the pod bay door

:: I’m off work this week, taking some holiday time. The weather has been cold, snowy and dull. I want to clean up my house, a task of major proportions at best. I started cleaning one room last night, so can report some progress. I’ve worked out in the morning the last two days, and it’s been a major struggle to get the body to accept this change, even for a few days. Normally I exercise after work. I don’t know how the morning people do it.

:: Derryl sent along this gem: examples of some of the worst album covers of all time.

:: You might think it odd to get upset over soup, but…Safeway sells hot soup every day, two varieties. All the soups sold are made by Campbell’s. My favorite is Italian-Style Wedding soup. I had never heard of it until Safeway started selling it in their deli. I haven’t been able to find it lately, so I spoke to someone there, who told me that a “new soup program” is imminent, so the other choices have been removed, permanently. The manager of my local store verified this, saying that it’s happening in all Safeway stores in Canada and the USA.

Italian-Style Wedding soup was one of Safeway’s most popular hot soups; the deli worker with whom I spoke confirmed this, noting that other customers have expressed their dismay as well. Why mess with success? It’s a decision made by suits in an office in a Big City somewhere far from here. Idiots.

:: If you are interested in the recent solar flare activity, check out the SOHO site: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. There are some great pics and mpegs of what the sun has been doing (blasting the Earth with ionizing radiation as a result of exploding superflares.) Here in the Great White North, we’ve been missing the spectacular aurora activity because it’s been cloudy for days.

:: A lot of snow has fallen in Edmonton since Wednesday. Last Sunday, it was 17C in town; it’s -13C at the moment. The drastic, almost overnight change in the weather is a hard slap in the face from the nature gods; it is beyond offensive for this time of year. Life goes from a relaxed, gentle autumn, to a full-blown, angry, bitter winter in less than three days. What I’ve never understood is how the weather can change so quickly, without any period for a gradual change. It is not fair, but short of pounding sand, there is little to be done. But embrace it, I will not do, I refuse. I’ve done the minimum necessary to deal with the elements, such as shovelling my driveway. I heard today that cross-country skiers were already spotted in the city. I won’t give in that easiy, admitting and accepting that winter conditions are here to stay. Not yet, anyway; I’m still flipping the bird at the weather.

:: Last week, I searched my name on Google, and was shocked to see that the first entry in the list of results featured one word from a comment posted to an entry from a few months ago. The word was the “F” word. It was the only occurrence of the word on my site. How Google would come to use the word in its search algorithm is a mystery. Anyway, I removed the word from the comment, and a Google search on my name will no longer feature said “F” word.

:: I saw The Station Agent today, one of the best films of the year. Check it out if you can. It’s the story of a dwarf named Fin, who works in a model train station. Upon the death of the owner, Fin inherits an abandoned train station in Newfoundland NJ, and moves there to live, and to watch trains. Despite his best efforts to be left alone, he is drawn into relationships with some of the locals, played by Bobby Cannavale, Patricia Clarkson, and Michelle Williams. Fin is played by Peter Dinklage, in a career breaking performance that is very memorable, and worthy of award considerations in 2004.

:: I love quoting Dr Smith from Lost In Space. But I am in pain, damn it. My right shoulder, really aggravating, need pain killers, reaching for the pills. Maybe this is a test from God. Can I survive like this until November 12, when my physiotherapy begins?

However, this related story is almost too much to take: the health care system in Alberta has been under siege for ten years, since Ralph Klein took power. For the first time, the evidence of how bad it is hit me today. I need an MRI on my left arm because of the nagging tennis elbow condition. It takes a while in Alberta to get an MRI unless to pay to do it privately – hundreds of dollars – which means if you’re wealthy, you can jump the public queue. The government won’t provide enough funding to allow for enough MRI facilities to reduce the long waiting lists.

In the mail today, I received notification of my MRI appointment: 11 June 2004. When I read the date, I couldn’t help but smile at the irony: on June 11th, 2004, I’ll be in Nashville TN, at the end of my annual professional conference. It takes months to get an MRI appointment, and the first available date I can get in, eight months from now, is during the ONLY event I have scheduled in my life that takes place out of town UNTIL that date.

