livin' la vida boring

This is just a test...

2009-06-24T13:35:00.000+01:00

This blog has seen no update for literally 6 months and this really isn't an update either. This is merely a test to make sure things are still going as expected with this thing.

Tweeting

2008-12-23T06:55:00.001Z

Since I've apparently become unable to blog properly I've decided to see if I can manage maintaining a twitter feed. Twitter, for the uninitiated, is essentially microblogging. You say what you're doing in 140 characters or less and people can see your progression through a day as long as you keep posting, or "tweeting". My account there is of course dubbayoo and for those without dedicated twitter clients status updates can be read at http://www.twitter.com/dubbayoo

MacBook Woe

2008-11-18T07:23:00.001Z

A week and a half ago the backlight in my computer's LCD decided to crap out. At first the screen began to flicker a lot and after the condition persisted after a reboot I figured something not good was going on. Within a few minutes of the reboot the backlight had gone altogether. The screen itself was undamaged so thanks to the aid of a flashlight application for my iPhone I was able to kludge together a means of getting data backed up to an external drive in preparation for taking the machine in for service work.

The genius at the Regent Street Apple store immediately gave a list of possible diagnoses when I illustrated the problem (the same list of possibilities I knew anyway) and set up a work order to replace the LCD panel and the inverter board (which had been replaced this past June anyway). To be sure he also ordered a replacement main logic board.

The machine was left with Apple on a Friday evening and around noon the following Tuesday I got a phone call to say it was ready to be collected. The exact cause of the problem never was noted (and possibly not discovered) and with all the new hardware it was like getting a new computer (albeit one the same speed and with the same specs as before). I booted up the machine at the store after I'd received it and all seemed well so I went on my way.

After I got back to the flat and began to restore my data I was annoyed to notice the new LCD panel had three stuck pixels near the left side. I wondered how a new, replacement screen that was noticeably inferior to the one it replaced could be given to me, especially after a £956 repair bill (thankfully covered by the warranty). Nevertheless I plowed on with restoring data and using the machine.

After a few hours of use, while the CPU was under fairly heavy load, zap -- the power in the machine died. It was plugged into the wall and also had a battery attached so it struck me as odd the power would just go like that. I was bewildered to say the least but I booted it back up and kept working. Zap. It did it again after another short while. At that point I became annoyed. Ultimately, I kept workig and the issue didn't manifest again.

Come Wednesday I'm using the machine again and zap. The power dies again. For a machine that had just had most of the guts replaced a few days beforehand this thing was really acting up.

Friday comes along and twice more the machine cut out. I went to Apple's web site and eventually booked an appointment to take the machine back on Monday to be looked at. I could have had an appointment for Saturday but the tube connections around the flat were particularly bad this past weekend so I opted to wait, ensuring I didn't tax the machine too heavily.

I took the computer into the store about half past noon and explained the situation, expecting to at least get some resistance from the genius about the situation, chiefly expecting him to declare 3 stuck pixels on an LCD panel is within tolerances, but ultimately had a smooth time of it. The diagnosis of the genius was a heat sensor was at fault or not properly connected (in a new motherboard?? the only way that would be likely is if the installation was pooched, and I shudder to consider that possibility). Nevertheless a new logic board and inverter were ordered in hopes of rectifying the issue. A new LCD panel was also ordered and this time I will make sure to properly check the panel before I leave the store, whenever I pick it up. I was quoted 7 days for turnaround, a standard line, but was told by the genius they prioritize repair work required due to previous faulty repair work. As a result I hope to be reunited with the computer soon but until I get the call I don't know how long I'll be without it this week.

Until then, I have the iPhone to keep me connected to the outside world so at least I'm not without a means of getting news and email.

I just hope this all has a happy ending and that this is the last service work required to get the laptop back in proper working order. Time will tell I suppose, but so far I'm not loving the service work done thus far.

Going Back

2008-11-18T06:48:00.001Z

It's shortly past 6:30am as I type this, and it's certainly not good that I'm up at 6:30am (not that it can be good) but for some reason I can't sleep. As a result of the insomnia I figured I might as well fire off a blog post to let those who read this know I'm coming back to Edmonton for Christmas.

I certainly had not planned to head back for the holidays however the opportunity to do so presented itself and I wasn't sure if it would. I thought since I could do it that I ought to do it, a philosophy I employ far more often than is always practical.

I've not really told any more than two people about this, other than family, but in the next month and a bit before I head back I'll try to get a hold of a larger number of people in order to make some plans. Needless to say my time around Christmas is to be occupied with family events, but I've this far not come up with plans for New Year's Eve.

I'll be coming back on December 20 and departing for London on January 8. I'll be in touch with people soonish.

Meeting new people

2008-10-30T21:57:00.002Z

The other day I was perusing the googles for big & tall clothing stores around these parts as I'm wanting to buy an overcoat for the winter so I can stay warm and have something to wear overtop a blazer in case whatever job I take requires I wear such a thing. In my stumblings I came across a tall persons club in Great Britain which has a monthly pub night in London the last Friday of each month. This month that happens to be tomorrow (also Halloween, an unfortunate happenstance) and after emailing the group to make sure it's kosher that I show up without first becoming a member I've decided I'll make the journey out to meet these folks tomorrow. One can never know enough people, and as creepy as it might be to be amongst a smattering of quite tall folks, I've decided to see what this is all about.

If this was being posted more than about 20 hours ahead of me going to this meetup I'd open a betting pool to see where in the height hierarchy I'll fit. I did note that one person on the executive committee claimed to be 6'10" so I'll definitely be given some competition for the position of tallest attendee.

Camera Hackery

2008-10-30T21:36:00.003Z

Courtesy Tom, I've been pointed to a piece of software allowing one to enable RAW support on Canon DIGIC II cameras which don't normally support that image mode.

Called CHDK, it's hardly new, but it's a piece of software that sits on your SD card and it's enabled only when you want to use it. Other than enabling RAW mode it allows other functions based on what build is used and what model camera you use. As silly and basic as it sounds, I suspect I'll get a fair amount of use out of the real-time battery charge indicator enabled by the program, something which should have been there from the word go from Canon.

Basically one copies the program to one's SD card, turns on the camera, and enables the software by tricking the camera into thinking it's doing a firmware update (that's how the app is loaded to memory). Turn off the camera and the program is wiped from memory and if you don't want to use it the next time you use the camera, just don't enable it.

The way it's handled is wonderful in that it's non-destructive to the existing firmware on the camera however a couple glaring issues do crop up, both of which can be fixed by me changing the way I do things.

First, the software has to be copied to the SD card directly and thus far I've not found a way to enable mass data storage mode when directly hooking the camera up to my MacBook Pro via USB. That's not a huge deal if one uses a memory card reader, and I of course have a USB memory card reader, however the unit I have doesn't support SDHC meaning I'm limited to 2GB SD cards despite the fact the camera supports SDHC just fine and can support (at least) 16GB cards. This is fairly unfortunate if I plan to do much shooting in RAW mode given images stored in RAW are, well, raw and uncompressed and therefore take up more space. The answer to this is to buy an SDHC-capable card reader, or suffer with the 2GB SD card I keep in my camera bag.

Second, because the software is resident on the card it means I'll have to go about changing the way I erase images. Normally, unless I'm importing items into iPhoto, I'll format the SD card as it's simply the quickest way of getting rid of the contents. Doing that will of course wipe out the software and require a reinstall, something which could become tedious if I have to do it over and over. That means I will have to manually erase images on the camera one by one (unless my camera has a batch erase mode - I may have to look into that, though I have doubts about it existing) or import everything on the roll into iPhoto and delete the images from iPhoto. Alas iPhoto doesn't support directly erasing images on a memory card, one has to import them first. If that was a supported function then I'd be happier as it'd be faster to do a batch delete via the software than a one-by-one manual delete on the camera via its clunkier interface.

So far since arriving back in England I've not actually used my standalone camera. To date I've used the camera on my N73 or my iPhone when I've needed to snap images. In part this is because I've not bothered to take my camera with me when I go out, in part because I don't currently have a battery charger for the AA batteries used by my camera (the one I had in Canada didn't support 230V) and lastly in part because I've not really gone anywhere touristy this time around. As such I'm not sure how much use this software will actually get, but it's nonetheless nice to know it's available. The software beeing free is of course another bonus, making the price right.

The beat goes on...

2008-10-23T19:11:00.002+01:00

So it's been 3 weeks now since arriving back in London and I'm well settled into the new flat, got my bearings as far as what's around the area (since I'm not far from where I was before I already knew a lot of what's around for shops and what not), and am at the tail end of a cold that's been bothering me much of this week.

Things are about to ramp up a bit as we've finally obtained broadband at the flat (that took a while and has its own story that I don't feel like repeating here) meaning I've got a proper means of job hunting and communicating with the world at large. I did pick up an iPhone a week after arriving which was very handy for limited online communication while we waited for DSL so at least I wasn't completely cut off. Still, having access to my computer is much handier.

Soon enough I'm hoping to be able to post details about having found a job and all that but in the mean time I'm doing what I'm doing, catching up with friends, etc. Last time I was here I did all the touristy stuff so I've not really done much of late on that front, though I did go for a bit of a sightseeing walk along the south bank (only between the Eye and Tower Gateway though) with some fine folks this past weekend.

We'll see where things go I guess...

Credit Crunch

2008-10-23T19:06:00.003+01:00

I'm going to assume it's a typo of sorts but if not then this 'credit crunch' is quite insane.

(From facebook earlier today.)

On the road again

2008-04-17T04:02:00.005+01:00

Monday saw my return to the left side of the Atlantic. I'm incredibly tempted to use the terms wrong and right rather than left and right for many reasons, but I won't actually go that far. This was something that went unannounced except to a very small number of people, also for many reasons. The bottom line is I'm back in Edmonton and while I plan to make it something temporary, it may well wind up being a protracted sort of temporary.

I'd of course eliminated my landline prior to heading to the UK but thanks to the wonders of quad-band GSM mobile phones I've sorted something out with the mobile phone I bought in the UK so I have at least one method of direct communication available. Those who are interested are more than welcome to reach me via email/facebook/etc. for my new phone number if I've not already given it to you. As cell phone plans are utterly stupid in Canada (I was soooooooooo glad to turf my cell phone in early 2007) I'm just doing a pay as you go thingie for now and thanks to the stupid costs involved with even that (and no free incoming calls, which one gets quite used to thank you very much) I hope nobody takes offense if I choose to not answer calls outside of the cheap times.

So far all I've done since getting back, aside from trying like hell to readjust to this time zone and climate, is change my money at the bank, sort out the phone and have a great visit with someone who I'd not seen in far too long (which really made my day, I must say). So far my equilibrium is quite off, resulting in far-too-often bouts of clumsiness, and I can't eat (anything) without getting an upset stomach and I'm looking forward to when all that - and the cold I seem to have picked up - is over and done with. Another few days should be enough I'm hoping.

At any rate, some people who might read this already knew of my return prior to it happening, some have been informed since my return and others yet may not know anything unless they read these words.

So... that's where things are for now. I've got no plans sorted at the moment and likely won't until I feel at least slightly human again.

UK Snow

2008-04-06T12:51:00.001+01:00

From early this morning it's been snowing all over England... while there's been bits of snow here and there this is by far the largest amount I've seen since arriving.

The BBC has a nice little article with pictures.

Paris Images

2008-04-06T09:34:00.004+01:00

The Paris pictures are now up except I've again run out of space at Picasa and have had to split things apart. Most items are at http://picasaweb.google.com/cburgesspics however some are also at http://picasaweb.google.com/cburgesspics2 (and that's where new pictures will go of course). The links at the side have been updated for those who prefer to use them.

Catching up, sort of...

2008-04-04T15:30:00.004+01:00

So it's been ages since anything has gone in here... I'm not sure how much I'll actually write about any particular subject until I've actually started to type. Let's see where this all goes.

Family Visit:

My cousin Dave and his family were in London for a week and I had the chance to visit with them for a couple days. On Wednesday last week I met them at a pub near Waterloo station, not far from the flat they were renting, and after some walking across the river we wound up at a pub near Embankment station to have a few drinks and chat and catch up. It was a great time and it'd been a couple years since I had the chance to talk with them. After a while we saw Denise (Dave's wife) back to the flat and Dave and I went to a different nearby pub for a nightcap and more yapping.

The day after I had a full schedule (more on that later) so I didn't see them then but did meet up with them (along with the young 'uns, Rachel and her friend Sarah) Friday morning at the John Sloane (an architect/artist) museum which was quite the sight to see. We wandered around the Holborn area in the rain and meandered to a nearby church Denise had wanted to see. Lunch was had, much walking and sightseeing was done including a visit to the Spitalfields market (where I'd not been before) before we hopped a taxi back near Waterloo and had a wonderful dinner at their flat. Things ended earlier that night as they all had theatre tickets and had to get to the show. We parted company and I headed back.

Overall it was a great visit and it was nice to see them but also slightly surreal to have seen them in London as opposed to the norm of Edmonton or Calgary (where they live).

Thursday:

Thursday last week saw my visit to the Earl's Court exhibition centre where I met up with a friend to go see the Doctor Who exhibition there. We spent a good 2 1/2 or so hours there taking in the exhibits and probably looked a bit silly photographing nearly every square inch of the stuff on display but had fun nonetheless.

After a quick bite of lunch we grabbed the train to Waterloo to meet up with another friend to go see a recording of The Friday Night Project, a chat show of sorts, featuring David Tennant as the guest. Much queueing was done but eventually we got in and took our seats. As things turned out we got front row seats (albeit well off to the side) so the view was pretty decent save the occasional blockage by a camera or other equipment.

As is the tradition on that show, there's a segment where a quiz is held to see which of the two hosts knows more about the guest with each host playing for a side of the audience and the winning side having someone run up the aisle wearing a coat of £5 notes. Our side of the audience "won" during that bit and as the person with the coat of cash never gets far up the aisle before being mobbed it was quite fortunate that not only were we in the front row but also quite near the aisle. While the chap in the coat did indeed get mobbed, and my reaction time was not what it could have been, I scrambled around and did wind up with £15 out of it all. With 3 of us there I shared the money evenly, although a moment later, Alan Carr (one of the hosts and a fairly well-known comedian) came up to me and handed me an errant £5 note lying about so I wound up with £10 for myself in the end which was enough to cover after-taping drinks at the pub with some change left over.

Another fun day.

Edinburgh:

The week prior I spent a few days in Edinburgh. I left early on the Tuesday morning and returned late on the Thursday night and spent about 2 1/2 days there total considering the train ride was about 4 1/2 hours each way. I was quite amazed at how nice the city looked and (at least in the areas I went) how uniform it all looked. Often with European cities you'll get a wide range of architectural looks and styles but the uniformity in (parts of) Edinburgh was actually refreshing. I spent most of my time in what they call the Old Town but did notice the usual variances in styles when I went around other areas (such as the New Town).

Many museums were visited but the best attraction was Edinburgh Castle, which (quite rightly so) is the top tourist attraction in Scotland. Much more of it remained relative to Dublin Castle and looked like a proper fortress where you could easily imagine sieges being fended off and invading hordes trying to get through the gates whereas Dublin Castle, at least what survives of it, has been mostly absorbed into the surroundings.

One question a friend of mine asked upon my return was "Dublin or Edinburgh?" and I easily and quickly answered Edinburgh. I'm not sure I'd go back there since I've seen most of the sights I wanted to see, but I'd certainly be more inclined to go back there than Dublin. Mind you I found the people easier to understand in Dublin... Scottish people in Scotland talking with other Scots get into this really heavy accent which surprisingly sounds nothing like English at first. It could be a regional/dialectical thing too but in just overheard things people said to each other on the streets I found myself often straining to comprehend vast tracts of what they said. I had no such issue in Dublin.

Still, a very enjoyable trip.

Paris:

I left for Paris this past Saturday afternoon and returned this past Wednesday night, spending about 4 1/2 days there. I was very tentative about going mostly because I wasn't sure if I trusted my French well enough to manage there on my own. I was reassured by many people that the city is cosmopolitan enough that you can get by with just English, but I did try my hand at conversing in French to varying degrees of success. As with any foreign language I found it most difficult with the spoken word and/or the rate of speech as I'm fine with the vocabulary and written word. Nonetheless I tried though more often than not when someone French detected my accent they'd just start speaking in English (so long as they knew enough English, and that wasn't always the case).

The sights were very cool to see, especially the notables like the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe (both of the Arcs de Triomphe, actually... yes, there's more than one as I learned). The city is so very, very flat and there are very few skyscrapers outside the downtown and financial districts that you can see a lot from almost anywhere. The view from atop the Eiffel Tower was impressive though it was pissing rain that morning and all the cloud made it hard to distinguish a few things. It was actually cloudy more than not during my time there so I did eventually adjust to a degree. Nevertheless, as nice as the view from atop the Eiffel Tower was, the absolute best view was from atop Montmartre by Sacré-Coeur church. You could see almost everything from up there (except that which was blocked by the church itself of course!) and despite it being 290 (yup, I counted as I went up) steps from the base to the top the minor climb is well worth it.

Sacré-Coeur itself is pretty inside and out but not as much so as Notre Dame cathedral. No photography was allowed inside Sacré-Coeur but I got a load of pics inside Notre Dame. The lighting was a bit iffy and some of them doubtlessly didn't turn out so well but so far I've not had the opportunity to transfer the pictures from the camera to the computer thanks to low hard drive space. I will endeavour to get things up as soon as I can since I'm fairly anxious to share some of the sights with those who've never been there to see them.

Ultimately the city is utterly easy to navigate (despite the weird divisions) thanks to the metro system. The RER has a slight learning curve to it but the main metro system itself is dead easy to use, though probably no moreso than the London Underground (or from what I understand but have never tried first-hand, the New York Subway). I worry about being able to find my way around a new city (or more importantly I worry about being able to find my way *back* in a new city) but those concerns were quickly vanquished in Paris. Moreover, the metro system is cheap as dirt there. While a peak hours trip on the Tube here in London can cost you as much as £4 one way, a book of tickets for the Paris metro (also valid on the bus, trams and Zone 1 for the RER) is €11.10, or €1.11 per trip, or about 85 pence at current exchange rates. As an added bonus, unlike with Tube trains, I was actually able to stand upright in all Paris metro trains so I didn't even object when I had to stand for lengthy trips (such as the one from Reuilly Didérot to La Défense on line 1, which was 18 stops). I can't say the same for the London Underground trains or the LRT back home, that's for certain.

As noted, pictures from Paris will be up ASAP.

Doctor Who Season Premiere Party:

After my return from the taping of The Friday Night Project, I found in the post that tickets had come for the season 4 premiere party for Doctor Who to be held this Saturday (tomorrow), hosted by Jeremy Bentham, a notable name in fandom circles (and a really nice guy, too), so I'll be off to that this weekend to enjoy some good ol' geeking out with fellow nerds. Tickets were (partially) distributed via a lottery system where you submitted a request and a certain number of tickets were made available with names being drawn from a hat or something similar. I didn't expect to get tickets given the event is fairly well-publicized but not only did I score a pair of tickets, a friend of mine in Yorkshire did as well so I'll get to see her there too. Bentham was at the monthy DW pub night at The Fitzroy Tavern last night handing out more tickets to those with whom he'd arranged to meet there though by the end of the night I forgot to ask him if he had any spares (though he did tell me earlier in the night he'd be giving away any of the tickets not yet distributed by the end of the night as it's too late to put them in the post) otherwise I might have been able to invite some others along as well as I'm sure there are a few people I know here who'd like to go but don't have tickets.

