the pod bay door

.: Tonight while watching the one game playoff between the Twins and the Tigers, I was stunned after the bottom of the 10th inning as I watched the Sportsnet announcer advise viewers on the Prairies that Sportsnet West was switching from the baseball game to a hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames. The announcer said viewers could switch to Sportsnet East (which requires a subscription, of course) to continue watching the game. Problem is that Shaw Cable doesn’t carry Sportsnet East, so even if I had wanted to immediately subscribe to that channel, I couldn’t.

I sent the following note to the jerks at Sportsnet a few minutes ago:

————–

Just wanted to say how incredibly disappointed I was that Sportsnet West chose to drop the Twins/Tigers game after the 10th inning. I live in Edmonton. Your announcer told us we could switch over to Sportsnet East to watch the game. Shaw doesn’t carry Sportsnet East in Edmonton. So we had no broadcast of an incredibly exciting game.

For whatever reasons you chose to do this, or was forced contractually to do this, it was a bush league, amateur move of the lowest order. It reminded me of the Heidi football game in 1968 (look it up on Wikipedia).

It’s no wonder Canadian cable networks continue to look so provincial and amateur compared to their American counterparts. A one-game playoff to decide a divisional championship, and you choose to stop broadcasting it in extra innings. Unbelievable. Such a juvenile decision gives me as a viewer no confidence in your management’s abilities to make informed decisions that serve your viewers in the best possible way.

If I could offer one suggestion, it would be to grow up. How can you consider your operation to be major league when you clearly can’t even cover Major League Baseball?

Thanks for ruining my baseball viewing tonight.

Sincerely,
Randy Reichardt

I scored 91/100. Not bad. Maybe I will move there someday soon.

DO YOU BELONG IN NYC?
Yes, but sometimes you wish there were a better option.
You do love New York, and you fit in here better than you have anywhere else. You’re committed to the city, and you take advantage of all of its amazing food, culture, nightlife and arts. But you have nagging doubts about this relationship. Spend your whole life here? Not sure about that. Sometimes you wonder about that farm in your fantasies or even just a smaller city. But in reality, you know there’s nowhere better. Click here for suggestions about how to really enjoy NYC.

Do you belong in New York City?

.: Heather Gallay and I “met” a couple years ago when she responded to a post I had written about Lost.  I recently reconnected with her via FaceBook, and discovered she is quite an amazing photographer.  Please check out her site, eyeFlashes, and click on “Open Gallery” to see a wide selection of her work.  Spend time with “Cream of the Crop” to see what Heather considers to be her best photos.  Some breathtaking stuff there.

.: I’ve been back at work for a week, and have spent most of the time plowing through the personal archives and papers of Chester D Cuthbert, the legendary Winnipeg book collector.  His archives (letters, notes, booklists, etc) were obtained along with his book, fanzine and pulp magazine collection last October by MPOW, the University of Alberta Libraries.  Chester’s personal archives (and the books, zines, etc.) will be added to the University of Alberta’s collection, and I am creating the Finding Aid for them, to help future researchers who wish to access his papers.  It has been fascinating and a rare privilege to sift through the many letters Chester exchanged with his many contacts over the decades, stretching back to the 1930s.  Among his correspondents were many important names in the sf publishing field, including William F Nolan, August Derleth, Donald A Wollheim, and Forrest J Ackerman.

.: When I last wrote, I was 15 minutes away from turning the magical 5-5. That day (28 June 2008) coincided with our (sometimes) annual cul-de-sac bbq. One of the activities included face-painting, and I was “painted” with a reminder of my special day. Later in the day, a number of the locals who are musicians got together for a jam, and on one song, we invited some of the children to join us on “I Walk The Line”. Here I review the chorus with some of The Groovy Girls, Emily, Liberty and Mia.

A few days later, I went on a tour with a local musician, Carrie Hryniw, in support of her new album, Finding Grace. (Please consider buying a copy via the CD Baby web site.) This was the first tour for me ever, since I started playing guitar in October 1966. Carrie had played a few solo shows in Saskatchewan, and I met up with her on 01 July 2008 in North Battleford. Her partner and daughter continued on to Edmonton, and we drove to Brandon, where we spent the night with my friend Cathy. The next night we played to a small crowd at a delightful cafe and shop called Lady of the Lake. Following the show, we drove to Winnipeg and stayed for three nights at my parents’ home. On 03 July 2008 we performed for another wee but very supportive crowd at The Academy Food Drinks and Music in Osborne Village in Winnipeg. The support came mostly from friends and relatives. 🙂

The next night Carrie and I performed at a house concert in Oakbank MB. The hosts were friends of mine, Doug and Barb Z. Barb and I went to high school together, and they were thrilled to host a house concert for us on the tour. It turned out to be the best night of the tour in many ways – not only did we do well in terms of ticket sales (always important on a tour to defray costs), but Carrie also sold many CDs after the show, we had a great party afterwards with lots of good food and drink and conversation, and both Carrie and I were overwhelmed by the incredible support shows by my friends, relatives, and friends of Doug and Barb who also attended the show. In the crowd were my parents, two of my aunties, my cousins Vickie and Christina and their dad Ross, a number of high school friends and their spouses, and the aforementioned friends of Barb and Doug, including their son. Barb even surprised us by ordering a Jeanne’s cake!