:: Dave Barry brilliantly summarizes recent baseball events, including the Cubs’ loss to his beloved Marlins, the arrogance of the NYY, and the (potentionally boring) World Series, beginning tonight. Reluctantly, I’ll pull for the Marlins – the lesser of two (boring) evils. (Via Derryl.)

:: It is a gorgeous sunny, fall day in Calgary. After two visits to Tim McKay, the best chiropractor on Planet Earth, my shoulder area is less painful, and my lower back feels fine. This morning I spent time with my dear friend Carole and her mom, and met her new, 5-day old angel, Grace Elizabeth. Later this afternoon I’m off for coffee with another friend, then a visit with my brother, Chris, and then on to my high school class Mini Reunion in the evening. Tomorrow morning it will be dim sum with – wait for it – another friend (it’s nice to have a lot of friends in Calgary!), and then either a movie, or head back to Edmonton.

:: Bill Maher makes an interesting case for the hypocrisy surrounding Rush Limbaugh’s addiction to pain killer medication and the ongoing drug wars in the USA.

:: In my youth, I was an avid Montreal Canadiens fan, I lived and died by their Cup wins and losses. I was also a huge baseball fan, the Minnesota Twins being my team of choice. I was thrilled when The Twins won the 1987 and 1991 WS, followed by the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993.

In my later years, hockey has fallen considerably as a sports interest, although the Habs remain my team of choice. I’ve lived in Edmonton since 1978 but maintain no allegiance to the Oilers. Strikes, idiot owners and greedy players aside, I still love baseball.

The possibility of a Cubs/Red Sox World Series loomed large two days ago. Today it will be a Yankees/Marlins World Series. The Yankees have won 26 WS, 4 since 1996, the last in 2000. The Marlins have been in the league for 10 years, and won in 1997. The Cubs last won in 1908, the Red Sox in 1918. You tell me which series would have been more exciting.

I think, for the first time in years, I will pay little attention to the World Series next week. The Yankees, a team fueled by 180 million US in salaries, are becoming as predictable and boring as the Atlanta Braves. The Marlins?? Can you name one player on the team? Their fan support this year was pathetic, averaging under 17,000 per game. The word was that Fox Sports was hoping that at least one of the two sad sack teams made it to the WS, so as to assure a large TV audience for the games. Now with the NYY and Marlins, chances are the ratings will match last years’ WS, the lowest in decades. The Yankees? It’s like a broken record. You need a better position player? Well, buy the player. Combine deep pockets with great management and media revenue that does not get redistributed to poorer teams, and your team, in this case The Yankees, will be there every year.

It’s no surprise that fans have turned away from the WS in recent years. The small market teams can’t compete without the income. But more importantly, in the World Series, there are few, if any, surprises. Some of the players on the Yankees are entering their sixth WS in eight years. It would be cool to see players from other teams get their once. But the Yankees, as players, are not to be faulted – they won, they worked hard to get there, they deserve to be there. At the same time, don’t fault the fans who are losing interest in the World Series each year because there are few surprises left for them.

:: Last night around 3:00 am, I woke with pain in my upper right arm, near the shoulder. It hasn’t subsided. I’m heading to Calgary in 2 hours, and will stop for a chiropractic check on the way in. I hope the chiropractor can help. I don’t know what’s wrong. I may have been sleeping on it or something, but it sure hurts like hell.

:: Me, given what I wrote below. I returned from the Y, having thought about the last entry while I was working out on the cross-trainer machine. I thought about the lyrics to Grey Day (gotta love Madness), and then H�sker D�’s These Important Years (by Bob Mould). Then I thought of the baseball playoffs, and of the delicious possibility that the Red Sox and the Cubs could end up in the World Series, which would be infinitely more interesting than the Yankees and Braves (bor-RING!!!!!) I also gave consideration to removing the entry below, but noticed that Derryl offered a comment, so it will stay.

The left-click function on my mouse isn’t working well, and I want to pound sand. Hey you, yes, YOU, tell me what is important to you. I’d love to know. Then tell me why it’s important to you.