CaptainOrange

#hobbitonmovieset #newzealandvacation #tolkien #thehobbit #thelordoftherings #jrrtolkien

I'm writing this to you from the future and reliving the past This was my first tech love. Well... if you don't count Meccano, or the Colecovision... I don't remember the exact year. I was 11 or 12 and this was one of my Christmas presents. A digital watch with AM radio and headphone jack. The reception wasn't perfect, but if I held my arm just right while I was delivering the PA Daily Herald to my customers on 4th St E, I could listen to Billy Jean by MJ and Maneater by Hall and Oates. It was heaven. Sadly, it was chewed into submission by our family dog after, what I remember as, all too short a season :( There have been many gadgets between then and now. My first MP3 player was in 1998, the year Leo was born. It allowed me to travel with music of not much better sound quality than my beloved radio watch--only now I could choose the songs and the order. By '98, I was far more mature in my musical stylings. I listened to Surprise You're Dead and Zo...

I felt pretty powerless as a little kid. I was terrible at crossing the street. Even if my mother started crossing, I would rip my hand free of hers and stubbornly wait if there was a car within two blocks. I think the only reason I ever crossed, is that she began leaving without me and the only thing I feared more than being struck by a car was being lost and alone. Example: When I was a pre-schooler, I once cried while holding my mothers hand on a crowded stairwell (in church) because I had momentarily lost sight of her. Maurice Sendak acknowledged the utter powerlessness of children, but still gave them power. It made a big difference to me. I took comfort knowing that Max was a tiny kid and on a time-out, but still able to stare down the ferocious Wild Things. Sendak is dead. If you are wired, you already know this, so let's not rehash(tag). There are already fantastic stories in the New York Times and tributes on NPR . If you are a fan and have an hour to spend,...

Vin, James and I went to P.A. last Wednesday. It ties in with Vin's Project '88, but I thought it would be nice to tag along (and drive, as it turns out) and take some pictures to go with the many memories I have there. 8th Street Duplexes After getting into town, we headed down to where it all began for me. This is where I lived from age of 1-4.75 years. Government subsidized housing  that has been since torn down and then rebuilt. In the original structures, we would have lived somewhere near the middle of this photo. Didn't know it at the time, but Google maps tells me this house was only 1.5km from Dave Aschim's house, if you were willing to cut through Cooke Municipal Golf Course. I never actually met Dave until I moved to Saskatoon to attend the U of S. Just before my younger brother James was born, we moved about 5 blocks to the NE. 836 5th St East I've made a little Google map with a couple of my memories from the neighbourhood when I was a ki...

Pursuant Monday's xkcd... http://xkcd.com/1007/ I have determined (where "I" stands for "Google"  http://books.google.com/ngrams ) that written  occurrences  of "The Quest" are in dramatic decline -- starting about 1998. Being the year that Leora was born, I suppose I have to shoulder some of the burden, but I think we need to rally to the cause. Occurrences as a percentage of all English words/phrases vs time I have a couple of other things to share with you today, as I avoid my house cleaning ;) The first is this awesome scan from the Prince Albert Daily Herald .  I'm 13 years old in this photo. Same as Leora is right now. And no, she isn't allowed near any skateboarders! I was a proud (where "proud" =  "disinterested") deliverer of said newspaper for a couple of years in the mid 80s. It was during that time that I owned one of my prize possessions of all time -- The Radio Watch. I'm certain I would stil...

I'm old enough to have started buying my music on Vinyl, though most of my collection was cassette. I only transitioned to CDs late in my university career. I kept a number of my records for 20 years after I no longer had a turntable. Eventually, they hit the dustbin along with nearly every cassette I ever bought. Did I ever own those songs? They certainly own my dreams. I feel like the songs are part of me. It doesn't seem right that I have to pay to own part of me. Ah, the success of the RIAA. Oh, yeah. This isn't a rant against the music corporations. This is a celebration of a few albums that I've rediscovered. I eventually became embarrassed with my possession of each of these. Now I've had to pay for them again. I look back and realize that I was lacking in self confidence. I found it hard to maintain or defend any opinion, not just those involving music. Styx: Kilroy Was Here My first album (1982). I was 10 years old. I know I just bought it for the...

A couple of days ago, Wendy bought me a replica of Bilbo's sword, Sting. Needless to say I was ecstatic. The Hobbit has been my favourite story for as long as I can remember. From the time I was 10 years old, I pretty much assumed that one day a great big adventure would walk through my door and sweep me away. It was going to be a hard road and I would resist, but in the end I would wind up growing in ways I couldn't have imagined. When I got married, I began to realize that adventures come in more shapes and sizes than I had at first thought and that opportunities to save the world as we know it were relatively rare (still don't know anyone who has done it). So, we're on the subject of stories... A few weeks ago, I was asked to tell a story in front of an adult audience. This was to be part of my job at the library and I was excited. I've been enjoying the illusion that I am being paid to become a master storyteller. The mundane details of my job are bec...

