tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48695747154666039022024-03-14T01:37:19.188-07:00Terrible Last Words"I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words." - The 9th Doctor, "The Doctor Dances"Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-62123115554995693052011-04-19T08:54:00.000-07:002011-04-19T08:57:38.572-07:00Book review: Doctor Who – The Twin Dilemma<p style="text-align: left;">Cross-posted from <a href="http://dougascott.hardcorenerdity.com/">my Hardcore Nerdity blog</a>:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dougascott.hardcorenerdity.com/files/2011/04/250px-Twin_Dilemma_novel.jpg" _mce_href="http://dougascott.hardcorenerdity.com/files/2011/04/250px-Twin_Dilemma_novel.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-53" src="http://dougascott.hardcorenerdity.com/files/2011/04/250px-Twin_Dilemma_novel.jpg" _mce_src="http://dougascott.hardcorenerdity.com/files/2011/04/250px-Twin_Dilemma_novel.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="415" /></a><br /></p> <p>Title: <em>Doctor Who - The Twin Dilemma</em><br />Author: Eric Saward<br />Publisher: Target Books<br />Publication date: 1986</p> <p>"The Twin Dilemma". Oh dear. Oh dearie, dearie dear. Okay, some background on this novelisation of a <em>Doctor Who</em> story.</p> <p>A couple of years ago, the <em>Doctor Who</em> franchise hit its 200th televised story (not episode, but story - back in the day, stories were several episodes long) with "Planet of the Dead". So <em>Doctor Who Magazine</em> held a poll, wherein readers picked their favourite stories. The 1984 story "The Twin Dilemma", written by one Anthony Steven, came dead last. 200th out of 200. Sure, some story had to come in last. Such is the nature of lists. "The Twin Dilemma", however, mostly deserved it. It's really not a good story. Really, <em>really</em> not a good story.</p> <p>"The Twin Dilemma" was the first full story for Colin Baker, the 6th actor to play the part of the Doctor. Having just regenerated from the Peter Davison incarnation, the new Doctor goes completely insane for much of the story, shouting at his companion Peri, attempting to strangle her, deciding to become a hermit (with Peri in tow) to atone for the strangling, and choosing to wear the ugliest coat in existence. Somewhere in there, in a setting of the year 2300, there's a couple of brilliant, but annoying, young twins (played by a real-life pair of annoying twins who can't act), an old Time Lord friend of the Doctor, a space cop and a giant slug named Mestor. It's not as good as it sounds.</p> <p>So, why the hell did I read the novelisation of this story? Because I'm a hardcore <em>Doctor Who</em> fan, who will read, watch or listen to pretty much anything to do with the program. Plus, I thought, surely the story must be better in written format. Right? <em>Right!?</em></p> <p>Well, it might have been better, if it hadn't been adapted by Eric Bloody Saward! Eric Saward was the script editor for <em>Doctor Who</em> for a number of years, including most of Colin Baker's time in the role. Saward, unfortunately, was kind of a prick. He seemed determined to suck the joy out of the program. Every interview I've ever seen with the man makes me want to slap that self-important smirk off his face. But, hey, maybe he'd write a good novelisation and improve the story a little. He did, after all, write at least one decent story for the show, 1982's "Earthshock".</p> <p>Oy.</p> <p>Saward even writes smug. He really does. He tried to liven up "The Twin Dilemma" by giving it a little humour. But Saward is trying to write like Douglas Adams, with bizarre tangents, which <em>might</em> have been funny if worked into a story that was humourous in the first place. It just comes across as... annoying. "Hey, look at how funny I am!" Just when the rambling plot finally starts to do something, along comes another comedy aside, which is almost certain to include a reference to a fictional alcoholic beverage called Voxnic. Maybe Saward was drunk when he penned this. (Hell, I'm willing to bet he was drunk through much of his time as story editor for the show.)</p> <p>He screws around with the characters a bit too much as well. Azmael, an old friend of the Doctor, is a renegade Time Lord too, not content with life on their home world of Gallifrey. In this adaptation, Saward turns him into a mass murderer, having, in a fit of pique, killed the entirety of a previous Time Lord Council as part of his back story! And we're supposed be <em>sympathetic</em> towards the guy! Hugo, the space cop, is made into a shallow mercenary, who only cares about getting a promotion. Saward's answer to a story full of unlikable characters, is to make the characters even more unlikable.</p> <p>The plot, like the original, just sort of ambles along until the Doctor stumbles onto things. He doesn't really have much to do with what's going on, something that much of Colin Baker's tenure suffers from.</p> <p>So, no, I guess I wasn't terribly impressed with this novelisation. Still, onwards. What's up next in my <em>Doctor Who</em> pile? "Attack of the Cybermen". Enh. Again, not a highlight of the Colin Baker years. Still, it might be an all right adaptation. Let's see who wrote-- Oh, frak me.</p> <p>Eric <em>Bloody</em> Saward!</p>Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-58400616541912249122011-04-12T15:36:00.000-07:002011-04-12T15:45:48.402-07:00Book review: The Bird of the River<p>Cross-posted from <a href="http://dougascott.hardcorenerdity.com/">my Hardcore Nerdity blog</a>:<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33" src="http://dougascott.hardcorenerdity.com/files/2011/04/bird-of-the-river1.jpg" alt="Cover of The Bird of the River" width="316" height="472" /></p> <p>Title: <em>The Bird of the River</em><br />Author: Kage Baker<br />Publisher: Tor Books<br />Publication date: 2010</p> <p><em>The Bird of the River</em> is the third and, sadly, last (due to the author’s untimely death early last year) novel set in the fantasy world introduced by Kage Baker in her 2003 work, <em>The Anvil of the World</em>.</p> <p>Baker’s fantasy world features two different (although both essentially human) races: the red-skinned, industrial Children of the Sun and the green-skinned, tree-dwelling Yendri. Also populating the world are demons and gods. However, the demons are not your evil, hosts of Hell type of demons. They’re elementals, given physical bodies (usually in a variety of colours and often sporting fearsome features like tusks) to interact with the world. Some are good, some are bad. None of them fear death because if their bodies are destroyed, they just go off and have a new form made. As for the gods… well, they’re rarely seen. But they are most definitely real.</p> <p>Of the three novels in the series, <em>Bird</em> is certainly the most… the word I want to use is “gentle”. It’s not nearly as cosmic as the others. <em>Anvil</em> ended up involving nothing less than the fate of the world, while 2008′s <em>The House of the Stag</em> told the epic tale of the rise of the Master of the Mountain, the dark whom most demons serve. <em>Bird</em>, however, tells a simpler story, one about a sister and brother on a long trip aboard a river barge named <em>The Bird of the River</em>.