Anyway I think that's pretty much got me caught up now. I could have expanded on some things I'm sure but people know how to reach me if they want anything more in depth about a given subject. =)

Until next time...

Falling behind...

2008-03-29T13:12:00.001Z

I'm falling behind with blog posts as I've been focused on other tasks of late. I've got a bunch of stuff to blather on about including but not necessarily limited to visits with my cousin Dave and his family who are in town this week, attending the Earl's Court Doctor Who Exhibition (the largest such exhibition ever mounted apparently), attending a taping of The Friday Night Project and seeing David Tennant and Freema Agyeman there (along with briefly meeting Alan Carr) and my trips to Edinburgh (which was last week) and Paris (for which I leave in about an hour or so).

One day I will get caught up... perhaps in a week or so once I'm back from Paris and things have calmed down a bit.

Brier

2008-03-17T01:38:00.003Z

Congrats to Kevin Martin and the members of his rink who have just won the 2008 Brier and will represent Canada at the Worlds next month. Unlike with other networks (ahem, TSN) I was able to watch the feed here live via CBC's website and enjoy the match - a tense one at times on what looked to be quite tough ice. Not only did Martin win the Brier, he did so with a perfect 13-0 record much to the enjoyment of Albertans everywhere.

Guinness

2008-03-12T11:53:00.002Z

Courtesy my friend Rob I've been given a link to Guy Kawasaki's blog (Kawasaki is a former Apple Fellow and all-around technology dude) where he posted about his recent trip to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. He was quite definitely not there when I was, but it certainly wasn't too long after, and he managed to score a much better tour of the place as he was accompanied by Fergal Murray, Guinness Brewmaster.

Among other things he got to do, like actually pour a pint himself, he snagged a nice 3-minute video of Fergal talking about how a proper, "perfect" pint of Guinness should be poured.

For the enjoyment of all, I include here said video:

BBC TV Centre revisited

2008-03-12T11:47:00.003Z

This past Saturday night I had tickets to go to a taping of a nerdy sitcom (called "Arcadia" - good luck finding much on Google yet, I certainly couldn't find much beforehand) at the BBC TV Centre. This time I dragged along a friend so I at least had someone to yap with during all the waiting (and there is indeed a lot of waiting - waiting in the queue to get inside; waiting to get through security; waiting on the audience foyer; waiting while shots are set up; other miscellaneous waiting) and certainly had fun at the British TV Mecca. The show was mostly rubbish and really quite puerile (as is the case with much that winds up on BBC3, apparently) but a few laughs were had, even if they mostly came from the warm-up guy working the audience.

The highlight of the evening was quite probably our squee moment when we saw a fully assembled Who-esque Police Box standing near the audience foyer entrance. It was a very nice surprise and of course we did some requisite pictures in front of it; those pictures have of course been posted.

Each of us blew off differing birthday parties to which we'd been invited in order to visit the TV Centre and while I didn't have a terrible evening by any stretch, there's something to be said about wanting to trade it in for a night out with friends at the pub.

Invasion

2008-03-02T17:17:00.003Z

Saturday was the Invasion 2008 Doctor Who convention, a day of geekery and drunkenness, and the first Who convention I'd attended since 1988 - yes, 1988. The event started FAR too early for my taste, especially since I had been to the concert the night before and didn't get back until about 12:30am (the stupid queue for the coat check took forever!) and registration began at 7:30am. It also didn't help my ears were ringing after the concert which hampered my ability to fall asleep.

Anyway, I begrudgingly woke up when I needed to do so, got ready and headed for the tube not long after 7:00am and got to the venue well before 8:00. I stood in line to get my registration package and met up with a friend who got there a little after me before we found seats for the introductory session.

The day was essentially comprised of discussion panels (recounting stories and audience-provided questions) and the autograph session. The first panel featured some kid guest stars from Who; the second featured people from the 7th Doctor era; the third featured the 8th Doctor, Paul McGann; the fourth featured people who played various monsters; the fifth was a solo effort from Tom Baker about his time as the 4th Doctor (among other things). The panels were all enjoyable, but of course loads of people were there to see Tom and take in what he had to say. He was quite engaging and certainly didn't disappoint, other than when he had issues hearing the questions being asked of him and he pretty much answered a completely different question. To be fair, he's not young, and he remarked there was a problem with the acoustics, but nevertheless whatever he said in reply was enjoyable and generally humourous.

The autograph session on the other hand was simply atrocious. There was about a 45-minute break between the panels and the autograph session and when Baker's panel finished there was a mad rush to the exit. I chose to wait until it was easier to get out but found out afterward the mad rush was there as people were trying to queue for the autograph portion. By the time I left the auditorium and went to queue there were a few hundred people ahead of me. I couldn't count how many but it was an obvious majority of the attendees. The autograph portion also started late which didn't help. It was also known/noted that Baker had to leave earlier than other guests, meaning the possibility existed I and those in the queue with me might not get his autograph. Certainly by the time we got to the door, well over 2 hours after entering the queue, the powers that be had closed the queue for Baker and thus nobody else was going to get his signature. That was quite disappointing, but not only did that mean I was unable to get his signature, the delays in starting the autograph session meant there was no way I'd be able to get all the autographs I'd wanted (especially when I saw Jean Marsh leaving the building well before I got into the auditorium). So, I prioritized somewhat and wound up getting Paul McGann, Paul Kasey, Nicholas Briggs, Sophie Aldred and Anneke Wills.

That's about where the day ended, convention-wise. Afterward a few dozen folks went over to Barking to a pub and consumed far too many potables. It was a fantastic night though, being able to hang out with a bunch of the Who fans I already knew and meeting a bunch of others, the highlight being spending a fair chunk of time with Anneke Wills in a social situation, hearing some of her stories and just being able to talk with her like a normal person rather than having to do so in the more awkward methods available at convention signings and such. She was an absolte sweetheart and a very down to earth person. The chap who published her autobiography is one of the Who fans I've gotten to know since arriving here and it was certainly thanks to that affiliation that I was able to meet Anneke, though she's certainly sociable and approachable enough that she wouldn't have minded if I just went up to her at the pub and started a conversation without having first been introduced to her by Tim.

Today I'm quite sluggish between the fatigue and drink, and even though I slept in a bit I'm still all cobwebby in the head and haven't yet gotten to some work that I had slotted in for today... though thankfully I don't have to get that sorted until Tuesday so I still have time. Soon it's podcast time then I think it's going to be an evening of relaxation with a movie or something.

Underworld

2008-03-02T16:59:00.003Z

Friday night saw the rescheduled Underworld concert which I was originally supposed to attend on October 19th last year. I was quite disappointed of the postponement at the time, but the delay allowed me that much more time to build excitement and indeed I was excited to go to the show.

The website for the show said a 7:00pm start time, so I made sure to get to the venue early so I could collect my ticket at the box office, and also to make sure I found the place alright since I'd not previously been to the Camden area where The Roundhouse happens to be. When I arrived I noticed a sign posted saying doors were at 7:00, the opening act was at 8:00 and Underworld took the stage at 9:00. So after killing some time wandering around the various markets in the Camden area and grabbing a bite to eat I popped back to the venue a little before 7:00 so I could stake out a good position near the front.

Eventually, the opening act (a solo artist called "Yoav" - pronounced YAHV he said) came out and did his thing for about half an hour, then he left, and earlier than scheduled Karl, Rick and the gang took the stage and played for over 2 hours until about 11:00. The show was very enjoyable and because I was 6 feet from the stage all night, very loud. I made the attempt to bootleg the concert on my phone but so far I've not had the time to pull the files off the phone to see how well the attempt went.

Overall it was an enjoyable show except for the people who kept harassing me to let them go in front of me because they couldn't see around/over/past/through me. I told each and every one of them I wasn't going to let them go ahead of me, and I think for good reason. It's not my fault I'm the height I am, nor is it my fault they're the height they are. If they can't deal with someone standing in front of them then they should have gotten there earlier than they did and staked out a good spot just as I had done. I didn't mind the first time or two someone had asked me but by the 4th or 5th person I was getting slightly aggressive in telling them no. I paid my money to get in like everyone else, I made the effort to get a good spot, they should respect that and just let me enjoy the show instead of pulling my focus a dozen or more times and disrupting things.

Anyhow, it had been nearly 9 years since I last saw Underworld (which was in Seattle in April, 1999 for the Beaucoup Fish tour) and it seemed like yesterday that I last saw them once they took the stage and starting doing what they did. Good times.

Earthquake

2008-02-27T12:09:00.002Z

Last night (well, early this morning to be precise) there was an Earthquake in England, near the east coast in the midlands. Apparently it was among the strongest in decades and it was a neat experience.

It was barely felt here, and as it was happening I wasn't even sure if it was an earthquake. I'd never felt one before, nor did I think it was the sort of thing that happened here, but I knew I definitely felt something. There was some shaking and a feeling of uneasiness but overall nothing too bad.

Nevertheless, all was fine here, no disruptions (eg. power), just a bit of weirdness.

Dublin Redux

2008-02-22T21:05:00.002Z

So the trip to Dublin was essentially short, only about 2 1/2 days. I didn't have a lot on my itinerary for things to do and that was a good thing because I really couldn't find all that many things to do. The main things I wanted to visit were the Guinness Storehouse and Dublin Castle, and indeed I got to both those places. Other places I got to, in no particular order, were the National Gallery, the National Museum of History & Architecture, Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral, and more.

I considered other places such as St Patrick's Cathedral but never did get around there. I'd also planned to go to the Natural History Museum however it was closed for refurbishment so I could not do so. I ate lunch one day across from City Hall but didn't go on the tour there. I went by Custom House but had read something about the visitor centre being closed so I just kept on walking.

The city isn't overly large and with few exceptions (the docks, the zoo, etc.) it's not much hassle to walk from any venue to any other venue, and that's a nice thing. It makes getting around fairly easy without having to worry about taking a cab or public transportation. That said, for a smallish place there's certainly a huge number of taxis and buses going around. Not counting tour buses, the streets are simply littered with buses. My second night there I came out of the pub I was at, which was toward the north end of O'Connell Street, and there was nothing but taxis as far as the eye could see - dozens of them. Granted there are a number of pubs and restaurants in the area, but it was quite a sight to see on a Wednesday night. I'd not seen the likes if that anywhere, not even on the busiest weekend on Whyte Ave.

The weather was fine... nothing spectacular, but it's February after all. There was almost no rain (just a slight bit of drizzle Thursday afternoon) though it was mostly overcast throughout my time there. I didn't attempt to stay up for the lunar eclipse, but even if I had I'm not sure if it would have been worth it with all the cloud cover. The city is nice, there didn't seem to be many hassles around (no crime visible, a few panhandlers, lots of cigarette butts and other bits of trash that are omnipresent in cities) and the people were nice. There was a huge concentration of French people around though... I found that odd for some reason.

I'd looked forward to going there, and it's a nice enough place, but I think I'd be hard pressed to go back there. I'd still quite enjoy touring around the countryside one day, or visiting other cities (Cork, Shannon, etc.), but I really don't see going back to Dublin.

Dublin

2008-02-22T00:02:00.002Z

I got back from the Dublin trip a little under an hour ago. I'm working on getting pictures posted but that will take a while. I'm going to wait to post something more useful as it's late and I've got a lot of catching up to do with some other stuff, but I'll do a proper post in due course.

Summary: It was grey. There was lots of Guinness consumed. Um. More later.

More travels, more theatre

2008-01-30T22:13:00.000Z

Another day out with Mr. Fleming meant a bunch more sights seen. We began the day at Parliament and walked around the grounds for a bit and around Westminster Abbey before heading across the river to the south bank by the London Eye. Since neither of us had been on the Eye we figured what the heck and bought tickets for a 'flight' as they call it. The view is indeed spectacular though because I'd already made the climb atop St Paul's Cathedral, it's something I'd already seen. I'm not convinced the money spent on the 'flight' was worth it for me, but it's nonetheless cool to see London from that high up.

After a crappy dinner at a nearby Chinese Food buffet place we ambulated over to Trafalgar Square and on to Leicester Square as he'd wanted to go to the theatre and we found cheap tickets via the TKTS booth at Leicester Square (made cheaper yet by coupons I had) for a play called "Angry Young Man." We wandered around the Leicester Square area and went back down to Trafalgar Square by the Nelson monument and Canada House before going into the National Gallery for a bit to kill time before the play. After gawking at some paintings we swung by a nearby Tesco to grab some pop and then proceeded to the theatre, which was about a block south of Trafalgar Square.

The play was rather interesting and quite fun, a story about a Russian surgeon who has come to London to work, except he'd been laid off before arriving. He meets a ne'er-do-well socialite at Hyde Park and gets caught up in a whirlwind of events leading to death and intrigue. Except it's a comedy.

The venue was quite small -- perhaps 110-120 seats -- and the performance was undertaken by 4 men all swapping in and out of the role as the immigrant. It was frantic and enjoyable. Russel had mentioned reading a review of the play (we did some quick Googling earlier in the day) that made him think the play was like something one might see at the Fringe back home, and indeed his assessment was correct. It was a very intimate, close-quarters venue with younger, not-too-seasoned (but quite capable) actors and was very much like something one would expect to see in Edmonton come late August. It was only an hour long but a good time was had by all.

Pictures from today will soon be up at the secondary URL.

Photos

2008-01-30T00:56:00.001Z

I've been storing posted photos on Picasa, a website owned by Google and tied to my Google account. Though Google offers one 6369MB (as I write this; it will be more by the time I finish this post) for email, they cap Picasa quotas at 1GB/1024MB, an amount I've very nearly exhausted.

The eagle-eyed out there might have noticed I added another photos page link at the right-hand side a couple weeks back, and photo posts from now on will be slotted there rather than at my pretty-darn-full first site.

While the first URL was http://picasaweb.google.com/cburgess the second URL is the same with 'pics' added at the end -- http://picasaweb.google.com/cburgesspics is where one will want to go for photos from January 30th. The pictures sitting at the first location will not move of course.

A visit from Russel

2008-01-30T00:33:00.001Z

A few weeks back I knew that a friend of mine, Russel Fleming, was coming to London for a teacher's job fair. He's currently living and teaching in San Tecla, El Salvador and is looking for different pastures. He's got a series of interviews lined up with various schools from Thailand, China, Oman and elsewhere. While he's got a bit of business to take care of, there's still time to take him around and show some sights from this city to him.

It's also quite nice to have a visitor, too!

On Monday I met him at Gatwick Airport and collected him from there, taking him on his frist UK train ride as we hopped the rail line north to Clapham Junction where another friend of his lives, and where he's staying for a few nights. After he dropped off his bags and had a bit of a visit, his friend had to take care of some work so we went out and about for a while.

One place he wanted to go was the Apple store, fellow Mac user that he is, chiefly to see the new MacBook Air; unfortunately, none were yet in stock to be put in display so we had to content ourselves with the other Apple fare. I was tinkering with an iPhone at one point and found it had a valid SIM card in it and actually was functional as a phone. Being an in-store demo unit that somewhat surprised me, but after calling my cell phone and seeing it work I was intrigued. I becked Russel over and told him about it, so he proceeded to try calling his wife back in El Salvador. Alas international calling seemed to be blocked as his call didn't go through.

If anyone cares to give it a ring, a valid phone number for an iPhone at the Regent Street Apple Store is 075 1584 7471 according to my cell phone's call history.

From the Apple Store we walked down Regent Street to Hamley's toy store, a simply massive place spread over 7 floors (though we skipped the girls toys floor). Russel was quite interested in looking at toys for his 17-month old son Matthew, while I was more interested in some other stuff such as the Teletubbies they had for sale.

After Hamley's we kept going down Regent Street toward Piccadilly Circus, tooled around there for a bit, went into the London Trocadero (a big amusement arcade with video games, bowling, a cinema, and more) to see what was in there, then kept going. We went up Shaftesbury Avenue at the start of the theatre district and meandered up to Great Russell Street to hit the British Museum. Unfortunately by the time we actually got to the museum it was nearly closing time so we spent all of 10 minutes in there before having to leave. We went back down Tottenham Court Road a bit back to Oxford Street and as Russel was tired from the jetlag we decided to call it a night and I went with him to the train station at Waterloo (after a series of strange events shut down Victoria station, which was the station we used to come into the city) and made sure he knew what he had to do to get back to his friend's place where he was staying.

Today, after a late start, we met up at the South Kensington tube station to go to the science museum. As he's a physics teacher, Russel wanted to start there. We wandered around there for about 3 hours before deciding to grab some lunch. A quick stop at Subway and we were on our way to the Natural History Museum, adjacent to the science museum. We spent about an hour and a quarter in there, leaving when they announced it was closing.

From there we wandered over to the Royal Albert Hall, mostly because I'd not yet gone there and I wanted to see it, especially at night. I satisfied my curiosity there and we moved on. Russel's wife had requested he buy some good British tea to bring back with him as she didn't care for what was available in El Salvador. So with that in mind, and being near Knightsbridge, the logical conclusion, of course, was to go shopping at Harrod's. We wandered around the food halls (ignoring the rest of the store) for a bit, eventually finding the area with coffee, tea, chocolates and other stuff. Russel looked around, found some interesting choices, and we left the store.

Knightsbridge isn't terribly far from Buckingham Palace, so with nothing better decided for a subsequent destination we headed over there. The palace looks quite nice at night all lit up, and while we were there we observed a lengthy line of cars waiting to get onto the palace grounds, as there was apparently some function there tonight. I pressed to go elsewhere (Trafalgar Square is about 10-15 minutes away on foot) but Russel decided to call it a night as we'd been going for about 6 1/2 hours without much stopping and he wanted to head back and relax. So, we trundled to the nearest tube station and made our respective ways back.

I've come up with some ideas for places to go the next couple days after his job interviews, so we'll see how far we actually get. Tomorrow will be all around Westminster by parliament, and Thursday will be a bit further east around Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Pall Mall, Canada House, The Strand, Covent Garden, and perhaps Holborn and St Paul's if we're quite energetic. We'll see how far we get!

Birthday Theatre Outings, Part the Second

2008-01-30T00:13:00.000Z

Friday saw the second performance since arriving here of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, this time with the understudy performing the lead role. Lewis Bradley's presence as Joseph just wasn't as enjoyable as Lee Mead's, I'd have to say off the bat. He's too skinny if nothing else, and although he's technically proficient (singing, blocking, movement, etc.) enough to perform the lead, there's just something of about it all. The kid is only 18 though, so it's not surprising he's not mastered every aspect of his craft yet. Nevertheless the show was enjoyable, though I'm not sure I've ever seen any performance of Dreamcoat that wasn't at least partially enjoyable.

The seat I had for it was front row centre in the upper circle (second level up) and the view was great, although being able to see more of the stage (and how things operate for scene changes and mechanical trickery) kills the illusion somewhat.

Saturday was a bit of a problematic day in that on weekends the tube shuts down on a grand scale (at times, anyway) for improvements, repairs and the like. I worked out what I needed to know to get to the other end of town to see Henry Rollins at the Apollo in Hammersmith, but once I got to the tube station I changed things up for no good reason and wound up getting on a train which, while listed as going to where I needed to go, actually terminated about halfway to where I needed to go. So when I got to the halfway point I had to come up with a Plan B, and given where I was, that meant switching to another line to go 2 stops, and switching to a third line to complete the journey.

