Hiccup

Nothing constructive to report today, but these are the things I find on the Internet. Actually, even as I write this, I'm thinking of new things to say. Writing is therapeutic and stimulates neurons. My neurons are lazy. Bad neurons! Moronic neurons!

It's that kind of day, so present to you:

Tiny Plaid Ninjas and Tiny Plaid Ninjas 2.

Also, check out Penguins Calls at SpinnerDisc (the author of Tiny Plaid Ninjas).

Geek Fest 2005

Yesterday, all 36 of my years were pounding down on my eyelids 'cause at midnight on the 19th, I stood in line with various other geeks 'round the block from the Paramount to see Revenge of the Sith. Just 10 years ago, I could recover rather well from an all nighter, but now at the hoary old chestnut age of 36, mah joints are achin'.

Still, it was worth it. ROTS definitely makes up for Attack of the Clones, although the "touching luv scenes" in ROTS drip with fromage. I kept expecting Ed the Sock to pop out of a vase and protest at the cheeziness of it all. George needs to go back to Film school to re-learn some cinematic basics about setting up a scene.

But aside from that, the movie holds together pretty well. I won't be revealing any great secret here (except for one girl I overheard saying "Y'know, I really thought until the end that Anakin could've gone either way on the Dark Side thing."), but it was heart wrenching to watch Ani give himself completely to the darkness. The tragedy of it was really well done and I flinched all the way to the end.

My only real complaint was the introduction of the Vader suit. This movie takes place roughly 20 years before Star Wars: A New Hope, so all the tech in the movie is outdated. The basic designs for the Star Destroyers, Imperial Cruisiers, Tie Fighters, and X-Wings are all there, but you can clearly see that they're bulkier and will be refined in 20 years.

But apprently, Vader's suit doesn't need an upgrade. The fashion trends in that galaxy far far away seem to trudge along much slower than the evolution of technology.

I just would've liked to see that there was a 1.0 version of the Vader suit with some kind of doodad that would've been phased out in subsequent versions (like a bulky aerial antenna so he could pick up the local rock station in his Doom Dome).

So now that we've got all the Star Wars chapters done, here are my favourites in order:

1. Chapter 5: Empire Strikes Back
2. Chapter 4: A New Hope
3. Chapter 3: Revenge of the Sith
4. Chapter 1: Phantom Menace
5. Chapter 2: Attack of the Clones
6. Chapter 6: Return of the Jedi (hated the fact at stormtroopers could so easily be dispatched by walking teddy bears)

Note: Fifth and Sixth place are closely tied and quite interchangable. Any thoughts?

Surprise!

I love surprise parties. I haven't had one in many, many years, so maybe you can imagine my surprise when I walked into my friend's apartment last night and saw all my friends waiting for me. We had gone out to play pool last night, like we usually do, but the rest of the evening was a blank to me. Something had been planned, but I didn't know what it was.

The table was covered samplings of my favorite foods and some of my closest friends sat 'round. We began to eat, laugh, and drink, sharing some great stories and explaining a few "incidents" that have occured over the years.

We played a drinking game called "I Never" (introduced to me by the fine lady known as Kowy), which involves each person stating something they have never done and each person at the table has to take a drink if they have done it. Some interesting truths were revealed that night!

So thanks to everyone who has made my 36th birthday special. It's been a fine year and I look forward to griping about turning 40 with all of you over the next four years.

Signs of Age

I completely forgot: today is my birthday and I'm 36 years old. I only remembered when Ms. Carotte woke up, looked at the clock, shook me awake, and wished me a happy birthday.

I usually try to organize some kind of doodad down at the local pub to celebrate the day, but it completely slipped my mind. Is this a sign of dementia taking hold?

Maybe it's too late to worry about that. And even if I did, I'd probably forget it in the next minute or so.

Hey! Did you know? Today is my birthday! Oh wait... I already said that. Dagnabbit it!

May Day Challenged

On Saturday, I led a public Bealtane ritual (May Day celebration) for the local Pagan community (organized by Montreal Sabbats and hosted by West Island Pagan Association). It went off extremely well and mostly without a hitch (I arrived a bit later than I expected).

But I learned an important lesson about organizing a maypole dance activity: you really need to use wide ribbons. I used yarn, and while it eventually worked, the process of twisting around the maypole took forever and the revellers were running out of steam.

We selected two people to be the King and Queen of May and had them stand at the base of the pole so that they could be bound to it by the yarn. Once they were bound, the people were given flowers and began to dance around them, throwing their flowers to them or inserting their flowers in the yarn or in their pockets.

By the time we were done, the King and Queen looked like a flower bush! I wished I had brought a camera, but ritual etiquette dictates that it is inconsiderate to take photos of people at a ritual (some people don't want a physical record of them being associated with a pagan event).

There were a couple of other things I had planned, but time and logistics made them impossible. All in all, it was a smashing success and my thanks go to everyone who made it possible.