</p> <p>Eliss is a young woman, about 15 or 16 years old. Her younger half-brother, Alder, is a half-breed; Child of the Sun mother, Yendri father. However, he looks Yendri, which causes some problem around certain, less enlightened Children of the Sun. They live a nomadic life with their mother, Falena. Unfortunately, as the death of Eliss’ father, Falena fell apart, becoming a drug addict, and hooking up with a string of “uncles”, including Alder’s Yendri father. While <em>never</em> abusive to her children, she became unable to look after them adequately, forcing Eliss to grow up quickly.</p> <p>Very early in the book, Falena dies in a diving accident, leaving the children to become members of the <em>Bird of the River</em>‘s crew. The crew are generally a kindly bunch and Eliss and Alder begin to fit in quickly, especially Eliss, who has a tremendous talent for observing detail and made a look-out (and nicknamed “Vigilance” by Captain Glass). Alder, however, is restless, longing to experience life with the Yendri, and perhaps find his father.</p> <p>There follows a series of adventures as the <em>Bird</em> makes its way down the river, adventures made all the more, um, adventurous by a certain young man coming on board. A young man who is secretly an assassin, intent on avenging the mysterious death of a nobleman.</p> <p>I loved this book. Kage Baker can literally have me laughing out loud on one page and then tearing up on the next and this story was no exception, from the young assassin’s self-effacing humour (laughing) to moments when Eliss realizes she may have to let her brother, the only family she has left, leave her and follow his own path (tearing up).</p> <p>Baker’s writing seems effortless. Although she rarely uses the grandiose language often used in describing fantasy words, it’s easy to visualize the story’s environment. The dialogue is casual, making even the minor characters believable (with the deliberate exception of the occasional villainous-type).</p> <p>And there’s a pretty good mystery amidst the human drama. I realized one page before the big reveal what was up and actually blurted out “Son of a bitch!”</p> <p>So, to sum up: high adventure, genuinely funny humour, touching drama, all brilliantly executed. Definitely recommended.</p> <p>(Okay, my first ever book review ended up being a gushing one. The timing worked out that it was a book by one of my favourite authors.)</p>Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-24649937081361617582011-04-02T12:48:00.000-07:002011-04-02T12:55:38.231-07:00Hardcore NerdityA quick little post to let folks know that... <a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Hardcore Nerdity</a> is finally back! Woo hoo! <a href="http://hardcorenerdity.com/members/dougascott/profile/">I'm a member</a>, and you should be, too. If you're a nerd. And, if you're reading my blog, you probably are. So go on, already.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-67013896110935990232011-03-23T21:09:00.001-07:002011-03-23T21:12:35.475-07:00My current laptop wallpaper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt1J8M2DHc4/TYrENSHmECI/AAAAAAAAAFM/-omw62d2340/s1600/two_amys.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt1J8M2DHc4/TYrENSHmECI/AAAAAAAAAFM/-omw62d2340/s320/two_amys.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587494020187557922" border="0" /></a><br />This is my current laptop wallpaper. Because it must be so. It <span style="font-style: italic;">must</span>.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-18870055404669456912011-01-25T10:37:00.000-08:002011-01-26T16:59:35.310-08:00A whirlwind trip to Toronto: Part 2The following day saw me getting up in time to quickly visit actor and internationally renowned children's author <a href="http://www.adriennekress.com/">Adrienne Kress</a> for a photo op with her cat, Atticus. The first results were mixed, with Atticus and me seemingly unable to both look at the camera at the same time. Eventually, though...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TT9ByrT2Q-I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/wVNVofFM56Q/s1600/meandatticus.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TT9ByrT2Q-I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/wVNVofFM56Q/s320/meandatticus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566240003328459746" border="0" /></a>Ta-da! Unfortunately, poor Adrienne was under the weather, so, rather than impose on her, I went on my way.<br /><br />I stopped by the <a href="http://www.silversnail.com/">Silver Snail</a> and <a href="http://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/">Bakka-Phoenix Books</a> for a browse. Lots of "Oooo, cool... but I don't really want it myself" at the Snail and "Oooo, cool... but I can borrow it from work" at Bakka-Phoenix. Awesome stores nonetheless.<br /><br />Then, that evening... the main event! The <span style="font-style: italic;">Tempestuous</span> launch at the Dom.<br /><br />Wow. One hell of a party. I have <span style="font-style: italic;">never</span> spent such a long, continuous time in a bar or pub. I was there from a little after 6PM and didn't leave until 3AM. Yes, that's right, 3 of the morning clock. Fortunately, my internal clock, still on Pacific time, felt it was only about midnight. (On the other hand, getting up for breakfast at the hotel meant my internal clock also felt like I'd been up since 5 in the morning.) I'll have to confess that for the first couple of hours, I went into my default "wallflower mode". This tends to happen at parties where I only know about 2% of those present. However, by the end of the night I was having an absolute blast!<br /><br />The launch officially started a 7:30. Folks mingled, ale was consumed (okay, I had Sprite) and, in a back room, the full trailer for <span style="font-style: italic;">Tempestuous</span> was screen on a continuous loop. Largely thanks to director and effects fella Joe O'Brien, it felt more like a trailer for a <span style="font-style: italic;">Lord of the Rings</span> film! Check it out:<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ym2QfkWpezw" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe><br /><br />After a while, it was time for Lesley to do a reading from the book, which I took a video of:<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/gvplcirc/Desktop/meandatticus.jpg" alt="" /><br /><object width="320" height="240"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/487363871898"><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/487363871898" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br />After the reading, Lesley was then put behind a table to meet fans and sign books. This went on for damn near <span style="font-style: italic;">four solid hours</span>. And somehow Lesley managed to keep her energy high, as well as her enthusiasm for meeting her fans.