However, being a Saturday, everywhere was packed. Every station, every car of every train... it was frustrating. Once I got to the last changeover I wound up having to wait almost 10 minutes... not because that was when the next train came but rather because the first two trains which came were packed far too full for me to squeeze on. I said to myself 'screw it' and just shoved my way onto the third one rather than wait any longer. After a few stops the crowd thinned out a bit so at least I could grab a seat and not be cramped.

Because of the tube snafu, I skipped going to a proper place for dinner and just went to the McDonald's by the tube station because I figured I was running short on time. The ticket said 6:30, and my plan was to be in the area by 5:00 to give myself time to find a place to eat. By the time I got to Hammersmith it was nearly 6:00 so I scarfed down some food as quickly as I could and dashed out. I had no idea where the concert hall was and I knew I had to find it soon. Thankfully it was very close (across the street from the mall place where the tube station lets out; of course it was across the street from the entrance complete opposite to the one I used to exit!) and I was there by 6:15 after I managed to figure out how to cross the road (it's a very busy road and there were no close crosswalks; I had to walk down the street for a ways to get across). I was happy to have gotten there in time, what with the ticket saying 6:30 and all.

Except 6:30, as I found out on the marquee, was when the doors opened, not when the performance began. That definitely explained the lineup of people still outside when I arrived. So, fine, 6:30 is when the doors open, no biggie, that probably meant the show started at 7:00. Nope, that was wishful thinking. The show actually started at 8:00. So, 6:30 came, I got in the queue, I went in, I went to the entrance fromt he lobby nearest my seat and waited. They let people into the theatre at 6:30 but not to their seats. The doors from the lobby were closed until about 7:00. So I wait, go take my seat, and wait. And wait. Thankfully I had some leg room otherwise that would have been an unpleasant night. Rollins has never gone less than 3 hours any previous time I've seen him so I knew I was in for a long night if I was uncomfortable. True to form and precedent, he went about 185 minutes after taking the stage promptly at about 8:02.

The show was funny as always, his stories are always interesting and he's got such a great way of telling them. The first time I saw him, at the Winspear, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew he'd done spoken word tours for many years but I'd never been to one, heard one recorded, seen one on video, anything. I was quite blown away that first time, so much so that I'd never missed his subsequent appearances at the Winspear, until this past October of course.

Ultimately I had fun on the Saturday, but the whole process of getting to the fun part was somewhat trying. Oh well, that's what happens sometimes.

Birthday Theatre Outings, Part the First

2008-01-24T23:43:00.000Z

Wednesday night was Lord of the Rings. I hopped the tube to Embankment (not quite close to the theatre, but that was on purpose so I could walk around and dilly dally and look for a place to eat dinner) and had loads of time to kill. I wound up walking down The Strand, up to Covent Garden Market (where I was sort of looking for a bag for my upcoming trip), and around the area before I decided on dinner at a place called PJ's, a block or so away from the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where the play was being performed. Dinner was ravioli for starters and steak for the main with a nice glass of Bordeaux (the first wine I've had since October) and it was pretty decent and not too expensive (the theatre district has loads of places with set menus for reasonable prices).

I was somewhat looking forward to the play as I'd heard some positive comments about it from people I know as well as reading some good stuff online about it. I'd read some negative remarks as well but was still hopeful. The production values were amazing... the stage was split into about 15 segments (making up a circle altogether) which rose as much as about 10 feet above stage level; the segments were used quite well to illustrate the walking, some fighting, and so on. The acting was fantastic. The practical effects were fantastic (the way they handled the Balrog and Spider Queen were great). I'd read this was among the most expensive productions staged outside of Las Vegas and it's easy to see there was some serious money spent on the setup.

Not all was rosy, however. The writing was terrible... just plain terrible. It's a tough thing to fit the Rings story into a 2 1/2 hour play, there's no doubt about that, but so much was glossed over it was hard to follow the story -- and I say that knowing the story! Many characters were omitted entirely, some key and cool plot points were skipped or glossed over, and the pacing was utterly disgusting. There's a lot of plot to get through, a lot of exposition that needs to take place, and not a lot of time in which to do it. However there was more than one time where the writers rushed through several plot points only to wind up at a dead standstill plotwise. The worst culprit was in the third act when after some rapid plot succession the whole production ground to a painful halt while Sam, Frodo and Gollum sat atop the mountain on the way to Mordor and sang of home. Okay, if this lasted a couple minutes maybe I could forgive it. But no, this was about 10 minutes of schlock. It was torturous.

And the songs... oh, the songs. First off, the play isn't a musical as such, rather a play with songs. Songs which were terrible. Songs which seemed very out of place. Songs which were poorly written and not in any way catchy (as songs in a play ought to be). I cringed every time a song began, but thankfully there weren't too many to deal with. Spamalot suffered from this somewhat, though the movie had a bunch of songs in it so you could cope at least. The songs, when considered as part of the writing as a whole, made the experience less than wonderful.

Overall I'd have to give the production a passing grade but only because of the non-writing technical elements. Staging/direction was great. Lighting was great. Writing... ugh. I would not recommend the production to anyone unless they wanted to go for the eye candy rather than the story.

Tonight, on the other hand, I went to see We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre (less than a stone's throw from Tottenham Court Road tube station) and holy crap did it rock. I'm one of those types who prefers to hear songs sung by the original group (with rare exception) so I didn't look forward to Joe Random Castmember singing songs I grew up with and have loved for 20+ years, and while some of the songs were less than stellar (such as Killer Queen being reworked to be in the first person) overall I didn't mind the fact very few of the tunes were proper Queen recordings.

The staging was capable; there was a lift at centre upstage which was used far, far too often to take characters offstage (taking them below stage level) but otherwise was fine. The story was a bit shit, but considering it's hobbled together as a means of taking the viewer from one Queen song to the next it was acceptable. Very little of this type of reworking actually, well, works... the benchmark is and may always be the wonderful movie for The Wall which had a very cohesive storyline developed around the music. It also helped that The Wall was written as a collection to tell a story rather than a mishmash of songs cobbled together from a 20+-year catalogue (and yes, WWRY does run the full gamut from Queen II and A Night at the Opera to Highlander to The Miracle and a whole bunch in between). And the whole thing is funny to boot. Wonderful humour and pop culture references (which get updated as the years go on, at least based on comparing what I saw to what was listed on the official website, as well as noticing characters being naked after recent phenomena like Amy Winehouse) keep the tone light.

One high point was that the sound engineer absolutely cranked the volume many, many times... and I thought that was damned perfect for what could be termed a Rock Opera.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wanted to have a fun night out, and at about 2 1/2 hours running time it's definitely a full night out to see it. I was very glad to have seen it.

Tomorrow is Dreamcoat, and I'll hopefully jot down some remarks about it, though since I've already done so from the first time I saw it, I might restrict remarks to differences (if any) I notice and the performance from Lewis Bradley who's taking over temporarily from Lee Mead.

Travel

2008-01-16T10:38:00.000Z

I've begun some travel plans so I can see a bit more of the area around me. Yesterday I booked my first jaunt, a 3-day excursion to the Emerald Isle to see some sights, especially the Guinness brewery, which I've been wanting to visit for years. There's an old wives' tale I've heard on many occasions that the closer one gets to the Guinness brewery the better the Guinness tastes. There are those I know who don't like Guinness but for those of us who can't get enough of it, I've wanted to put that theory to the test. Not long before I came to England, my stepmother's boss (I'll not name-drop here) went to Dublin for work-related reasons and he confirmed the Guinness tasted best in Dublin. Since the tour of the brewery ends with a "free" (I say "free" as the tour costs €14) pint, I'll be able to find out soon enough if the legend is true.

I'm also looking at a trip on Eurostar to Paris so I can not only visit the City of Lights but also do so via the Chunnel. I just like saying Chunnel. It's not a word you can use every day. Beyond that I'm looking at other places like Edinburgh, Cardiff, Brighton, and for warmer destinations, Barcelona and Rome. A friend of mine lives in Geneva and it's be interesting to go there to visit him, but I've not spoken with him about that.

Most of these jaunts would be quite short - 3 or 4 days at most, partly to keep costs down and partly because there are only so many places my time permits me to go. As it is, I had to book the Dublin trip later than I'd wanted due to blackout dates for the cheapest flights as well as other commitments (no pun intended) getting in the way. For Paris, the limiting factor will be when I can get a cheap Eurostar fare (and assuming I can find a worthwhile hostel as well; all the ones run by Hostelling International have had many crummy reviews).

Nevertheless I'm jazzed about going to Dublin and some of the other places. I'm far from a well-traveled person so I'm glad that's being remedied, if only moderately.

Indeed, reality TV still sucks.

2008-01-10T11:30:00.000Z

Yesterday I attended a recording of a new reality TV series called "The One and Only..." at the BBC Television Centre. I was hesitant to go because the show held zero interest for me other than seeing the somewhat popular (over here, anyway) host, Graham Norton.

I hopped the tube west to White City and made my way to TV Centre to queue up to get in. The information I was given said they would let people in about 5:00, so I had no idea how early I should be there to queue up (they try to overbook the events in order to ensure a full audience) so I could be assured a seat. Taking a wild guess, I got there about 3:00 and was within the first 10 people in line, so I just waited there to get in. Yep, I queued up for nearly 2 hours to get into a production I didn't care to see.

Shortly before 5:00 we were let into the waiting room (the Audience Foyer, to be proper), and wait we did. It was after 6:00 before people were led from the foyer to the studio, and once we got into the studio it was another half hour or more before things got underway, that time being spent given the audience directions on when to clap, how to act/react, and so on.

Then the show began. The premise of the show is (apparently) the UK was scoured for tribute acts - individuals, not full bands - so the (alleged) top dozen could participate in the show. They broke the acts into 6 from each gender. For the blokes there was Elton John, Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie (yep, played by a white guy), Tom Jones, Robbie Williams and Frank Sinatra. or the birds there was Dusty Springfield, Britney Spears, Cher, Madonna, Diana Ross and Kylie Minogue. Each came out to do their thing and a couple of them actually did quite well (Elton & Dusty especially).

The production I attended was a dress rehearsal in preparation for the series beginning this weekend (I assume anyway; I've not cared enough to find out since I know I won't watch). The gallery wasn't full, but they had the full band, the full set, and nearly everything was as it should be when the first show is properly made. The dress rehearsal was a good idea since the production didn't exactly go off without a hitch. The worst part came during the intermission.

They broke the show into two segments, as seems to be the norm for this sort of show. The first segment, which was about 80-90 minutes, was the performance portion. Then they go off-air for a while whilst the phone lines are open for people to call and vote for whomever they prefer. When they broke for intermission, about 8:10, we were told they'd resume in about 35 minutes, but people had the option to leave if they wished. Since I had nothing else planned for the evening I decided I would stick around the 35 minutes to see the end of the show where the votes are tallied. However, they didn't meet their goal... 35 minutes came and went. 60. 90. They finally called the audience back in and I was in my seat about 10:00. Almost 2 hours of waiting, not 35 minutes. That was... displeasing.

To step back a bit, during the initial waiting period in the foyer, some people were approached to do a mock vote, amongst which was me. We were asked to simulate a vote but rather than vote for our favourite act, we were asked to vote for the two least favourite. I was quite pleased, from a cynical point of view, when after the votes were tallied the two I voted for as being worst happened to be the two set aside for possible elimination. For all I know the whole thing could have been rigged, but still a smirk crept across my face when the announcement was made.

For the first portion I was in the gallery, stage left, along with the others who'd been asked to do the mock vote. By the time the intermission ended, easily half the people in attendance had given up in frustration (as I nearly did, and maybe should have done) and left. When we were brought back into the studio after the intermission we were instructed to sit where we sat initially. After people were seated, they saw how many of the premium seats were empty (there were sections for the friends and families of the acts, friends of the producers, etc.) and asked people from the gallery to move down and fill those seats. As a result, I got to move down to the floor, stage right, third row, far left end, about 3 feet from the stage and about 4 feet from Graham Norton. So that bit was alright, especially when we exchanged a bit of banter during some downtime.

The show finally let out about 10:50 and I was quite happy to get the heck away from there. I enjoyed seeing and visiting TV Centre itself, but feel dirty after being at that production. It was truly terrible, was plagued with procedural problems, and I got the impression Norton didn't even want to be there. Still, he's a professional, he was able to turn the smile and charm and smarm on and off at will, so even if he didn't like it he'll still work through it and happily accept his paycheque.

Still, I got to see some of TV Centre from the inside without having to pay the £10 or so to take the tour as I'd planned to do at some point. I think the trade-off of 8 hours of my time for the £10 wasn't quite equitable though.

Canary Wharf

2007-12-27T23:46:00.000Z

I was out and about late this evening for a walk since it was just beautiful out there (+12 and a very light breeze, not bad for Dec 27!) and after going for a bit I figured I'd go a bit further and wound up walking down to the Isle of Dogs to the Canary Wharf area. It's basically a commercial area, so one is mostly going to see shops and office buildings, but the three largest buildings in London happen to be there - all side by side - and they're quite a sight to behold, especially up close.

One Canada Square, aka Torchwood Tower for those in the know, is (for now) the tallest building in London, it's the one with the domed roof which has appeared in many pictures I've posted. The other two tall ones are the HSBC Tower and Citigroup Centre, and of course they're more obvious due to the corporate logos near the top of the buildings.

There was also a skating rink near One Canada Square which had a couple dozen people on it when I was there just before 11:00pm - and it must be said people here really don't know how to skate! I can't skate to save my life of course, so I'm not judging. There were also some Canada Tourism-type banners and sponsorship signs at the rink, which seemed so out of place yet welcome and familiar (not to mention it was the first time I'd seen an advertisement for a website using the .travel top level domain).

After wandering around a bit and testing out the (mediocre and far inferior when compared to my standalone unit) camera on my cell phone I meandered back to call it a night. I plan to get back to Canary Wharf during the daytime when there's some more hustle and bustle and give it a proper visit.

...and speaking of reality TV...

2007-12-19T01:03:00.001Z

I hate reality TV. I hate it mostly because it's not reality. It's scripted at worst and loose or heightened reality at best. In the previous post I mention the show "Any Dream Will Do" and how I actually watched a few episodes. In that case it was because I had an interest in the subject matter.

That show, along with its predecessor whose purpose was to cast Maria in a revival of The Sound of Music, was presented by seemingly omnipresent presenter Graham Norton. Well, based on the success of those shows, another of that same ilk is coming to UK TV screens early in 2008. Titled "The One and Only..." it features people dressing up as famous singers and performing those singers' songs. It's quite like "Stars in Their Eyes" for anyone familiar with that, at least that's how it sounds.

To me the show sounds absolutely terrible and not worth watching in the least. I hate "Pop Idol"/"American Idol"/"Canadian Idol"/"X-Factor" as it's at best second-rate karaoke. This new show is going to be that, but in full costume. It's going to be just horrible, I know it.

Nevertheless the other day I found some web sites that offer tickets to be in the audience of various shows. You sign up, you say which shows you want to see (in other words, you apply for everything, which is what I did) and they contact you if you've been selected to receive tickets for any of the shows. So, of course I was phoned and told that I was being offered 4 tickets to the taping of (I think) the first episode of "The One and Only..." - one of the shows I really didn't care to see.

I've not yet decided if I'll go to the taping on January 9th, and if I can't find anyone else to go with I most likely will skip it, but nevertheless I have tickets to go. They of course overbook these things to try to ensure a full audience, so even if I show up I'm not guaranteed a seat unless I'm early enough in the queue, and that quite makes me less willing to go. Still, it's something I've never done before, and it's being taped at the BBC Television Centre, so it's a wonderful excuse to go see the place where so much great TV has been recorded, especially before the building is sold (as is planned in 2013 or so).

Time will tell if I go, and if some of the people I know back home (I'll not name names, you know who you are since you've heard me grumble when you've talked about one of those karaoke shows) were here with me they'd snap up the chance to go... although that's no incentive for me to go.

Birthday Bender

2007-12-19T00:40:00.001Z

Being now the latter half of December, thoughts in my mind move beyond Christmas and toward my birthday. Generally I'll do very little for my birthday, preferring to do something like go for a few drinks with friends, usually to Devlin's on Whyte Ave to begin. Since that's not an option this time around, I've decided to go on a bender of sorts. A completely different bender than usual. A full-on London-style bender.

Yep, I'm going to hit some musical theatre shows.

Tickets are cheap and seat selections are decent at a couple discount/promotional sites I've come across of late. Thankfully these are sites run by proper, official theatre groups so they're not shady or anything. My birthday is on a Thursday this time around, and that's a good thing since some of the shows on my list only offer cheaper seats on weeknights.

A (roughly) yearly tradition of mine for the past few years has been to go see Henry Rollins at the Winspear Centre for his spoken word tour. He's quite the raconteur and unfortunately his Edmonton visit this year was in late October, after I'd left. Fortunately he's playing here at the Hammersmith Apollo on January 26, so I at least get to see the current tour, even if it's not at the regular venue. Once the bank card came in the mail and I was able to make purchases online I made sure I booked a ticket for that show.

And that's how this whole notion began.

In poking around, as noted above, discount tickets were plenty and available for good shows with good seats (some better than others). I did some thinking and some seat hunting and I've made bookings for a few shows in celebration of my birthday.

Wednesday, January 23 - I was able to score -- quite literally -- a front row centre seat for the Lord of the Rings musical. Reviews I've read have been mixed but mostly positive. It's allegedly one of the biggest and most costly productions mounted outside of Las Vegas, so the eye candy should be plentiful.

Thursday, January 24 - I've been wanting to see We Will Rock You for some time now, and while it's been running here for over 6 years (and obviously not going anywhere) I figured I might as well do it sooner than later, especially when a cheap seat can be had. It's a musical written by Queen (obviously) and Ben Elton (of Black Adder and The Young Ones fame) and since Queen is among my favourite bands this was a must-see.

Friday, January 25 - There was a realtiy TV competition broadcast here earlier this year on Saturday nights on BBC One called "Any Dream Will Do" in which hopefuls from around the UK vied for the lead role in a revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. I think I made mention of this, at least to a degree, when I posted about seeing Dreamcoat a number of weeks ago. The person who won the Pop Idol-style competition was Lee Mead, and he was playing the lead role when I saw the production a few weeks back. Well, there are some weeks when he's on vacation and the understudy, Lewis Bradley (who finished third in "Any Dream...") is taking over the lead role. As I was able to watch some episodes of "Any Dream..." via YouTube and other means when it aired in the spring, I was keen to see others try the role and now I'll have that ability. I've booked a seat for one of Bradley's nights as lead in Dreamcoat and I look forward to the differences brought to the lead role.

Saturday, January 26 - Henry Rollins performs his spoken word event, as mentioned above.

So there we have it. A right proper London-style theatre bender. 4 nights of live performances, and while none of the tickets are exactly dirt cheap, none was over £25 including any service charges or postage for delivery (on average anyway, Dreamcoat was £27.50 but Rollins was £22.75), so it all adds up but it'll be a week to remember for sure!

On the grid again

2007-12-15T23:08:00.000Z

As mentioned previously, I got my bank card in the post the other day and I've been waiting for it so I can get a phone sorted. I did some research the other week and came up with some possible options to consider, but spent a great deal of time the past two days researching every possible option available to me and I finally made a decision.

Earlier today I took the tube over to nearby (I say nearby but it's a 35-minute walk as I found out the first time I went there!) Stratford Centre where multiple retail phone shops are located. The place was a bloody zoo (as can be expected so close to Christmas) and market stalls all along the inside seriously impeded traffic flow (though the slow punters contributed too), but after wading through some crowds and talking to some shop assistants to formalize things I'd read online, I finally got a phone.

