Blue Jays End 22-Year Playoff Drought

I was beginning to think I might never get to see the Jays in the playoffs again, after seeing them live in Game 1 of the 1993 World Series (the last time they were in a playoff series).  However, an incredible 2015 season which saw not one but two 11-game winning streaks for Toronto has now culminated with the team clinching a postseason berth with their best performance since 1993.

Additions such as Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin and David Price to a roster that already boasted Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion has allowed the team to finally achieve the potential that so many have seen in them for several seasons now.  It's been a heck of a ride so far, even managing to push coverage of exhibition NHL games to the back burner during late September here in Canada.  I don't know deep they can actually go, but at least this year the Jays won't be breaking out their golf clubs after their 162nd game is over. 

Hour Of The Wolf Has Arrived!

The books sat in Atlanta, Georgia for about 24 hours, and then I was hit with duty charges that I wasn't expecting, but none of that matters now: Hour of the Wolf copies are finally in the house!  I'm happy to report that I have books to sell at last, so if you're looking for one, please let me know.

Life In The Serial Killer Capital Of The World

I wasn't actually living here in London, Ontario during the 50s through the early 80s, and now I'm kind of glad that I wasn't.  This chilling Guardian article details how our lovely little city was once the serial killer capital of the world, a distinction no city would ever want to hold.

Hour of the Wolf Is Almost Here!

Over the past several days, I've finished the print draft of Hour of the Wolf, ordered and received copies in the mail, checked them over and made a few minor changes, and then placed the big initial print order for the book.  I'm not sure how quickly they'll get here, though I'm cautiously optimistic that they may show up next week.  I'm using Amazon's CreateSpace print-on-demand service as my primary printer on this project for the first time, and so far each of my experiences with them has been very positive and quick.

As you can see from the left-side bar on this blog, I've added a couple of links to the new book.  It's all set up on CreateSpace and Lulu now, so anyone who'd rather get a copy through the mail can choose between those options and order it as of right now.  I'll also be putting a version up on the Kindle store, probably tomorrow, for those who like to read eBooks.

And of course, as soon as the printed copies show up on our doorstep, I'll be getting those into the hands of any interested parties.  Stay tuned.

Nothing Good Ever Lasts: Scene Points Edition

As Tammy pointed out to me this morning, it sounds like Cineplex is soon going to be devaluing their Scene point system!  Premium tickets will soon require 1500 points and VIP 2000 points, where both had previously only needed 1000 for a ticket.

For years now, we've been building up 100 points per General Admission movie that we paid for, and then redeeming 1000 points to attend a VIP screening (usually on opening weekend) for some big budget blockbuster like Avengers or Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  The economics of it worked wonderfully, as we'd spend between $70 and $110 on 10 General Admission tickets (depending on how many cheap Tuesday shows we went to) and then redeem our 1000 points for a show worth about $20.  I sort of knew that was too good to last, and now it seems I'll soon be proven right in that assumption.

If you've got points built up right now that you've earmarked for a VIP show, you may want to use them before Nov 4.  Unfortunately for us, that rules out Star Wars Episode VII (December), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 2016) and Captain America: Civil War (May 2016).  Bummer!

Introducing My Fifth Novel: Hour Of The Wolf

(Cover image by Mark Wagter, markwagterphotography.com)

More details to follow in August...

Awesome Post By A Mormon Lawyer On The 10th Anniversary Of Marriage Equality In Canada

This Mormon Press article is definitely worth a read, both for its thoroughness in discussing the balance Canada has struck for the past 10 years between ensuring religious freedom as well as the rights of those whom certain religious representatives often seek to subjugate, and for its calming tone toward our neighbours to the south on their own recent entry into the 21st century where marriage equality is concerned.

As Ms. Oviatt puts it, "a decade into same sex marriage, the moral fabric of Canada is as strong as ever [and] families continue to be at the heart of Canadian society."  Which of course comes as a surprise to absolutely no Canadian except those few religious extremists who lack the ability to see beyond the end of their own judgmental noses.

Uber Vs Toronto's Horribly Corrupt Taxi System

This Globe and Mail article details just how mind-blowingly bad the taxi licensing scam is in Toronto and makes a good case for why anything that destroys it, like Uber, is most definitely an improvement.

