sell other Dark Horse products probably aren't familiar with the notoriety of the books.

As you can imagine the announcement Dark Horse will begin reprinting the series has gotten some folks upset. I can't blame them given the sexism and misogyny that underlies the setting of the books. The obvious question is why Dark Horse decided to pick up the Gor series. I would suspect that in part it's because the rights are available cheap. Recent attempts to reprint them have been less than successful, so it would seem to be a bit of a risk for Dark Horse to release them. It will be interesting to see how well their omnibus release of the first 3 books does, and whether there will be a second release featuring the next 3 books. Or perhaps a better question is whether they will release a third omnibus, given that the second one is probably already late in the preproduction stage.

Congratulations, Chris MacClean

If blog hits are any indication it looks like another winner for Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch. My previous post about their new Teletoon series Total Drama Island has generated quite a few hits already. Hopefully they'll be able to sell the series to foreign markets just as they did with 6teen. And hopefully they'll be able to get the series on an American network that will actually make a commitment to giving it a fair shot, unlike what happened with Nickleodeon's abortive airing of 6teen last year.

Go Check Your Oven.

Boy, did I make a major screwup tonight. I baked some fish and potato patties for supper. But I neglected to turn off the oven. I only just noticed it was still on a few minutes ago. We're in the middle of a heat wave here so having an oven on isn't the best thing when you're trying to cool off your house. I don't like the idea of the wasted electricity, but that will be made up for by my deciding not to use the oven for several days. But the real scary thought is what might have happened if I hadn't spotted the oven light still being on because of the kitchen lights being turned off. I have no idea how much longer it might have run before I noticed it.

Shameless Hit Count Whoring.

Tonight's the night. The final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is being released. Therefore I shamelessly present to you this post, which has no other purpose than being a blatant attempt to boost my traffic. So c'mon Potterfans! Visit here now. After all you owe me for all the wanking that will result online from whatever JK Rowling has in store for poor Harry(although rumour has it the kid lives), wanking that could be expended on more valuable topics, like Doctor Who.

Silent Footsteps.

It was 38 years ago today that that Neil Armstrong became the first human being to walk on a world besides the Earth. Will it be another 38 years before this happens again? Perhaps. Unfortunately until recently we hadn't been able to find a convincing excuse to return to Earth's Moon since the Apollo 17 mission, and even with current plans to return to the Moon we can't be sure if they'll actually happen as currently predicted.

I have no memories of the landing, not even being two at the time. And I suspect that I may not live to see the first humans land on Mars given the technical difficulties and cost questions involved. Too bad all those sci fi shows so many of us watched as kids made it look so easy.

A Little Bit Missing.

Last night I decided I wanted a Fudgsicle, but couldn't find any at the local convenience stores. Deciding tonight I still wanted one I decided to bite the bullet and grab a package from Safeway. All they had were "fat free" ones. Something just seems wrong about eating a fat free ice cream product, even though I really should cut back on my fat intake. Still, the one I had tonight wasn't bad, although it was smaller than I remember the last one I had. The quotes around fat free are because this product technically isn't fat free. Each one actually contains 0.4 grams of fat, which isn't much but is still an actual detectable amount of fat.

Charles Lane, RIP.

I just found out that veteran American actor Charles Lane died Monday at 102. Brent McKee's obit for Lane can be found here. Interestingly I heard a CBC radio documentary about Victor Jory a couple of months back that included some recent comments by Lane, a good friend of Jory's, and it sounded like he was still pretty sharp.

"You're off the island."

Tonight saw the debut of the series Total Drama Island on Teletoon, with the first two episodes being aired. Created by 6teen creators Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch the series is a spoof of reality shows like Survivor. A group of 22 teens are divided into two groups who compete in various challenges, with the losing group having to choose one of its members to leave the island. But its not just the dangerous challenges they'll have to face, but the horrors of a run down, vermin infested summer camp on an isolated island in Northern Ontario instead of the luxury resort they were promised. The art style used is very reminiscent of Clone High, which isn't a surprise given the involvement of Elliot Animation, who worked on that series. The voices will also sound familiar to anyone who watches much Canadian made animation and include 6teen regulars Christian Potenza and Megan Fahlenbock as well as the almost ubiquitous Dan Petronijevic. My verdict? Not bad so far. We'll see how they do over the course of 26 episodes, and there's the obvious question of how they might continue the series if it does well enough for Teletoon to spring for a second batch of episodes.

Triple 7

Today is is the 7th day of the 7th month of the 7th year of the century, so not surprisingly many people thought today would be especially lucky. I didn't notice things being lucky for me, and for many people today saw their luck go entirely bad, such as the 100 some people killed in a truck bombing in Iraq. Yet such superstition persists. I can't think of a way for it to disappear easily other than those who don't believe such things not playing into it.

I Think I'll Pass.

It's amazing the goofy gimmicks people will use to sell a product. A Winnipeg pizzaria called Porno Pizza offers pornographic pictures with each pizza it delivers. You must provide proof you're legal before they'll let you have the pizza, but the idea is otherwise legal. Porno founder Corey Wildman says he might consider turning the idea into a franchise if it does well. I'm afraid I won't be a potential customer. I see no need for porn with my pizza, and if I may be vulgar I'd be a little leery of where the pizza shop workers might be putting their hands given the porn they'll be seeing.

Happy Canada Day!

I hope everyone across the country has enjoyed their day so far, even if all you've done is sit around the house like me.

No, I haven't been away or sick. I just simply haven't gotten around to writing about anything of late, but I hope to get things back to a bit more regular pace in July.

The Ballad of Eskimo Clark.