I won't bother to get into details about the handset other than to say it works and it lets me communicate with people... so I'm back on the grid as the saying goes.

For those who wish to call me, please do bear in mind the 5-8 hour time difference depending upon where in Canada those who wish to reach me are located, so no calling in the middle of the night and please try to keep it before 11PM. Also bear in mind you have to call internationally, so do check your rates before you pick up the phone to dial as it's quite probable you'll pay through the bloody nose to ring me. Even Skype, which I expected to have reasonable rates, charges $0.295/minute (plus $0.059 for a connection fee) to call UK mobile phones. Compare that to $0.024 to call a landline and it's a wonder they can get away with that sort of flimflammery. Also don't forget the international calling prefix for Canada, 011, and the country code for the UK, 44.

My mobile number for now -- THIS NUMBER MAY CHANGE AND IF IT DOES I WILL POST HERE TO LIST THE REPLACEMENT NUMBER -- is 07956 578 649. Remember to drop the leading zero.

So, long story short, to ring me on my mobile, it's 011447956578649 to do so. Got that memorized yet? There WILL be a test later... and no peeking here!

I've been playing with the stupid phone all day loading music and pictures onto it, learning some ins and outs of usage and so on. I still hate phones. Perhaps more than ever now that they do far, far more than any sane person needs them to do.

...and about time, too.

2007-12-13T15:42:00.000Z

I opened my bank account over here in early November and since then I've been waiting for the darned bank card to show up so I can get some other stuff in motion. I was told to expect the card within 2 weeks of opening the account, and while I got 5 or 6 pieces of mail from the bank in that time, none of them was the bank card. I hesitated in contacting the bank for fear that I'd get the card in the mail the day after I called for a replacement, knowing the one to show up would be canceled as a result, and I'd have to wait another couple weeks for the valid card.

Nevertheless, after nearly 3 weeks past the expected date of receiving the card, I rang the bank this past Monday and explained the situation. They didn't offer any explanation as to why the card didn't come in the first place, nor did I ask about it (since any number of things beyond their control could have happened), but the bloke on the other end said he'd order a replacement card and I should get it in 3-5 working days.

Today being the third day, the card actually came, and it was nice to see the low end of the estimate come to pass. I was quite content to see the letter in the post and I practically tore the envelope open when I felt the hard plastic inside. I promptly got online and spent a little bit of money on things like adding some credit to my transit card (for which I get 5 free tracks at iTunes, oddly enough... not that I have any idea which 5 songs I'd want to order).

The other week I sat down and did up a spreadsheet outlining costs, details and benefits of various mobile phone plans for varying carriers here, all in anticipation of getting the darned bank card and getting the next phase, acquiring a mobile phone, in gear. Today I will be verifying all my research is still valid as well as expanding it a bit before making a decision tonight and going to pick up a phone tomorrow. We'll see what conclusion is reached soon, I suppose. I shall post here when all is sorted.

London Transport Museum

2007-12-04T17:02:00.001Z

Today I decided to take a trip to the London Transport Museum, a museum operated by Transport for London (TfL) celebrating the history of public transportation in and around London.

I began the day in earnest, going to get a haircut at the barber down the road. That was a good thing except it's always a pain in the butt to get a haircut and then not go home to rinse out all the little hairs that get left on your head and neck, so for the first while afterward I was of course scratching my neck and trying to rub away the remnant hairs. Such a hassle.

I hopped the tube well west of where I needed to be as I figured I'd get off by parliament and take a walk along the north bank along Victoria Embankment, one of the original embankments put in place to prevent flooding from the Thames and to sculpt the shape of the river. There's really not a great amount of stuff to see along there, though on a clear and warm day it would make for a great place for a leisurely stroll. Today was halfway there, getting to about +14 or +15, but it's been overcast and cloudy all day. The forecast called for rain, but thankfully that didn't happen other than a bit of drizzle.

After walking east from Westminster bridge to Waterloo bridge, I headed north toward Covent Garden where the museum is located. I walked around for a bit seeing what was there, and strolled around the Covent Garden Market (one of the famous London flea market style destinations), but since arts & crafts and jewelry and the like really don't interest me, I didn't stick around for long. I left the area in search of somewhere to grab some lunch as I'd not yet eaten, and wound up going to the Pizza Hut near Trafalgar Square for the lunch buffet.

I gorged myself, went downstairs at the restaurant to use the facilities, and thanks to a lack of signage didn't notice the ceiling in the restroom was lower than everywhere else and proceeded to smack my head quite hard where the lower ceiling began. No blood or cuts were involved, but I was definitely dizzy for a while afterward. I stumbled (almost literally) back up the steps and out along The Strand, making my way back toward Covent Garden Market, nearby which is the entrance to the London Transport Museum.

I spent well over an hour and a half, maybe even closer to two hours, walking around and enjoying the exhibits. The museum covers everything from riverboat services over 200 years ago to the development of rail services, the use of horse-drawn carriages, the Underground, buses, taxis, trams, the DLR and so on. The definite highlight for me was the giant electronic map of London and area where they displayed things like current traffic congestion, various live CCTV feeds, demonstrations of travel times and methods to get around (with video footage on a screen above while the map has the route drawn on it simultaneously).

One quite nifty thing was a presentation showing the development of the Underground system from its beginnings as a regular rail system to the massive conglomeration of today. I've captured video footage of the presentation (it runs about 1m20s, and I've stripped the audio) and embedded it here (QuickTime plugin required):

A little after 4:00 I had finished with the museum and decided to just head back, so I left, went to a different tube station than where I began (I went to Westminster initially, and got on one stop east at Embankment for the return leg) as I often try to do (to learn or reinforce geography as I go about) and made my way back. I expected very heavy traffic on the tube given it was rush hour, but thankfully the crowds were minimal. I only had to go one stop before a seat became available.

Tomorrow I think I need to catch up on some laundry...

It's all just sick.

2007-11-30T01:34:00.000Z

I've spent the last 3 days trying to fix issues with my computer caused by the upgrade to the latest and greatest (?!) OS, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

I had an urge the other day to watch one of the DVDs I brought with me. It happened to be a PAL DVD, Region 2 encoded, as it was one I ordered from here a couple years ago. It didn't work. In any way, shape or form. The built-in DVD player is very DRM-laden and very adherent to the way media content creators want players to behave, meaning with my DVD drive currently set to Region 1 playback I couldn't watch a Region 2 disc with the standard software player. That would be fine except all other players failed.

It's not a format issue as a CD I bought shortly after arriving came with a bonus DVD, and that disc plays back fine in Apple's software player even though it's PAL. The key is that disc is Region 0, and for some reason that baffles my mind not only does the Apple software prevent one from playing a Region 2 disc in a Region 1-set drive under Leopard, I couldn't even use any ripping software or other means to circumvent the issue relating to my (legal) DVD.

I hunted down a firmware update for my DVD drive to change it from RPC2 to RPC1, aka region-free. However neither it nor the bridge software (the hardware can be region free but the OS still thinks you're region-locked so you need intermediary software to tell the OS that it's seeing something it's not) operate under Leopard, so I had to set up an install of the previous OS version so I could use the patch and bridge. That's when all hell broke loose.

I've spent the last two days (and then some) prepping the machine for the second OS. It's been a trial of partitioning the drive, optimizing the drive, installing, false starts, stupid blunders, obvious wrong paths and so on that have finally all been swept aside and after today's escapades (create a single-layer DVD version of Leopard so I can burn a bootable disc: 5 hours; optimize the HD: 4 hours; partition the HD and install 10.4: 2 hours; update 10.4 with all the latest patches since the version I own was released: 1 hour) I've got the machine dual booting and the DVDs work as expected under 10.4. The reason this is important is because future DVDs I buy here will all be Region 2 and therefore with my laptop as the only means of watching DVDs, I need it to be able to operate as expected, even if it's via a kludge.

So that's been my week, basically. That and I've had a cold. I woke up feeling iffy on Sunday and it's been up and down since then with coughing, nasal issues, dehydration (despite drinking 10-15L of water a day!) and the usual gamut of cold-style crap. I blame sitting outside at the pub last Friday night so I could actually hear the people I was with speak as the inside was overcrowded. I dressed warmly, I even wore a scarf (which I rarely do) yet I wound up with a cold. Oh well, it's one of those things that has to be dealt with.

Basically this week, other than meeting someone on Sunday for a couple drinks, I've done nothing except futz with the computer and gone nowhere except the market to buy food. It gets boring to be sure (especially when I've read most of the books I've brought with me and I can't use my computer while the 4-hour defrag took place!) but it's one way to not spend money I guess.

Apple on Friday (technically now today since it's nearly 2am as I write this) is having is Black Friday sale for parts of the world other than the US. I don't know what's on sale or how big discounts are or if I even need anything (I'm sure I don't) but as soon as the Apple Store (online version) is back up I'll see what's what and maybe if I feel up to it take a trip to Regent Street and do some retail therapy.

John Barrowman

2007-11-16T14:52:00.000Z

Yesterday afternoon on the tube I was glancing at someone's newspaper and noticed an ad for a CD signing with John Barrowman (star of Torchwood, Doctor Who, and of course Shark Attack 3: Megalodon) today at HMV on Oxford Street. I saw nothing about it on the Doctor Who sites and was surprised to learn about it given the lack of press. I thought about going and decided that I didn't really want to do so since it might be too crowded -- and I especially didn't want to go after seeing you had to be there before 9:00am to get a wristband in order to get in the autograph line for 12:30pm. I had no idea what I'd do for 3 hours or so between getting the wristband and queueing for the signing.

But, I nonetheless went. I decided later in the evening that although things like this happen every now and then, they're not an every day occurrence and I'd like to at least experience one of these autograph sessions. I was wiped after yesterday's walking so I'd taken a nap from about 6:30-8:30 yesterday evening and decided after getting up that I'd give the autograph session a try. I got up not long after 6:00am in order to have time to get ready and get to Oxford Street early enough to queue up. I was on the train before 7:00am and at HMV about 7:20, with time in there to stop at McDonald's and get crappy coffee to wake me up.

I stood in front of the store for a bit only to be told by a security guy after a little while that the queue was around the side of the building. I was the first person standing out front when I got there and was happy about that, and dismayed when I learned I wasn't in the right spot since that likely meant there would be others in front of me. There was a limit of 250 wristbands to be given out and I had no idea how busy it would be, hence getting there nearly 2 hours in advance. Once I turned the corner I was happy to see there were only about a dozen people ahead of me, meaning I was in good shape to get a wristband.

I queued up, they let us in just past 9:00, I got the wristband, and it was 9:10 and I had no idea what to do with myself for 3 hours. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology wasn't too far away, at the University College of London, a bit northwest of Goodge Street tube station (about a 20 minute walk) so while it didn't open until 1:00 I thought I might as well take a walk over there to find out where precisely it was, and it was a good thing I did that since it's tucked away in a not too easy to find place, and once I got to the campus it still took me 15 minutes of walking to find it, and I only found it thanks to a map I found.

I left the area, now knowing where to go, and still had over 2 hours to kill. I began just walking around the Tottenham Court Road area and wound up doing some energy survey at a church (that killed 10-15 minutes) and talking with some canvasser for a charity helping deaf/blind people (another 5 minutes killed). I wandered around the Virgin store (it was called Virgin when I was there a number of weeks ago and bought the latest Underworld CD there, but was now called Zavvi; an interview I saw the other day with Richard Branson featured him discussing how CD stores are going down the tubes, so I don't know if Virgin sold the chain of CD stores or just changed the branding) for a bit, I dilly dallied here and there, including a stop at the BT Tower (formerly called the Post Office Tower) just to see how impressive it was up close (it's kind of impressive up close). Around 11:00 I decided since I'd not eaten yet I'd hit the Pizza Hut near HMV for their cheap lunch buffet, so I went there and that killed about 45 minutes while I ate slowly, and then it was time to go back to HMV.

I queued up a second time outside the store, got in, waited in line for nearly an hour, and then finally got to the front of the line to meet Barrowman. He was at the store promoting his new CD of pop cover songs (I downloaded the CD before its official street date, but am now legit after buying a copy at the store to have signed)... he always came across as a nice chap in interviews and of course in person he was very courteous and nice. It was very nice to meet him, even if it was quite briefly, and I look forward to the next time I head to an autograph session with someone Doctor Who-related (which is Lalla Ward on December 1 out in Barking at Tenth Planet; unlike today when I went on my own and ran into none of the Doctor Who people I met at the Fitzroy, I'm specifically meeting some of those folks on December 1 for the next signing).

Pictures are being posted now, and it's time for me to have a bit of a nap I think.

Edit: I forgot to mention initially that after HMV I went back to the Petrie Museum, but didn't stay for long as it wasn't overly interesting. Archeology is neat, but not so neat that I enjoy looking at broken jar after broken jar. Some of the areas where they had limestone carvings or cartouches or etchings were enjoyable, but overall I didn't enjoy the visit. I wasn't there more than 15 minutes before I decided to head back. Oh well, at least it was free and finding my way there killed some time this morning.

Hodgepodge

2007-11-15T17:22:00.000Z

Today I decided to check out the Bank of England Museum, which as one could guess, is a museum about the history of the Bank of England, the English monetary system, and the like. I'd not been around the area of town (well, not really) where the museum resides, so I thought it would be good to check out the museum then do some exploring.

The museum itself is rather tiny yet security is the tightest and most annoying of any place I've yet been. You're forced to empty your pockets of all metal items, have bags run through an x-ray machine, and go through a metal detector just like at an airport. The security guard at the desk even likened the process to going through airport security.

Overall I spent about an hour in the museum though if I hadn't read nearly every word on every sign the journey would have taken much less time. As with several other places I've visited, photography was disallowed. This time, however, I didn't see the signs indicating no photography was allowed and once inside I snapped dozens of pictures before an attendant noticed me and asked me to put away my camera. By that time I'd gone through most areas of the museum so I really had no objection to cease my photography at that point.

After leaving the museum I saw a signpost for London Bridge and for the monument to the Great Fire of 1666 (previously photographed from atop St Paul's Cathedral) so I thought I'd go check those out. I'd not been up close to the Great Fire monument so that was my chief destination.

It didn't take long before I got sidetracked and noticed I was maybe 7 or 8 blocks away from the Swiss Re building, aka 30 St Mary Axe, aka The Gherkin. I thought since I was so close, why not go up close and see how impressive it is from nearby. After weaving through a few streets (no street near me had direct access) I made my way to the front of the building and got some pictures. According to Wikipedia, it's the 6th tallest building in London and I must say it looks quite impressive from the base. Although it's curved inward as it goes up, it was nonetheless a literal pain in the neck looking up toward the top. A very cool sight it was.

I left the area and knew I needed to head south by the river to get to London Bridge, but what I hadn't noticed was how far west I'd walked and when I started to head south I wound up right by the Tower of London. I walked around the perimeter of the Tower grounds and made my way to the north bank of the Thames to continue my journey.

After going a ways down the walking path adjacent to the Thames I noticed I was right by the Great Fire monument... however it's undergoing cleaning or something and is all covered in scaffolding so it just looked silly and unimpressive. Nevertheless I snapped a couple photos and since it's near London Bridge I considered going up to street level and going across the bridge but ultimately didn't.

Rather, I kept going along the river path and went up to street level at the next bridge, Southwark Bridge, but only because the path stopped there. I wasn't far from the Millennium Bridge so I figured I'd cross at Southwark and go along the south bank to the Millennium Bridge and north to the St Paul's tube station and call it a day. That's exactly what I did, passing areas I'd previously been like Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Tate Modern art museum and St Paul's on my way back here.

When I finally got to the tube station, after nearly 2 hours of walking around, it was of course busy since it's on a busy tube line and it was a busy time of day and the first train to come by was too packed to get on. The second wasn't much less packed but I still squeezed on and rode the 4 stops to Mile End. I went to the market to grab some stuff for dinner and made my way back here and that's where things are at now.

Pictures are being posted as I type this, and now it's time to kick back for a bit and chill.

Go, go, go Joseph...

2007-11-13T23:33:00.001Z

After wanting to do so for months, and even moreso since arriving in London, tonight I finally got around to seeing the revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat starring Lee Mead. Most would not be aware of it, but this past spring on BBC1 there was a national karaoke contest (Pop Idol-style) to find the next Joseph for the West End. Thanks to the intarwebs and places like YouTube I was able to watch a few episodes. Normally I despise such shows and go out of my way to avoid them, but Joseph is quite probably my favourite Andrew Lloyd Webber musical so I succumbed and watched the odd bit.

While I doubt Lee Mead is the best Joseph to grace the stage (certainly Jason Donovan and Donny Osmond were better in my opinion, at least based on recordings and video-released productions I've heard and seen), the production was still brilliant and wonderful. The sets, costumes and logistics were top-notch, and the whole cast was on the ball (save one small instance where Mead fumbled his mic during Close Every Door). One thing that made me happy was the inclusion of a female in the role of the narrator, something which to me makes any production of the show better. There are too many male supporting roles and it's nice to have a female voice in there for balance. The one complaint I had about the woman cast, Preeya Kalidas, was that at times in songs where the narrator and Joseph both sang her voice would overpower Mead's.

It was also very hard to sit there and not want to sing along to the songs, and throughout the first act I was able to do so but finally gave in and followed along (silently, of course) here and there after the interval. I would absolutely see the production again.

National Portrait Gallery

2007-11-13T23:19:00.000Z

Another venue disallowing pictures, today I went to the National Portrait Gallery, which is really just how it sounds. It's a gallery dedicated to portraits, chiefly painted ones, of historic figures from around the UK over the past 500 or so years.

The exhibition goes back to the Tudor monarchs and, through a collage from Andy Warhol, finishes up with the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. I wasn't completely sure what to expect there, but a nice history lesson accompanies each segment of the archive, as well as some specifics being noted alongside the portraits themselves.

Thousands of portraits await visitors, and it took me well over 2 hours to tour the venue from top to bottom, finishing with the retrospective of Diana, Princess of Wales on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her death.

I had some time to kill this afternoon so after the National Portrait Gallery, I went around to the other side of the building where it's located and stepped into the National Gallery.

Art and I really don't get along. I just don't get the attraction, it doesn't entice me, it does nothing for me, but nevertheless it was rather cool to see original works by notables such as da Vinci and Raphael. I didn't spend much time in the National Gallery, so alas I didn't see works by the other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donatello and Michaelangelo.

After the National Gallery, I went for dinner. For a couple weeks now I've been craving Mexican food, and let me tell you, if you want good Mexican food, London is NOT the place to go. Out and about in Greenwich the other day I saw a couple Mexican restaurants which really didn't look all that wonderful. However, a couple weeks ago on another jaunt I came across a place called The Texas Embassy which looked passable. Alas while I remembered the name, I didn't remember where it was located. I ran across it again today, and for the curious, it's on the same block as Canada House, just a smidge west down Pall Mall from the National Gallery.

The food was tolerable, but certainly not fantastic. I've been to Mexico but once, and that was on a day trip to Tijuana when I was 11 and visiting San Diego with my mother and sister. I don't recall us stopping for food then, but my affinity for the fare started in San Francisco, and California is absolutely one place you can go for kick-ass Mexican food. In the past I've tolerated places like Julio's Barrio (which is mediocre at best) and I'd probably have to rank The Texas Embassy about on par with Julio's. Not terrible, but far from the best I've had. My craving for Mexican food doesn't kick up often, but the next time it does I probably would not go back there.