This post has been Postponed tooooooooooooooo ... now

The word "postponed" is coming up way to often lately. I've been chosen to be on a team for a new contract that was supposed to start today, but it's been postponed for a month. This contract couldn't have come at a better time, because my company ain't doing that great and I really need some new work. Working this particular client also means long-term work, which means that I could be working there for up to two years if I play my cards right (ie: I don't sucker-punch the president of the company because he's taking to long to photocopy his secretary's bum).

But the word "postponed" also came up today because the Book Launch I was supposed to get in Quebec city has been pushed off. It seems there's a book fair going on in Quebec city this coming weekend and the bookstore owner doesn't have enough staff to run the store and be present at the fair. So he's suggested to postpone the book launch until September and coordinate it with a school tour.

Overall, not going to Quebec city on Saturday is a good thing because I'm leading a public ritual for Bealtane that night (for Montreal Sabbats) and it's a bit risky to be so far away from Montreal (2.5 hours east).

But all is not lost! I am speaking with the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec and they might be interested in putting together an evening of storytelling to promote the book (old Quebec city boy does good).

Still, I was disapointed today. I moped while playing WoW. I really need things to go my way now. Where is that good luck breeze?

Pillow Fumble

We were lazing in bed this morning, but I was pretty much awake. Ms. Carotte needed some more Zzzs, so I decided to get up and let her sleep some more.

Me: "I'm keeping you awake, aren't I?"

Her: "Maybe... zzzzz"

Me: "I'll just get up and let you sleep."

Her: "No, no... You can keep talking. I can still sleep and keep listening to you."

Me: (chuckling) "Sure... Why should today be any different?"

Newton: the Dark Cat Returns

Sometime late last year, I took a couple of photos of my cat Newton. Yes, I one of those owners who takes cutsie pics of his pet as if it were some kind of substitution for children. Just be glad that slide carrousels are going out of style.

I caught Newton between expressions which made him look a bit demonic. Then, as I clicked from site to site, I found the My Cat Hates You website. So in January, I sent the website a photo of Newton and hoped for the best.

Four months later, Newton has risen to a super-star of Evil! Click here to see his demonic side that I live in fear of every day.

Men in Retreat

Last weekend, I went to a spiritual retreat for men. No, I wasn't out fishing. No, I wasn't looking at stereo equipment. No, I wasn't out buying a car. I was at an honest-to-goodness Men's Retreat organized by the illustrious Pagan Owl of Ottawa.

We were supposed to be 30 guys, only eight of those people turned out. It kinda threw the scheduled events out the window, but the time spent was more organic (No, we weren't smoking pot) so we just flowed from breakfast to discussion to preparing for the evening's ritual to supper and so on. I had hoped for more spiritual discussion and development, but just having a weekend with other pagan men was strengthening on its own merits.

But we weren't entirely without the ladies. Our youngest, a goth in the making at the tender age of 15, was tempted away by the daughter of the owner of the land (Whispering Pines in Ontario). This is why we don't have women at a Men's Retreat. They are too distracting!

Saturday night was clear and a bit chilly, but being way out in the country, we could make-out most of the stars in the sky. It would have been more star-filled if the moon wasn't so bright. Fortunately, Rick decided to bring his telescope to add to the star-gazing activity.

I had never used a telescope to look at the moon and I was amazed at the detail you could make out. You could clearly see every crater, every mountain range, every boulder on the moon's surface. I brought my digital SLR camera with me and by adjusting the manual focus, I was able to use the telescope to take close-up photos of the moon.

You can see these photos at my Photoblog. Rick (being an avid astonomer himself) was so amazed at the quality of the photographs that he submitted them for review to the Sky and Telescope magazine (an American astronomy publishing company). Wouldn't that be cool: my first published photos!

Sorry for the long silence folks. Life is finally starting to pick up again, so I'm hoping to have more to say as the days get filled.

Culture Costs

We had our Tristan and Iseult show this evening and it was a beautiful night of storytelling. Melanie Ray was outstanding and mesmerizing as she told this story of action, adventure, and tragic romance. I had never heard the story in its entirety before, so this was a real treat.

The story of Tristan and Iseult has, over the years, been broken down into shorter individual stories and I recognized quite a few of them. It was great hearing them all linked together as a single epic telling.

However, we needed 60 people to attend to make ends meet. I had received 40 RSVPs and I had hope that the remaining 20+ people would just show up, but in the end, we only had 25 people in attendance. The missing 15 people either cancelled at the last minute or just never showed up. Drat.

I'd like to say that this will be the last big show we're putting on, but we have a largish charity concert taking place mid-May (for the Montreal Children's Hospital). After that, I think we need to focus our efforts on smaller, less expensive venues. We can't afford to keep running these shows at our own expense.

We need Canada Council monies to make this work. It's unfortunate to say, but promoting culture is not a money-making venture. To keep English storytelling alive, we need government support.

The grant applications are being filled out as we speak. Keep your fingers crossed.