<br /><br />A bit of weirdness: There I was, visiting from Victoria, BC, to attend the launch for a Lesley Livingston book. The two important facts there are A) Victoria, BC, and B) a Lesley Livingston book. So, <span style="font-style: italic;">the very day</span> I'm there, the front page of the Victoria, BC, newspaper <a href="http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Couple+found+dead+Cadboro+home+were+happily+retired+victims+says/4133462/story.html">has an article</a> on the murder of an elderly couple. And the photo of the woman used in the paper is this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUC7K8uEEwI/AAAAAAAAAEY/-DQFfdr7T00/s1600/4137877.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUC7K8uEEwI/AAAAAAAAAEY/-DQFfdr7T00/s320/4137877.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566654936202351362" border="0" /></a><br />Yup. She's reading one of Lesley books. OooooEEEEEoooo.... Jon Llyr brought the article up on his iPhone and the universal reaction to this from party attendees was, "Oh my God!" Okay, end of eerie tangent.<br /><br />A few of us who are regular posters at <a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Hardcore Nerdity</a> managed to find each other for some chat. We were eventually joined by Lesley, once she finished signing 823,000 books. And then...<br /><br />A rock concert broke out. Really. The music for the evening was supplied by one John Stuart Campbell on guitar and eventually people went up on stage to sing some tunes. Most notably Jon and Lesley. Lesley pretty much blew my mind by completely substituting her own voice for a another as she did the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues":<br /><br /><object width="320" height="240"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/487873746898"><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/487873746898" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="240"></embed></object><br /><br />I found myself wanting the whole shindig to never end but, alas, the time came when I had to leave. I had a plane to catch the next day for what would be a 12-hour trip back home.<br /><br />It was awesome seeing these ridiculously talented and cool friends again and I look forward to visiting them again. Lynn and I hope to head out their way again for next Halloween. Now, we just need to figure out what costumes to wear...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Here's a couple more images from the evening:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBEfHY1oI/AAAAAAAAAEo/j5fM2D7uHbU/s1600/fairyline.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBEfHY1oI/AAAAAAAAAEo/j5fM2D7uHbU/s320/fairyline.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566661422246057602" border="0" /></a>Fairies attended the launch. Here's photographic evidence.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBSrCpgLI/AAAAAAAAAFA/udvFPGs0Fzw/s1600/johnandlesley.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBSrCpgLI/AAAAAAAAAFA/udvFPGs0Fzw/s320/johnandlesley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566661665965572274" border="0" /></a>Lesley on stage about to rock out with John Campbell.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBN_SImAI/AAAAAAAAAE4/S4bet_LiW40/s1600/johnandjon.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBN_SImAI/AAAAAAAAAE4/S4bet_LiW40/s320/johnandjon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566661585499887618" border="0" /></a>Jon Llyr in the process of rocking out with John Campbell.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDA6YAb6qI/AAAAAAAAAEg/yWJJPuERnM0/s1600/lesleytoast.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDA6YAb6qI/AAAAAAAAAEg/yWJJPuERnM0/s320/lesleytoast.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566661248539159202" border="0" /></a>Lesley drinking something blue from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Strange</span>-themed martini bar.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBIUOkvaI/AAAAAAAAAEw/qve75J-TZOk/s1600/hcners.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/TUDBIUOkvaI/AAAAAAAAAEw/qve75J-TZOk/s320/hcners.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566661488042884514" border="0" /></a>Lesley and me with fellow HcNers James Marshall and T. Gregory Argall.</div>Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-42126911533581338882011-01-22T12:56:00.001-08:002011-01-23T22:46:42.907-08:00A whirlwind trip to Toronto: Part 1Some time in December, I received an e-mail invite from Harper Collins Canada, saying "Come on out for the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166830570025927">book launch party</a> for the new book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Tempestuous</span>!" It was just a generic thing sent out to people subscribed to news about my friend, internationally renowned young adult author (and former Waitron-9000 portrayer), <a href="http://www.lesleylivingston.com/">Lesley Livingston</a> through the HC website.<br /><br />And, while it certainly crossed my mind how much fun it would be to attend, I didn't seriously consider doing so. But, as I'm reading it aloud to Lynn, she suggests I use a chunk of our AirMiles (unfortunately not enough for us both) and just <span style="font-style: italic;">go</span>. And that I not even tell Lesley, but just show up!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">So it was that, a month later, I found myself getting up at a quarter to six in the morning in order to catch a flight to Toronto, Ontario. From Victoria, BC. For a single evening's party. <span style="font-style: italic;">As a surprise.</span> (Although I had told Lesley's boyfriend, Canadian nerd <span lang="fr">célèb</span><span lang="fr"></span><span lang="fr">re and former Grot-portrayer, Jonathan Llyr. Who is da man. Hold on, do people still say "da man"? Well, if they do, Jon is da man.)<br /><br />The trip didn't start at 100% goodness, though. The airport security people had to take the teeny-tiny, fake (well, duh) laser gun that was on my keychain. At least they were apologetic about it. They seemed to realise how silly it was to treat this like a threat of any kind, but still had to enforce the rules. "Is it your Jedi laser?" (I was wearing my <span style="font-style: italic;">Back to the Future</span> t-shirt, so I think they knew I was a nerd.) And, no, I did <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> point out to them that Jedi don't use guns; I wasn't going to abuse the goodwill that I was getting from them over the issue.<br /><br />The rest of the trip east was a pretty standard, uneventful (if long) flight and I safely reached my lavish suite in the luxurious Holiday Inn Express in downtown Toronto. Afterwards, at Jon's suggestion, rather than wait until the party the following evening, when Lesley would be swamped talking to and meeting Lord knows how many people, I wandered down to <a href="http://dominiononqueen.com/main.html">the Dominion on Queen</a>, walked in and plunked myself down in a seat opposite Lesley and just gave a little wave.