A Few Quick Notes 530

-Today has been pretty beautiful so far, though the forecast is for things to take a turn for the worse later this afternoon.

-I am currently in the midst of drinking what may be my last RUTRTW for the season. I wonder if it will be a winner?

-Neil and I did make it, as planned, to our local Yuk Yuk's last night. Also as planned, we got to see Graham Clark perform. Before the show I even took the opportunity to introduce myself and compliment him on his work. As far as I could tell I may have been the only bumper in the audience?

-I am currently in the midst doing some laundry. Much to my surprise, the prices have still not been adjusted up to the $2 a load prices.

A Few Quick Notes 529

-We are in the midst of another beautiful day in Halifax. Amazingly, even though it has been sunny all day the puddle outside my window (which was featured in yesterday's video) has still not dried up.

-I am now down to a shameful 4 for 32 in this year's RUTRTW contest. I guess all of this year's Dal luck when to the girl who won a car the other day.

-I have been spending far too much time following a variety of Canadian politics types on Twitter. The problem is that as reporters are reporting on things from the field one can basically watch stories as they break and as the various parties respond to them. One can easily have an entire day sucked up without really accomplishing more than gaining a familiarity political brouhaha of the day.

-Last night Neil and I attended our final DAGS meeting of the year, and this was after we had already attended our union's AGM. Talk about a day full of large-scale meetings.

-Neil and I will be heading over to our local Yuk Yuk's tonight to see Graham Clark of Stop Podcasting Yourself fame. I am curious to know if I will be the only bumper/MaxFunster in the audience tonight?

Though Neil isn't much of a MaxFunster or a bumper, tonight's show will mean that he is something of a Stop Podcasting Yourself completist in that he will have seen both Dave and Graham perform live in Halifax. Presumably one of the few people in the world to have accomplished such a feat?

-I should either get back to work or start making dinner. Probably the latter in this instance.

Funny thing I saw today

I really enjoyed this fake ad/ad parody made by Mark Little, a local comedian and sketch group member.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

[Embedded video]

A Few Quick Notes 477

-Though not particularly wet, today was definitely quite grey and cold. Not surprisingly, it seems that we might be in for some more snow in the coming hours/days.

-In my previous post it was mentioned that today I attended a talk given by Liberal MP Siobhan Coady. I should have mentioned that this talk was one of several today given by Liberal MPs. It seems that the Globe and Mail has already reported upon the talk given by Bob Rae. As strange as I found it to be a part of a campaign-style speech, I think that I find it even stranger to have been party to a nation-wide communications strategy on the part the Liberal party.

-I have decided to go for the turkey: three public lectures in three days. Tomorrow's lecture subject is South Africa's role in the world.

-For dinner tonight I made a pretty less-than-satisfying chicken stir-fry. Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to pin-point exactly where things went wrong.

-Because he Jesse Thorn asked nicely and because it is one of the most engaging interviews I have heard on his show in a while (and this isn't to suggest that there has been a shortage of engaging interviews) I feel that I should mention the recently released The Sound of Young America episode that features an interview with Judd Apatow (of Hollywood fame).

The Sound of Young America


[Embedded audio]

-I guess I should try to read a few more pages of this transition to democracy/democratization stuff before I call it a night.

A Few Quick Notes 462

-Today was a predominately overcast day in Halifax, though we did have occasional periods of more intense sun.

-Today at the grocery store I was able to purchase 22.2 pounds of food for $5.97. Even more impressive is that 20 of those pounds cost only $2.98. For those of you who are curious, I purchased 10 pounds of potatoes for $1.99, 10 pounds of carrots for $.99, and 2.2 pounds of green beans for $2.99.

-We had roast beef and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. I quite enjoyed the meal, though isn't really that surprising as roast beef and mashed potatoes are two of my favourite foods (not that most of you really care).

-On Saturday I was reminded of my embryonic attempts at game development a few years ago with Montifax: The Board Game. Maybe I should try to bring this project back to life, at least on a part-time basis. I think it would be neat to eventually have a playable version of the game, even if that is as far as it goes.

