Don't Abandon The Teaching Of Algebra

While I'm not tutoring anymore, I still find the topic of education - especially Math education - to be quite fascinating. When I saw a New York Times piece entitled "Is Algebra Necessary?", I immediately disagreed with several of the points in it. Fortunately, others more invested in the question have provided detailed responses to it, such as this one.

A key sentence in that preceding response, I think, is:

"Few pre-college math teachers majored or even minored in math, and until more teachers do, improvements will be hard to come by."

That's something I've heard, again and again, from students I've tutored. It's not at all uncommon for a high school Calculus or Functions teacher to rely on students in the class to explain the solutions to particularly tough questions... raising the question, "Did the teacher even understand the solution himself/herself?" It seems to be extremely rare for Math geeks from high school to end up as teachers, since they more commonly go into Engineering, Computer Science or related technical fields. And yet, logically, you want someone very comfortable with high school Math to be teaching it, don't you?

Until that disconnect is fixed, we can expect more and more young people to follow Barbie's example, and declare resignedly that "Math is hard."

Nice Post On Agile And Why It Works

Many of the most commonly tossed around objections to Agile are covered off in this Forbes article, making it a very good read indeed.

No Brother Of Mine Is Popular With The Ladies

(Yeah, that title works really well on a number of levels!)

I've noticed lately that my second novel seems to be especially popular with female readers. The most recent example of this came when our financial planner bought a copy of No Brother of Mine but didn't get a chance to read it because, minutes after he got home with it, his wife picked the book up and began devouring it! The next thing I knew, I was getting updates from him such as:

"Well... So far [she] hasn't put your book down. Impressive!!"

and then, the next day, quoting his wife:

"I am loving this book! I love the protagonist...wanna finish it quick!"

A few hours after that, it was:

"She loved the book! She is going to tell the world about it I can tell. Congrats sir!"

followed by news that his wife had passed 'his' copy of the book on to her mother, who she was sure would love it. I quickly pointed out that it could hardly count as 'his' copy considering that he was now at least 3rd in line for it!

At any rate, I definitely seem to have struck a chord with many readers who happen to be among the fairer sex.

"I Could've Sworn That Was My Mat!"

I hate to have to break it to you, Cooper, but this is Jonesy's World now... we're just living in it!

[Update the next day: As commenter Jimmy points out, there was a mat/Matt pun just waiting to be played here, but I fumbled the ball. Needless to say, Cooper also feels as though his Matt has been at least somewhat stolen away by Jonesy, although I've been trying hard to split my time between them to reduce those feelings.]

No Brother Of Mine Reaches A Milestone

According to my records, my second novel has now outsold my first one! That's somewhat impressive, considering that Game Over was released last September, nearly a year ago, while No Brother of Mine has only been out for less than three months so far. This feat was helped along by the book club that my niece Vanessa got NBoM into, Vicki's tireless efforts in talking it up to everyone she meets, as well as a much-appreciated high level of repeat business from the first book to the second.

It's very gratifying to have the numbers trending in that direction, and I can only hope they'll continue to do so as I release more novels in the future. At the moment, I can safely say that my books sell "dozens and dozens of copies", but obviously I long for the days when I'll be able to boldly proclaim that it's "hundreds and hundreds", instead. More than that might be dreaming, but even that level of readership would make me very happy indeed.

Jonesy Makes Another New 'Friend'

After 3 sessions getting to know Cooper over the past several weeks, it was time for Jonesy to finally meet Finley. We're going to have both of Julie's pets for a week shortly, so we figured we should get Jonesy used to them before that happens. Julie was of the opinion that Finley would be fine with the new kitten, even going so far as to predict that he'd 'mirror' whatever Jonesy did (curiousity for curiousity, indifference for indifference, etc.) I had my doubts, as I've had enough experience bringing a kitten into the presence of an older cat to know that the usual result is that the kitten's OK with it while the mature cat tends to flip out, at first.

And sure enough, Finley decided to hiss and growl constantly at Jonesy whenever he saw him initially, which eventually got Jonesy's back up (literally):


However, Jonesy kept going back for more, and eventually, after a few hours together, there was a limited sort of acceptance on Finley's part:


In other words, progress was made, but there's still some ways to go before they'll be playing together. Fortunately, Jonesy and Cooper didn't backtrack at all in how comfortable they are with each other, so we're hopeful the two cats will similarly pick up where they left off the next time they meet.

One thing's for sure: Jonesy's very bored today, after all the excitement of having two four-legged visitors to entertain him last night! Lucy just doesn't cut it after that, I'm afraid.

My First Book Club Experience

Well, that was a lot of fun!

Thanks to niece Vanessa, I spent this evening as Guest Author for the Quai du Vin Book Club (possibly just a name I made up for them). All of the club members had read No Brother of Mine as this month's book (again, courtesy of Vanessa) and I was invited to come and hear what they had to say about it and answer any questions they had. Happily, they all seemed to enjoy it very much, and I can only hope that's not just because I was there and they didn't want to hurt my feelings.

As Vicki said on the drive home, it was very interesting to hear how each person responded to different aspects of the book. Some keyed on the fast-moving plot as what interested them the most, while others were drawn to the characters or the relationships between them. Several women mentioned that certain personality attributes of Mitch, Sarah, etc, reminded them of people they know or even of their own feelings towards others.

This is the first time I've had the opportunity to have such a large-scale, interactive feedback session on the book, and I absolutely loved it! I hope I get the chance to do the same sort of thing at other book clubs, as it really helps to hear what parts of No Brother of Mine resonated the most with readers. Thanks to Vanessa, Candice, Debra, Justine, Karin, Katherine, Kim, and hostess Lisa for a very enjoyable and gratifying evening!!

Our Latest Obsession

Vicki and I just finished watching the first 4 seasons of Breaking Bad (Seasons 1 to 3 on Netflix; Season 4 on AMC who generously reran the entire season leading up to Sunday's Season 5 premiere) as well as the first episode of the 5th season. I'd heard people rave about the show over the past few years, but would not have believed how good it was unless I'd experienced it myself. Definitely one of the best series on TV right now.

The writing on BB is amazing in the way it introduces small plot points that end up paying off much later, right around the time you're starting to forget about it. It's also an incredible character study of a man descending into some very dark places, as the Walter White of Season 5 would be virtually unrecognizable to the version of him that inhabited the first season. And yet it's all happened gradually, and very believably.

What a great show!

Bring On The Dark Knight

I just purchased a pair of VIP tickets (reserved seating) for Vicki and I to take in The Dark Knight Rises this weekend. This will complete the Bat-trilogy by Christopher Nolan (with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) as well as finish off my own personal trio of summer movies that I was greatly anticipating. We've already seen The Avengers and Prometheus twice each, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same soon holds true for Christian Bale's swan song as the Caped Crusader.

Can't.

Wait!

Flex Your Brain Power

I stole this off Google+ because it really impressed me. Vicki and I were both able to read it quite effortlessly after a few seconds:

We're Number 1!

