the pod bay door

:: Installed an HP 5550 printer tonight, my HP 812-C was not long for this world, and not worth the trouble or money to repair.

:: Have been really tired lately, but have myself only to blame. Staying up too late, and eating a lot of not-so-good food (like ice cream and pizza). Plan to change this soon. I did 30 mins on the cross-trainer tonight, and have Pilates tomorrow. But I believe the food intake needs dramatic altering – I’ve proven to myself after 10+ years of regular exercise that I can’t shake any weight, so it must be the food plan, right?

:: My Winnipeg plans have changed slightly, I will probably drive through to somewhere east of Saskatoon on Sunday, and spend the night at a motel, then drive to Winnipeg on Monday.

As mentioned in the last entry, my high school is having a 32nd-year reunion next weekend in Winnipeg. I missed the 25th, in 1996, and decided to attend this one when I heard it was happening. Tonight, I called one of my classmates from high school, Brenda C, and we had a wonderful, laugh-filled conversation that lasted over an hour. I hadn’t talked with Brenda since 1971, and we didn’t miss a beat. I’m looking forward to seeing her, and many of my 1971 classmates next weekend in Winnipeg. Tom Wolfe and Justin Hayward may be right, but it’s still ok to go back and see old friends who still matter.

:: The weekend included three movies and a surprise birthday event, organized by L’il Kim, for Heavy G at The Sidetrack on Saturday night, which mean we who attended were able to watch The Northern Pikes, one of my favorite Canadian bands, perform late in the evening. The Pikes’ tune, Wait For Me, is one of my favorite songs ever, and features very tasty guitar work by Bryan Potvin. I was at the ‘track early enough to catch the band during its sound check, and spoke to Bryan afterwards. I told him how much I enjoy his work and style, and he took the time to show me the intro to Wait For Me, for which I am grateful – thanks, Bryan. (I’ve been working on it at home on the Martin J-40MC). The Northern Pikes are true road warriors, and have been at it for almost 20 years. Their new album, It’s A Good Life, is due out next week, check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

The evening was much fun with good friends, and my pal D Fy and I spent some time during the Pikes’ set to dance our asses off. Thanks, Deb! Geoff’s birthday is on July 8th, and he hits the big Three-Oh, so drop in on him and wish him well. He’s getting old.

:: The movies I saw were 28 Days Later, Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines, and Ash Wednesday. (ASIDE: Despite having loaded Macromedia Flash 6, I cannot enter the T3 site. Anyone else having this problem?).

:: I leave for Winnipeg in a week. One of the reasons is to attend a 32-year high school reunion.

:: An interesting entry from Sitelines mentions that About.com, historically one of my favorite subject-based portal sites, has adopted a blogging model based somewhat on MT, changing the appearance of each subject page. See examples here and here. RSS is available on the pages that have converted to the blog format.
Read more »

:: This blog glossary comes from Samizdata.net weblog (“A blog bringing you news & views from a robust critically rational libertarian perspective, updated several times daily“)

:: Keith brought the Weapons of Mass Destruction parody page to my attention. (NOTE: Search “weapons of mass destruction” in Google, but click on “I’m Feeling Lucky“). The creator of this page in Anthony Cox, an “Adverse Drug Reaction” pharmacist in Birmingham, UK. Cox has created another brilliant “…cannot be displayed” page, in reaction to the Jayson Blair blow-up at the NYTimes.

:: What you will read below is the first in a series of e-mails from a friend currently working on a UN peacekeeping mission in The Congo. Said friend has approved the posting of the e-mails, albeit anonymously. That said, I think you will find the observations worth the read(s). This entry was sent in late May. Note that any links below were added to the e-mail by me afterwards.- Randy
Read more »