-Friday's Pauly Shore show has come and gone. And while I didn't manage to get free tickets to the show, I was able to find something of a review from someone who did. As a side note, I can confirm that the local comedian, Peter White, who is positively mentioned in this review is as funny as suggested. I had the pleasure of seeing this guy perform a few weeks ago at a show at Bearly's.

-Even though it is now after midnight, I should get back to work and try to finish an article I have to read.

Big Show

Tomorrow is the day of the big show in Halifax. Pauly Shore is playing the Nova Scotia. Though I don't yet have tickets, through the power of Twitter I have asked Mr. Shore if he has any extra free tickets (I am not really expecting a response).

For those of you who are interested, here is a sample of the comedy stylings of Pauly Shore that I will be missing by not going to tomorrow's show.



[Embedded video]

A Few Quick Notes 444

-After what seemed like several weeks, though could at most have been two, of rain-less days we finally managed to get some daytime rain today. Strangely, I actually found the experience to be rather pleasant and refreshing. It is strange to go without seeing rain for such a long period, at least that is the case if you are used to living in places where it tends to rain every few days.

-You can feel the excitement building in Halifax. All you need to do is just walk down the street and you can sense that something big is about to happen.

I presume I have whetted your palate? You want to know what I am talking about?

Well, of course, it is the upcoming big week at Casino Nova Scotia. The big week is happening in late September and will commence with a show by Pauly Shore on September 24th and then transition into a Mickey Rooney show on September 26th. Amazingly, tickets for each show are more than $40, and, much to my surprise, the tickets to Shore's show are over $50. As much as I might like to see one or both of these shows, I really don't know how I will be able to justify such exorbitant ticket prices.

-Neil was kind enough to film an early use of the new SodaStream machine (the acquisition of which was mentioned in the previous post).



[Embedded video]

As you can see, it is pretty straightforward and easy to use.

-Somehow we managed to win all three of our last Ultimate games by somewhat substantial margins. While I am not sure if we will be able to maintain such a streak through the play-offs, it has certainly been nice to have some success as a team.

A happening 24 hours in Halifax

Yesterday afternoon Neil and Rebecca returned to St. John's for a week of high-level math and family fun. Almost as soon as they left the peninsula I put myself in extrovert mode and started attending a series of public performances.

I started things off with a nice comedy show.

Several weeks ago I noticed that our neighbourhood blues bar, Bearly's, plays host to a weekly Wednesday night comedy show called Laughter Burner. What made me really want to give this show a shot was that it is hosted former Stop Podcasting Yourself guests, Dylan Rhymer and Ben Mills.

After several weeks of conflicting squash sessions, I was finally able find myself free on a Wednesday evening last night. Not only was I free, but I was also able to talk Jeannette into attending the show with me. At about 8:00 we made our way over (as that was the advertised starting time), though it turns out that we were there quite a while before things started. Actually, I am pretty sure that we were the first people there for the show (though there were a few others in the bar for standard bar related activities). Fortunately we were able to pass the time with a friendly discussion about the qualities of the actors who have portrayed James Bond and the relative merits of their portrayals of James Bond.

The show, which consisted of a number of short acts puntucated by draws for crappy prizes, was great. Aside from the hosts, we were also both particularly taken with the final act of the night, Peter White, a fellow sufferer of kidney stones. Though neither Jeannette nor I was lucky enough to win one of the sets of sub-par prizes (which always include a sample of cheese), we were both convinced that the show was worth our time and worth visiting again. Hopefully we will be able to make it again next week (or at least to another show in the near future).

Much to my surprise, the live performance theme was continued today when I met Jeannette (who provided the following photos) for lunch and we happened upon a jazz band performing next to the ferry terminal. After a few minutes we started to get the sense that the band we were seeing, 6:20 Jazz Lab from Mobile Alabama, was something of a religious group. The emphasis on spirituals was quite striking, as was the fact that the band had a "drama department." It seems that the drama side of the group was used to provide either dancers or costumed characters to match the theme of the song.



Based on some Googling, I got the sense that this band is in town for a number of Christianity-themed performances. Unfortunately I couldn't find a proper website for them, or a real explanation about what they were doing on the waterfront today.

Alongside this group, and seemingly somehow related to them, was former major leaguer Bernie Carbo. At the time I had no idea who Bernie Carbo was, or why he might be manning a personal appearance stand next to the Halifax harbour.