Imperial War Museum

2007-11-11T18:42:00.000Z

I took my first trip on the Bakerloo Line today in order to get to the Imperial War Museum. I'd chosen that destination for today as it seemed somewhat fitting for Remembrance Day. I was not alone in that decision, as there were a good number of others at the museum today, though not an overly large amount.

The museum has some nice displays featuring tanks, guns, cannons, planes... the sort of thing you'd hope to see in such a place. Most were from the WWI/WWII era, which is my particular era of interest for military history (though my preference lies with WWII over WWI).

I'm not going to get into a great amount of detail here, rather I'll let the pictures I've posted tell the story for me. However, there were some areas that disallowed photos so I'll at least make mention of those here.

One of the areas was the war poster display, featuring posters from all angles (US, Britain, Spain, Germany, etc.) from all across the 20th century, not just posters from WWI/WWII as I would have expected. There were hundreds overall and it's almost comical to look at them today, despite the fact many spoke the truth about life during the world wars. Of course such devices were rife with propaganda as well.

The third floor of the museum was dedicated to the holocaust, and there was even a warning at the entryway saying children under 14 might get scared by some of the displays. Indeed there were some VERY graphic images contained in the display, along with some eerie items like a recreation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

My time was running out by the time I began walking around the holocaust display, and I'd certainly like to get back to the museum one day and take a proper look around as it's incredibly in-depth. The fourth floor of the museum had a display about crimes against humanity, focusing on genocide and ethnic violence. I didn't have time to get to any part of that display, so that doubly makes me want to go back to the museum when I have more time to look around. As it was I spent over 2 1/2 hours there, taking in the sights and flashing back to school when I first learned about various aspects shown at the museum. Thankfully admission is free, so the only cost is tube fare and time.

For anyone interested in military or wartime history, this museum is not to be missed. The downside is that I'd read the displays at the Churchill Museum are close enough to those at the Imperial War Museum that some people may find it too repetitive to see both. Regardless of that opinion, the Churchill Museum is still on my list of places to see, and if not for the £11 entry fee to it would probably have been my choice for today. Nevertheless I'm glad I made the choice I did, and it looks like this might be the first museum to which I want to make a second trip.

Royal Observatory

2007-11-09T17:10:00.000Z

I've been looking for an excuse to take a spin on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway, akin to the Edmonton LRT but with more stops and serving a specific area of town) and in checking my guide book last night I saw the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was near the Cutty Sark DLR station so I figured what better way to have more science fun and try out the DLR than to go there for the afternoon.

The nearest DLR station to here is about a 10-12 minute walk and is 11 or so stops from where I was going. The DLR (chiefly) services the south docklands region (hence the name) around the Isle of Dogs and other parts of the southeast end of town. It's really no different than any LRT station that's overground (very little of the DLR goes underground) so it wasn't overly impressive or anything. Unlike the LRT, it doesn't go from start to finish on one path, it branches off at varying points so you sometimes have to change over as you would with the tube. Overall, other than the train cars being a bit wobblier than the LRT it's about the same. There was even a fare inspector on the train on my way back, the first time I'd seen any such person on public transport here.

As for the observatory itself, it was reasonably basic. Its chief focus was the advent of clock changes (daylight savings time/british summer time) and timekeeping in general. Of course there was the shutterbug-friendly display about the prime meridian which runs through Greenwich, but one of the most breathtaking aspects of the place is the view.

The observatory resides in the middle of Greenwich Park, which was apparently once a hunting ground for the king at the time it was established (Charles II), and there's nothing but green all around. The observatory is built at the top of a hill and from up there you can see a wide scope of the north side of the Thames. Being you can only see north it's not as nice a view as from St Paul's Cathedral or the London Eye, but what you can see is nonetheless impressive. Pictures have been posted for others to check out.

After tinkering at the observatory for a while and enjoying the view, I went down the path to the planetarium to go catch a show on the life of stars. Overall it didn't really teach my anything I didn't already know, but I mainly went because it's been more years than I can remember since I was at a planetarium and such places are usually pretty fun and informative. After the 30 minute show I wandered around and hopped back on the DLR at Greenwich station (one south of where I got off initially) and called it a day for sightseeing.

I'm not yet sure what's next on the slate, or what's on the slate for tomorrow, but I made a list of places I have yet to visit and want to visit so I've got about 10 choices for where I want to go next.

Overly complicated

2007-11-08T10:14:00.000Z

I've got a better head for numbers and figures than most people I know, but not even the most number-centric person out there would have any hope of memorizing the fee chart for British Telecom pay phones. This thing is insane! I don't doubt that's due to more and more toll numbers coming into use over here but wow... it's just outright insane!

For those interested in topics such as this, perhaps also take a peek at the Wikipedia article on the UK Telephone Numbering Plan. It's a little bit of work to wrap your head around it but overall it's pretty ingenious when you look at it overall. My personal favourite bit is the mnemonics embedded in some of the geographical exchanges (see section 2.2 of the article for that bit). When I first looked at that page months and months ago I sat there scratching my head for ages before it all finally started to click. Never let it be said the Brits aren't creative.

Conspicuously absent

2007-11-07T14:18:00.001Z

I've not posted anything in a few days simply because very little has been going on. I've not seen any sights this week, and I've really done very little other than the bare necessities for a few days now.

Today, however, I finally got a bank account sorted at Lloyds TSB. They're willing to do an account that gives me a Visa debit card that I can use in shops and online without me yet having a job. That means once the card arrives (presumably in a week as it comes in the post) I can get down to Carphone Warehouse or wherever and get a mobile phone sorted. That gives me the contact number that I'll need to do my job hunting without having to waste money on pay as you go plans (eg. the cheapest phone I saw for pay as you go was £30, plus whatever airtime would cost on top of that). So, one step out of the way to getting back into the regular swing of life.

One plan for this week was to go to BBC Television Centre at Shepherd's Bush and take the tour there, but I'm not sure when I'll actually get around to it. The BBC is selling that studio in an effort to cover a deficit, but it's not scheduled for sale until 2012 or 2013, so there's lots of time to see it yet.

Over here, Friday is the launch day for the Apple iPhone. While I'm definitely not going to buy one (as much as I would like to do s0) because the rate plans are abysmal compared to non-iPhone plans (the cheapest plan for 200 minutes/month and 200 texts/month is £35 versus what I'm looking at for a Nokia N95 - certainly no slouch of a smartphone - where I can get 600 minutes/month and 500 texts/month, plus unlimited weekend minutes, for £30), I'm quite tempted to sally forth to the Apple Store on Regent Street Friday afternoon to check out the hype machine in action. There's no expectation (according to any article I've read from any source) the launch will be as uproarious as the US launch in June, but I fully expect a good number of people to be present to pick up a shiny new toy -- though I'd definitely expect far fewer than were present on Oct 26 for the launch of OS X Leopard.

Perhaps to save a little on tube fare I'll combine the BBC tour with visiting the Apple Store on Friday (each of the BBC Television Centre, the Apple Store and the nearest tube stop for me are on the Central Line, and it's very convenient even if generally very busy) and make a day of it. The only downside is one is expected to pre-book for the BBC tour, and the BBC uses an 0870 phone number for bookings, which is a toll number and I'm not yet sure how much I might have to pay to make the booking from a pay phone. I intend to find out that information between now and tomorrow though, since I'd be ringing them no later than tomorrow for a Friday tour.

West Ham United v. Bolton

2007-11-04T16:57:00.000Z

For something different I thought today I'd check out a Premier League football match and it just so happened West Ham United was playing at home today, and their stadium is but a few tube stops east from me by Upton Park tube station. The match started at 4:00 so I left about 2 so I had time to buy a ticket and find my seat and take in the atmosphere.

Except, despite the WHU website saying match day tickets were available, I was told at the ticket office the match was sold out... therefore I couldn't go. For the sake of adventure (such as it was) I spent about an hour walking down the high street in the neighbourhood (which, as it turned out, was chiefly Indian, Pakistani, etc. markets, food outlets and clothing stores, definitely nothing interesting) before hopping the tube back west.

Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes day, which is a big deal here, and the nearest events for it are at Victoria Park north of here. After getting back to Mile End I figured I'd take a walk up to the park to see where it was and how far it was. I found it alright, and it turned out to be a little better than a 20-minute walk from where I'm staying to the park. The bonfire and such get underway around 7:30 tomorrow so at least I know how far in advance to make my way up there.

I've got the podcast to record in a few hours but other than that I think I'll just take it easy. One day soon I'll go and set up a bank account, so long as something said to me by a rep of Lloyds TSB was correct in that their basic account allows me to get a debit card (as opposed to an ATM-only card, which is silly but nonetheless a big difference here) so that I can get some other stuff sorted such as a phone (an O2 rep told me a debit card was sufficient to get a monthly contract set up, meaning no wasting funds on pay as you go for the first while). Also, before tourist time ends for me, I've decided to head west and take the tour of BBC Television Centre. I'm quite looking forward to that one.

Fitzroy Meetup

2007-11-01T23:58:00.000Z

Every month, on the first Thursday, there's a meetup of Doctor Who fans at the Fitzroy Tavern in Fitzrovia (yes, that can get confusing, especially since there's a Fitzrovia Tavern a block away). Tonight was the first one to occur since my arrival in London and I definitely had to check it out.

Not long after arriving I noticed no less than three distinct pockets of Doctor Who fans, and wound up sitting with one group of folks to talk about the show. Time passed, beer flowed, fun was had by all, and I met some very nice people. It's very refreshing to get one's geek on with like-minded folks, I must say.

There was rumour at one point of Steven Moffat (noted DW writer) being in the building but despite looking from top to bottom a few times I didn't see him. Nevertheless I did see and meet Clayton Hickman, former editor of Doctor Who Magazine. He was a very lovely chap indeed.

The place was not just packed to the rafters as the evening wore on, it was packed outside the rafters in the sense that there were as many people inside as there were standing and chatting outside. It was a very pleasant night temperature-wise otherwise I'm sure there would have been fewer people outside. I was told by one of my compatriots that the brewery which ran the tavern was famous for its cheap beer, and at £1.78 for a pint of bitter, I'd have to agree about the price. I stopped at a sports bar for lunch the other day and paid £3.30 (an outrageous sum) for a pint of Carlsberg.

Altogether I had 6 pints of bitter, a pint of stout, and with a few others a shot of tequila, and when I felt it was time to go I stumbled off quite happy about the evening. I've got tentative plans to meet up with some of the people from tonight at other events before the next Fitzroy meetup in December, however, regardless of anything else I will indeed be in attendance come December 6 for the next event.

Cannons

2007-10-30T17:04:00.000Z

The boom from the cannons was far more impressive (and loud!) in person; the camera mic didn't pick it up well and doesn't really do it justice. Nevertheless, enjoy! (QuickTime Plugin required, mp4 format video.)

My feet hurt.

2007-10-30T16:16:00.000Z

Well, surprisingly they actually don't. However I did a lot of foot travel today, so they ought to. Thus I'm hoping the foot rub fairy will pay me a visit (though I'm not holding my breath).

I decided to go to Buckingham Palace today to see the changing of the guard. At this time of year it happens once every two days, instead of daily like in the summer. Today happened to be an exception, or something. There was some big to do for Saudi Arabia there today, with flags for the country flying all over the place. The guard band played and marched around and such so I thought perhaps the regular changing of the guard would occur until I heard a nearby policeman say otherwise. Nevertheless there was an immense crowd of people, and I even saw Prince Charles there... twice! The first time I saw him in the back of a car leaving the grounds, then later on in a horse-drawn carriage with some Saudi representative coming back to the palace. Alas my camera hand was too slow to capture a decent photo of either time, though I barely caught him in a snap in the carriage. I also barely caught the Queen in her carriage during the procession, but you can sort of halfway see her.

[Edit: The reason for the ceremony was a state visit from the Saudi king.]

After the ceremonial stuff I wandered around the park adjacent to the Palace and was surprised to hear cannonfire... there were some soldier type people with 4 or 5 cannons firing off rounds (blanks, no doubt). I wasn't sure if that was a special event for what had just taken place at the Palace or if it was a regular thing. I captured some video and with any luck I can get it compressed so it fits nicely for others to check out.

I left the Palace area and walked up The Mall, snapping some pics of palace guard type people, cops, horses, and so on and made my way up to Trafalgar Square with its huge monument to Horatio, Lord Nelson, martyr of the Napoleonic War. I didn't know all of what I wanted to do today but in looking at the map in my guidebook I saw Trafalgar Square was close enough to reach from Buckingham Palace so I knew I'd at least go there. What I didn't notice/realize when I was checking the map was it was close to other worthwhile places too.

Trafalgar Square sits in front of the National Gallery, so of course I had to go around there a bit. I didn't go into the gallery since art really doesn't turn my crank in the least (and multiple trips to the National Gallery in Ottawa have reinforced that over the years), but I took in the surroundings regardless.

I found out the Canadian High Commission is also right by there as well, so while I didn't go in (I wasn't carrying my passport so I wasn't sure if they'd let me in and just shoot the breeze with some fellow Canucks or somesuch) I was glad to learn where it was, just in case I ever needed to know that or require any of the services provided there. Earlier in the day I contemplated going to the Canadian Embassy after noticing it on a map but really didn't bother to notice where I was going to be in relation to it, and then wham, there it was.

After leaving the Trafalgar Square area I walked around aimlessly for a bit, but noticed Piccadilly Circus wasn't far off. So I figured sure, I'll go there. It's a poor man's Times Square to say the least, and it's FAR less impressive during the day versus pictures I've seen of it at night, but it's just one of those landmarks people flock to and I was no exception. I walked there, took some photos, sat on the steps by the fountain for a while and contemplated what to do next.

About 1-1 1/4 km away was Downing Street and the Churchill Museum, near Parliament. I didn't realize they were that close to Parliament when I was there the first time around, and I thought it would be worth a trip down there to check things out. One negative about Downing Street is that while once upon a time the street was open to foot traffic, it's been cordoned off after an attempted IRA attack a few years back... so the closest you can get is a huge iron gate by Whitehall. Still, knowing that in advance, I thought I should mosey over anyway, and so I did.

I didn't bother going to the Churchill museum, despite being quite intrigued to do so, instead deciding to either save that for another day or just skip it altogether (or perhaps save it for when someone comes to visit and we invariably go near Parliament).

After all that I decided to call it a day as far as sightseeing was concerned and headed back to write this and upload some pictures while I contemplated dinner plans.

I've been told the washing machine is halfway fixed (hot water is a go) but another plumber needs to come to fix the rest (the cold water?) and all should be well by tonight. Therefore I think I shall declare tomorrow to (finally) be laundry day since I'm definitely running short of stuff to wear. Plus it's Halloween tomorrow and I don't know how crazy it'll be out there in the world.

St Paul's Cathedral

2007-10-29T17:12:00.000Z

Today I decided to go to St Paul's Cathedral, one of the most recognizable churches in the city. It's the burial place of some major historical figures (wow, a Bill and Ted moment there!) such as Horatio Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, two notable Napoleonic War era folks.

The place is absolutely beautiful from the outside, and the tell-tale dome is world renowned. Alas, as with other such places, photography was not allowed inside. I've got some pictures uploading as I type this, but they're all exterior shots and shots from up high.

Ah, up high... for the unaware, which among others was me not long ago, St Paul's offers the chance for viewers to climb stairwells to the top. Well, the top ain't such an easy place to reach (especially for chaps my height; the climb is not for the claustrophobic to be sure). There's the ground floor, which has the main chapel, a number of monuments to various figures and military types. There's the crypt, housing the tombs of the Nelson and a memorial to Florence Nightingale. Then there's the rest.

The first vertical level is called the Whispering Gallery. It's (pretty much) a perfect circle (save doorways cocking things up) where you can sit on one side, whisper at the wall, and someone clear across the other side can hear what you say thanks to the acoustics carrying the words around the gallery. It also offers a nice view of part of the chapel below. The Whispering Gallery is reached by ascending 163 (!!!!) steps, many narrow of course given the centuries-old nature of the building. The climb was... well, pretty damned tiring I must say. I'm not in the best of shape by any means, and I started to get winded about 3/4 of the way up but I made it without having a heart attack. I got up there and thought perhaps this is as high as I want to go.

Except things didn't turn out that way. My friend Jean-Paul, who previously visited the Cathedral in 1995 (and who told me they allowed photos back then) said he never made it all the way to the top of the place. I thought, well, I'll have to at least give it a try, right?

On to the next level. Called the Stone Gallery, you climb another 119 steps, which takes you to an observation deck of sorts roughly around the base of the dome. The place is heavily fenced off to prevent accidents, and it's fairly hard to see through the narrow apertures and observe the surroundings. Nevertheless I finagled some pics from this level and figured I might as well carry onward and upward - because no, that's not the top.

The Golden Gallery - a further 152 steps upward, chiefly on iron circular staircases, certainly not a place for those afraid of heights - is the top-most level one can reach at the Cathedral. A staggering 111 metres above the ground, there's not much of a fence around the very narrow pathway (one attendant at the Whispering Gallery cautioned someone the fence was about chest-high; on me, of course, that was barely above waist-high) but the view is breathtaking.

You can see more of London from here than in a lot of places given you've got 360 degree access around the top. Although I'm not uploading every shot I took, I pretty much went crazy with the camera and shot dozens of photos from up there. Partly because (despite a bit of greyness in the air) it was just so amazing to see what one can see up there, and partly because I don't think I'd ever climb back up there even on a bet. One lady who made the trek up commented she was very afraid of heights, but like a trooper she made her way around to enjoy the view.

So, 450-odd steps downward and I was back on the ground. I almost felt like falling to my knees and kissing the ground after being up as high as I was with what amounted to minimal protection. Thankfully going DOWN the steps is far easier than going up, although I did have some issues navigating some of the narrower passageways and steps. When I was in the Whispering Gallery I asked that previously-noted attendant if someone my size would have issues getting to the Golden Gallery and he said pretty much no. I disagreed with him by the time I got to the top, however. Still, I got up and got down so all was well.

After leaving St Paul's I headed south toward the Millennium Bridge. A very, very ugly structure in my opinion, it's a very busy footbridge across the Thames toward Tate gallery and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. One can take tours around the Globe but after the two hours and change at St Paul's I didn't feel like taking that tour. I tooled around a bit on the south bank and then went back north across the bridge and headed toward the Museum of London.

The Museum of London chronicles the history of the city, back some 2000 years when it was called Londinium and settled by the Romans. The main display, near the entrance, was about the Great Fire in 1666, and the rest of the small (well, small compared to other museums I've been to here) museum was dedicated to medieval London up to the 17th century. The remainder of the history of the city, from where it currently ends to the present, is set to open some time in 2009. I was glad the place was free though... it had some neat bits of course, but overall wasn't as interesting as I'd hoped.

On the way back to the tube I walked around a bit and found a Curry's store (an electronics/computer-focused version of the store) and picked up some electronics I'd been meaning to get for a while now, chiefly a power bar, power adapter for my external hard drive, and a battery charger. After a quick stop at McDonald's for a burger I headed back to the flat and that's pretty much my day.

After a bit of TV and resting up a bit I'll sort out some dinner in a couple hours.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard and to see what I can see. Tours of the Palace stop in late September so I presumably can't look around inside, so we'll see what's what tomorrow.

Apple Day

2007-10-26T18:27:00.000+01:00

Today was Apple day of sorts.

I started the day off by taking the tube WAY west to the Olympia National Hall for the Mac Live Expo event. The place was bustling, but there was really very little to see. I didn't even bother with pictures it was just that dull. Nevertheless I hung around for a couple hours, checking out the booths, demos and exhibits and then decided it was time to leave.

