Things I Learned From The Family Dog

When I grew up in Quesnel our family dog was a part breed beagle. He didn't have papers, but he looked like a beagle. His name was Barney, as in Barney the beagle. It's a semi-famous name, but I don't know from where.

Barney was a chow hound of the first order. If you wanted something from him, there had better be some food in your hand; and we loved him. I'm not as loveable as our family dog was, but I work for food. So it is that I'm seated in front my Dad's computer typing this blog on my notebook while check disk identifies bad clusters on his computer hard drive.

This is actually the second problem I've worked on. The first was before I was feed, but it involved enlightened self interest. My Dad couldn't get his new wireless router to work. Getting the router to work means Internet access on my notebook. Gotta have wireless.

Hmmm, check disk is done, so it's time to see if this has fixed the computer lock up problem. Another thing I learned from our dog. Making lots of noise might scare it away. If you hear someone howling and barking at Microsoft, that's me.

Interior View

Last Easter while kibitzing with my folks at my sisters place I realized I hadn't been to visit them in Quesnel for a very long time. I used to come up for Christmas almost very year. There was the odd summer visit thrown in, but most years Christmas constituted the annual visit. Christmas moved to Vernon a while back and I haven't been back since.

It seemed like time to check it out. So I took some days off and here I am in Quesnel.

AM/PM = +/- 6 cents

Gas: 7am - $1.05/litre; 7pm - $.97/$.98/$.99/litre

For pretty much the last week or two.

What's up with that? The morning shift is cranky so let's raise the price?

Something different with something familiar

Caught this on RocketBoom, it's just a lot of fun:

A Cappella Nintendo Medley

Movies Seen:
Sahara

Books Read:
Market Forces - Richard Morgan
E.Godz - Robert Asprin & Esther Friesner

Daylight Savings Time

In Europe they call it Summer Time, as in British Summer Time, BST, or Central Europe Summer Time, CEST. They "spring ahead" a week earlier than we do in North America. Much of Africa is in much the same time zone as Europe, GMT + 1, but South Africa does not observe daylight savings time. These are things you learn doing International Support, or reading the blog of someone who does!

Daylight savings time is a great idea, and we should never leave it. While I understand placing noon at that point in the day where the sun is highest is practical, who ever thought that day light should be equally divided between morning and evening was on crack or a morning person, which is basically the same thing. Inside workers should have as much light as possible after work when we're outside or near a window to enjoy it. It's just wasted in the morning.

All this to say, I LOVE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME! Give me light when I can enjoy it.

Books Read:
Stardust - Neil Gaiman
Miles, Mystery & Mayhem - Lois McMaster Bujold

2005 Hugo Award Nominees

The nominees for the 2005 Hugo Awards were announced at the end of March. Surprisingly, or maybe not, I've seen all of the nominees in the "Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form":
o Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
o Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
o The Incredibles
o Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
o Spider-Man 2

My vote goes to Eternal Sunshine.

Harry Potter and Sky Captain are non-starters. Sky Captain was visually noteworthy and did a great job capturing the old pulp magazine geist, but in the end the story was weak and Gweneth Paltrow nauseating. Harry Potter was a fun watch but pedestrian.

The Incredibles was awesome fun but lacking in the layered complexity a great drama should provide. More an action/adventure really, and a damn entertaining one!

For me, it's between Spider Man 2 and Eternal Sunshine, and Eternal Sunshine takes it. Spider Man 2 handled the story's themes brilliantly, but Eternal Sunshine asked a "what if" question that goes to the root of what defines us.

In spite of this ringing endorsement for Eternal Sunshine, I've watched it precisely once and probably won't buy the DVD. I've already bought The Incredibles DVD and watched it multiple times, with more viewings to come.

Maybe I should switch my vote? Naw. They should add a "Best Kick-Ass Fun Presentation - Long Form", category!

Easter Book Hunt

Easter in Vernon means many things, among them the Easter egg book hunt! To be honest, any visit to Vernon involves a book hunt. They have a couple of very good used books stores. This particular Easter it was a father/son activity.

Up until a few years ago I never thought of my Dad as a book kind of guy. His big passions are hunting, fishing and competing in Black Powder Rendezvous'. When I was a kid my Dad would take me hunting with him. He'd have the "big game" rifle and I'd have the 22 should we come across a grouse destined for the dinner table.

It wasn't until we started swapping Honor Herrington novels that it fully dawned on me he liked a good fiction novel. The clues were there, of course, but how much do we really pay attention where our parents are concerned. My Dad's taste in Science Fiction is limited, as are mine in the Westerns and African Adventures. That our tastes don't entirely overlap is good; we can happily co-exist in a used book store!

So this Easter weekend we were hunting together once again, each stalking our own game. The hunting was good, I bagged a couple Neil Gaimans and Dad brought home a large brace of Louis L' Amours.

Movies Seen:
Robots
Sin City

Books Read:
Myth Alliances - Robert Asprin & Jody Lynn Nye
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

DVDs Bought:
Finding Neverland
The Incredibles
Top Secret