After I returned to the apartment I was able to learn that Carbo, most famous for his pinch hit home-run for the Boston Red Sox in game 6 of the 1975 World Series tied the game and preceded Carlton Fisk's game-winning 12th inning home run, suffered from a number of addictions before finding solace in Christianity. It seems that Carbo, after becoming a hairdresser, now spends much of his time with church related activities.

While hunting down information about Carbo and the 6:20 Jazz Lab I happened to swing by the TD Halifax Jazz Festival website and see that there was a free Klezmer performance at 2:30 this afternoon by the Halifax group Der Heisser. Because I didn't have anything scheduled for this afternoon I decided that I would try to swing by the jazz festival main tent and take in some of this show. Though I didn't stay for the entire show (it was a little hot for me), I did really enjoy the part of the show that I saw.

These three performances were really quite useful as I was once again able to confirm that I am really only interested in seeing performances that are indoors and that have proper seating. Having to brave anything less than ideal conditions really impedes my ability to enjoy a performance. That being said, I am considering attending another free jazz festival performance tomorrow afternoon.

That Was Unexpected

Big news in my podcasting world (which is admittedly a pretty small world)

Just a few minutes ago I learned that a few of my favourite podcasts will now fall somewhat under the same banner/distribution network. (While giving shout outs or recommendations I might as well also mention a few of my favourite independently produced podcasts: The Moth (maybe this one doesn't count as independently produced anymore), The 40 Year Old Boy, and The Tobolowsky Files.)

The details are that the independently produced Stop Podcasting Yourself, hosted by Dave Shumka and Graham Clark, will now somehow fall under the Maximumfun.org banner and thus be associated with The Sound of Young America and Jordan, Jesse, Go!

It seems that the general idea is to bring additional content to the MaxFun realm and provide Stop Podcasting Yourself with a larger audience (and maybe access to the MaxFun fundraising machine?).

As a fan of all involved I really hope this works out for everyone and leads to a fruitful partnership.

A Few Quick Notes 360

-We seem to be switching between periods of rain and periods when it is overcast, and about to rain. I guess such a situation is better than having a thunderstorm, which might still be in the works for later this afternoon or this evening.

-We had a beef stir-fry for dinner last night. As I am trying to cut back on red meat I didn't include all 2.5 pounds of meat that were available to me, instead I went with only about 1.25 pounds, which was still likely more than enough.

-On Tuesday I went in for my second round of lithotripsy. As far as I can tell things went well, though I seem not to have passed as many fragments as after the first time. The nice this is that I felt much less discomfort after the procedure that I did after the first round. Actually, discomfort level is so low it is almost hard to believe that I was actually even blasted.

-Last night Neil, Rebecca and I went to the weekly trivia night at the Grawood (though Neil and Rebecca left early). In retrospect this decision was a bit of a mistake. Not only were there other things I should have been doing, I was far to tired to really enjoy the experience or contribute in any meaningful way.

-My sense of things is that the comedian Louis CK is performing in Halifax at the Rebecca Cohn auditorium tonight. While I wouldn't mind seeing him perform at some point, I don't think that tonight will be the night (mainly because I don't have tickets, nor do I expect to have tickets). Furthermore, while being interviewed on Q this morning he seemed to suggest that he wasn't as big a fan of auditorium shows as of club shows, so this might not be a particularly good venue in which to see him anyway. Maybe when he comes back to town to play the local Yuk Yuk's I will get a chance to see him.

-On Wednesday we had another Ultimate game. Neil didn't attend because he was claiming his neck was hurting (given that he has kept his story consistent for a number of days now maybe I should consider accepting that his neck actually does hurt). Unfortunately, Neil wasn't the only male that couldn't attend so we were down to 5 males, which means that we had only one substitute. This wasn't so bad until we ended up playing a single point that took almost 30 minutes, really tiring the 7 of us on the field.

During this monster point I dove for the disc and made a relatively impressive (or so I have been told) catch. Of course soon after making the catch I made a relatively poorly thought out throw that resulted in a turnover. The most consequential aspect of the catch, that I didn't figure out until a little later, was that while diving I managed to give myself quite a turf/carpet burn on my right arm. I guess this means that I might have to be a little more careful about this things in future games.