From there, I got back on the tube and took my first journey crossing three lines (the District line from Kensington Olympia one stop to Earl's Court, the Piccadilly line to Green Park, then the Victoria line to Oxford Circus) to go check the action at the Apple Store. Today is the release date for the new version of Mac OS X, v10.5, aka Leopard, and I figured there'd be a good queue by the time I got there. It was around 5:10 or so when I arrived and wow was there ever a queue. There were easily a thousand people, going down the street around one corner... and down that street around the next corner, and then halfway down the street again. The Apple Store is roughly in the middle of the block, meaning the line was literally halfway around the block (and it's not a tiny block). Earlier today I had considered getting in line when I got there, to try to get a Leopard t-shirt (there are supposed to be 500 or so on hand) but when I actually got there I knew there was no way that would happen.

The Leopard release doesn't really turn my crank, at least not enough to drop £85 on it, so I snapped a few pictures of part of the line, walked down the line from the start to the end to see if I might catch any celebrities or well-known folks in line (no, there were none I noticed), then walked back up to Oxford street and did some wandering before grabbing the tube at Bond Street station and coming back to the flat.

Pictures are up, as unexciting as they may be, and now it's time to think about dinner since it's past 6:30. Tomorrow is still up in the air for activities...

Beer!

2007-10-25T21:10:00.001+01:00

The market down the road sells Tetley's Bitter. I bought some last night. I'm having some now. It's nummy stuff. Num num num.

Tower of London

2007-10-25T16:30:00.000+01:00

Today I decided to visit the Tower of London. I wasn't sure, as has been the norm this week, what I wanted to do but decided what the heck, I'll go there. My last outing was on Tuesday to a series of places offering free admission; today was not like that. I went to the Tower of London and its grounds for a whopping £16 entry fee (I was informed the other day it was only £13.50 a year or so ago) as well as a tour around the Tower Bridge exhibition for another £6.

The Tower of London is famous for its prisoners over the years, the beheading of (and reported haunting by) Anne Boleyn (second wife of Henry VIII) and of course its use as a fortress in times gone by. It's frankly amazing to realize you're in a place which has stood (in some form or another) for the better part of 800 years. People in Canada, even eastern Canada with its heritage, consider things a century old to be very old. Those in Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and other such places have structures dating back maybe a few centuries... but nothing like this. Most of a millennium has passed by the walls of this famous landmark, it withstood attacks over the years including devastating ones such as the London Blitz of World War II, and there it still stands. It's just awe-inspiring really.

Of course being a 13th century structure it means tall people simply do not fit. If I wasn't ducking, I was carefully watching my feet on the narrow spiral staircases so I didn't slip. As advantageous as being tall can be, it's a severe detriment in places such as that.

I did, of course, snap many pictures along the way, but of course the best bits such as the area housing the Crown Jewels forbade photography, so I couldn't get any shots of the cool crowns, jewels, sceptres and so on adorning Jewel House. I had one request before I left Canada specifically asking me to take such photos, but that person will have to be disappointed as I wasn't about to risk having my camera confiscated or something.

Anyhow, after touring around the grounds, I wandered over to Tower Bridge and went on the tour there. The sights there are minimal at best, but I was far more interested in the history and architecture than anything else - along with the view, of course. The bridge was 16 years in the making between the time it was decided such a bridge was needed and the time it was built, and for a Victorian era work it certainly has the feel of something more medieval. The tour basically includes a couple historical videos, access to the elevated footpaths and a tour of the old coal/steam-powered engine room for operating the elevated roadway.

Pictures will soon be posted, and I've got more than a few shots of The Egg in there as well, aka city hall. Today was a VERY gloomy, gray, misty, foggy kind of day, the first full-on such day since I arrived. It's the kind of day which makes you love or hate London and makes it easy to realize why a lot of Britons visit Spain for some sun.

Tonight will be a night in methinks, probably enjoying the 4-pack of Tetley's Bitter I bought last night on a shopping trip at the market a few minutes walk south of here. I might even try to fight with the washing machine again, or at least hopefully ask someone (when someone gets back here) how to properly operate it so I can get some laundry done.

Tomorrow will be Apple day. It's the release of the new Mac OS X version, dubbed Leopard, and this week also has the Mac Live Expo at Kensington Olympia hall. I snagged a free pass to the expo a few weeks back so I think I shall use it and see what's what and how it compares to something like MacWorld Expo in San Francisco, the granddaddy of all Mac expos. I already know it'll greatly pale in comparison, especially since Apple has no formal presence there, but it might be a fun afternoon nonetheless. After that I'll head to the Apple Store on Regent St. around dinnertime for the formal release of Leopard at 6pm. I've not decided if I'll buy a copy, especially since it's £85 (vs. $129 CAD), but I want to be there for the hoopla more than anything.

Museums. Museii. Whatever.

2007-10-24T07:58:00.000+01:00

Tuesday was museum day. I wasn't sure what to do, so after getting suggestions from a friend, his idea of going to the science museum was what I'd decided to act upon. After looking at my guide book I found that right by the science museum is the natural history museum... as well as the Victoria & Albert museum. All in one nice cluster around South Kensington tube station. Heck, the announcement played on the tube when you approach the station even says the museums are there.

I started out at the natural history museum. There were some fun things and all that, but the place was PACKED. The queue to get in must have been 200 people. Moving around was a pain in the butt at the best of times. I nevertheless tried to see as much of it as I could, even though a lot of displays were the same as you'd see at any other similar museum. Nothing really excited me about the place (other than a couple cute women I saw there, but that's a story for another time).

I moved on to the science museum and definitely had more fun there since I've always had a preference for science & technology over earth sciences or anthropology or whatever. Both places are huge, but the science museum definitely had more stairs...

I've posted some uncommented photos from both, along with my third stop on the trip, the Victoria & Albert museum. I went into the V&A and really couldn't get into anything. I was pretty sick of museums by that point I must admit... going through three in a day is a little much, especially when I spent over 3 hours combined at the previous two. After maybe 10-15 minutes of wandering aimlessly I left the V&A, snapped a couple pictures of the front, and made my way away.

I noticed on the map in the guide book that Harrod's was just down the street from the museum block, so I figured I'd take a spin around there. The place is very, very large... and any stories you might have heard about how expensive it is are probably understated (if only because it's nigh impossible to overstate!). I walked around the food section mostly, just to see the offerings. There were 6 or 7 restaurant type stalls with bar-style seating featuring things like "make your own sandwich, only £14.50", sushi, etc. There was a meat counter. A fish counter. A cheese counter. A deli counter. It was just like any supermarket really. Only prohibitively expensive for all but a select few. I took a trip up the escalator to the top floor, then back down. It's a neat place to visit, but between the prices and the fact it's just a store in the end, it's not THAT neat. The building, however, was very impressive. I enjoyed looking at that more than any other aspect about the place.

I went back to the flat after that, chilled for a couple hours, then made my way to the nearby chinese food buffet place and gorged myself. That was about it for the day.

Today I'm where I was yesterday in that I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm tempted to just take it easy and maybe do laundry or something since I'm not in a museum mood to be sure. There's some "Mac Live Expo" event in town at the Olympia National Hall running from Thursday through Saturday and I've got a (free) pass for that, so I think that'll be on my agenda for tomorrow (as soon as I find where the hall is anyway). Today... who knows.

Don't bank on it...

2007-10-24T07:25:00.000+01:00

Monday I'd intended to go to The Who Shop and Tenth Planet, Doctor Who-related stores, but only got half of that accomplished as things turned out. I started the day by going to the nearest Barclay's branch to inquire about setting up a bank account. I knew that I needed a bank account if I wanted to get a (non-pay as you go) mobile phone, but apparently I can't get a viable bank account until I get a job. So I need a mobile phone to get a job, a job to get a bank account, and a bank account to get a phone. All I could think of was "there's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza" for stupid recursive stuff. So it looks like pay as you go is what I have to do for the phone to kickstart everything else. At least I can keep my number when I move from that to a proper monthly plan, but I view pay as you go a waste of money since I'll have to shell out as much as a couple months would cost me under a contract to get me up and running.

It took me over an hour at Barclay's with the queue to see the guy I had to speak to... and when I got near Barking tube station to go to Tenth Planet, I also stopped at Lloyd's TSB to see what they had to say. It was busier yet there, and I spent about an hour and a half waiting and talking when there to find out the same thing from them. So, it looks like I get a job before I get a bank account.

Anyway, I wound up getting to Tenth Planet on Monday and took a browse inside. It's a small shop but it had lots of fun stuff I could have spent a lot of money on (but didn't). I didn't spend much time there overall, since there's only so much to look at.

There was a 99p Store nearby as well (akin to our Dollar Stores) and I loaded up on a few things I didn't have but needed, all for a nice cheap total versus other places I'd looked. Those places rock... except I didn't buy enough clothes hangers. They had 14-packs for 99p and I bought two. I need about 30-32 hangers. Oh well, I'll go buy more one day.

I was knackered after all that and just called it a day for gallivanting.

British Museum

2007-10-21T16:16:00.000+01:00

Travel by tube on weekends SUCKS! Well, at least it CAN suck.

I was heading out this morning to the west end again and when I got to the tube station -- which conveniently operates on 3 of the tube lines -- had service only on one line today! The District line was operational as usual, but Central (what I would have normally taken) was closed between Liverpool Street and Leytonstone (Mile End is about in the middle of that stretch) and the Hammersmith & City line was also closed. One good thing about the tube, at least around zone 1, is it's not hard to come up with an alternate travel route. So, a spin on the District line west to Embankment and a quick changeover to the Northern Line got me to Leicester Square (where I didn't mean to get off, I meant to get off one stop further at Tottenham Court Road) just fine. I began my day from there.

Anyway, today I went to the British Museum to have a look around. I didn't go to any of the paid exhibits (such as the one on the Terra Cotta Army) but I spent a good couple hours walking around. There's a tonne of stuff to look at, covering the entire planet (save Antarctica, anyway) but I spent most of my time on the Egypt and Ancient Greece sections, two areas where I have a soft spot. The place is immense and if I wanted to give it a proper look around I'm sure I'd have to take 4 or 5 hours at least, if not split it across a couple days. The highlight of the displays for me was the Rosetta Stone, without which modern understanding of the ancient world wouldn't be anywhere near as developed as it is. It was constantly crowded around there, for good reason, and it took a little while to get close enough to snap any pictures.

Pictures, of course, can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/cburgess -- the ones from the museum are being posted as I write this.

Afterward I went to Forbidden Planet, a comic/cult TV/Sci Fi/etc store selling DVDs, comics, books, figurines, you name it... it's sort of like Warp One for those back in Edmonton who know it, though seemingly without the prick owner... oh, and prices don't completely suck either, unlike Warp One. A few things I considered buying are indeed cheaper at Amazon UK, and overall I wound up not buying anything.

A quick pitstop at Sainsbury's near Whitechapel tube station before coming back here pretty much completes my outing.

I'll have to see what I want to do tomorrow. I'm thinking of heading east to The Who Shop and Tenth Planet (both similarly-themed stores to Forbidden Planet) for a gawk, but we'll see what happens.

Friday Night Clusterfuck

2007-10-21T16:09:00.000+01:00

I got email about 4pm to say the Underworld concert I was planning to attend Friday night was canceled. Nothing other than "severe illness in the band" was cited, and apparently the gig is supposed to be rescheduled. The band's website confirmed the news thankfully, so it wasn't some erroneous spam or something lame, and I guess I'm glad I found out before spending the time going to the venue, but I'm still very disappointed the gig was canceled. Underworld was scheduled to play 3 consecutive nights at The Roundhouse, and I didn't find out about it until maybe 5 weeks or so ago. By the time I found the concert info, only the third of the three nights had any available tickets. I quickly bought one, anticipating the concert, and the first two nights went off without a hitch. But not the third. Sigh.

Anyway, with the concert canceled, I opted to go to the nearest pub for a drink or two instead. I'd not had dinner yet when I made the decision, and by the time I'd started on my second pint of Guinness I was already feeling it. I wound up staying for an hour at a place on Devon's Road (southeast of here) called The Liquor Inn (how original!) and had three pints and a packet of Steak & Onion crisps before calling it a night (it was pretty boring in there, I didn't bother trying to meet anyone, I just sat around watching others play pool) and deciding I'd better get some food in me. I walked up the street to a pizza place and bought some 'za for dinner. It was at best average, but it was reasonably cheap and it hit the spot, so it was good enough.

Toad in the Hole

2007-10-19T14:54:00.000+01:00

I had toad in the hole for dinner last night. I couldn't resist.

I went for dinner at a pub across the street from The Palace theatre, where Spamalot is playing, and while the menu had a whole bunch of yummy-sounding things, I decided that I couldn't resist getting the toad in the hole. It's one of those British dishes you hear the name of and chuckle, but actually it's pretty darn good.

It's a yorkshire pudding (proper style) with mash and veg inside, topped with sausage and gravy. Frankly it needed chips in my opinion, but it was nonetheless pretty good (I had to season it A LOT of course, as is par for the course with many British dishes). I'd have it again to be sure.

King Doctor

2007-10-19T14:35:00.000+01:00

Last night was theatre night, and I went to see Spamalot, a musical derived (chiefly) from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was indeed a fun time, at least until I started to feel cramped a bit as there wasn't quite enough leg room. It wasn't too bad leg room-wise, but I could have used a smidge more.

Anyhow, despite it being a Thursday night, the place (as far as I could see anyway, and I was on the second level, the dress circle) was packed. Londoners really love their theatre to be sure, and although I've seen the source movie far too many times to have been surprised much by the play, there were a couple elements which threw me for a bit of a loop.

First was the inclusion of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life -- a song from Monty Python's The Life of Brian -- in the play. I saw an ad on the tube for Spamalot which quoted a few lines from the song but it didn't click that the song would actually be in the show considering it's source was something completely different (zing!). The song felt EXTREMELY out of place for me, likely due to its context in Life of Brian being stuck in my head, but not only was it sung partway through the show it was also used to close the show. I guess Eric Idle is just getting mileage out of other Python stuff since things like the Finland song and trout-slapping (as well as a nod to The Lumberjack Song) are also in the play.

What really surprised me was the cast. While I didn't recognize most of the cast members, right away I was struck by the inclusion of Bill Ward, who'd played Charlie Stubbs on Corrie for a few years. I'd not seen him in a comedic role before (he played Lancelot and the lead Frenchman, among other roles, in the play) and I thought he did very well. He had decent timing and could do the OTT/Panto-style stuff quite well.

However, the real shocker for me was Peter Davison, good ol' Doctor Who number 5, in the lead role as King Arthur. It took me a few minutes to recognize him, and I had no idea ahead of time that he was in the play. I was very happy to see him doing live theatre (I had no idea what he was up to these days other than a sitcom with one of his kids) and he could really do the comedic stuff well. Part of the draw for me in coming to London was to see Britishisms that people back home (mostly) wouldn't recognize but would make me giggle or gape in awe, and seeing Peter Davison was one of those things. If I hadn't had such a long day and murderously pained feet, I would have stood by the actor's entrance in hopes of getting a picture with him or something afterward.

Instead, I hobbled back to the tube station at Tottenham Court Road, went through the maze (and down an immense spiral staircase -- easily 125 steps) to get to the required platform, and went back to the flat... though not before I experienced by first tube delay, as a train a couple stations ahead wasn't cooperating properly and I got stuck at Bethnal Green station for a good 20 minutes while that was cleared up. The crappy part is that stop is the one before mine, so if the delay had occurred only one stop later, well, to me there would have been no delay.

The spotty wireless is working at the flat for now, so I'm going to take this opportunity to catch up on stuff since I was last online before I get ready to go see Underworld, live in concert, tonight at the Roundhouse.

Westminster & South Bank

2007-10-18T16:25:00.001+01:00

Today I tooled around Westminster and South Bank to see some sights. After a nothing day yesterday I made some ambitious plans to go around Westminster, South Bank, backtrack a bit to Tower Hill and then go back west to the West End to catch a play.

Most of that came to fruition at least. I took the tube from Mile End to Westminster and got off the train and walked around for a bit before making my way over to Parliament. There were literally cops EVERYWHERE around there, which doesn't surprise me, but the automatic weapons many of them carried looked a little out of place. I wanted to get a picture of one of them but didn't think it very appropriate to ask one if I'd be allowed to snap a shot or two. Nonetheless I got a bunch of pictures of Parliament and St. Stephen's Tower (what most refer to as Big Ben, which is incorrect as Big Ben is a bell at the top of the tower, not the tower itself. The more you know...). After a while I made my way over to Westminster Abbey and took some more pictures or the churches and surrounding area before going inside to walk around and check out the tombs.

I was highly disappointed that they didn't allow photography inside there. I figured they'd allow it (my research this morning was obviously insufficient), but despite having to pay £10 to get in photos were verboten. I knew there was no way I was going to remember all the folks entombed there so I wanted to take some pictures to remember as many as I could (even if I'd heard of few of them). So, as unfortunate as it is, no photos could be taken. Needless to say a lot of the tombs (and not just those of monarchs like Elizabeth I or Mary Queen of Scots) are very intricate, ornate and detailed. One thing that bothered my was my lack of Latin knowledge. A lot of the inscriptions and descriptions are in Latin and while I could understand some of what was written, not all of it was legible to me.

After an hour or so in the Abbey and around the property I left and crossed Westminster Bridge (made famous, of course, in the Doctor Who episode "Rose"...) to go around the South Bank area by the BA London Eye. That thing is impressive in photos but even moreso in person. It's freakin' huge to say the least, especially considering it's just a big ferris wheel. Before I left for here, my sister was in Edmonton for a visit and she was walking me through the construction and deployment of the Eye (she'd done a research project on it at school; she's in Engineering) and the way it was set up was amazing. It's really a cool thing to see when you know the history (such as it is, considering it's less than a decade old).

I'd decided to end the day by hitting the west end for a play, and while I'd hoped to see Joseph (after watching some episodes of the reality show a la Pop Idol choosing the next Joseph) I guess tickets aren't on sale (I have no idea when it opens to be honest, but I'll find that out today for curiosity's sake). I saw a playbill for it at a tube station though... naming the Adelphi theatre even...). Hmm, after looking, there are 4 performances in November but nothing until then, thus the inability for me to buy tickets.

Anyhow, I hopped the tube to Leicester Square and went to the TKTS booth (half price -- or so -- tickets can be had there, and at about a dozen other places around Leicester Square station) and I wound up choosing Spamalot since it seems so English to see something developed from Monty Python work. The finalists were that and We Will Rock You, a musical about/by Queen. Either seemed cool but Spamalot seemed more *fun* so that won out. It's nearly 5pm as I type this and the show is at 8:00. I'm at an internet cafe down the road from the theatre killing some time until I can take my seat, so despite the horribly uncomfortable chair I'm sitting in I'll see if I can last until 6:00 or so before departing to have some dinner. And they're playing American radio here... internet stream radio I expect, maybe satellite, but like, this is ENGLAND... should I not expect to hear more Oasis or something rather than Avril Lavigne and Eminem?

Anyhow, if there's a viable net connection back at the flat (it's spottier than a teenager) I'll see about getting some of today's photos posted when I get back.

Pics

2007-10-18T11:51:00.000+01:00

Not much is up yet, but I've stareted posting pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/cburgess for anyone who wants to look...

Daily Grind

2007-10-17T11:07:00.000+01:00

It's 11am Wednesday morning and I've not had reliable internet access except when I come to this internet cafe about a 5 minute walk from the flat. I spent some time here yesterday morning catching up on email, news, etc. and I'm back again this morning.