2nd Draft Complete!

As expected, it took me less than 2 weeks to complete the 2nd draft of my 5th novel.  I'm often frustrated by how unpredictable my pace can be when I'm writing the initial draft, but at least the rest of the process always flows much more smoothly. 

The updated version of the book is now in the hands of Ernesto for edits and my brother for feedback and corrections on the stuff he helped with.  Meanwhile, I'll be doing additional minor edits of my own, as will Vicki, and then all of that will be incorporated into a 3rd draft.  It should only take about another 4 - 5 weeks before I can place a big order and actually have some copies to sell.

Things are progressing well now! 

Finally Finished The First Draft!

It's been a long time coming, but tonight I completed the initial draft of my fifth novel.  It's still fairly unpolished, and has sections that I need to discuss with my brother Richard yet, but the entire story is now down 'on paper' and complete.  I know everything that happens, all of the characters' fates, and what it all means.  Always a really good feeling!

Details, such as the title and back cover blurb, will be forthcoming over the summer.

Brain Teasers Are Fun

Whenever I'm stupid enough to think that I'm smart, a brain teaser like this usually comes along and brings me back down to Earth:

There are 3 light switches on a wall in the basement.  One of them turns on a lamp that's up in the attic.  You can manipulate the 3 switches as much as you want, but you're only allowed one trip up to the attic to see if the lamp's on.  How do you figure out which of the 3 switches works turns on the lamp?

I thought about this for several minutes but couldn't solve it.  However, like all the best puzzles, once I saw the solution I realized it was perfect and that I could've (theoretically) come up with it, since there were no absurd assumptions or tricks involved.

Can you solve it?  Leave a comment with your solution if you have one.  I'll post the 'real' solution in a comment sometime later (though other solutions are certainly possible).

[This came courtesy of BoingBoing and The Guardian website.]

Calling Out America's Anti-Intellectualism And Its Cost

Here's a really great Psychology Today article detailing many of the ways in which the U.S. is embracing ignorance and paying a high price for doing so.

Edward Snowden: 21st Century Hero?

In the two years since Snowden first gained notoriety by releasing huge volumes of information about the National Security Agency's data-gathering techniques, I've had this creeping feeling that he may just become one of this century's most important heroic figures.  I've seen a couple of interviews with him, read a few articles about him, and now there's the New York Times op-ed that he penned last week... and everything I 've learned about Snowden makes me believe that he did was he did for the noblest of reasons.  It's hard to imagine any way in which he's benefitted by his actions, although I suppose for some, gaining celebrity would be justification enough.  I don't get that vibe off him, though.  As he says in the NYT article, he put his privileged lifestyle at risk and wasn't even confident that anything worthwhile would come of the risk he took.  I think it's possible that 20 years from now we'll look back at the revelations he provided into what the US government (and others) have been doing in the 21st century and realize just how critical it was that all of that spying came to light when it did.

I guess only time will tell how history will remember the man, but my money's on 'hero,' rather than 'villain.'

Joining The Costco Movement

Two recent discoveries have led us to finally get a Costco membership after years of resisting the urge.

The first was that I've been hearing Costco held up as an example of a big chain store that actually treats its employees half-decently, unlike Walmart (which I've always refused to shop at).  I'd always assumed it was just as lousy an employer as Walmart but apparently it manages to offer discounted prices while still allowing its workers to earn a living wage.  Yay for Costco!

Also, our local 'Great Canadian Superstore' has gone downhill considerably over the past year or two, especially in terms of keeping their shelves well-stocked with the items I'm most likely to buy (bread, wraps, bagels, various brands of frozen foods, etc.).  The joke in our household has become that we'd better not like anything we buy there too much or else they'll soon stop carrying it.  It's gotten to the point where about half the time I go there to get a fresh loaf of bread I come home empty-handed, either because there wasn't any to be found at all or because whatever was there had a Best Before Date that was only a day or two out from the present.  I eat a fair bit of bread but even so, I need it to last for at least a week!