-A number of the tomatoes are now, seemingly quite quickly, working their way towards ripe. I have been quite impressed at how quickly they have been turning red. I would guess that close to 8 or 9 have now started to make such a transition, though I still have to work about protecting them from frost between now and the time they will fully ripen, which may be another few weeks.



-I feel that there were a few more things that I wanted to comment upon, but it seems that that is not going to happen today, I just don't have the energy at the moment. Maybe if I get my act together I will make another post later this evening/afternoon.

A Few Quick Notes 314

-Today was another occasionally overcast, somewhat cool day. It seems that for about the past week everyday I learn that the sunny skies that have been predicted for the past few days are to be pushed back by a day or so. This is getting a little tiring. It is not the bad weather that is frustrating, it is the absolutely pointless forecasts that are a little frustrating.

-I am pretty sure that I forgot to eat lunch today.

-As I write this voting is ongoing in British Columbia for both the election and referendum. While I don't think I will direct all of my attention to the results once they start pouring in (at around midnight in Halifax) I do imagine I might try to see how things are going. In yesterday's post I think that I forgot to mention that Graham Clark, co-host of Stop Podcasting Yourself, is running in Vancouver-Fairview as an independent. It seems that the candidacy is part of an on-going series of segment's on a TV show. Given the circumstances of the candidacy it may not be particularly surprising that this particular candidate isn't really going for the win. I guess I will have to pay particular attention to how this race turns out. As the Greens seem to be polling about 10%-12% I might also have to watch their results.

Edit: CBC is reporting that Vancouver-Fraserview could be a close riding, so votes for Graham could be pivotal (or not).

-Moments ago I switched my bedroom light bulbs from 60 watt equivalent compact fluorescent to 100 watt equivalents. The difference is wonderful. My room seems bright for the first time in months. I might even go so far as so say that I may no longer need to run all three of my desk lamps.

-I have a batch of white bread (rising) in the oven. I am again using the special bread flour, so I expect the resulting loaves to be on the softer side of things.

A Few Quick Notes 307

-Eventually today turned into a pretty nice day. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to spend quite as much time outdoors as I would have liked, and when I was outside things were a little less than perfect. Hopefully it will be even nicer tomorrow and I will have an opportunity to head outside (maybe even to Point Pleasant Park).

-Neil and I attended the Halifax Comedy Festival event International House of Comedy last night in the Schooner Showroom at Casino Nova Scotia. Our main justification for going was to see Dave Shumka of the podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself. I was also quite interested in seeing John Wing and Reggie Watts. A number of other comedians were performing along side these three (Natalie Gray was another of those that we saw last night).

Neil and I were particularly impressed with Mr. Shumka, and generally the first half of the show. I am not sure if it was because I was tired or if the performers in the second half of the show generally weren't as good, but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as the first half. I guess the good thing is that I have learned that I don't quite have the stamina for ten performers in a row (or maybe I was just tired).

-Moments ago I returned from the grocery store. My main justification for the trip was to pick up some chicken that was on sale. I quickly learned that they were out of the particular item that I was looking for. Given that the sale had been on all week and the store was to close in less than half an hour I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe I will eventually learn not to leave things until the last minute, though I think that this is doubtful.

-We had more beans for dinner tonight, this time we went for white kidney beans. I was particularly pleased with this batch. I think that adding a half pound of bacon to the mix really helped things along.

The more we have beans the more Neil and I are of the opinion that we really don't have much reason to stray from black beans. I guess once we get through the 6 or 7 pounds of other types of beans we can stick to purchasing black beans (though I don't think that I would mind white kidney beans once in a while). I also think that we might consider trying navy beans again, for some reason I imagine them to be somewhat similar in texture and flavour to black beans (though I don't know why I might think this).

-A few days ago my sister's school, Brother Rice Junior High, was set on fire by a local arsonist. Though the damage wasn't catastrophic, it was enough to close the school for a month. Obviously they had to come up with a plan for students for the next month.

Just today the plan for the displaced students was announced. It seems that these students will be sent to another school for the coming month. The catch is that the Brother Rice students will be doing the afternoon/evening shift while the original students get the morning shift. This is going to be quite a bummer for everyone involved. I imagine that most of the Brother Rice students will be quite glad to get back to their old school as quickly as possible.

