the pod bay door

:: A new 35 mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey, re-released with very restricted distribution by Warner Bros in 2001 (duh), finally makes its way to Edmonton this coming weekend for four days. With 2001 being my favorite movie ever, I’ll be there.

:: It is the end of the day, and for various reasons, it has been less than memorable. Nothing major, but small, nagging things, things that can’t be articulated very well at the best of times, decided to appear and make themselves visible. Tonight I wish them away, back to where they originated, that they may find someone else to annoy.

:: I saw Bad Santa on the weekend, and the film didn’t work for me. My observations are available on Blogcritics.com. I am, however, in a distinct minority, as the film is getting mostly good reviews.

:: My mom called this evening to tell me that when she opened her oven to put in a chicken this afternoon, the bottom element was on fire. My dad used the fire extinguisher, which didn’t work initially, but he kept at it. The fire alarms went off, and four firemen in a firetruck appeared soon afterwards. All is well, but the oven is a mess, and according to Mom, their kitchen and living room are covered in a fine, white mist, from the fire extinguisher. She spent the remainder of the day working to clean everything up (and if you know my Mom, you know the house MUST be clean!)

:: I’ve watched a lot of television since the 60s, which was the time I got hooked on it all. But this year has been a bit different. For the first time in memory, I’ve not added a new show to the ones I watch in prime time, and in fact, have dropped a few. The only prime time shows still on my radar are the three Law & Orders, and 24, although 24 is rapidly losing my interest. I stopped watching The West Wing, and don’t watch any sitcoms, except the original (UK) Coupling, when I remember to dial it up. I watch SNL, having been there since the beginning, and also dial up MAD-TV. I tape Ebert & Roeper, and the occasional Charlie Rose. The Daily Show is also required viewing.

It seems like a lot of tv, but the big difference is that many of my evenings are free because I’ve dropped most of the prime time stuff. And because I have digital cable, I can see four east code feeds of ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX (three from Detroit, one from Rochester NY, as far as I can tell). As such, I can watch shows on those networks three hours ahead of the same shows I’d normally see three hours later on Spokane cable. For example, rather than wait until 12:30 am to watch SNL on a Sat night, I can watch (or tape it) at 9:30 that evening.

:: A few days ago I lamented Safeway’s decision to stop serving Italian wedding soup as one of their deli products. Last weekend, I went to Staples, wanting to purchase a few Easy Stick double-sided adhesive cartridges, and a couple Staedtler Lumocolor 313 Superfine pens. I could find neither product, and ensuing discussions with a Staples staff member proved fruitless. Short answer: they don’t carry these items anymore.

For years I wore the Reebok Newport walking shoe. Simple, straightforward, basic shoe, about $60Cdn, heckuva deal, as they say in Minnesota. A few weeks ago, I visited a shoe store where in the past, I purchased these shoes. I couldn’t see any about, so asked a clerk for help. I might as well have been staring into the eyes of a chicken – no such shoe exists, there is no Reebok Newport Classic anymore. Reebok still makes the Classic, but there is no Newport.

For many years, my mother sold nutrimetics. The line of men’s products was called Bavarian, and I really, really liked the soap and aftershave. A few years back, nutrimetics stopped producing the Bavarian line, and replaced it with another family of products that in my estimation, didn’t come close to its predecessor.

A new word needs to be coined or invented, in the English language, to describe when this happens. The definition of the word would read something like: when a product or service one likes, uses and purchases regularly, is suddenly withdrawn from market and made no longer available, resulting in feelings of anger and frustration for the consumer.

:: When composing an entry for your blog, remember to try really, really hard, not to accidentally hit CTRL and W keys together, the combination of which closes the page you’ve been working on, resulting in the loss of everything you’ve just written.

Like I just did.

Good night.

:: Opus is in the house. After a ten-year hiatus, Berkeley Breathed has returned Opus to the weekend colour comics page. Life is sweet.

:: E-mails and hackers have become the subject of cartoonists, as have music file swappers.