Well, compared to the U.S. in terms of our average net worth, at least, as this Bloomberg article outlines. Nice to see us get some respect from south of the border once in a while.

Rather Huge News For Fans Of The Firefly TV Show

Yeah, I'd call this a pretty big deal, indeed! I hope it happens.

Update Jul 15/12: Looks like it was probably just a joke. Too bad!

My Kind Of News

This is the biggest San Diego Comic Con news so far this year: Neil Gaiman's doing a Sandman prequel mini-series for DC! Making it even sweeter, the artist assigned to the project is JH Williams III, who I've loved on Batwoman for the past couple years.

Interesting to contrast this development, which seems to have no downside or controversy associated with it, with the whole Before Watchmen debacle that's made the powers that be at DC Comics look like such a-holes recently. Maybe they learned that screwing over the big name talent isn't the way to go? Nah, I don't think so either...

Four Years Ago Today

It was four years ago today, on Thursday, July 10, 2008, that I endured my last bit of bullshit as a full-time employee. I left the office feeling miserable about what had happened to me at work that day, climbed on my bike to ride to my chiropractor appointment just before 5:00, and discovered, by the time I got there, that I'd actually decided to quit. Ironically, it was my future-friend Julie ("just" my chiropractor at the time) who learned about this dramatic turn of events before I'd even gotten home and could tell Vicki.

Of course it wasn't really just that one odious event that did it, but it did take a final straw being added on to break this particular camel's back. With the hindsight of four years, including knowing what transpired at that office in the years after I left, I'm happy to say that I've zero regrets about making that change. As Julie and I were talking about over the weekend, so many good things came out of that decision which likely wouldn't have happened if I'd kept working. My first two novels would certainly top that list, as I simply can't imagine having the peace of mind to write either of them had I still been caught up in the rat race over the past four years. Also up there would be the reconnecting with family members I've been doing, which has obviously been much easier to accomplish with the free time I'm now lucky enough to have.

So here's to four good years so far, and hopefully many more to come!

Now's A Great Time To Be A Wealthy American

Paul Krugman has a great article on the history of U.S. tax rates over the past 50 years. While most Americans have experienced relatively small changes in their tax bracket percentage over the half-century, the results for Americans in the top 0.01% of incomes look like this:

1960: 71.4%
1970: 74.6%
1980: 59.3%
1990: 35.4%
2000: 40.8%
2004: 34.7%

Now, even an income tax-lover like me thinks any rate greater than 50% is excessive. However, when I hear Conservatives in the U.S. complaining that taxes on the wealthy right now are "obscene," "at an all-time high" or any of the other rubbish they spew, I just laugh. Imagine if our top tax rate in Canada at the moment was 34.7%!

I Really Wish This Game Were Out Right Now!

Having re-watched the first 3 Alien movies within the past month, as well as taking in not one but two viewings of Prometheus in the theatres, I am so primed for a good Aliens game... and this article definitely makes Aliens: Colonial Marines sound like one! A scary single player campaign, set just after the events of the 2nd film, along with a fun multi-player environment? Yes, please!

It's really too bad we have to wait until Feb 12th next year for it... and that's assuming they don't push out the release date again!

Our First 'Look' At Jonesy

This is the photo Meena took of Jonesy at her clinic while he was still unclaimed:


Who wouldn't fall in love with a cutie like that?

The Art Of Assessing And Mitigating Risk

When I was still in the software business, it always amazed me how inadequate most of us are at dealing with risk (and I include myself in that group, to some degree). I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, because as a species we usually suck at it. Think about what percentage of adults are afraid of flying, versus the proportion of us who are afraid of driving. The former phobia's much more common, and yet the risks associated with the former are virtually nil compared to the risks associated with the latter. Or consider how many parents worry that they're children will be abducted, despite this being almost unheard of statistically-speaking, while doing little or nothing to prepare those same offspring for the complexities of managing their finances, navigating sexual relationships or fulfilling personal responsibility, all of which they're virtually guaranteed to encounter in life.

Over the life of a typical, non-trivial software project, there will be dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of risks undertaken. In very broad strokes, those can include estimates of work effort being ridiculously low, dependencies not being met, new technologies being unreliable, and specifications changing haphazardly, just to name a few. Since most IT projects fail - where failure means late, over-budget or under-scope, or any combination thereof - I guess we shouldn't wonder that risks usually aren't well-defined nor guarded against.

All of which leads us to the point made in this excellent article, which is that the level of certainty associated with any risk should obviously vary according to the circumstances. As the author notes, 99+% certainty makes sense when talking about Higgs boson calculations, but is a ridiculously (and dangerously) high bar for something like climate change. Put another way: if you told a mother that her child had a 10% chance of coming down with cancer if he used a certain brand of fingerpaints, there's no way that product would ever be brought into the home. And yet climate change deniers use the fact that scientists are only, maybe, 90% certain that we're heading for a catastrophe as reason enough to discount the science and go on about their business. It's an insane inversion of logic, but no more startling than the "fear of driving vs fear of flying" result that we've all witnessed.

It's a curious failure of our species that seems to be poised to do us a whole lot of harm in the not-too-distant future.

A Few More Jonesy Shots For Tammy Since She Asked

I love the look on his face in this one, after he got just a little too close to Cooper for his comfort level at that point (they're better friends now):


Unlike Lucy, Jonesy loooves plastic bags... the crinklier they are, the better:


And finally, the thing to remember about Jonesy is that he can fall asleep anywhere, anytime:

As Short-Sighted Species Go, We're First Rate

As this Economist article highlights, the situation in the Arctic is just one more example of how we, as humans, are so incredibly good at the practice of "short term gain for long term pain."

Say Goodbye To The SR&ED Tax Credit, Canadian Innovators

As someone who actually contributed (in a small way) to the filing of my employers' annual Scientific Research & Experimental Design tax credit application back when I was a full-time manager, this government move to do away with that credit and replace it with a grant system is sad news, indeed. As the article writer points out, that change will drastically alter how the money gets doled out, and significantly weaken the good it can do.

I can't help but wonder how much they talked to the actual innovators before implementing this change.

What Global Warming Feels Like

You're soaking in it! (as they used to say in the Palmolive dishwashing liquid commercials)

History In The Making?

If you want to feel stupid (but in a good way), check out this live blog of the Higgs update seminars from CERN. That's the press conference on the possible detection of the so-called God particle within the Large Hadron Collider, the existence of which may ultimately help us understand the true nature of our universe (with no actual God or gods involved).

The physics being discussed there is so far over my head that it's hard to believe I have a Bachelor of Science degree to my name! Fortunately, there are lots of dumbed down articles about this massive (or massless) discovery, as well, such as this one.

Nice Little Write-Up On Corin Raymond

Corin's better known around here as "the Bookworm guy", from last year's Hamilton Fringe and this year's London Fringe.

Practically Playmates

Getting closer...

Soccer: Even Less Exciting Than I Remember

Sometimes I really get into the World Cup, and I can appreciate what people who love soccer see in it. The rest of time I'm afraid it just seems really boring.