<br /><br />Now, I don't usually cause people's jaws to drop, but that night I did. (And, Lesley's mom, if by some chance you read this, I apologize for causing Lesley to cut your phone call short.) After Lesley getting over the initial shock, she, Jon and I sat around for a nice long talk, with subjects ranging from Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's idiocy to having molds made of your head, from music to kids hurting themselves trying to remove their tongues from frozen metal. I even Skyped Lynn using my PSP (which I discovered you can really hold like a phone while using Skype), so she could briefly say hi.<br /><br />And so, a couple of hours later, I left the Dom with a warm glow (multiple hugs from Lesley will do that to you) to counter the chilly Toronto weather and headed back to the hotel.<br /><br />But, that was only the first day...<br /><br />More to follow in a later post. This time with pictures. And maybe video.<br /></span></div>Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-44678142527414019412011-01-13T13:29:00.000-08:002011-01-13T20:30:22.997-08:00What up?So, what have I been up to for the last... well, never mind how long exactly long... since I last tended to my blog? Here's a quick bullet list sampling of my life over the last couple of years. Things I might have actually blogged about had I been blogging.<br /><ul><li>Went on Alaskan cruise.</li><li>Visited friends (including the SpaceBar cast) in Toronto, also attending the big Silver Snail Halloween party in the process (I was the 10th Doctor, my wife Lynn was Clara from "The Guild"). Best. Halloween. Ever.<br /></li><li>Launched my <a href="http://www.doctorwhochronology.com/">Doctor Who Chronology</a> version 2.0.</li><li>Subscribed to and became quickly addicted to <a href="http://www.netflix.ca/">Netflix.</a></li><li>Got my very own advance reader copy of <a href="http://www.lesleylivingston.com/">Lesley Livingston</a>'s <span style="font-style: italic;">Tempestuous</span>. (Read. Her. Books.)</li></ul>Aaaand probably lots of other stuff that I can't think of at the moment. Anyway, there ya go. Caught up.<br /><br />Now, I suppose I should see about update the layout of and information on the page.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-70471697823103517772011-01-09T23:28:00.000-08:002011-01-11T10:45:52.047-08:00A triumphant(-ish) return!Okay, let's get this thing rolling again!<span style="font-style: italic;"> Cough! Cough!</span> Right, gonna have to do some dusting around the place...<br /><br />All right, I've realized something. I avoid putting anything new on the blog largely because I feel bad about not posting anything in a long time. And I hate starting every post with "Sorry I haven't posted in a while..." <span style="font-style: italic;">So...<br /><br /></span>I'm just going to post whenever, without starting with "Oh, it's been such a long time!" Maybe I'll post several times a day, maybe it'll be months between posts (because, let's face it, I hardly need the most exciting of lives). All right? All right. We'll see how things go from here.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-44337857608333642642009-05-04T22:32:00.000-07:002009-05-04T22:50:03.981-07:00A sort-of postSo, once again, I return briefly to my woefully ignored blog.<br /><br />As I seem to have little to say here (I really need to work on that), for the time being I will be posting links here to the blog I <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> contribute to every once in a while, at <a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Hardcore Nerdity</a>. This past weekend, I contributed to an ongoing feature called "Soundtrack Sundays", where HcN grand poobah Jonathan Llyr talks a little about a soundtrack of his choice, along with accompanying YouTube clips of the music.<br /><br />I got to write one up myself, detailing the history of the "Doctor Who" theme song, for reasons given in the post.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2239098%3ABlogPost%3A47497">Have a gander.</a>Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-1757524832353576792008-11-15T16:40:00.000-08:002008-11-15T16:43:37.824-08:00A visit to the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame(Copied from <a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/profiles/blog/list?user=3gkaahsvnx3wz">my blog</a> at <a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Hardcore Nerdity</a>)<br /><br />In early October, my wife Lynn and I took a couple of days trip to Seattle with another couple, mostly to do a little cross-border shopping. (Fortunately, we managed to squeak this in before the sudden recent plunge in the value of the Canadian dollar. Excellent timing!) But as part of the trip, I decided I <i>needed</i> to visit the <a href="http://www.empsfm.org/">Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame</a>. It's very close to the the city's famed Space Needle and was practically across the street from our hotel.<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/v7vDe2vLa*wTn-rdPT1AiDHPoR*XpH6M-fInM3bX3NF4lOCAzdNRLGKHNcJ7q6knxUQXvpJD2pv*kS9hgmxFWdgFOjwOWAAm/museumview1.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p><br /><br />That's a view of the building from our hotel room. Only half of it is the SFM, with the other being another museum called the Experience Music Project. That funky design is thanks to Canadian designer Frank Gehry. Oh, and the Seattle monorail runs through a big hole in the building.<br /><br />The entrance is pretty cool. The windows are plastered with collages of SF book covers...<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/KxD954V-0X9-Nt9cDKgeHOWxYLZH5nd1XB*a9*fBlwaze3VEOsNA2zbmPUlRKOzs8KoCNNrpkVtslnTrjqV2i6SW*XZlI02G/sfm7.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="667" /></p><br /><br />...and images from a host of SF films and TV programs.<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/KxD954V-0X9MubF*RSY0*o5*UjGAyy2YBYAy3-E6Vc070oG6mnNl*yEf*aOd*sSc83tkNtSPGg4CrjKqGplqK7KCAo0-p79n/sfm10.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p><br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><br /><br />However, these scenes are all in danger from the nasty looking spaceship digging its way into the windows!<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/KxD954V-0X847laEluUgt0zskMzZHfwIxJ9gJ0kw6o*HqOV5n5KABrLp29UQkcXRHyDMsh5K6rUSu7pi*eJYok4gDJRO4CoS/sfm12.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="667" /></p><br /><br />Eek!<br /><br />Anyway, once inside, photography is not really allowed so I only have a few photos from this point on (all of them washroom related - you'll see) and will just list some of the highlights. (I'm sure you can see some pictures at the Museum's site).