All of which primed me for saying to Vicki this week, "If you're at all interested in getting a Costco membership, it's fine by me..."  Needless to say, it wasn't long at all before she came home with one!  One of her first purchases was a big roll of plastic wrap (like our sister-in-law Meena has!) that will hopefully put an end to me cursing the crappy Glad Wrap that tangles up in my hands and never clings to anything I put it on.  She also bought a whole lot of pork (tenderloin and roasts) that we'll be enjoying all through the summer, based on the size of it.

Next week, I'm going to see if I can find bread at Costco, though Vicki's already warned me that I'll probably have to buy two loaves at a time.  Even so, that'd still be better than not being able to buy any at the so-called Superstore.

Taking A Twitter Break

It might seem I've been taking a blogging break, given the dearth of posts here lately... but really I just haven't had much to say.  Life has been good of late, as it often is, and that makes for boring updates I think.

But the one little kernel of news I thought I should record for posterity is that I closed my Twitter tab in the browser several days ago and haven't yet felt inclined to re-open it.  I'm not a Twitter-hater in general, but it does certainly seem to skew quite heavily to the noise side of the signal-to-noise scale sometimes, and so I'm taking a break from it.  How long it will last, I can't say.  But so far I've been enjoying not knowing what everyone else is talking about, not reading the same tired, old attempts to be topical and cool, and not wasting even a single moment of my day skimming through the cruft, looking for something to reward my attention.

Pool Season 2015 Now Officially Open

With the sudden arrival of summer today (seems like just last week it was winter!), we bit the bullet this morning and began the chore of opening the pool.  As of right now, the winter cover is off, cleaned and ready to be packed away for 4 or 5 months; a lot (but certainly not all) of the algae and worms have been vacuumed off the bottom of the pool; the water that was oily black 8 hours ago is now light blue in the shallow end and nearly-light green in the deep end, thanks to 2 kg of chlorine having been added; and the water temp is up from 55 F to 60 F, courtesy of our 4-year-old heater that started up perfectly on the first try.  Tomorrow we'll do one more vacuum of the deep end and then unleash the robot on it to do numerous passes without any human guidance (we just have to clean out its filter on a regular basis as it gets clogged quickly this time of year).

Optimistically, if all goes well, I could see taking a dip by the weekend.  Of course, where pools are concerned, things rarely go all well.  But a guy can always dream, can't he?

Poopy Bird Deterrents In Place

After last year's successful foray against the annual poopy bird crapfest, we believe we've found a winning strategy and so of course we're deploying it again this year.  The strings are up, zigzagging across the (still-closed) pool, and hopefully they'll be enough to keep the migrating grackles from dropping the feces of their young onto our deck.  We'll know within the next few weeks, anyway.

Potentially Huge Breakthrough For Alzheimer's Discovered

This news out of Australia seems extremely promising: a team there has discovered a way to use ultrasound waves to break up the material that blocks the neurons in Alzheimer's patients and causes their memory issues.  Tests with lab rats saw improved memory functions in 75% of the treated animals, which is an amazingly good result.  Considering how devastating this disease is to so many elderly men and women and their loved ones, this could prove to be a game-changer, for sure.

Yet Another Study Finds No Link Between Vaccination Rates And Autism

Almost 100,000 children aged 2 thru 5 were included in the latest study, which once again found no link between vaccination rates for MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) and the occurrence of autism.  In other words, unvaccinated children are as likely to be diagnosed with autism as vaccinated ones are.  This is the same result that every study on the topic has found, with the exception of the one, discredited bit of 'research' that kicked off this whole anti-vaccination nonsense.  The great thing about science is that it's repeatable, and therefore by definition anything that isn't repeatable ain't science.  It's just too bad there's so many gullible parents out there who apparently didn't learn the first thing about how science works during high school, as they're now endangering everyone else around them with their stupidity. 

My Long Wait Is Almost Over

On this, the first day of Daredevil being available on Netflix, I  just ordered 2 tickets for Avengers: Age of Ultron for the night of its premiere, Friday, May 1st.  We're going to see it at the VIP theatre, reserved seats, and hopefully avoid having any of its surprises spoiled beforehand.  I'm ridiculously excited about this movie, just as I was for the first Avengers flick, and it didn't disappoint... at all!

Just 21 days to go now...