Facebook causes you to come into contact with people you haven't seen for a long time. The consequence is you are often confronted with 'friending' a person that, for all intents and purposes, is a total stranger. Old-school as I am, I do not just click "confirm" without any sort of confirming process to go along with it. Last week required one such confirmation where (as I often do) I turned to my stack of yearbooks. I have them all from 7-12. They have sat on various bookshelves gathering dust for more than 20 years now. As I flipped along, looking to see if I even knew the person who wanted to be my friend, something grabbed my attention. Writing in the margins and over some of the pictures. Sarah, my serious high-school girlfriend, had written some things by photos of herself (mostly self deprecating) or me (glowing praise). There was another hand at work on those pages. It wrote "nice hair," on some outrageously tall dos, made fun of a kid who pla...

Dad's 7D Dad loves his cars. I enjoy the spectacle, the in-your-face paint jobs, big car nostalgia, whatever. He invited everyone out to the Draggins spring car show at Prairieland Park. I think everybody had a good time. The adults tried not to drool on all the chrome. I took pictures and tried not to drool on Dad's new camera, and the children collected plenty of suckers, pre-Easter chocolates, pamphlets, hand sanitizer, yo-yos--the kind of junk kids seem to love collecting. Handwing gets roughed up by The Boss Oh, and James had a little altercation while trying to make off with one of the cars... At the bottom of this post is a link to the rest of the pictures . Most of them are not cars--they're family near  cars ;) I swear there would have been more/any shots of Matt if he didn't constantly throw his hand up AND scowl anytime a camera was pointed his way. Quick reflexes. Though, he did submit to one shot. Satisfied customers If you actually want  t...

The Doctor requested a review of this movie, which I saw over the weekend. I am, as you should know, a great fan of the original series. Bear that in mind. I´ve told you before why I identify with Kirk. It´s the struggle. It´s a fight against authority, ill-doers, women, and against the odds. In a nutshell, that is what I like best about TOS and I think it is what had me enjoying every moment of the movie. Now understand, I really wanted to like the movie. I was there for a thrilling, authority-bucking ride. I was there for hommage-a-plenty and I was there to see Kirk make it with a green-skinned babe. Check, check ... and ... check. Was it a sucessful ¨re-boot¨ of the franchise? Meh?!? It was no ¨Batman Begins,¨ but it was a damn sight more interesting than most of the movies the series has produced. Did they really throw away the Canon of the Star Trek universe? Nope. But they did leave themselves free to do so at any time. I didn´t read anything before I saw it, but here a...

I was 24 years old . The previous year had seen me secure both my degree in English from the U of S and my wife. It would still be 2 1/2 years until Leora was born. In the most cliché sense, I had the whole world ahead of me. Of course I had just spent the last 4 months of 1995 living apart from Wen (as she tested out her first teaching job in Rosetown (wikipedia)). Shortly, I moved out of 518 Albert Ave. and into our first apartment. Small town life didn't agree really agree with me. Being an unconventional egg-head/vegetarian/freak from the big city, I felt watched and overtly judged wherever I went (but only because people were watching me). View Larger Map A perfect example is the cooking job that I got there at the Blue Baron -- a restaurant attached to a road-side motor inn. I was ´let go´ there after my 3 month probation. I challenged the owner (who was almost never in the kitchen) to tell me why I was being fired, and I was told that it was because the quality of the food ...

A friend of mine emailed me this story. It seemed questy, and I wanted to share it with the my like-minded readers. My friend has a nephew who has recently left the county. I thought since he is now out of the reach of the applicable authorities, I could safely tell this story... Oh, If you open the title of this post in a new window, you get a map of the activities as described. I didn't embed it cause Vin whines is concerned about load times. It's been a long time since I felt like getting into trouble on campus. To be honest, I didn't feel like it tonight. Sometimes I get to feeling like I'm too old to be climbing where I don't belong and like the magic of the night just doesn't do it for me anymore. That may be one of the reasons that I had children. Kind of cliche if it's true. Anyway, mine aren't quite old enough to be this kind of fun... yet. Fortunately, I have this nephew of mine. I'll call him 'David,' in order to protect his ide...