<br /><br />The first thing you see when entering is a great big replica of Gort from <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i>. And, damn, he is <i>tall</i>. Immediately after that are some public washrooms. We didn't need to use the facilities, but spent some time gazing at the signs on the doors. And why is that? Here:<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/vYkfMD1-Z-mBd9X3XH6PpiSGhSeEYBp6LbhJBIv0eI4Wh1*vPsSVTsdRV3nsFy-3pmy1pl1NHPxlzZShLQzYP6HXcdyfcEzN/sfmwashm.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="180" /><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/vYkfMD1-Z-mbLtaAJBB0aGEEQz*28G83IDKujdjRnCSk9xNPpTaewy8dsIHSDS*QHNexYb3FjWqvlO4TcYcp7Y83o58HxM*u/sfmwashw.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="180" /></p><br /><br />When we finally entered the Museum proper, we were greeted to the sight of a large ball hanging from the ceiling with a projector inside, flashing montages and planetscapes onto the ball-shaped screen.<br /><br />Then, the first true display. And it's for (surprise, surprise) <i>Star Trek</i>. They've got a nice little selection of actual props and costumes from the classic series. An actual captain's chair from the set and an actual captain's uniform worn by William Shatner. And, man, you realise how slim the Shat used to be. There's also a replica of Nichelle Nichols' script for "The Deadly Years". The script is "annotated" by Nichols, which seems to mean doodling and underlining her own lines.<br /><br />Further along, one display includes Neal Stephenson's hand-written manuscripts for his massive "Baroque Cycle". <i>Hand-written</i>. It's <i>four and a half feet tall</i>.<br /><br /><i>Blade Runner</i> outfits. Neat. But, boy, was Sean Young tiny.<br /><br />A section on Social Commentary in SF, mostly literary. Books about subjects like gender issues and overpopulation.<br /><br />Ooh, a big video wall made to seem like we're looking out on a massive spaceport with dozens of ships from TV, film and books flying by. It's a little jarring seeing the <i>Enterprise</i> followed by the 5-mile-long <i>Red Dwarf</i>.<br /><br />There's an actual Gemini astronaut's space suit. We boggle at how... <i>flimsy</i> it seems. It reminds one of the crazy/brave thin line. I can't believe people went into the vacuum of space in these things!<br /><br />A display of vehicles, both large (although in reality small, like the model of the <i>Galileo 7</i> from <i>Star Trek</i>) to the one-person (like Griff's hoverboard, "Pit Bull", from <i>Back to the Future Part II</i>).<br /><br />"The Armory"! Nice selection of weapons, both long-range laser types and close-range melee types (bat'leth anyone?). And I can't believe it when I see a Fun Gun from the <i>Doctor Who</i> (classic) story "The Happiness Patrol"! "I'm glad you're happy!" "And I'm happy you're glad!"<br /><br />A Mars display featuring original editions of <i>The War of the World</i> by Wells, <i>The Martian Chronicles</i> by Bradbury and Kim Stanley Robinson's <i>Mars</i> trilogy.<br /><br />And now, the SF Hall of Fame. Looks pretty slick.<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/h6ciCYXXHYGE4s*89nWQ0qcUCNiehV*-YX00i1gW*dACw0khFCDXEmL105eB0myZQJI1sLInfQc7Ny-*TcEMhaiH-J-yFVLA/HofPictureOfSpace.jpg" alt="" width="382" height="150" /></p><br /><br />All the images of the inductees are etched into blueish glass in a 3D fashion. Very spiffy. There's also a console which allows you to watch brief bios of a number of the inductees.<br /><br />Next up, a neat display of a number of SF awards, including a number of Nebulas and the 1953 Hugo given to Forrest Ackerman, basically for being the uber-fan that he was.<br /><br />Speaking of fans, there's a nice, big display devoted to fandom, with a whole bunch of fanzines and a selection of fan-made costumes. We boggle slightly at the incredible detail put into the costumes.<br /><br />Now we reach the robot display. There's Twiki from <i>Buck Rogers</i>; I discover that it is in fact impossible to see Twiki without automatically going "bidi bidi bidi". There are also copies of Robbie the Robot from <i>Forbidden Planet</i> and the robot from TV's <i>Lost in Space</i>. They each go through a loop of lines they delivered in their movie/series. The thing is, they've been set up to make it seem like they're having a conversation! They introduced themselves to each other, have a big of an argument and then make up!<br /><br />Speaking of <i>Forbidden Planet</i>, at some point, we found one of Anne Francis' outfits from that film. Damn, again, another actor who must have been insanely tiny! She must have been something like a size -1!<br /><br />Another video display, cycling through views over a number of future cities. There's the placid, imaginary world from <i>The Matrix</i>, the dark dystopian Los Angeles from <i>Blade Runner</i> and... the world of <i>The Jetsons</i>! Well, I know which one <i>I'd</i> rather live in.<br /><br />It just goes on and on. It's delightful! There's just too much to describe it all here. Any SF fan visiting the Seattle area really must give this place a visit. Just make sure you give yourself a good couple of hours.<br /><br />One last picture. We used a second set of washrooms. I started slightly on entering, confronted with a huge movie poster of <i>Alien Vs. Predator</i>. When exiting, Lynn smiled at me and asked, "Did you have one in yours as well?" "What, you mean the AVP poster?" "That's not what was in mine. I took a picture. I'll show you later." We get back to the hotel room, and Lynn shows me this:<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/iaMmopJzxsupY6Av-CLFdlbz1vPR8pIww*Oamb5d5rE07HYHptmkzWjEjSwp6sjxuT1NOkQh3FlPhleU3fu*YmiiydbCW7PH/smf4.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p><br /><br />She knows me so well. Now, I just need to find one for our home bathroom.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-1415791680789545882008-10-03T12:47:00.000-07:002008-10-03T12:47:46.647-07:00Nerdity of the Hardcore varietyI've neglected the blog for a bit (big shock there) but I've come back long enough to do a little promoting of another site where I spend a good chunk of my time these days. <a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Hardcore Nerdity</a>:<br /><br /><embed src="http://static.ning.com/Nerdistcolony/widgets/index/swf/badge.swf?v=3.6.4%3A9438" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="lt" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="networkUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hardcorenerdity.com%2F&panel=network_large&configXmlUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ning.com%2FNerdistcolony%2Finstances%2Fmain%2Fembeddable%2Fbadge-config.xml%3Ft%3D1222429103" height="242" width="206"></embed><br /><small><a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Visit <em>HardcoreNerdity</em></a></small><br /><br /><br />Hardcore Nerdity (or HCN) is sort of a cross between Facebook and a 24/7 SF convention, plus its own weekly podcast. It's a social network for genre lovers. It is, as they say in one of their tag-lines, "where the elite meet to geek". They haven't been around that long, but they're already over 1000 members. If you like science fiction[1], fantasy or horror, check it out. I think you'll be glad you did.