I've watched exactly two games in the 2012 Euro Cup so far: today's semi-final between Spain and Portugal, and last Saturday's quarter-final between England and Italy. What do those two games have in common, besides being the last two played? Both ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of play, requiring penalty kicks to settle. I actually enjoy penalty kicks, so I have no complaint about that aspect of the outcome in each case. But over the course of 2 full hours of play, neither team in either game could score a goal?! Really? Do they need to make the already-gigantic nets even larger? Or are there just not enough players diving and faking injuries in order to get free kicks and yellow cards handed out?

I have to say, this is not one of those times when I appreciate soccer...

Changes In How We Die

(Via a Twitter link)

I found this short article interesting as far as how much has changed regarding mortality between 1900 and 2010. I suspect it's just human nature to worry about death (perhaps because of our vast imaginations), but when you think just how much better off we are, in that concern, than our great-grandparents were in their prime, you might expect that we'd chill out a bit on the topic, wouldn't you? If anything, though, I think it's gone in the other direction.

Jonesy's New Friends

Our new family member had his first couple visitors come a-calling last night, which proved to be pretty exciting for all involved.

One of his new friends Jonesy took to immediately:


But the other one required quite a bit more time (and space) to warm up to:


About a minute or two after that first photo was taken, Cooper ventured over to see just what Julie had in her arms, resulting in a frantic attempt by Jonesy to get the Hell out of there!! For a few seconds it was all claws and orange fur tangled up in Julie's hair as the poor little guy tried to avoid being eaten - he figured - by the giant golden monster that was headed his way. Julie survived with only a scratch or two, and hours later she was repaid for the sacrifice of her body when Jonesy decided her lap was the best available spot for his nap, just a foot or two away from where Cooper was sleeping. We figure at least one more Cooper visit will be required before the two of them are besties, but it shouldn't take too long, based on how much more confident the smaller one got around the bigger one over the course of 6 hours or so.

Not surprisingly, there were no Lucy sightings for the entire evening.

Radar Site Not Infallible After All?!

I've used Environment Canada's radar page for more than a decade now, timing my bike rides to or from work by it (way back when) as well as walks with Julie or Vicki, etc.

And I don't think I've ever had it be completely wrong like it was late this afternoon: it showed nothing but clear skies for 100 km in every direction, right up to and through the heavy (but brief) thunderstorm we just experienced. I hope no cyclists got caught in it going home from work today, as there was absolutely no indication on the radar page that anything like that was coming, or even happening!

Very strange. I want a full investigation, Environment Canada!!

The Gwen Stacy I Fell In Love With In 1973

Compliments of Emma Stone in next month's Amazing Spider-Man reboot.

All Hail King Henry!

New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist finally won his first Vezina Trophy tonight! He had to post 8 shutouts over the 62 games he played - better than 1 shutout every 8 games! - and lead his team to the top of the Eastern Conference in the regular season to get it, but he did it!

He also backstopped the Rangers all the way to the Conference Finals this spring (and recorded another 3 shutouts along the way) before the team ran out of gas against the Devils, who would eventually lose the Cup to the Kings in six games. All in all, a very impressive year for King Henry and his teammates, even if they did come up six wins short of the ultimate prize.

A Few Jonesy Shots

Please forgive the new pet owners and their inevitable fascination with the latest addition...

Here's Jonesy loving his new scratching post:


A perfect little "angel" on my shoulder:


And after playing hard, there's nothing like a little nap to recharge the ol' batteries:

Soon-To-Be Best Buddies

When you see a scene like this:


can it really be long before the two of them will be sleeping side-by-side?

Fringe Post-Game Wrap-Up

And so the 2012 London Fringe Fest wrapped up tonight. Last year, we went to 11 shows, which was 9 more than we'd attended our inaugural year (in 2010). This year, my total rose again, but just to 13 (Vicki saw one more than I did). I really liked this year's selections but didn't love them quite as much as the previous set. It could be that there just weren't as many truly outstanding shows as last year, although it's more likely that my expectations were simply higher this time around.

Here's what I went to, in decreasing order of how much I enjoyed them (though every show had at least some aspect to it that appealed to me, which is pretty remarkable):

Bookworm - This was my favourite performance at Hamilton Fringe last year, and took the top spot here once again. Corin Raymond's storytelling abilities are amazing, and he had Vicki, Susan, Julie and I mesmerized right from the start last Saturday night. He covers a lot of ground, both personal and literary, and even manages to work in a bit of Spider-Man material along the way! Anyone who has any love of books whatsoever should see this show before they die.

Underneath the Lintel - This was a funny, poignant and educational solo performance by Patrick O'Brien, known to Tammy's generation as Mr Dewey on Saved by the Bell. I loved the transformation of O'Brien's character over the course of the hour, as his uptight librarian slowly but steadily morphed into a nomadic, obsessive pursuer of a Biblical myth. I doubt we'd have seen this one had we not attended the Performers Showcase the night before the festival started, as it was O'Brien's 3-minute vignette of the show that sold us on it.

Forty Wonderful - This 3-person play about a woman turning 41 and reflecting on her somewhat-unsatisfying life surprised me in its second half. While it started off conventionally enough with the woman's friend throwing her a disastrous (and unattended) birthday party, it kicked into a higher gear when the 3rd member of the cast arrived in the form of a stripper-cop. The interactions of the trio completely won me over. This was definitely lighter material than some of the entries lower down on the list, but it just resonated with me for some reason.

Vernus Says SURPRISE - Vernus mimed his way through a day in his life, as he tried to buy his granddaughter a birthday present. Ken Godmere was perfect as the senior citizen to whom even ringing phones and doorbells are confusing, and he definitely had the audience eating out of his hands within a few minutes. It was funny, and sad, and true-to-life, and that's a tall order to deliver without saying a word (well, without saying more than a word, technically).

Debris - The perennial Passionfool offering this year, Debris was every bit as intense as we've come to expect from Justin Quesnelle. His creative partner, Eva Blahut, rounded out the cast and was very good, as well, though Justin's awfully hard to compete with. I wanted the complicated story of the two siblings to pay off more than it did, I think, and that's the only reason it's not higher on my list than this.

Letters in Wartime - I found the long-distance relationship of the two World War 2-era lovers, separated for several years by the war but keeping up a correspondence on paper, to be very touching and real. Each of them finds something in the arms of others while the years roll by and both of them grow and change as people, and yet the bond between them is never quite broken by those all-too-common developments.

The Abyss Burrow - This was the first performance by Vanessa Quesnelle (sister to Justin) that I've seen, and it was definitely a strong one. She had the stage to herself on her way to portraying a complex set of memories that built up to a satisfying conclusion, but I just couldn't quite get past the interpretive dance segments that kept popping up between each memory. Without them, I think I'd have loved The Abyss Burrow... as it was, I liked it quite a bit.