After a sketchy morning yesterday, I hauled my butt out of bed and after spending some time at the internet cafe I took my first tube ride, going to Mile End station (the nearest stop) and taking the Central line to Oxford Circus. Why there? Well, the Regent Street Apple Store is a half block or so from there and that was one place I decided I wanted to visit early. I've only been to one other Apple store, in Palo Alto, a few years back when I was in San Francisco for MacWorld. It was a much smaller store than the Regent Street one here, but then unlike the downtown London one it's not a flagship store. The place is indeed beautiful and loaded with Apple gear, and was definitely very busy. There were a few dozen staff members at least so they at least appear to be doing good business. However, after wandering around for 15 or so minutes, the lustre wore off as it's just a store in the end, and I wasn't there to buy anything.

I left the store and did some walking around, winding up going toward and past Tottenham Court Road and then up toward Goodge Street tube stations. There's a monthly gathering of London-based Doctor Who fans which takes place at the Fitzrovia Tavern, a block southwest of the Goodge St. station, and I made sure to find it since I was in the area so I knew where to go if I happened to be able to make one of those gatherings. I stopped in for a bit to have some lunch and a few pints, and wound up sitting with a few older ladies (the place wasn't packed but it was far from empty) in town for some reason or another. After a few pints of bitter (proper, room-temperature bitter, not that shite you get back in Canada!) I left, did a smidge of grocery shopping at a nearby Sainsbury's, then hopped the tube back to the flat to do nothing else the rest of the day as my feet were killing me.

Along the way I did buy the new Underworld album which came out Oct 16 in North America but has been out a few weeks here in the UK. I'd previously downloaded it, but will have to listen to it again since I've got a ticket for their concert on Friday and the Roundhouse by Chalk Farm tube station.

Time to go now. I left my camera back at the flat but I think I'll be going back to pick it up and do some more sightseeing around town. Perhaps Big Ben and Parliament.

Moving in...

2007-10-15T13:01:00.001+01:00

I've arrived at my flatshare, which is a smaller bedroom (as is the norm for what I sought, so I'm not surprised there) which isn't exactly clean. The place needs a good hoovering at the very least, but the walls are clean and there's only a bit of dust otherwise. I've signed the lease agreement but so far have not returned it to the landlord as I require a copy of it for myself, so I'll either get a copy from the landlord or go make a copy myself when I go for a jaunt later to see what's around the area.

I've taken pictures of most of the space, especially of places that could be questionable later on (a couple stains on the floor, a split seam in the wallpaper, etc.) and will soon email the landlord that I have done so and will ask what method is best to supply them with copies of all the photos so they know what I show at the end of the term is what they've had all along -- no room for funny business from either side of the equation.

The area is very ethnic. I'd read something the other day about the population being something like 40% Bangladeshi, and I can certainly attest to the non-white population comprising the nearby area. As long as I can easily find stuff I'm used to (crappy white food) it's all good.

The ad to which I responded promised certain amenities for the room which are as of yet not in place. I've been informed the people with whom I'm residing have only just moved in themselves and as such not all the furniture is in place, nor is the internet connection up and running. A neighbour (it seems) has an open wireless access point so I'm currently connected to that with a good degree of reliability. It's not the speediest of connections but for now beggars can't be choosers.

Once I get a copy of the lease agreement the next step is to get to a nearby bank and open an account. After that it's sorting out a mobile phone. I know what I'm going to get and from which carrier and at what tariff, it's just a matter of satisfying the requirements to obtain a monthly plan (versus pay as you go), among which is a bank account (last I saw anyway). Then it's some sightseeing and the Underworld concert on Friday. Somewhere in between will begin the job hunt so that I can sustain my cash flow.

I've had a really up and down weekend personally, between the excitement of being in a new place and the doldrums of missing people back in Canada already. I'm frankly not an emotional person but I've been on more of an emotional rollercoaster than I can remember for the longest time. I'll soon level out a bit and that'll make things easier, but for now it's really much tougher than I first anticipated.

If nothing else I do look forward to a bit of privacy and quiet relative to the hostel where I really got very little sleep during the night (having to take daytime naps to sustain myself, and also because of the time zone adjustment). As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure after I grab a glass or six of water I'll be taking a nap.

More to come later.

Oh, and speaking of the emotional rollercoaster, man was it cool to drive by Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and other well-known attractions on the way from the hostel to the flatshare. I think I'm going to like this place.

G'Day

2007-10-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

Okay wrong greeting but still...

So I got into Heathrow about 11:45 Friday morning. Short trip to immigration. It took about 5 minutes in line and about a minute at the counter to get my passport stamped and to move along. My baggage was waiting for me when I got to the baggage claim. I hopped a cab to the hostel because it was WAY too awkward to deal with what I had on me to take the tube. I was at the hostel by 12:45 or so after a £41.60 (!!!!) fare. Thank goodness you're not expected to tip!

I had to wait until 2pm to check in but I stored my luggage and went for a walk to see what was about. I found an M&S Simply Meals, Sainsbury's (both Local and full-blown) and a Tesco within walking distance, not to mention Boots, Carphone Warehouse, etc etc. I've not left the hostel too much otherwise since I fear for my stuff (and since it's now all I own in the world, I feel that's justified!) as well as being a bit scattered with the time difference. I'm paying £3/hr to get on the wifi (with which I get a killer connection to the router but not no great to the outside world, but it's usable).

I went and picked up an Oyster card today while the queue at Earl's Court station was small. Last night I went walking for a bit and got a smidge lost, getting as far away as 3 tube stops, which was about a half-hour walk away not counting meandering to and fro. Nevertheless I found my way back before too long thanks to maps on bus shelters and today I've done the least so far because my feet are killing me after the nearly 3-hour walk last night.

All in all it was a safe trip and aside from the snoring of the roommates at the hostel (and the cramped bed) the place is safe and clean and it's all good.

Tomorrow I meet my landlord to get the keys to my proper place and I can get settled.

(Originally written Sunday night, posted Monday morning due to technical issues.)

Edmonton Oil Kings

2007-09-21T05:43:00.000+01:00

I've just returned home from the franchise opener (of sorts) for the Edmonton Oil Kings hockey club, which plays in the WHL, against the Kootenay Ice (the franchise which used to play in Edmonton a few years back). Despite scoring the first goal a little more than 2 minutes into the game, the Oil Kings skaters found themselves mostly outplayed. Nevertheless they hung on and tied the game at 3 a little more than halfway into the 3rd period before a bad bounce goal gave them the victory with less than a couple seconds left in the frame.

All in all it was an enjoyable evening, especially since the ticket was free, but there's still something to be said for the player calibre of the NHL. These Oil Kings guys (not to mention the Ice players) were falling all over themselves, getting tangled up with one another and generally looking amateurish. There were still some nice plays, but it's not hard to tell the players aren't quite ready for primetime.

Post 100 - Doctor Who Books

2007-08-28T03:44:00.000+01:00

As a sign of my nerd-dom, for my 100th post here I am posting pictures of my collection of Doctor Who books, mainly because it seemed like a good reason for a hundredth post... plus today I gave them all away pending my move. I'm going to miss these dead trees.

(As always, click an image for a larger version.)

The collection as a whole.

The First Doctor

The Second Doctor

The Third Doctor

The Fourth Doctor

The Fifth Doctor. Resurrection of the Daleks was never published.

The Sixth Doctor... note the absence of Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp. I thought I had each of those but apparently not. Revelation of the Daleks was never published.

The Seventh Doctor. Note the absence of Remembrance of the Daleks. I thought I had it but apparently not.

New & Missing Adventures

Miscellaneous titles.

Anyone who knows anything about Doctor Who books will notice the collection is far from complete. Apart from the missing titles noted above, I stopped buying New Adventures after a few years and completely missed out on the titles published by the BBC itself, among numerous other releases over the years. Also missing are the hardcover books I had. The pictures are how they are (with all the overlap) on purpose in case I ever decide to try stitching them together.

Whew, that's a lot of books.

Social Wallpapering

2007-08-27T05:30:00.001+01:00

Think reddit or Digg meets wallpaper. Web 2.0 has come to the desktop, in a literal sense. Vote wallpapers up or down, share, post, etc. Very cool stuff there to say the least. Social Wallpapering, who woulda thunk it.

Radio Free Skaro

2007-08-22T22:53:00.001+01:00

Last night I had the opportunity to join the discussion on the latest episode of Radio Free Skaro, a podcast about Doctor Who (my favourite show as a kid). Unfortunately the content was a fan commentary for Evolution of the Daleks, one of the weaker episodes of the latest series, but it was still a hoot. I must admit I'm surprised I made it through three viewings of that episode over the past two days (one for taking notes, one for the recording, one for the playback), something I didn't think I could manage considering how terrible it is. The upshot is things only get better from that point for the series so subsequent podcasts will be even more fun.

Of course, everyone says "I don't sound like that!" when they hear a recording of their own voice, and I'm no exception. I couldn't believe that's what I sound like, and even went so far as to ask a couple friends if that was really how I sounded. Apparently it is, although I still choose to disbelieve them. Nevertheless once I make adjustments like not having the headset mic so close I may sound more like I think I do. Or something.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

2007-08-17T00:09:00.000+01:00

The paperwork has come through, I've told everyone I can reach (either in person or via email), and it's time to announce here that as of October 11 I'll no longer be in Canada. I'm moving to London, England as of then to try life over there.

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye...

Watch this space as I'll be posting details about the move, pictures, and so on as things progress. What an exciting time!

Nifty-roo

2007-08-10T09:01:00.001+01:00

So close to the best starting hand for Omaha... well, Omaha high anyway. Too bad that tournament was H/L split, but at least I won it. Whee. Still, I've never had the best starting hand (pocket aces & kings double-suited). The hand after I had AAA in the hole. What a waste of an ace.

Guitar Hero is still king

2007-08-01T21:33:00.000+01:00

It seems the followup to Guitar Hero just isn't selling as well as initially hoped. That's really too bad since some of the now-scrapped sequels might have been interesting.

Another victory for reason

2007-07-30T21:59:00.000+01:00

Nazi Pope Benedict XVI has taken a bold step by admitting there's "substantial" evidence to prove the theory of evolution. One Christian down, a zillion more to go.

Work of fiction

2007-07-30T21:52:00.001+01:00

I simply *had* to post this when I came across it (via Digg). If only certain people out there realized the truth...

(Click image for larger version.)

Best. Movie. Ever.

2007-07-28T06:45:00.000+01:00

Well, not really, but I just got back from opening night of The Simpsons Movie. Overall I have to say I quite liked the flick as the jokes were jokey, the writing was pretty darn good, and the animation was simply beautiful. It's definitely something fans of the TV series will want to see, however, as far as character development and plain old show progression go, it doesn't hold a candle to South Park Bigger, Longer and Uncut... one thing I expect from movies based on TV shows -- especially those from either recently-ended shows (eg. X-Files) or still-running shows (eg. South Park) is to have the movie do things the TV show can't. Sure we get some of that with Homer flipping the bird and Marge saying "god damn" but really we could have had more (though Bart getting drunk was a nice touch). Compare what we get in The Simpsons Movie in that regard to what Matt & Trey deliver with South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut and TSM just can't hold a candle.

However, one thing that The Simpsons has done fairly well over the years is wrap stories up in a neat little package so the world in which the characters exist doesn't drastically change when all is said and done (excepting notable events like the death of Maude Flanders, for instance). The movie is no different in that regard and for those who watch the show but may not see the movie, there's nothing you'll miss by skipping it come October or November when the new season premieres. Unlike SPBLaU. And that's not necessarily a good thing.

3.5/5

Post #90

2007-07-16T07:57:00.001+01:00

I guess I'm nearing 100 posts, which I find surprising given the amount of neglect this blog sees. As it stands it's been nearly a month since I last posted. The really sad part is not much has gone on in that time. I've been to a few movies (Ratatouille, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, etc.), watched a bunch of movies at home, played some poker (tonight I played a home game where I finished out of the money in a $25 tourney but chopped the prize pool with Rob in a $10, 6-player tourney afterward, so I'm down $5 for the night; last week when GST Credit cheques came out I went with Rob to River Cree and proceeded to lose a rack there, so I'm not faring so well at making money from poker as of late), and so on.

There are always things on the backburner (as anyone who's looked at my Facebook status over the past weeks may be aware), but that's really it for what's going on these days.

Oh, and the strike at Palace Casino was settled about a week ago, I guess that means it's time to remove the little banner supporting the striking workers.

Sometimes, teh intarwebs are useful

2007-06-19T23:59:00.000+01:00

I've just heard about http://whocalled.us/ which is a service for looking up numbers, often for telemarketers; so if you have CallerID and are annoyed by telemarketers, it might be worth scoping out that site. The main page doesn't mention Canada per se but Canadian area codes are in there.

Stevenote 11.6.2007

2007-06-11T23:07:00.000+01:00

I'm not energetic enough to retype my thoughts about today's dull Stevenote from WWDC, so I shall paste my remarks as posted on freyburg.com:

I did a very rough and dirty test of Firefox vs Safari in Vista this afternoon, and Firefox renders pages about 2-3x faster than Safari. I'm talking solely of typing a url, hitting go, and waiting until the page is fully loaded. It was... dismal. Firefox on the OSX side is sluggish there's no doubt, but once it goes Cocoa in v3 maybe it'll be nicer. Nonetheless, Safari is so ugly and feature-deprived versus Firefox I can't see giving up the 'fox.

As for the Leopard features, not counting the ones already discussed/known, nothing is exciting. Transparency and 3d effects in the Finder... whoopie tilt. How about fixing the bugs instead of padding the fluff? The unified look and feel, well, it's about damn time. There's no good reason why the Finder, Mail and iTunes (arguably the three most-used apps for OSX users) each look different from the other. Coverflow in the Finder? Yawn. QuickView? How 1980s. Stacks? How 1970s. A fixed download folder in the dock? Wasted space!

Leopard is a fine-looking OS, it has a lot of spiffy features that I know I'll use, but I couldn't contain my yawns while watching the Stevenote transcript coming flooding across Firefox. I've said it before and I'll say it again... the more new stuff Apple releases, the more I realize I'm nowhere near their target demographic.

Other remarks from me not yet posted elsewhere:

I realize the WWDC is a software event, but why were there no hardware announcements? Last year we get the Mac Pro, this year we get... zilch. The iMacs and Mac Minis are each long overdue for a refresh. The Cinema Displays are even longer overdue for a refresh.

How about even having better price parity here with the US Apple store, thanks to the dismal US dollar? The Canadian dollar is trading above 94c US as I write this, making (for example) the recently-released 15" MacBook Pro 2.4GHz about a $150 premium ($2799 CDN is the Canada store list price, whereas the US store $2499 USD list price works out to about $2650 CDN). I don't doubt it's as bad or worse in other parts of the world either... for instance, at the UK Apple Store the same 15" MacBook Pro sells for £1599 (including VAT) which translates to about $3150 US... a $650 premium! Exclude the VAT and it's $2680 US, a nearly $200 premium ($2499 US translates to roughly £1270). Maybe Canada's not so bad off after all!

Colour me disappointed and move along, I guess.

Thanks, Sens.

2007-06-07T04:56:00.000+01:00

The Sens gave it a good run this post-season, far better than they've managed for a very, very long time... they just hit a brick wall with the Ducks and now will have a year to wait to see if they can repeat their Eastern Conference domination.

Thanks for a wonderful season and playoff guys, we still love ya!

Still here...

2007-06-04T10:26:00.001+01:00

I've not posted much lately, but then I've not had much to post. I've not been going to the casino (though I did go to a home game a week ago and finished out of the money, 6th of 25; the top 2 wound up getting paid), and aside from Saturday, I've not been keen to write about hockey. So, this is just a quick late-night-can't-sleep post to say that yep, I'm still here. Crib is this coming Thursday after an extra week's gap... I came in fourth last time so I got paid for the first time in ages there, and hopefully I'll fare better yet as it's the second-last event before the summer break.

I might be glad when the Stanley Cup finals are over though... I've been consuming WAY too much beer as of late (even on non-game days). Except then we're into the summer beer-drinking season, so who knows.

Sens vs. Ducks

2007-05-23T04:46:00.000+01:00

To say the third period of the just-completed Ducks/Wings game 6 was wacky is an understatement. The Ducks entered the third period up 3-0 and had to scramble to hold on for the win after the Wings made a game of it at 4-3. I wanted the Ducks to win, but I'd have preferred they do so in 7 games so there's not so much of a rest for them before the finals.

Nevertheless, the teams are set. GO SENS GO!

Monday, May 28

2007-05-23T03:03:00.000+01:00

Today the NHL released the schedule for the Stanley Cup finals, and they begin in 6 days on Monday, May 28. The first game in Ottawa is the following Saturday, June 2, and it's actually in prime time rather than early afternoon to accommodate NBC and their crappy coverage.

GO SENS GO!!

The Sens and the Finals

2007-05-21T22:32:00.000+01:00

Ottawa lost its grip ever so slightly against the Sabres before Captain Alfie popped in the winner during the first overtime period to send the Sens to the cup finals for the first time in the team's modern era.

I for one can't wait for the finals to begin. I'm not even really bothered who wins between Detroit and Anaheim, though I have a feeling the Ducks would be the easier opponent for Ottawa. However, having the Sens play the Wings means a nice, consistent time for games starting, which might make things easier on the Sens so they're not shifting time zones and having to readjust. Given the way the NHL schedule is now drawn up, teams in the East so rarely have to deal with alternate time zones that it might just be enough of a shock to have to play games 3 times zones away from what they're used to. On the flip side, despite being in the eastern time zone, Detroit as a western team is used to shifting around so maybe they could get slightly thrown off by this consistency... hmm...

Nevertheless, there's at least a week gap between Sens games, which is going to be tough to take, but it means they'll be well-rested for game one of the Cup finals... I just hope they're not TOO rested, if you know what I mean.

Quicksand?

2007-05-16T12:24:00.000+01:00

Another trip to the casino, another loss. This time it wasn't so bad as I only dropped $15 after about 3 hours of play... and I only stopped because my table was getting broken and there were no seats at the other table. I was up a fair chunk after my first hand came through and I rivered a flush and I immediately turned to Rob and said we should stop because I was up. Shaun was there as well and he was up over $400 after his first hand when his pocket queens held up and he too came over and said it was time to stop. Of course, none of us did... in the end, Rob was down almost $40, I was down $15, and Shaun played for a while longer and finished $1100 to the good after sucking out big time in one hand where he made about $400 or $500. Rob took off, Shaun and I went for breakfast, and now there's talk of going back later today for a Noon tournament.

Running total: $151 to the bad. And I forgot, AGAIN, to grab a copy of the May poker room schedule.

3-0 Sens, woot!

2007-05-15T09:04:00.000+01:00

Tonight the Sens showed they could control a hockey game with the best of them, limiting Buffalo (who led the league in goals during the regular season, with Ottawa being a close second, and had not been shut out in about a year) to 15 shots and no goals in a convincing (though tense!) victory en route to taking a stranglehold on the Eastern Conference final, all but assuring their presence in the Stanley Cup finals beginning next week. This is the deepest Ottawa has reached since scrambling to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Eastern Conference final in 2003 to force a game 7, only to lose to the eventual Cup winners, New Jersey. This is the first time Ottawa has led a series 2-0, let alone 3-0 and nothing comes close for the team to this accomplishment in the modern era of the NHL, though the city of Ottawa has enjoyed 10 Stanley Cups in a quarter-century span in the early years of professional hockey. Game 4, possibly the deciding game, goes Wednesday night and I know my eyes will be glued to the TV.