Ancient CCorner-friend, Simon was flying across the country and decided to stop in and see what had changed in Saskatoon. Thanks to Anita and Facebook, several of us got together at Lydia's for veggie burgers, nachos, poutine, beers and coffee. I invited everyone for the impending City Walk. Let's just say there may have been some 'loose shoes' in the room. I hope some of them manage to lace up for the event. Ani took some photos, which she will hopefully cough up at some point and link for the rest of us. Thanks for the invite, Anita ***update*** The photos have been up for a looonng time now. I've just been goaded into grabbing them from facebook and putting a couple here. Thanks again, Anita :) Geof, Me, Anita, Simon Chins R Us

Those of you who know me may know that I rarely take an escalator. What can I say? Today I was weak. I had a date with the Cosy Corner and I was excited to get there ASAP. Let this be a lesson to you all. "Preventative Maintenance" sure is an uncommonly apt name for it! Finally, there was the corner, beckoning to me. I ran with arms outstretched, despite the odd looks from passing students. The years had not been kind. While my memories of it remain bright and clear, age and disuse had caused a pallor to descend on the place. The sound of my boots echoed a dull thud as I inspected the area. At least the fire escape was as I remembered it. Alas the door had cobwebs stretching across the threshold. I reverently stroked them aside as I recalled many hasty exits, vaulting me from darkness to sunlight. I looked around and was unable to find a place to sit -- save the stairs and even then , the angle was all wrong -- the air not quite right... Just then, I was struck with a solutio...

...granted! Vin was asking about my tree this year. Well, here it is. Naturally, posting a mere picture would be a tad too ordinary for me. I've elected instead to give you a taste of the possibilities your digital camera may offer.* I usually tell my friends to slap it into 'auto', make sure your flash is ready and then shoot. It is a pretty solid methodology which usually yields fine results for someone who can't be bothered to figure out all the buttons and menus on their camera. It will give you the most good shots the most often. But sometimes, as you will see, 'auto' needs to be put in its place. * digital camera mileage may vary by brand/model As you can see, this picture is full auto - with flash. And if that were a jumping 4-year old opening a present in a dimly lit room on x-mas morning, that would be the correct settings for your camera. We can barely see that the lights are on. No wonder or beauty. A great way to count your decorations though. Realiz...

4 hrs of sleep (8:30am (SK time)... ugh. My eyes feel very much like sandpaper. And not good sandpaper either, but rather the kind that you start using and immediately all of the sand crumbles off the sheet and dribbles all down your hands. It is a good thing that can't really happen to my eyes. One reason to be happy this morning.' Anna drove out to a nearby Tim's and got us a wake-up call, while I read some news and tried not to wake Ian. Anna said he could not be woken by the apocalypse itself, but as it happened, he was vaguely aware that all was not right in what should have been a pleasant land of slumbery bliss. After coffee and some news/blogging on our two laptops, we set out on our second day of this adventure. 10:45am we leave the hotel on foot. Anna has done extensive reading and planning on the bus schedules , pricing and frequency. It looks like we can ride on the weekends for $2.25 with a pass that lasts 90min. Considering how many buses and the frequency, th...

I read a relatively lame PS3 line-up article and the responses to it on Slashdot today. I would have posted there, but their threading system seemed to be busted and my response seemed too long for the average attention span anyway. I figured you would be more generous. I'd love to hear your feeling on memorable line-ups when you are done reading... There is an issue here that some people seem to be missing or ignoring in favour of the all too easy jokes. I went to university in Canada back in the 9600/14400 days. Computer registration (for classes) wasn't an option that any but the most visionary had conceptualized and telephone registration was just in the pilot phase also known as the audio labyrinth of terror. I was a disorganized kid with no real knowledge of why I was even at university, much less how to effectively pre-register for my classes (here the discerning reader may read "pre-order my PS3"). If you didn't register by mail early enough, you got in ...

I thought my innocence was lost. Recently, even Bethedasoft's Oblivion has been failing to rouse any interest in my usual frenzied need for videogames. Enter Wednesday night retro-gaming with the Bros. D. Who would have thought that a MAME game with only two colours, that I have never previously played, could have charmed me so? Ripcord ! (klov.com) considering how ancient this game is, the gameplay is awesome. There are only about three things you can do: Jump from the plane, move left or right, and ... O.K., two things! It's the feel and look of the game. The free-fall sensation before you pull your ripcord (oh, yeah, that's three) is terrific. I could almost feel the wind rushing past my monochrome face. A must play! 1979, no less. Curious? Here is the ***WARNING .pdf ICKY*** original arcade manual ***WARNING*** for the game. Cool instructions on dip switches and soundboards. Any of you people have a notable or favorite two-tone game?

This post will soon be a glorious and philosophical examination of my trip around the city of Saskatoon. For now, I want you to know that I have been successful in an all too short 16 hours and 17 minutes. Perhaps obsession would be too strong a word to describe it. But, I have been pursuing this goal for more than 10 years. Sometimes without diligence and sometimes with everything I had in me. Why? I have heard that question more often than any other in association with this quest of mine. Some people decree that it doesn't really seem that difficult. Why bother? Some think that it is an inane way to spend 16 hours. Could I be just a little bit crazy? Recently, Wendy wanted to know why it was so important? Why keep going back to this seemingly innocuous task? After all, since my first attempt I have lived in three different towns/cities, I have had two children and I have backpacked through Italy. It seems as though a walk around town should hardly register on the radar. I didn...