<br /><br /><embed src="http://static.ning.com/Nerdistcolony/widgets/index/swf/badge.swf?v=3.6.4%3A9438" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="lt" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="networkUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hardcorenerdity.com%2F&panel=user&username=3gkaahsvnx3wz&avatarUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.ning.com%2Ffiles%2F7YDY5xb6SJRI0dRtOt0NuzccV227hpazSL2cAra8-crW1b6ZlFRWUWqiLkHY-BiSm0bkFP1QvUquUW2dXiJ4-Ou2AYBf9Fxb%2Frex_libris.jpg%3Fwidth%3D48%26height%3D48%26crop%3D1%253A1&configXmlUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ning.com%2FNerdistcolony%2Finstances%2Fmain%2Fembeddable%2Fbadge-config.xml%3Ft%3D1222429103" height="64" width="206"></embed><br /><small><a href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/xn/detail/u_3gkaahsvnx3wz">View my page on <em>HardcoreNerdity</em></a></small><br /><br />[1]And I'm assuming that a few of you are here because you googled the Doctor Who line "Those would have been terrible last words" and, therefore, like science fiction. So go sign up already!Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-60626885863116679802008-08-15T22:39:00.000-07:002008-08-15T22:40:22.069-07:0040... it feels a lot like 39I turned 40 on Tuesday. Yep, the big 4-0. Middle aged. And, really, it doesn't make me feel any different. On the other hand, it means I got a kick-ass party the Sunday before (Tuesday's a crummy day to have a decent party)!<br /><br />Rather than do any food ourselves, we mostly got a selection of really nice meat/cheese/veggie/sushi platters from the grocery store. It greatly simplified things. Of course, plenty of food was brought by guests. And there was a cake (courtesy of my mother-in-law Helen). There was a selection of ice cream to have with the cake. There were also Shirley Temples.<br /><br />I also did all I could to get as many guests as possible to play <a href="http://www.us.playstation.com/singstar/">SingStar</a>. It's always fun to stick a mike in someone's hand and make them sing along to "We Built This City" and "The Final Countdown" (which actually has the lyrics, and I quote, "Ba ba ba baaa! Ba ba ba ba baaa!"). Everyone was impressed by Nathan, my supervisor from work and as white as any of us at the party, kicking butt on Run-DMC's "Tricky". I'm not sure if he was singing the Run part or the DMC part, but he rocked.<br /><br />And gifts. Wow. Much more than expected. A couple of weeks before all this, I got myself a PS3 (woo!), so it was great when I got <span style="font-style: italic;">Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction</span> from my mom; it was the game I most wanted for the new console (although I gather she didn't know exactly what she was after and asked for <span style="font-style: italic;">Pools of Destruction</span> at the store). I also got a couple of gift cards for EB Games, so I now also have <span style="font-style: italic;">Lego Indiana Jones</span>. Other gift highlights had to include:<br /><ul><li>a plush of the killer bunny from <span style="font-style: italic;">Monty Python and the Holy Grail</span></li><li>an extremely silly Marvel comic called <span style="font-style: italic;">Wha-- Huh?!</span></li><li>my very own <span style="font-style: italic;">Doctor Who</span> sonic screwdriver, along with a wallet with psychic paper (now I can make anybody's cell phone work across any distance through time and space <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> I can easily get into any party or crime scene of my choice)</li></ul>And best of all, everyone honoured my request; there were no dancing girls (or girls jumping out of cakes), no firework, and no one tried to get me to drink alcohol. There was the mandatory singing of "Happy Birthday" as the cake came out, though, which was a bit embarrassing.<br /><br />Most of all, the day was just... fun. I've got great family, great friends, great co-workers and a great wife in Lynn (who really held things together and made sure I had a steady supply of Shirley Temples).Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-71585660845733146622008-07-02T13:55:00.000-07:002008-08-07T19:21:41.459-07:00I wonder how Carl from Liverpool is doing. Who, you may ask, the hell is Carl from Liverpool? Well...<br /><br />I'm looking through an old Doctor Who Magazine from a few years back, just as a little background work on my <a href="http://www.highspeedplus.com/%7Edascott/intro.htm">Doctor Who Chronology</a>. This issue (specifically issue 343) saw print sometime in the year before Doctor Who's return to TV. Much had been announced about the show. Russell T. Davies as show runner, Christoper Eccleston as the Doctor... But it seems that Carl from Liverpool had... well, a wee problem with Russell. Thought he was "arrogant" (wha<span style="font-style: italic;">hey</span>?!). And, possibly, had a wee bit of trouble with Russell's sexual orientation. To quote a chunk of his letter to the editor for the issue:<br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>I'm surprised that Russell T Davies didn't cast himself -- after all, there must still be <span style="font-style: italic;">some</span> people in the world who don't know that he is 6ft 6in and gay, and this could have been his chance to spread his message.<br /><br />Due to the arrogance of Davies, I won't be watching his new series, and I sincerely hope that it will be a critical and ratings failure.</blockquote><br />To quote Nelson from The Simpsons: <span style="font-style: italic;">Haw</span>-haw! I am very much looking forward to seeing this week's finale for Series 4 of the massive critical and ratings success that is the revived Doctor Who.<br /><br />As for Carl from Liverpool... I wonder he'll be up to this weekend...Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-92190937208959745362008-06-28T08:53:00.000-07:002008-06-28T09:01:48.639-07:00Weird patron encounter of the week:<br /><br />Yesterday, I changed the paper roll in the self-check machine. This always produces a chunk of extra paper as the machine automatically makes an initial cut to give the roll a nice straight edge for its next receipt. So, I crumpled up that bit of paper and, as I passed the upstairs public internet stations, tossed it into the recycle box next to those stations. And the lady at the terminal next to the box got seriously pissed off. Apparently, what I'd done was "inappropriate", although God knows how. She said I should have kept the paper and thrown it in the recycle box in "my own area". Um. Yeah. It's a public box lady. Anybody, including staff can use it at any time.<br /><br />I uttered a couple of "sorries" but I don't think she believed me. Which is fair enough, because I didn't really mean it. I'd done nothing wrong.<br /><br />For the next 10 minutes or so, when I wandered anywhere near that area, to assist patrons with something or other, she just glared at me.<br /><br />Oooookay.