Call Mr Robeson - Black singer, actor, orator and civil rights activist Paul Robeson's life certainly makes an interesting story, and I greatly enjoyed Tayo Aluko's performance as Mr Robeson. I'm not a fan of the type of music Robeson sang, but that only slightly dimished my appreciation of this interpretation of an amazing historical figure. As Susan said afterward, it's hard to believe that none of us had ever heard of him before this, considering how eventful his story really was.

Fear Factor: Canine Edition - I picked this one for our night out with Julie because I know how much she loves dogs, and it mostly lived up to those expectations. Not surprisingly, Julie said afterwards that her least favourite parts were the stories not revolving around Abby, the canine at the centre of the action. I found the show to be equal parts humourous and poignant, and characteristically shed a few tears before it was over. The only reason I put this so low down the list is that the subject matter didn't have quite the same weight as some of the other performances, but it was still a solid hit with me.

Conspiracy - This was the most conventional show we saw, with five characters and a pretty straight-forward plot: there's a house somewhere that The Powers That Be put trouble-makers in once they start to learn the secrets of the grand conspiracies that permeate our world. I think a conspiracy theorist would've loved it more than I did, but even I could appreciate the performances and was pleasantly surprised by the revelation provided by one of the characters at the end.

The Purdy Boys - This Hardy Boys spoof had some good moments but seemed too heavily influenced by the TV versions of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew rather than the literary ones. I loved how the three actors played seven characters through artful scene setups, and the funny bits made it worth seeing. Still seems strange that this won its venue's Impressario award over Vernus Says SURPRISE, though, as there's just no comparison between the two.

Petr Pann - Re-imagine Peter Pan and Wendy as modern day drug addicts, and you've pretty much grokked the premise of Petr Pann. Tinkerbell, of course, must then be a hallucination of Petr's, transforming into a horrible succubus just as soon as Petr has his first bad trip. I found lots to like about this admittedly odd offering, but neither of my traveling companions did. So it's possible I was just feeling generous that night.

Epic Pitch - I so badly wanted to love Mikaela Dyke in this one-woman show. She's the roommate of someone we saw (and loved) at Hamilton Fringe last year, and I was more than ready for "the elevator pitch for her steampunk epic" that the programme advertised. Instead, we got a meandering, genre-defying journey that seemed to rely as much on audience-participation as anything else to move it along. Mikeala herself is wonderful to watch, with natural comedic timing and obvious improvisational skills, but the material just didn't go anywhere. I asked Susan at one point if she knew what steampunk was, and she freely admitted that she didn't; in the end, though, it didn't matter, as that was such a small portion of what Epic Pitch was 'about.' I guess I just need a more coherent story to follow than what we got here. I look forward to seeing Ms. Dyke in something else that utilizes her capabilities in a more polished fashion.

Whew! That was a lot of Fringing, and I'm kind of looking forward to a break right now. At least until we find our next out-of-town one to go to, that is...

The Newest Member Of Our Household

No, not great-niece Emma... she doesn't arrive for a couple months yet!

Instead, on this, the 18th anniversary of the greatest day in sports history, I received a very special gift:


Please meet Jones "Jonesy" Holmes, our 3-month-old kitten! He comes to us courtesy of my sister-in-law Meena, who happens to be a veterinarian. He was dropped off ("dumped") outside Meena's clinic a couple weeks ago, and since she knew we were looking for a 2nd cat, one thing just led to another.

Jonesy and Lucy have sort of met in passing...


... but the real fireworks are still to come!

P.S. In case it's not immediately obvious (though it should be!), Jonesy is named after the orange tabby in the first 2 Alien movies.

Today's Agile 101 Session Is History

Vicki and I were back in Agile Training mode today after a couple months off, as we did another Agile 101 session downtown. While it went well enough, it wasn't one of our best outings, as reflected by the feedback results we got at the end of the day (all out of 10):

• Presentation portion: 8.2
• Hands-on activity: 8.5
• Overall effectiveness: 8.3
  

Lately we've been getting higher marks than those, often with numbers up to and even over 9.0, but not today. I don't think I did anything particularly different this time, so I'm chalking these results up to a challenging group that harboured slightly more resistance to Agile than usual. As I'm always quick to point out, any results of 8.0 or higher are excellent to get on a training course. I just always like them to be a big more excellent, you know?

Anyway, that's the end of my scheduled Agile work for the foreseeable future. Wiuth the basement renovation almost done that means I'll soon be able to get back to my other job... writing that 3rd novel!

Prometheus Almost Lives Up To Expectations

In case I haven't made it clear already: I'm a huge fan of Alien (as well as its initial sequel, Aliens).

To appreciate just how much I love that 1979 Ridley Scott movie, I re-watched it for probably the 10th time last night, just an hour or so before we headed out to see its prequel, Prometheus. This, despite the fact that we watched it with Emma last November! I think Alien is simply an incredible film, and every time I see it I spot something that I'd never noticed before and I gain a new appreciation for how great it really is.

Because of that, I had high hopes going into Prometheus, and it very nearly matched them. (And thanks, once again, to brother Richard and sister-in-law Meena for paying our way in to see it, via the birthday gifts they gave us in March.) As Vicki said this morning, it's going to take at least a 2nd viewing for us to wrap our heads around everything in it. I will say right up front, though, that visually, it's a masterpiece. There's so much to see that you end up wishing some of the scenes lingered longer than they did.

The story is fairly complicated, and I'm not convinced yet that it's all internally-consistent, nor consistent with the rest of the Alien franchise. There are also some unanswered questions that I would've expected to be dealt with. But I'm reserving judgment on all of that for the moment. I was definitely enthralled from the opening scene right through to the final one, both of which are quite significant, by the way.

The film clearly sets up a sequel, and I hope director Ridley Scott proceeds with one. Something I'd heard, prior to last night, was that you could think of Prometheus as setting up two separate storylines. The first is the one that Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and so one take forward; the other is one that any sequels to Prometheus will explore. Having now experienced the new movie, I can see how that's true, and I can say that I'm very interested in seeing where the second thread leads.

I'll admit to a fair bit of confusion by the time we left the theatre, but some overnight contemplation, morning discussion with Vicki, and this great article on it have all helped to clarify many of its complexities in my mind. Vicki and I both want to see it again soon, and that should further help in that regard.

I'm really curious to find out how I'll feel about Prometheus by the time it comes out on DVD (Blu-Ray!) in a few months, as by then I think I'll have a much more fully-formed opinion of it than I do right now, less than 12 hours after my first taste of it. I can say, though, that it's a definite 'must see' for anyone who's a fan of the Alien series, science fiction in general, or even just thought-provoking concepts.

My Fringe-y Companions

Here's the trio of lovelies I spent 8 hours with yesterday at Fringe. Hey, it's a tough job, but somebody had to do it! (And yes, like cats, it was nearly impossible to get all 3 of them to do anything at the same time... including smiling!)

Fringe Begins Tomorrow (For Us, Anyway)

Vicki and I have our first two nights of Fringing planned, as we're taking in three shows each on Friday and Saturday, alongside Susan for both and Julie for one evening. Once we've gotten that far into the fray, we'll plan how many more nights we want to do over the remaining week. (We're also talking about the possibility of Hamilton Fringe for a few days with Susan in July... fun!)

