the pod bay door

:: This week, Family Channel started broadcasting the one and only season of My So-Called Life, the brilliant, inventive show that introduced us to Claire Danes and Jared Leto. Danes went on to win the Golden Globe for her work on the show. ABC, of course, cancelled the series after one year. Network weasels, as Letterman would say. A quick ‘net search uncovered a detailed, encyclopedic MSCL site, on which it is noted that 10 years ago today, August 25, 1994, ABC aired the first episode. It remains one of my all-time favorite tv shows.

:: My mom is home from the hospital in Winnipeg, resting and recuperating as best she can, trying to regain her energy. It’s been a long four months of dealing with various medical problems. Thankfully she is on the mend.

:: On 23rd Avenue, which is the main west-to-east route near my house, a section of the south side has been resurfaced with asphalt. I love driving on it now, it feels like like my car is moving over a pillow.

:: I saw four movies on the weekend, including Festival Express, Control Room, Open Water, and the original Shaft (1971 version). I enjoyed the three new movies, especially Open Water. I think it’s a great achievement, given the small crew and the budget of $150,000US. The weekend estimates for the period ending 22 Aug 2004, show Open Water at $10,800,000US, which was an increase of 1,109% over the previous week, bringing it up to $13,900,000 as of yesterday. Not too shabby. I wonder if it might set a record for rate of return compared to cost of production.

:: Earlier this year, I bought a Swiffer WetJet. Today I bought the dry land version, along with the duster. I assembled them, and did some dusting. Life doesn’t get much more exciting, does it?

:: As posted to Blogcritics.com.

The Village, the new film by M Night Shyamalan, is a bit of a mess. One review I read tagged it as an extended episode of The Twilight Zone. I found the film ultimately disappointing. However, the performances by the cast members are uniformly superb, including Brendan Gleeson (who like Brian Cox, appears to be in every second film these days), despite having very little to do in the film. Leading the way are, ostensibly, the two leads: Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Dallas Howard, daugher of Opie/Richie Cunningham.

There is one scene with these two actors that deserves special mention, however, and I wish to describe it here. Therefore, if you haven’t seen the film, please note the following as a spoiler.
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:: My mother is at home tonight. Thank you to everyone who sent good thoughts and prayers, they were a big help. Apparently she developed food poisoning sometime yesterday. I’m hoping, finally, that she can take some time at home, and begin a rest and recovery period.

:: This is way too much fun.

:: Many thanks to all who sent me notes of support regarding my Mom. She was discharged yesterday, but needed to be go back to the hospital this morning in an ambulance, and remains in emergency at the moment, waiting for, yet again, another bed. This is her third trip there since July, and twice in the last few days. I have no other information. I spoke with my Dad, and he’s exhausted and hoarse from talking so much. Needless to say, I am frustrated and feeling useless, being 1,500 klicks and two provinces away from Winnipeg.

:: One can never have enough good friends – it’s a blessing. Case in point: Heavy G came by Saturday morning to examine three Juniper trees in the back yard and make a recommendation re: having the trees removed. A quote received earlier in the week from a tree service came in at $200.00. G was sure we could do it with a chain saw and solid effort. Convinced this could be done, we went to Home Depot and rented an electric chain saw. Once home, G got down to work, only the saw wouldn’t cut shyte. Trip #2 to Home Depot revealed that the chain was installed backwards on the bar. D’oh!

We returned with an Echo CS-670, gas-powered saw, and it worked fine for about 2/3 of the work until its chain came off the bar. We tried in vain, for about 45 minutes, to put it back on the bar, and eventually called HD, where the staff told us we needed a special tool to reinstall the chain.

Trip #3 to Home Depot resulted in a third saw, a replacement CS-670, after it was determined that the chain mechanism on the first CS-670 had a flaw of some sort. By now we were on a first name basis with the staff. I thanked Darren and Tyler and Marc, and G and I returned, successfully completing the tree takedowns. I took a turn wielding the machine, hacking away at trunks and branches into smaller, fireplace-friendly sizes. The remaining branches were piled up by the backyard trellis. Trip #4 to Home Depot was to return the saw and peripherals, and the boyz there gave me a 50% discount for the trouble.

In the end, it cost $20.01 to rent, plus a case of Coronas for G, instead of $200 to the tree service. The issue of concern had been grinding the stumps, but because the trees were sitting in a planter about 12-15 inches high, any further work in the planter will begin with fresh soil to fill up the space. The stumps and roots will be a non-issue at that time.

My thanks to Geoff for taking time from his day to help me remove the trees.

:: While typing the above, I received a phone call from Winnipeg, from a friend of my mother’s. She is still struggling with her infected shoulder, and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance today because of increasing pain and discomfort. She isn’t eating, and has slept a full night for months. This is causing a lot of stress for my father, who at 77, is doing all he can to help her. Please keep my folks in your thoughts and prayers.