I don't listen to modern country music, but I don't get the impression they're much on "story songs" these days. A lot of country hits in days gone by were mini tales of some real or imagined event, like Johnny Horton's "Sink the Bismarck" and Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John." The saga of Eskimo Clark at this year's World Series of Poker is the kind of thing I could imagine being made into one of these songs.

Paul Clark is known as Eskimo due to his supposed resemblance to the logo of Alaskan Airlines, although he's originally from Louisiana. He's won 3 WSOP bracelets to date, but his quest for a fourth at this year's edition just might kill him. Last week he collapsed during the Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event. Initial reports speculated on a heart attack, and many blamed the hot conditions inside the tent his table was located in. Yesterday he collapsed twice during the $1500 Razz event, prompting paramedics to be called in during the second incident, although Clark convinced them to let him continue playing. Some sources are claiming it's the result of low blood sugar, but others are saying that Clark is having strokes, and the fact that one side of his body went numb during the second incident yesterday sounds like evidence of a stroke to me. Clark has signed a waiver absolving the tournament of liability should he suffer permanent damage.

Clark made it to the end of the event, coming in third, with Katja Thater winning. But at what cost? Is winning a fourth bracelet worth the health risk to Clark? He thinks so, but it seems like obsession taken too far to me. And even if he is able to compete in further events and does win a bracelet it's gong to be overshadowed by his collapses.

Italian Tax Dollars At Work.

If you're an Italian you may be annoyed with this use of your tax dollars. An Italian state prosecutor intends to bring obscenity charges against the creators of the film version of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Those named include Dan Brown and film director Ron Howard. The charges come as the result of complaints by a group of priest that the movie is obscene from a religious prespective under Italian law because it claims Jesus was married and had a child. The charges can be thrown out by the judge that first hears the case, and hopefully they will be. The Italian legal system presumably has better things to spend time on that a silly complaint about a silly movie that will do little more than provide more press time for this already overpublicised book and movie.

I Won't Meet You On Tau Ceti VI Next Year.

Science fiction writer Charlie Stross has written an interesting piece on why interstellar colonisation may not be doable. The responses are equally interesting. Frankly I think too many of them hinge on the flawed argument that since we now have X when Y years ago we believed it was impossible or didn't even conceive of then there's no doubt that solution Z will come along and solve everything. It's also amusing that some people can't get the idea that writing about something in a work of science fiction doesn't automatically mean the writer believe's it's actually possible in the real world. As is often the case they seem to place an overemphasis on the "science" part of science fiction.

Given that fusion power has supposedly been a decade away for six decades I don't think I'll hold my breath waiting for a hyperspace drive system to appear.

Door To Door Safety.

This morning some Jehovah's Witnesses were canvassing the neighbourhood. Fortunately they didn't come to my door. Seeing them made me think of another religion that likes to proselytise door to door, the Mormons. But a major difference between the two is that Mormon canvassers are usually young people, while Witnesses frequently send out older folks, and sometimes children are brought along. And the thought came to mind that the Mormon practice is safer. Their young proselytisers are likely to have a much better chance of escaping trouble than their Witness counterparts, and given the attitude many have towards such efforts there is always a risk.

My way of dealing with such folks is to tell them I'm not interested, which is effective. I've occasionally had thoughts of doing something slightly mischevious when they come around, like play some of the harsher and weirder entries from my music collection, but frankly why go to the effort? I certainly never try and talk with them about the questionable elements of their beliefs, as your doorstep is not an appropriate place to do so, and it might encourage them to come back.

Kid Poker Joins PokerStars.

There's really no argument that Toronto born Daniel Negreanu is the best known and most successful professional Canadian poker player, and indeed is one of the world's best known pros. So it's no surprise that online poker powerhouse PokerStars would recruit Negreanu to its team of pros, which includes 2003, 2004, and 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event winners Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, and Joe Hachem. It also includes another Canadian, Quebec's Isabelle Mercier.

Negreanu had previously been associated with the poker site Full Contact Poker, including playing a role in founding the site. And yesterday's announcement of his joining PokerStars coincided with Full Contact announcing they will merge with PokerStars. As one blogger commented this can be considered evidence of the consolidation of the online poker industry. Last year's American legislation against online gambling had a major impact on the business, with many sites deciding to leave the US market. This included PartyPoker, which had been one of the big players in the US market, and was claimed before the passing of the Safe Port Act to be the biggest of the online poker sites..

But many sites decided to continue to service American customers who wanted to play real money poker. This included PokerStars, and as a result they scooped up a large percentage of US online poker players abandoned by other sites. This resulted in them taking over the position of biggest online poker site in the world, and their strength may very well push other sites to merge in an effort to compete, while others may decide they just can't compete and cease operations, especially if they aren't willing to take the risk of servicing the lucrative American market.

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.

Old Tech Survives.

I went into the local 7/11 today and got a surprise. Someone ahead of me was using his credit card, and the clerk was taking his info with an old fashioned credit card imprinter instead of using a scanner. I haven't seen anyone use one of those in years, but a quick check online shows you can still buy them. Some younger readers may not be familiar with these devices, but that's how credit card transactions were done prior to the widespread use of electronic card scanners. The one I saw today was of the once familiar slide type, where you place your card on the imprinter and the clerk slides a bar across it, imprinting the card's markings on a sheet of paper. I really should have asked her why she was using one, although I presume the credit card scanners weren't working at the time.

Sarge Turns 40.

Friday was the 40th anniversary of the initial release in the UK of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Wow, hard to believe it was 40 years ago. Into the CD player it went, which made me wonder again when the Beatles' catalogue will be remastered. You'd think they would have done a new set of remasters in the late '90s or early 2000s given how much digital mastering has improved, but instead we still have the late '80s version in the shops. If you live in the Western half of North America and some other places there's still time to listen to it on the album's fortieth birthday if you move quickly.

Billy Shears will be grateful.