At last night's Performer Showcase, we saw several teasers that sold us on shows we weren't even considering before that. A couple of them became 'must-see' performances for us, which really made the whole evening out worthwhile.

Honestly, I can hardly wait the last 18 or so hours before we start!

George Soros On The Looming European Union Meltdown

It's a long read, and not necessarily an easy one, but still very interesting.

Death To Intolerance

I love stories like this one about the morons at 'One Million Moms' suffering another defeat, and not just because it features a superhero (who I've followed for 40 years now) thumbing his nose at one of the last examples of intolerance that supposedly reasonable people still think they can get away with.

It's been a great couple of weeks in comics, and in the White House, for gay rights, and long overdue at that.

I Wasn't Thinking About Such Things In 2nd Grade

A kid in Grade 2, possibly at the prompting of someone older (for all we know), asks physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson whether one black hole can swallow another one. After expressing his appreciation for the question and the questioner, Tyson provides his answer. It's only about 3 minutes long, and definitely worth watching!

The Basement Follies

So far this week, in the ongoing basement renovation saga (following the flooding last fall), we've had:

• room dimensions being mis-measured by the carpet company such that they couldn't get my office carpeted when it was supposed to be (Wednesday of this week), further adding to my frustration over my office being in shambles
  
• scratches and scuff marks on our newly painted walls down there, courtesy of the carpet guys
• our first real test of the new sump pump, which I've just determined isn't draining far enough from the house, resulting in the same water being circulated through the pump, over and over and over

But, you know, other than that, it's going great...

Work Has Begun

on the next novel. It's still early days, but over the past hundred hours or so a whole lot has come together for me in terms of plot and characters. Considering that I didn't even have an idea for the book at the end of last week, that's not bad progress at all.

For the record: I initially got on track on Sunday morning, May 27, 2012. And ever since then, it's been dominating my thoughts despite all kinds of distractions (as our basement continues to be renovated following the flood last November). I've even written a couple of pages, although I have no confidence they'll survive for long.

Most surprisingly of all, I already have a half-decent title in mind and therefore won't have to privately refer to it as "3rd Novel" for the next while!

Some Very Special Feedback

This morning I got the following from a female friend who isn't much of a reader and who I therefore hadn't really expected would ever get around to reading No Brother of Mine:

"The world has come to an end ... I have finished your book and REALLY enjoyed it!!!! Seriously, Matt, you did a great job and I can't wait to read your next. Very unusual for a techie kind of person to do so well as a novelist. Give yourself a huge pat on the back . You deserve it."

High praise indeed!

Early Feedback On No Brother Of Mine

Here's a sampling of comments I've gotten on No Brother of Mine, from some folks who've finished it and others who are partway through reading it (edited in places to remove spoilers, not to change the tone of the remarks):

"Up to chapter 6 ... great read! Congrats!"

"I think you did a great job. I meant it when I said you raised the bar. Game Over was good, No Brother of Mine was better. [:)] I look forward to the next one."

"I am super enjoying it!! Can't wait to see where it's heading! I can already tell, it's going to be a hard book to put down! Awesome!"

"Fantastic."

"Just finished the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done!!"

I am LOVING No Brother Of Mine!!!!"

I've yet to hear of anyone not enjoying it, but maybe anyone in that boat simply wouldn't tell me. Ah well, the fact that I'm getting lots of positive reactions is good enough for me!

Make Good Art

I love Neil Gaiman's commencement speech at the University of the Arts, not least of which because of his advice to those embarking on freelance careers:

1. Do good work
2. Be pleasant to deal with
3. Deliver your work on time

And then he followed that up with the revelation that you really only have to do any two of the three in order to succeed.

It's a great 20-minute speech that I encourage everyone to listen to.

The Difference 24 Hours Can Make

How the pool looked on Monday of this week...


and how it looked the next day...


I'm hoping to go for the first swim of the year tomorrow. Should be hot enough by then!

The Avengers: Even Better The Second Time

Last night Vicki and I took advantage of "cheap Tuesdays" to go see The Avengers again. We wanted to watch it in 2D, which I think was a great decision as we both agreed it was much more enjoyable that way. It's kind of ironic that we spent about 1/3 as much for the 2nd viewing but liked it even more than the 1st one!

I should mention, for posterity, that the theatre was packed! Given that it's now in its 3rd week of release, I had expected the crowds to be considerably reduced. Instead, the ushers were getting people to fill up every empty seat by the time the previews started. The fact that it was Tuesday no doubt had something to do with the turnout, but still!

Anyway, I was able to follow different aspects of the film this time, knowing the storyline going in. I really loved how writer/director Joss Whedon provided so many of the tussles and team-ups that Marvel/Disney fans would expect:

• Hulk vs Thor
• Thor vs Iron Man
• Black Widow vs Hawkeye
• Captain America vs Thor (very briefly)
• Thor actually teaming up with Hulk
• Captain America and Iron Man side-by-side
• and of course Hulk vs Loki!

I was struck last night by just how perfect a super-team movie The Avengers is. That's always been considered a very tricky proposition to pull off, and yet Whedon made it look easy. Here's hoping he signs up for the sequel!

If you haven't see The Avengers yet, what are you waiting for?

Our First One-Word Review Of No Brother Of Mine

My sister-in-law Meena, who is by no means an easy woman to impress, just texted me to tell me she'd just finished No Brother of Mine. She'd read it in essentially one sitting this morning (with only a bathroom break in the middle).

Her assessment, after that marathon session with my second novel?

"Fantastic."

That's even more succinct than Julie's "It's a really good book" comment after finishing the first draft back in February.

I'll be posting a few more bits of feedback that I've received presently. In the meantime, feel free to pass me your thoughts on the book if you haven't already.

Sure Wish We'd Opened The Pool Last Weekend

With the temperature expected to top 30 C today, it kind of sucks that we couldn't open our pool until two days ago (meaning that it's still green, slimy and completely unswimmable at the moment). We had roofers coming last week and decided to keep the winter cover on the pool for that, rather than risk getting nails and bits of grit raining down into it while that was going on. That seemed like the right decision at the time, but with middle-of-the-summer weather arriving this long weekend, now I'm not so sure.

Oh well, hopefully we'll be swimming within a few days, assuming it doesn't turn back into winter by then!

A Book Club Built For Two

Tammy and I decided tonight, via Instant Messenger, that we're going to form our own mini book club - just the two of us! I'm not sure whether two people can really constitute a "club", but to hell with that concern: we're just gonna do it.

Our first, unofficial book was Man Booker Prize-winner The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, which we spent an hour or so discussing this evening. Tammy found it via some targeted Internet searching, and then promptly ordered me a copy through Amazon without even telling me it was coming! We both really enjoyed it, for some of the same reasons and some different ones. It's the kind of story that leaves you with lots of questions that you actually want to think and talk about some more after you finish it.

I've never been a book club member before, and maybe I'm still not (technically)... but regardless, this sounds like a lot of fun to me!