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-75155383615390644102008-06-11T22:17:00.000-07:002008-06-11T22:27:06.781-07:00Look who's been remiss in his blogging. That would be, oh, <span style="font-style: italic;">me</span>.<br /><br />Finally feeling much better after more than a week fighting off a nasty cold and likely an infection of some kind. Still coughing a fair bit but not as often or as long. It's actually nice to get back to work after being home sick for a week. Especially today.<br /><br />We played video games at work. Really. A bunch of us attended a workshop on video games and literacies. A couple of women from the University of Victoria gave a little talk on how video games are <span style="font-style: italic;">not bad for kids</span>. And are, quite often, <span style="font-style: italic;">good</span> learning tools. Then, for the second half of the workshop, we actually played games for a while. The verdict: I might do okay on the Wii with a little practice on the controller, I'm half decent at Dance Dance Revolution and I suck pretty badly at Guitar Hero.<br /><br />So, all in all, a pretty good day to return to work. Plus a few of us went to Japanese Village for lunch. Nice.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-5702797886237024172008-04-03T11:00:00.000-07:002008-04-08T20:35:57.646-07:00We won. We actually <em>won</em>. The library lock-out is over. And we got what we were asking for. Well, mostly. More than I thought we'd get anyway.<br /><br />Monday evening, our union local met at a nearby (for us) school gym and presented to us a package worked out by the employers and our representatives. Then we voted 85% in favour of accepting it.<br /><br />We got pay equity. Not <em>exactly</em> the pay equity we were asking for. We were going for equity with Victoria city hall, but ended up with an average of two other municipalities' city halls. That's still a big improvement over what we had and is, in essence, still equity. And it's retroactive to the beginning of last year!<br /><br />Management has agreed to creating a number of "senior page" positions. This will be a page position that is full-time and permanent, which means benefits. Just like a <em>real</em> job!<br /><br />It was certainly not a perfect package, but it's a huge step forward, especially considering that we didn't lose anything we already had. There had been talk of changing Sundays to a regular work day, rather than an extra day, but we ended up making no concsessions.<br /><br />So, I'm back to work today. Just a half day for today and we won't be opening until Tuesday, but we are back! And it mostly comes down to our union members' strength during this last couple of months and the huge public support. Don't mess with library patrons or employees!Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-18451034632193727522008-03-02T14:50:00.000-08:002008-03-02T15:15:35.916-08:00<div>This morning, I finally finished the third and final part of the futuristic role-playing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenosaga">Xenosaga video game series</a>. The series' story-line is massive, epic and, to be honest, rather too complex for its own good. Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed playing the series. It looks great, it's got a huge amount of (mostly) fun side quests, the characters are likeable (if a little melodramatic).</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>However, the story is so deeply steeped in mythology, Biblical scholarship and the works of Nietzsche (yes, <em>that</em> Nietzsche), it's often difficult to figure out exactly what the hell is going on or what the characters are going on about. Although I enjoyed it, I won't be going back to play these over again. Guess I'll turn in the volumes I own for credit at EB Games.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The Xenosaga series will certainly go down as winner of Most Bizarre Video Game Plot Twist of All Time. One the main characters, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KOS-MOS">KOS-MOS</a> is a hot, kick-ass blue haired android who regularly pulls out massively oversize guns to take down enemies:</div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173285531294469474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/R8szyA55jWI/AAAAAAAAACU/4ed15BDejtQ/s320/KOSMOS.png" border="0" /><br /><div>The bizarre twist? It turns out that KOS-MOS was built to be the re-incarnation of... Mary Magdalene. <em>Mary</em>. <em>Magdalene</em>. Whahey?!</div>Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-85313014890232014292008-02-29T18:19:00.000-08:002008-02-29T18:59:17.999-08:00Day 612 of the library lockout. ... Okay, maybe it only <em>seems</em> like day 612. At least, today it does.<br /><br />In reality, we are closing in on the end of the second full week of the library board and the Greater Victoria Labour Relations Association's depriving the city of their libraries. And, so far, an end to it seems awfully far in the future.<br /><br />I've mostly been pretty positive during all this. Certainly not <em>happy</em>, but generally hopeful that things will turn out, especially given the overwhelming public support. But, for some reason, <em>today</em>... Today, I felt cranky and just generally annoyed at the world. Lynn says it's probably because I didn't sleep well last night, and she's probably right, but I was still grouchy. I hope the mood passes.<br /><br />A random thought about the situation:<br /><br />While spending four hours walking back and forth in front of the library, I'm reading a bit here and there, working my way through <em>The Last Days of Krypton</em> by Kevin J. Anderson. It tells the story of, well, the last days of Krypton: the events leading up to Krypton's destruction. Superman's father Jor-El, as the story has always gone, tries to convince his world's ruling council of the danger threatening them all. The council refuses to listen, burying their heads in the sand, desperate to maintain the status quo. Gee, sounds like a certain library board I can think of...Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-51309717946153937632008-02-16T15:05:00.000-08:002008-02-16T15:07:05.237-08:00A little after 3 PM on the second to last day that the library is open before a lockout...<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">It's a madhouse! A MADHOUSE!!!!"</span><br /><br />Just a little on the busy side, then.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-40983934784808534292008-02-16T10:14:00.000-08:002008-02-16T10:27:10.766-08:00Today's my last day at work for what could be a very long time. Actually, nearly <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> of us at the library are having their last day today or tomorrow. We're being locked out.<br /><br />I've mentioned our labour problems here a couple of times and now things have come to a head. After 5 months of asking the library board to return to the bargaining table and trying to not strike completely, they've decided they'd rather shut us down.