Carrie has uploaded a few videos from the concert in Oakbank.  In addition to the video of Need You Tonight, you can also watch us perform Went Away, Sand Castle, and Perfect Love.  Following the Oakbank show, we played a show in Wadena SK before returning home to Edmonton.

I flew to Chicago on 15 October 2008 to see another Steely Dan show, this time at the legendary Chicago Theatre.  I met up with my friend Jude, who drove down from Madison WI, and we saw the show together.  I thought the Chicago show was even better than the two shows I saw in NYC in June.  The day after the show, Jude and I hung out in Chicago.  After taking a ride on a sailboat on Lake Michigan, we took the light rail transit to visit an old friend of mine, Curtis Ruptash.  In the early 90s, I played in a couple local bands with Curtis.  I enjoyed the whirlwind 48 hour trip to Chicago, and was especially impressed with the light rail service from the airport.  It was a $2 trip into the city from O’Hare.  Having light rail transit to and from a city’s airport is such a no-brainer, it’s astonishing that most other cities do not offer it.

And soon afterwards, summer was over.

Today, in my role as a Big Brother, I took my Little Sister, CC, to the Telus World of Science to see the BodyWorlds show. Afterwards, we walked around one of the science display areas to check out some of the interactive exhibits. One of these was the gyroscope ride. After CC took a ride and thoroughly enjoyed herself, I decided to try it as well. I survived, but realized as the ride began that this wasn’t the wisest decision I’d made recently. CC took a video, and you can hear her say, “We need to hear you scream,” so I yell, “OOOOOOOOW!” around 25 seconds. After about 30 seconds of spinning, I could feel myself getting nauseous, so I say, “Alright, that’s good enough”. The attendant then asks me, “What was the word, sorry?”, to which I meekly reply, “Mommy.” Mommy was the “stop word.” I didn’t toss my cookies, but my stomach is still queasy.

.: Since returning from Madison, I’ve been on the road two more times. From 14-19 June, I was in Seattle attending another Special Libraries Association Annual Conference. I had a good time, saw many old friends, made a few new ones, and documented for the record, Librarians Gone Wild.

A day after returning from Seattle and washing clother and repacking, I flew to NYC to see two Steely Dan concerts at the Beacon Theatre on Broadway. I arrived at LaGuardia around 17:00 hrs, took the usual two hours to get to The Leo House, and hopped the subway to The Beacon Theatre in time to see the show. Afterwards, I ran into a number of the loyal Danfen who follow proceedings via the Dandom site and discussion lists, most of whom flew in from other parts of NA for the show. A dedicated and motley crew of misfits and ne’er-do-wells, I hung out with them until 01:00 or so, and made my way back to the Leo House. On Saturday, >20 of us met at Blondies’ for a pre-show dinner and Danfest, at which the humble Doc showed us his collection of Dan-related Pennsylvania licence plates:

After the sixth and final Beacon show, we hopped over to The Bitter End for an amazing Steely Dan After-Party, organized by the master himself, Mr Pete Fogel of Razor Boy Music. The entire rhythm section of the SD Band played on one song, which I recorded using my Flip video camera:

After the jam, which featured Jon Herington‘s band followed by Jeff Young‘s band, I was fortunate to finally meet Jon, who has performed live with Steely Dan since 2000, and has appeared on their last two albums, as well as the two recent solo albums by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. I had a nice conversation with him, and was able to tell him how much I admire his playing and how inspirational he is to me as a fellow guitarist and musician.

It was a whirlwind trip. I also had another amazing dinner and visit with my friends, Leo and Diane Dillon. They autographed more of their books for me, and showed me the next two projects on which they have been working. One is called Mama Says, written by Rob D Walker, and the other is called The Night Goblin, written by Mem Fox. I can’t wait to get copies when they are published. It is such a privilege to know both of them, and to be able to see the amazing work they are doing before it hits the bookshelves. I love them both dearly and am incredibly blessed to have them in my life.

Thank you to everyone who has sent along words of love and encouragement regarding my Mother. She will be having surgery on 18 July 2008, and I promise to keep everyone informed on her progress. Right now it’s looking good, and we are feeling positive and upbeat about all of it.

Well, in 15 minutes I turn 55, and it is the moment I am eligible to retire at full pension. All I can say is, “Freedom 55” is a myth, people! 🙂

Yes, there’s gas in the car.