How Publishing Really Works

I had never heard of Yog's Law (of publishing) before, but now I have:

Money flows towards the writer.

I like it!

Why I Won't Be Buying (Or Reading) Before Watchmen

I've been thinking about this ever since word began leaking out last year that DC Comics might be doing some sort of Watchmen-related sequel/prequel series. Then, early this year, it was confirmed: there would be a group of miniseries collectively called Before Watchmen, with some big name talent attached to them, including J Michael Straczynski and Darwyn Cooke (two creators I normally go out of my way to read).

But as time has gone by, and the launch of Before Watchmen has loomed closer and closer, I've realized that I have no intention of buying or even reading these series. Part of the reason is that Alan Moore, the genius behind Watchmen, specifically asked that this not happen. Because of the contract he and artist Dave Gibbons signed back when Watchmen existed only in their two noggins, Moore can't actually stop Before Watchmen from happening. Still, considering the millions that DC has made off that property and its countless reprints over the past 25+ years, you'd think his wishes would be honoured. But of course you'd be wrong.

The other reason I'm taking a stance here is that I think Watchmen is complete as it is. Moore and Gibbons put everything into it, and the 12 issues (typically read in one collected form nowadays) constitute the entire length and breadth of it. There's no need to go back and fill in backstories for the characters, unless you're simply looking to cash in on them with no eye toward artistic expression or purity. Which is exactly what Before Watchmen is, and it's a very sad statement on the world of comics today that it's happening at all.

Anyway, I'll be sitting out this particular comic book 'event.' I'm sure most, if not all of the series will still be best-sellers this summer, but those sales figure won't include any of my money. It just doesn't seem appropriate to me to reward such crass treatment of the 'Citizen Kane' of comic series like this.

For more on Before Watchmen and the controversy surrounding it, you can also see this article.

Huge News In The Music World

Hard to believe but true! This case and the law at the root of it could actually end up transforming the commercial music landscape beyond recognition.

Chip Kidd On Book Cover Design

Thanks to the ever-reliable AgileBoy, I got directed to this TED talk by Chip Kidd, on how to design effective book covers.

Of course, after watching it, I couldn't help but wonder what Kidd would think of this:



I like to think he'd approve. Nice job, Mr. Carl Pettypiece!

What A Party!

Yesterday was the Book Signing Party for No Brother of Mine, and boy, was it a party!

I wish I'd thought to take some photos once people really started arriving, but in all honesty I was much too busy by then anyway. However, here's a shot from the setting-up period before the party started, showing Vicki and our friend - and hostess with the mostess - Susan with the surprise decoration that she'd brought:



Yes, that's a small, light blue pair of running shoes on that floral display, with one of them missing its lace! How brilliant and considerate was that of Susan to construct, echoing the cover image for No Brother of Mine? Vicki and I were both blown away!

And here's my sister-in-law Meena and I with her incredible contribution to the event: a collage of "Favourite Foods of Famous Authors"!



How Meena ever thinks of things like this (let alone making them), I'll never know! Her grandchildren routinely benefit from her creativity at Christmas time, but I was lucky enough to be the object of her affection this time, somehow making it onto her list of famous authors (my fave foods include Dr Pepper, hot dogs, ketchup and spaghetti). What a thrill!

As for the party itself, we had 33 guests show up, ranging in age from 1 year old to... well, I won't embarrass anyone specific, so let's just say "late 50s/early 60s". Susan took care of all manner of food and drink, freeing Vicki and I up to socialize.

Over 20 copies of No Brother of Mine found new homes before we were done, along with a couple of Game Over editions. I got to talk to a couple people about GO, but really had to bite my tongue about NBoM since no one there but Vicki, my brother Rich and I had read it yet! Oh, the irony of it all!

I was thoroughly distracted once the crowd started to build, and felt bad that I didn't get to catch up with as many folks as I'd have liked to. I spent most of the three hours having very short conversations with whoever could manage to claim the chair beside me before having to give way to the next person waiting, book in hand. And I certainly had little or no ability to follow whatever else was going on around me.

Several people who I hadn't expected to make it showed up and surprised me, and a couple who I'd really hoped would come, didn't. In other words, it was about what you'd expect. I was definitely exhausted by the time it was over, and Vicki and Susan were kind enough to leave me out of the cleaning up portion of the day. I haven't heard from many of the party-goers yet to know how they felt it went, but it was clearly a success from my point-of-view. So much so, in fact, that maybe I'll do one of these shindigs for the next book, too! Of course, that assumes there is a next book! At this point, all I'm missing for that to happen is a story idea, and some characters, and a few themes, and...

The Avengers: Well Worth The Wait

Last night, Vicki and I went out into the world to see The Avengers on the big screen. We'd spent the extra money to get VIP reserved seating, which is about the only way I'd ever try to see a blockbuster on Opening Night these days.

Funny story on the way into the theatre: we decided to get our food in the VIP lounge, rather than at the regular concession stands or at our seats (which you can do in the VIP theatre). There were about 4 or 5 people ahead of us when we lined up, and we had about 20 minutes before the start-time. No problem! At least, no problem until the couple ahead of us tried to buy their popcorn, drinks and candy using their Scene card points (or something like that), at which point the process ground to a complete halt. Despite there being three servers behind the counter at one point, they wouldn't open a second cash, and so we all stood there. And stood there. And after about 15 minutes of waiting, Vicki and I finally gave up and headed inside to get our seats.

We discussed the possibility of ordering our junkfood at our seats, but decided that we didn't really want to reward that poor service model by giving them even more of our money for their highly-overpriced fare after the long a wait. So we didn't.

They started the Coming Attractions right on time, and I was excited to see the trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises on the big screen. I think they showed one more trailer after that, and then the lights came back on, followed by an usher explaining that there was going to be a short delay because people were still coming into the theatre at that point. We looked at each other and knew: it was the long line behind us at the concession stand outside that were just now getting their orders filled!

Anyway, eventually The Avengers began and my long wait was finally over! We both once again didn't enjoy the 3D aspect of the presentation, but other than that it was fabulous!

Our plan is to go see it again, in 2D this time, once the crowds die down in a few weeks. There were so many great lines of dialogue, some of them lost because the crowd was still laughing at the preceding joke, making it fun to see again, I'm sure. Three of my favourite parts both involve the Hulk, who probably has the least screen time of any of the 6 team members (on account of being Mark "Bruce Banner" Ruffalo for most of the film). The first comes when Captain America is commanding the Avengers on what to do as they try to defend against a maurading horde, and he gives very detailed instructions to everyone else before ending with, "And Hulk.... SMASH!" That was extremely well-received by the audience! Another one involved Loki, which I won't spoil, and the final one came between Hulk and Thor which I definitely won't give away. Those 3 scenes alone made Greenskin's inclusion in the movie worthwhile!

I wouldn't put The Avengers quite on the same level of The Dark Knight as far as cinematic quality is concerned, but in terms of pure comic book geekasm, it's an incredible thrill! I'm so happy it didn't disappoint, and I can't wait to see it again and then own it on Blu-Ray in a few months.