<br /><br />What's really got a lot of us pissed off is that their <a href="http://www.gvpl.ca/news_and_events/press_releases/20080213.php">official press release</a> has this passage:<br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>“We do recognize and value the contribution of employees and would urge employees to ask their union representatives to return to the negotiating table to work out a fair collective agreement that meets the needs of all parties.”<br /><br /></blockquote>Um, <span style="font-style: italic;">what??</span> They're doing their best to make it look like <span style="font-style: italic;">we</span> are the ones who don't want to negotiate, despite telling them repeatedly that we would stop any and all strike actions if they would return to the table. Dickweeds.<br /><br />Lynn and I expect to be okay, as long as the lock out doesn't last more than a few months; we've got a decent amount saved up right now. But a lot of folks are going to suffer because of the board's petty and small-minded actions.<br /><br />Now, back to that last day.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-69149150902078437502008-02-05T16:51:00.000-08:002008-02-05T19:12:24.727-08:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">DISTURBING LIBRARY FINDS #4</span><br /><br />Hey, it's only taken me until February to make my first blog post of the year! To make up for the long gap, I'm presenting a new Disturbing Library Find!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/R6kGSrMW8qI/AAAAAAAAACM/7fcUnzJl5Qs/s1600-h/mole.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/R6kGSrMW8qI/AAAAAAAAACM/7fcUnzJl5Qs/s320/mole.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163665365658956450" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, the adorable little tale of an adorable little mole in adorable search of "whodunit". That "hat" on his head? It <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> what you think it is. A co-worker originally found this in its original German format and passed it on to me, thinking it ideal for Disturbing Library Finds. He was right. Everyone I show this book to, whether in German or the above-pictured English translation, tends to sit with their mouth gaping open in disbelief.<br /><br />The little mole pops his head out of his hole one morning and, yes, suddenly has <span style="font-style: italic;">crap</span> land on his head. Understandably pissed off about this, he goes from animal to animal, asking if they are the perpetrator. On each double-page spread, each animal proves their innocence by letting go with their own, unique feces. There are thuds and splats all over the place. Wherever these animals all dwell together is obviously to be avoided if you care about your footwear at all.<br /><br />I won't spoil the ending for you by revealing "whodunit" but I will let you know that the mole clearly believes in "an eye for an eye" and gives as good as he gets.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-7699221867093487292007-12-06T20:56:00.000-08:002007-12-06T20:56:08.476-08:00Well, I certainly had <a href="http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=c8f3ea82-0202-49d0-976e-ad3fbd27342a&k=74522">an interesting day at work</a>.<br /><br />Yep, lame-o bomb threat. I guess to match the one they had on the ferry last week. Probably some pinhead kids who don't have the brains that God gave a troglodyte.<br /><br />Or possibly someone disgruntled at our on-going job action. If so, this was a stupid way to go about it. We didn't suffer. Hell, we got an double-long lunch hour, hanging around at the nearby Tim Horton's waiting for the all clear. The only people truly put out by this would have to be <strong>(A) </strong>other patrons and <strong>(B)</strong> the police, who had to waste manpower (and bomb-sniffing dogpower) making sure the public was going to be safe.<br /><br />I repeat... pinheads.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-33897001858587793212007-11-21T16:48:00.000-08:002007-11-21T16:49:49.543-08:00So, famous Science Guy <a href="http://imdb.com/news/wenn/2007-11-21/#5">Bill Nye has had to file a restraining order</a> against his former fiancee, who apparently tried to poison him. On hearing this news, my brain immediately went into flashback mode, remembering Bill's days on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_Live!">"Almost Live!"</a>. Along with every other male cast member, he had his turn playing a suffering boyfriend of... "The Worst Girlfriend in the World".<br /><br />Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.<br /><br /><em>Oooooh she's the worst girlfriend in the world!</em><br /><em>A psycho bitch from hell, yeah, that's the girl!</em><br /><em>She's the worst girlfriend in the world!</em><br /><em>The worst girlfriend in the woooooorld!</em>Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-81040070099309283812007-11-11T16:15:00.000-08:002007-11-11T16:15:38.148-08:00Time for a little catch up. And, yes, I've been bad about keeping up this blog. It will almost certainly continue that way. But I think we'll live.<br /><br />Much work relief. I now have a full-time permanent position with the library. Whew! It's at the Emily Carr branch, which is really my first choice. Not too far from home, not too crazy (although by no means dead slow).<br /><br />We are still in the middle of job actions, however. We have shut down the public internet terminals, are closed between 12 and 1 everyday as we all take lunch simultaneously, and have stopped collecting overdue fines. We've also had a few strike days here and there, some involving picketing and one where we all went to a "study session" at strike HQ, where we spent four hours listening to talk about pay equity. I drifted off for about ten minutes during hour three. Nobody noticed.<br /><br />Still, at least I do have that new position. If I play my cards right, I'll never have to go through another job interview again.<br /><br />I will try to post something half-way interesting next time.Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4869574715466603902.post-82039779609417861502007-10-14T19:52:00.000-07:002007-12-06T21:05:31.718-08:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/Ryo0RRbELhI/AAAAAAAAACE/wAdomX_F6HM/s1600-h/Weekly_Fanstuff_10-11-07.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127968597054074386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JvLY_4YHlzs/Ryo0RRbELhI/AAAAAAAAACE/wAdomX_F6HM/s320/Weekly_Fanstuff_10-11-07.png" border="0" /></a><br />Heh. Hehheh. Hehhehheh. Ha! Ha ha ha! <em>Hahahaha!!!</em> <em>Bwa</em>hahahahaha!!! ... Oh... Oh, my sides... Oh, God... Deep breaths... Deeeep breaths... Okay. Okay, I'm all right now. Okay... You really do have to be a fan of <a href="http://www.homestarrunner.com/">Homestar Runner</a> to get it.<br /><br />{glances up a picture} <em>Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!!</em> {falls out of chair} Ow... Hee...Doug A Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794727095239182649noreply@blogger.com2