On another note, I swung by Absolute Power last night to hang out with Shaun for a bit and play some Company of Heroes (which is an alright game, though much like any other RTS out there) before going to the casino. I played for about 4 1/2 hours, and cashed out when Shaun decided he was too tired to go on. I wound up down a fair amount, dropping $154 on the night. That puts me back in the red for poker winnings at $136 to the bad. Time will tell if I head back to the casino (if I say that enough times maybe it'll happen) but I'm definitely disinclined to do so any time soon. I've certainly done worse in the past, but I've also done much better.

A long night

2007-05-07T11:26:00.000+01:00

So I went to that home game tonight, and while there were 17 or so people last time (which I guess was September, at least according to one of the organizers, as I couldn't recall exactly) only 9 happened to show up tonight. As a result, the payouts were smaller, so to slightly compensate, the buy-ins were raised a bit (from $20 to $22). It took a blind level or two to get going but I got the chip lead reasonably early thanks to one hand where I turned the nut straight and had someone who turned two pair raise me all-in. I won some more decent pots here and there and had a rather nice lead until I was dealt Ace-King (my black cat hand to be sure) and someone with pocket 5s raised all-in. As much as I despise AK I called and I didn't hit a thing. I doubled him up and he began to rush... and rush for a while. Before long I'd lost my chip lead to him and I was skidding downhill uncontrollably, bleeding chips all over the place. A bit of back and forth and I managed to pull out 3rd place and get paid. I made all of $3 for my efforts, but at least it wasn't a loss. That person who beat me in the AK coin flip did eventually win it all, and Rob came in 2nd.

The last time we played there, I finished 2nd, Rob finished 3rd and James (the winner tonight) placed 4th. The winner from last time wasn't present this evening, so I'm really not surprised the same three people finished at the top. I would say the three of us are the strongest players there and it showed, twice. We did have one complete newbie at the table, someone who'd never played before at all, and he caught on fairly well with the play and betting structures and he finished 5th overall. Congrats to him on performing well his first time out.

After all was said and done, I called Shaun to see if he wanted to grab a bite to eat since Rob and I were in his neck of the woods (which doesn't happen often) but nothing panned out there so Rob and I bombed around town and visited the two casinos I'd never been to. The first was Century, on Fort Road, and although it's a nice looking place it was very dead (and small!). I expect it being 1am on a Sunday night/Monday morning was a factor... but the poker room was very quiet. They only had 6 tables set up, of which two were in use (one for 3/6, the other for 1/2 NL). Oddly enough the poker room doesn't operate 24/7, so that place is definitely out for those late-night outings.

After Century we visited Yellowhead casino. Yellowhead has the biggest poker room in town, and has been featured in CPT tournaments and TV broadcasts. They had 15 tables set up, although only 5 were in use. Shortly after we arrived they broke the sole 3/6 table but there were still three 1/2 NL tables and a 5/10 PL table. I wouldn't have minded sitting down at 3/6 with a rack, but there was of course no game to join. We didn't stay for long and soon left.

Rob called home and found out his girlfriend wanted something from McDonald's, so that begain about an hour's quest of finding a place that was open and had what was needed. After driving by several obviously-closed places we found an open McDonald's only to be told they didn't have any ice cream (a chocolate milkshake was the desired object). Eventually we found an open A&W and fulfilled all goals. Now I'm quite wiped.

Back in Black

2007-05-05T10:39:00.000+01:00

A trip to the poker room tonight proved to be far more fruitful than I expected after about the first 2 hours of play. I lost a few bucks on my first hand, chasing as usual, and from there I really didn't recover for a long, long time. My stack dwindled more and more until finally I was down to about $15 or so. I looked down at pocket jacks and raised, knowing I'd make my stand there. I was patient enough to wait for the high pocket pair so I was going to go hard. An ace hit the flop, which didn't impress me, but thankfully a Jack fell on the turn. Another Ace on the river assured my full house (gotta love runner runner tight!) and I ran over a straight which had out-turned me. I recovered a little bit there, and recovered a lot more -- going back to a smidge more than even -- when my pocket 9s flopped a set and I rivered a full house to ensure that pot. I was set to stop there but I wanted to play for the kill. It didn't come, but the hand after, my last hand before my next big blind, I was dealt King-Queen offsuit and the flop showed two Queens. Someone else had Queen-Eight and my kicker played to take the pot and I cashed out up $64.

Grand total for poker earnings: I'm out of the red, back into the black, sitting up $15. Now that I've crawled out of the hole I'm wondering if I should actually implement my plan of not going back to the casino. I've got a home game coming up this weekend, which is a $20 buy-in, so unless I cash in the tourney I'll be back in the red by $5. I finished 2nd of 17 or 18 last time at that venue, so hopefully I can fare as well again, if not better.

Also, I finally popped my cherry at the craps table. I've played loads and loads at Dave's for play money but never for real dough at a casino. I was waiting for my seat in the poker room, and Shaun was playing, so I figured I'd drop a Borden and see how I fare. It didn't take a great amount of time before I was down to a couple placed bets and a line bet and nothing else, as is the norm for me at Dave's, but after a few of my placed bets came in I started to rebuild a bankroll. A few more and I was even. A few more still and I was up. I bought in for that $100 and cashed out at $150 when I rolled a 7 with the point on to lose my dough on the table (though I did pull one placed bet the roll before). It was fun, but I'm not sure how much I'll do it in the future given the luck factor involved.

Lucky You

2007-05-03T05:40:00.000+01:00

I just got back from a screening of Lucky You, the new flick from Curtis Hanson, who has done some wonderful films in the past (such as The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, L. A. Confidential and Wonder Boys) and while the story element was clichéd and predictable, I was mostly there to see the poker element. It's rare that poker movies, or more commonly movies with poker, get things "right"... Rounders is still the benchmark, and while Lucky You got things *mostly* right (but generally obvious; Doyle Brunson was credited as the poker consultant, so at least they got one of the best in that role), Rounders has nothing to worry about.

It was nice to see a bunch of celebrity pro poker players in the movie, but more impressively their roles were understated and it just worked. I did find it strange that a couple of them (Jennifer Harman and John Hennigan, especially) played people other than themselves, but really the acting role was hardly a stretch for any of them.

My biggest problem was with the revisionist history... the movie is based around the 2003 World Series of Poker main event, so one would expect some element of reality to be in place. Well, one would be wrong. Sam Farha, who came runner-up to Chris Moneymaker, was shown as being eliminated early on in the movie... that didn't sit well. I did appreciate they had a Moneymakeresque character in there so at least all was not subjected to artistic license. It was nice to see the WSOP brand featured in the movie, and no doubt Harrah's was paid some good coin for the use of the brand, but if they're going to change history then I would have much rather the movie had a fictitious name for the tournament at the end so people who know the history don't sit there and groan at how it's changed.

Mo' Poker

2007-04-28T07:48:00.000+01:00

I visited Mr. Casino tonight, playing for over 4 hours, peaking at a little over $80 to the good before giving most of the winnings back and finishing up $14. The last hand took a good chunk of that away as my big ace got run over by two small pair in a kill pot. Running total: $49 to the bad.

One down, three to go

2007-04-27T02:38:00.000+01:00

Ottawa has just finished off the Devils in game one of their playoff series. Ottawa got a fantastic jump in the game before New Jersey mounted a comeback to nearly tie the game. An early third period goal by Wade Redden wound up being the game winner and Ottawa has taken home ice advantage and a 1-0 series lead.

GO SENS GO

Weekend Update

2007-04-24T06:08:00.000+01:00

This past weekend saw one of the twice-yearly Doctor Who gatherings take place for us Who nuts. The usual gang was there for the most part -- Jean-Paul, Gary, David and myself -- but we had a couple changes. Mike S. joined us for lunch but bailed on the viewing segment after he was unable to find Gary's place, and Mike A. had to work so he couldn't attend. We had a pseudo-celebrity guest in the form of I Am Steven, one of the cohosts of Radio Free Skaro, a weekly-ish Doctor Who Podcast. We sat around, we talked Who, we dissected the episodes, we basically geeked out all day, and it was fun.

The sole downside (and I did ask Jean-Paul to remind me to rant about this) was that Gary was looking for a new TV to celebrate a new job, and to splash out a bit for the Who shindig, but the one he wanted to buy could not be found in stock. One of the alternates I'd noted to him was available and in stock, but was on sale until a few days before he had time to shop, and when we swung by Best Buy to see if he could still get it at the sale price, the sales clerk said no dice. I've had horrible luck with Best Buy coming down in price for TVs and this time was no different. Obviously customer satisfaction is not high on their list of priorities. So, Gary and the rest of us left the store without a shiny new toy, and Gary's hunt for a new TV shall continue. (The worst part was the sale price wasn't really that much lower than the regular price - how chintzy!)

And the weirdest part of the day... Jean-Paul and I swung by Superstore to grab some wine for the afternoon and we came across the strangest combination either of us could imagine, a Shiraz-Viognier mix. We both dig the Shiraz. We both dig the Viognier (him more than me, but I still like it). The mixture of the two seemed so improbable, we were speechless. Literally speechless. Needless to say we bought it. I rather enjoyed it and might have to buy it again one day. I can't remember the vineyard from whence it came, but frankly I can't imagine many places doing this mixture, so if I do come across it again it's fairly likely it'd be the same product as I had yesterday.

Round Two: FIGHT!

2007-04-24T05:55:00.000+01:00

Ottawa versus New Jersey. That's the matchup the Sens face starting this Thursday. While I had hoped Tampa Bay would prevail over the Devils, especially after holding a 2-1 series lead, I'm far from surprised they lost. New Jersey tends to field a strong team year after year, and it's been 4 years since they've squared off against the Sens. The result from that series, the Eastern Conference Final, went 7 games before the Sens fell to the Cup-winning Devils.

This would be the perfect series for Ottawa to get the playoff monkey off the team's back, especially considering what happened the last time these teams met in the playoffs. Key players like Alfredsson and Spezza will need to step up; Alfie has had one of his best playoff rounds yet, and Spezza did well but still has some room for improvement. If some of the marginal players like Chris Kelly and Mike Comrie can keep up the momentum then the Sens will have an easier time vanquishing the Devils. Overall, the key is Brodeur and always will be for as long as he's around. Get to him and the rest of the pieces fall into place.

GO SENS GO.

Sidney Crosby is overrated

2007-04-20T02:32:00.000+01:00

The timer has just run out on game 5 of the Ottawa/Pittsburgh series, and Ottawa has clinched the series with a convincing 3-0 victory. Ottawa, during the regular season, was the best team at stifling Sidney Crosby's abilities, and that held true for most of the 5 games in this series as well. Pittsburgh got severely outplayed, and the Sens are now on their way to the second round; the second round opponent has yet to be decided.

Kudos to Crosby for invigorating the game, and best of luck to him in the future. I don't know if I envision him winning a Stanley Cup any time in the next few years (it took Mario Lemieux several years before he won a cup with the Pens) but I definitely see him helping Pittsburgh being more of a mainstay in the playoffs.

GO SENS GO

2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs

2007-04-12T06:50:00.000+01:00

The most wonderful time of the year has arrived, the start of the NHL playoffs. There were some surprise teams making the cut (most notably the New York Islanders) and we're no doubt in store for some fantastic games.

Already we've seen an overtime battle between San Jose and Nashville, with the Sharks prevailing after giving up a 2-goal lead late in the 3rd period and losing their highest scorer, Jonathan Cheechoo.

Ottawa won its game quite easily, dominating the Penguins in game one of their series, leading by as many as 5 goals before the game finished at 6-3 for the Senators. While I always fear for the Sens in the playoffs, they've got a good start under their belts to be sure.

As I type this, Dallas and Vancouver are still deadlocked, a little past the halfway mark in the 2nd overtime frame. I'm really pulling for the Canucks, if only because I want all the Canadian teams to advance as far as they can. So, while I generally wouldn't cheer for the Canucks or Flames, I'll be doing so for as long as they can stick around.

I can't wait to see how things unfold.

Bleh

2007-04-11T13:39:00.000+01:00

Went to casino. Got run over a few times. Won a few pots. Spent 5 hours and $100 there. Came home. Must sleep. Peak: $145 or so. Best hand: hitting runner-runner quads with pocket 9s. Running tally: $63 to the bad.

Easter

2007-04-10T07:32:00.000+01:00

This year, for a change, I attended multiple Easter dinners. One was last night at my Dad's place, after we got back from curling, where we had lamb. It was fun as usual, and we all got a bit tipsy at dinner and had some rather silly conversations (much thanks to Janita for starting the thread on flipper babies). The other was earlier today at Rob's place where his girlfriend made a huge feast of turkey, ham, all the fixings, and more. Attendees were Gail's sister and her husband, Hayden (and their son), with whom I worked for a couple years at Safeway and who hosted a poker tourney I attended last fall; Gail's mother; Rob's friend Ed; Rob, Gail and myself. There can sometimes be strife when Gail's family gets together but things were mostly okay today, thankfully. So, I gorged myself more than once this holiday. That's probably a bad thing in the long run, but it is what it is.

Curling

2007-04-10T07:12:00.000+01:00

This past weekend I attended the Ford World Men's Curling championships here in Edmonton. Overall it was a fun event full of wonderful curling and not-so-wonderful curling alike. I bought tickets for the event for my Dad for Christmas so he and I went to most of the draws I attended. One of them was Thursday afternoon and I went with my aunt as Dad was out of town during the day. When I bought the tickets I worried that the best games (read: the playoffs) may not feature Canada. While Canada is a curling powerhouse, there's never any guarantee the Canadian team will go the distance. Thankfully, the Glenn Howard rink not only dominated the round robin but also annihilated its playoff competition.

A shot of Howard delivering an open hit for 3 to seal the win:

A shot of the aftermath:

So, while the event was fun and I had a good time, the seating at Rexall Place is horrible. I don't recall having so much difficulty in those seats before, but let me tell ya they are NOT designed for people nearly seven feet tall. I could manage sitting for about 2 ends on average before needing to get up and walk around to get circulation going again in my legs. If I was lucky I could sit for 3 ends. Saturday, for the bronze medal game, the people who normally sat to our right were absent so I sat in their seats and could spread out a bit since I was on the aisle. I had hoped (against all odds) they'd also be absent Sunday but they were not.

So, would I go again? I think I would so long as I could call Ticketmaster or whoever is handling ticket sales and talk to someone to make sure I have sufficient leg room. It's far too painful otherwise. My knees were literally sore every night after attending draws. Advil for the win!

This is a stupid idea...

2007-04-06T19:18:00.000+01:00

The title of this post are the first words I said to my friend Rob when I got in his car last night. After a long day out watching curling, I got home after a late supper with my dad only to have Rob say he was going to the casino and he wondered if I wanted to join him. Absolutely I did not, since I'd said I'm not going there any more.

So, of course I went.

What made me decide to actually go is that he said he was going to buy in with $50 (he didn't, he bought in with more) and play only that stack. If he won, he won. If he lost, he lost. Moreover, he said he wanted to go for no more than a couple hours. Given I was tired, it was late, and I didn't know how long I might be able to stay focused at the poker table, the short trip sounded appealing.

I lost a few bucks chasing on the first hand I was dealt, but not long afterward I had a powerful 5-2 offsuit in the small blind. I threw a couple more bucks in the pot when nobody raised preflop and the flop came 5 7 Q. A 2 on the turn made me bet out, and two of the other three people in the pot folded. Another 7 hit the river, counterfeiting my ducks, but my 5 was still good against the last player. So, I got back over my buyin there. A little later after someone made a joke about tilting and getting dealt aces, I picked up red aces. I was in 4th position, under the gun raised to 6, I reraise to 9, someone caps it at 12 (I forget who), and by the end of the hand the highest card on the board is a Jack and nobody can beat my aces. I took that pot, and one more later on with A J suited when it was heads up and both myself and the other player totally missed (we both had Ace high, my kicker played).

When all was said and done, and Rob lost his money and we decided to leave, I cashed out up $31. It wasn't much for winnings, but it was better than losing money. So that brings the winnings kitty to $37.

I still intend to not go back, but we'll see how things go.

Housekeeping note

2007-04-06T19:13:00.000+01:00

It appears, and I never knew this until today (because I never thought to look), Facebook allows the importing of blogs to your profile. Specifically, it allows for RSS feeds to be displayed in a person's "Notes" section. As a result of learning this information from my sister today, I've set up an RSS feed on my Facebook profile of this blog. If anyone who isn't aware wants to be, the address for this blog (which isn't shown on the RSS feed) is http://dubbayoo.blogspot.com -- the address where you can see nice formatting and such instead of what Facebook (or other RSS readers, in my experience) displays. So far the only glitch is that it's imported only 25 items -- and it's done so twice. That means I've got 50 "notes" from my blog, which are the most recent 25 posts, repeated. How annoying. But, overall, I like the idea.

New Who

2007-03-31T22:57:00.000+01:00

31 March, 2007. Series three of Doctor Who has begun.

Here are a couple (spoiler-free) remarks I made about it on Freyburg's blog a few minutes ago:

I've finished Smith & Jones... in a word, fantastic. Martha looks like she'll make a wonderful companion... already I like her more than Rose (though I never cared much for Rose). This is also, by far, RTD's best opener script. Unfortunately, the bar was set quite low with the dreck that was Rose and New Earth... both of which earned the lowest or next-to-lowest rank in their respective seasons on my list.

I expected to hate it just as I disliked Rose and New earth for series openers, but I definitely liked this one. The Judoon were actually quite cool once you see them in context.

Yep, the casino...

2007-03-28T13:15:00.000+01:00

Shaun wanted to go back to the casino tonight. I didn't want to go, but I didn't really put up a fight either. It took only a short time (half an hour, maybe 45 minutes) for my first rack to be whittled down to less than half. Thankfully I took a decent pot not long after that, hitting top pair on the flop with my Queen in the hole (this after getting run down with pocket Queens the hand before, by someone with K-4 offsuit, out of the blinds, with the pot being capped preflop). That took me back over my buy-in amount and I didn't look back.

Before long the game we were at got broken. Shaun moved to 1-2 NL while I moved to the main 3-6 game. The second hand in I chopped a pot and made a few bucks, then two or three hands later I rivered the nut flush to take down a massive ($250ish) pot. At my peak I was up over $160 in winnings, but I kept playing while Shaun sat at the 1-2 NL table. Eventually I got whittled down a fair bit, taking only one meager pot, before I stopped at $159, or up $59.

So, I cashed out, paid Shaun the $100 I borrowed from him last outing, and pocketed the $59 difference. Between what I kicked in to get my previous winnings amount to $200 (which I lost last outing) and the $27 I spent last week at the "freeroll" tournament, I'm now back in the black for poker winnings. I'm up $6. Whee!

Ron Moore Interviewed

2007-03-27T18:24:00.000+01:00

An interview with Ron Moore regarding the aftermath of the series 3 finale aired this past weekend. Spoilers abound for those who haven't seen the finale.

Overall it doesn't say too much about what will happen in series 4, but that seems to be chiefly because Moore himself hasn't decided what will happen in series 4.

Daleks Take Manhattan

2007-03-27T17:46:00.000+01:00

Today we finally learned the last of the episode titles for series three of Doctor Who. There are some interesting titles in there, such as Evolution of the Daleks, a title which borrows from classic series Dalek story titles -- and is certainly nicer than the near-ripoff of a Muppet movie title for episode 4.

For your perusal, the Outpost Gallifrey article with the titles, as well as the Wikipedia article with the titles.