The blockbuster movie season of 2012 is off to a great start, and there's only 5 weeks to go before Prometheus gets here.

Guess The Turnout

Susan, our gracious hostess for this Sunday's launch party for No Brother of Mine, asked me in an e-mail this week to estimate how many people will show up. I gave her the most honest answer I could think of: somewhere between 10 and 100. That's about as much as I could narrow it down, given that I decided not to ask for RSVP's from people as that scares some off. I'm also faced with not knowing whether people will come solo or bring family members, which obviously affects the numbers. Susan, of course, has to plan the food for the afternoon, so my response probably didn't help a whole lot.

When I told my brother about this development this afternoon, he predicted 57 people (hitting pretty close to the midpoint of my range, I notice). Vicki says 35 or so. I'm hoping for more than my low-end figure (10). Does anyone else care to hazard a guess between now and Sunday @ 2:00? If so, leave it as a comment here.

Regardless, I'm getting more and more excited at the prospect of getting NBoM into some new hands. Hopefully we'll see you on Sunday afternoon and yours can be some of the hands I'm referring to!

The Chutzpah Doctrine

If you want to know what sort of news items drive me crazy, here's one:

A few weeks ago, Republican candidate for president Mitt Romney declared that the Obama administration was engaging in a "war on women" (in response to earlier Democratic claims that Republican fighting against birth control funding within health coverage was just that). He justified this claim with the statistic that 92% of the job losses since Obama took office were felt by female workers.

This extremely misleading figure reflects the fact that the majority of the recession's job losses happened under Bush's watch and dramatically impacted male-dominated industries like construction. By the time Obama took over, that wave of layoffs had passed and a second wave had begun to affect government positions, including office jobs and schools - both of which are more likely to have women in them than men. These cutbacks were then greatly exacerbated by austerity measures that Republicans like Romney insisted were needed (paradoxically along with tax breaks for the wealthy) under the guise of reducing the deficit. In other words, Romney's party pushed vehemently to cut the very jobs that he was now blaming Obama for losing!

Which, as Paul Krugman pointed out in a column about this, is an amazing example of chutzpah. That Jewish term is often described as being when a man kills his mother and father and then throws himself on the mercy of the courts on the grounds of being an orphan! Romney, and the Republican party in the U.S. in general, are currently masters of chutzpah, it seems. And yet few people seem to be calling them on it!

Less Than A Week To Go Now

Yes, my Book Signing for No Brother of Mine is now within a week of actually happening (next Sunday afternoon), and that's very exciting. But something that I've waited most of my life for is even closer to reality!

In just 5 days, The Avengers film debuts, and Vicki and I already have our tickets! We'll be watching it in 3D, with reserved seating, and I can hardly wait. If you'd told me when I was 10 years old that someday there'd be a big-budget Avengers movie that would feature Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk, and that it was getting very enthusiastic reviews from comic fans who got to see it early, I probably wouldn't have believed it. And yet here we are.

Pretty much counting down hours now...

New Type Of Particle Discovered

This definitely doesn't happen every day!

No Brother Of Mine Is In The House!

(Yes, it's true: I'm enjoying coming up with blog titles that play off the name of my new novel.)

The anxiously-awaited two boxes of books arrived today, and we now have 60+ copies of No Brother of Mine in the basement, just waiting for new homes. The plan is to hold a Book Signing Party here on the afternoon of Sunday, May 6th, for precisely that purpose. I sent out a mass e-mail this afternoon with details on the party, so if you didn't get one I likely don't have a valid e-mail address for you. Feel free to contact me, though, and we can correct that situation.

So now that we're just over a week away from the publication of No Brother of Mine, I'm starting to get excited at the prospect. Early drafts of it have only been read by a handful of people so far, but they've all been enthusiastic in their reactions to it. Julie had perhaps the most succinct assessment: "It's a really good book." Naturally, I'm inclined to agree with Cooper's mom in this case. And I hope that, once you've got your copy and have had a chance to read it, you'll do likewise!

Excellent Resolution To The Prisoner's Dilemma

I love the way this guy resolved his prisoner's dilemma at the end of the UK show, Golden Balls: watch and see if you can predict what he does (Vicki and I both did, independently)!

Tammy Up Over

Our Down Under girl is now in Ontario for a few days, as part of a trip back to the northern hemisphere for a friend's wedding in Turks and Caicos next weekend. She promptly caught the flu after arriving in Toronto on Friday, and is only now feeling well enough to come this way for a short visit. It's always something with that girl when she travels!

She's due here in a couple of hours, having decided to drive herself after we offered to go get here. We haven't seen her in about 5 or 6 months, so it should be quite the reunion.

Dark Matter: Fact Or Fiction?

This is crazy! Just when we were all starting to believe in dark matter, recent investigations are throwing doubts up as to its very existence. Wacky!

Another Agile 101 Session Is Behind Us

I did what must have been about my 6th or 7th Agile 101 session of 2012 today, and the last one I have scheduled (for now). It was definitely a challenging group this time, but most of them seemed to be fairly happy with the workshop by the end of the day, based on the feedback results:

Presentation portion: 8.6 out of 10
Hands-on activity: 8.9 out of 10
Overall effectiveness: 8.9 out of 10

Not quite up to the levels of the last session we did or possibly even the one before that (depending upon how you measure things), but still very good.

No Brother Of Mine Is In Hand!

After taking a week to print (usually a 1- or 2-day operation), my print draft copy of No Brother of Mine practically flew here, arriving about 24 hours after it finished printing! I've checked it over, made a few small changes, and placed the big order. I'm hoping there won't be further printing delays, but we'll see.

Current plan is to have a Book Launch event here at the house, with friend Susan helping out on the hosting end. Our tentative date right now is the afternoon of Sunday, May 6th; however, I'll firm that up soon and send an e-mail out to all interested parties, once we know for sure that the big order is on its way to us. I hope we can get a good turnout for the Book Launch, as that always makes it a special event.

We're nearly to the finish line on this project, which is exciting news, indeed!

Prometheus Viral Just Adds To My Already-High Anticipation

I love how we get stuff like this now, really whetting your appetite for an upcoming movie by providing background that isn't simply clips from the film that give away everything that's going to happen in it.

Tivo Vs SARA

We have a Tivo box in our house because I worked one day over the Christmas break, 7 or 8 years ago. We were doing something with Tivo at that time and they requested that we support them over that holiday period, and those of us who agreed to were given both the box and a lifetime subscription to the service. Vicki has loved it ever since I brought it home, not the least of which because of its knack for finding interesting things to record that she ends up enjoying.

Anyway, last night's episode of Mad Men wasn't watched by us "in real time" as it usually would be because Julie was over and the 3 of us were talking our way through the Freakonomics movie that we streamed on Netflix. I wasn't concerned, though, as I knew that SARA (our Rogers box) would record each showing of it. And it did: there were 3 copies of it waiting for us tonight when we sat down to watch it.

Unfortunately, it seems that the show before it on AMC, The Killing, ran long, forcing Mad Men to start (and end) late. Despite having 3 different recordings, we didn't have the final couple minutes of the episode. Quite frustrating!

But then we remembered that the Tivo box always records Mad Men upstairs, which is how we saw Season 4 after I got into it last year. So off Vicki went to check, and sure enough: there it was (once only), with adjusted start time so that it got the entire episode!

And there it was: the difference between a first class PVR box and... well, SARA. Now I know enough about the cable industry to realize that problems like this often boil down to the upstream data provider's accuracy and timeliness, rather than the software or hardware on the box. But somehow Tivo always seems to get it right, whereas Rogers just doesn't.

Problem Solved?

Less than an hour after my online chat with someone at Lulu and tweeting "@Luludotcom Surprised I had to start an online chat with Lulu support to find out printer problems are causing delays. #BetterWays2TellFolks", I got an e-mail telling me that my book had printed and was being shipped. Probably a coincidence, but it sure felt like all my complaining had had some effect!

Now I'm just waiting for the parcel to arrive so I can check out how the cover looks (along with the rest of it) and then prepare the big order.

Problems At Lulu

I had an online chat with someone in the support area of Lulu this morning, and they're saying that there's a problem with the printers that's causing delays. I figured something had to be up, as it's now been a week since I ordered the print draft copy of No Brother of Mine and it still hasn't printed.

This is particularly worrisome because it's never happened before, and my pessimistic mind immediately begins considering more dire possibilities within Lulu that "There's an issue with the printers causing delays" would be the natural cover story for. I hope it's nothing like that, but...

Anyway, until I get further word on this, the release schedule for my second novel is in a bit of a holding pattern. :-(

Tennessee Takes A Big Step Backward

Stories like this always make me stop and wonder, "Are we really in the 21st Century?" Because I swear sometimes it feels like the 19th...

Back From Vacation Part 2

In Part 1, I covered the first four days of our trip to Orlando with niece Peggy and her kids, Natasha & Bruce.

After another quiet day following Universal Studios, we headed to Disney World. I'll admit right upfront that I'm not the biggest Disney fan on the planet, or probably even in the Top 1,000,000,000 of that category. My impression from previous journeys to the Florida theme park when Tammy was a kid was that it was crowded, overhyped and underwhelming. I'd say this year's experience didn't do much to change that opinion.


Of course, Disney World's really supposed to be for the kids, and the two we had with us seemed to enjoy it well enough. We went on Splash Mountain a couple of times (once with a 45-minute wait, and once with a FastPass that allowed us to bypass the line and get right on), Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Manor, a paddleboat ride, and Space Mountain. I do like how clean they manage to keep the place, but that's about all it had going for it as far as I was concerned. It was a scorching hot day when we were there, and yet we still managed to spend about 8 hours there, which I thought was impressive.


We followed that up with another pool-day, and then used our last full day in Orlando to visit a Dave & Baxter's arcade for Natasha's 17th birthday (one day early). All of us were blown away by the selection of games there, as they had just about every variety imaginable. Vicki and Peggy were even referring to it as "Las Vegas for kids", which seemed like an apt description. Several hours of fun there were followed by dinner out at a fancy Italian restaurant, and then it was home to pack up for the drive home.

Thanks to a couple of clever detours engineered by navigator Vicki, and the fact that we were driving on Saturday and Sunday of Easter Weekend, we had a much, much nicer time getting home. We probably spent at least three hours less driving time, and really the only downside over the two days was Bruce not feeling well and throwing up several times in the back seat. His mom was always quick with the sickness bag, but we still all felt extremely bad for the little guy.

Eventually, though, we were all home again! I'd driven just over 2,000 kms in the two days, so I was happy to let Vicki do the honours for the final short leg, from Peggy's house to ours.

The next day we retrieved Lucy from her "vacation home" at Julie's, shown here checking out one of her three housemates. Julie kept Lucy safely tucked away from Coops and Finley most of the time that we were gone, but would occasionally let them interact under her watchful eye. Julie actually got some quality Lucy-time over that period, which is more than she's ever gotten in all the dozens of visits she's paid to our home.

And that was our 2012 Orlando trip!

No Brother Of Mine Is At The Printer!

(I think that's technically true: I don't believe I have a brother at the printer right now.)

I ordered my print draft copy of No Brother of Mine from Lulu tonight, so I should have it to check over within a week or so. Once I'm sure it's good to go, I'll place the big order. Right now I've got around 30 pre-orders, so I'll likely print twice that number initially. I'll provide more details on when and how it'll be available once we get a little closer to having copies in hand.

Back From Vacation Part 1

Vicki and I are now back back from a 10-day vacation in Orlando with our wonderful niece Peggy and her two great kids, Natasha and Bruce. What follows is the first part of our travelogue, the rest of which I'll complete later in the week.


Here are Peggy and 16-year-old Natasha early on during the drive down there, little suspecting just how grueling the trip's going to turn out to be. We encountered the worst traffic I've ever seen on an Interstate, as we spent 3 hours late that first night traveling 20 miles on I-75 from Kentucky into Tennessee. Apparently there'd been a rock slide a week or two earlier, and that had caused them to shut down several lanes. It was an absolute nightmare, as it happened on a stretch with no exits, meaning that we were stuck and couldn't get to a motel with vacancies (since tens of thousands of fellow travelers were caught in the same mess) until around 2:00 a.m.! Not a great start to our vacation, unfortunately.


The next day was better, although we still hit several significant slowdowns. Then, to top that off, Bruce and I were chasing each other on the grass at a rest stop, and I stepped on what looked like a pile of red dirt. Immediately, I began to feel itching and stinging in my sandaled feet, and stopped to pull the footwear off. Apparently it had been a hill of fire ants I'd stumbled into, and I had about a dozen stings or bites to prove it! Vicki came to the rescue with some sort of ointment, and the pain went away pretty quickly. Eventually we got to Orlando, and were in our house-for-the-week by around 11:00. Yay!


We took our first full day in Florida to recover, and spent most of it in or near the backyard pool. Then it was time to head out for our first adventure: to Universal Studios! The place has changed completely since the last time Vicki, Tammy and I were there (probably back in the 90s). It's now two parks (U.S. and Islands of Adventure), and most of the attractions are new.


We started off with two that we knew, though: Terminator 2 (in 3D) and the Horror Make-up Show. Both were excellent, and much as we'd remembered them. Then we visited the Simpsons ride, an updated version of the old Earthquake setup (now called Masters of Mayhem: Disaster!), Men in Black, Twister, the Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster (as it was small enough Bruce could go on it) and the big Red Rocket coaster that only I was big enough and brave enough to go on.

To be continued...

No Brother Of Mine Pre-order Reminder

If you haven't pre-ordered a copy of No Brother of Mine yet, but would like one, please let me know ASAP. I'm hoping to place the big order sometime next week, if all the stars line up. Tammy has 4 chapters to go, as far as editing is concerned, so we'll see how she makes out.