I guess what I find funny about all of this is that when I was my sister's age I can't imagine anything that I would have wanted more than for my school to catch on fire and close for some period of time. Though as my mother pointed out today, there is likely nothing that I would have disliked more than having to be bussed to a new school for a month. As luck would have it, I avoided having to face such a circumstance (though I did mange to luck out and get a multi-week teachers strike for the end of grade six).

A Few Quick Notes 304

-The weather today was quite variable in terms of quality. At times this afternoon we had precipitation approaching hale, while later in the afternoon things cleared up and the sun came out. One of the few consistent elements of the day was the temperature, which was continually within a few degrees of zero.

-I have my only exam on Tuesday. I spent a number of hours studying today, and plan on doing more of the same tomrrow.

-Yesterday, as predicted, we ended up having a visit from the Easter bunny. I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that the Easter bunny brought me, among other things, a ticket for a Halifax Comedy Festival show. Somehow the Easter bunny knew that this was the very show that I wanted to attend, as it will be featuring Stop Podcasting Yourself's Dave Shumka (as well as John Wing and Reggie Watts, to name just a few of the comedians scheduled to appear). It seems that Neil also received a ticket for the same show.



Before we could get on to the candy component of our respective hauls, all three of us took a crack at our scratch'n'sniff tickets. Not surprisingly, only Neil managed to get a winner. I am still baffled that people would be inclined to play these on more than an annual basis. Once or twice a year more than satisfies any gambling or lottery urges I might have.



I also scored a bottle of multivitamins and a toothbrush. I guess there was a little bit of candy too.



For breakfast we decorated a few of the bunnies (and also had bacon and eggs).



-Later in the day we had a few friends over for turkey and a few associated dishes. For no particularly good reason I decided to add some bacon to the stuffing. While the resulting stuffing was definitely edible, and not in anyway ruined by the bacon, I am not sure if it really was worth the extra calories.



I didn't time things particularly well, so the turkey was done a little while before the rest of the food. Though in many ways I think this actually worked out better than trying to have it come out at exactly the same time as the potatoes, as this second option is a little harder to time and may lead to significantly over-cooked or cold vegetables.



-Some how I managed to go for three days without taking a nap. These mistakes really caught up with me today, and resulted in today being a two-nap day.

-As usual, the plants keep on growing. Unfortunately, it seems that the seeds I planted most recently still haven't shown any signs of germination. As it has only been a few days so far this isn't particularly surprising, I will only begin to worry if in a few more days I still haven't seen anything.

A Few Quick Notes 301

-Today was another overcast day, though we did manage to get a few minutes of something approaching sun later in the afternoon. I am a little worried that I will be hit by rain on my walk to school tomorrow, though maybe I will luck out and manage to miss it.

-It seems that there are now about six tomato plants visible. The few that were showing yesterday have shown signs of great improvement since yesterday. It seems that he tallest is now approaching 2 centimeters. If this rate of growth keeps up Neil will have fresh tomatoes in no time.

-I feel that the beans have really slowed down. The fourth bean plant doesn't seem to have grown much at all in the past week while the other three are definitely not racing along the string as quickly as they were. Hopefully this slowdown can be attributed to them getting less sun, and that more sun means that they will continue their growth spurt.

-I was able to crank out a two loads of laundry today. Unfortunately, as I was hanging my socks up to dry I learned that I had forgotten one of my socks when I was loading the washer. I hate having one sock of a pair clean while the other is dirty, it seems to really throw things off.

-I have an essay due on Thursday that I am further behind on than I would like. Hopefully I will find to get 'er done between now and then.

-While listening to the most recent episode of Stop Podcasting Yourself today I learned that one of the co-hosts, Dave Shumka, will be performing at the upcoming Halifax Comedy Festival. While I don't think that I can afford some of the fancier shows, I think that there are at least one or two shows in which Mr. Shumka will be performing that are in my price range. Hopefully I might be able to talk Neil or others into attending with me

A Few Quick Notes 224

-Today, like the past few days, has been quite nice. The sky is clear and the wind relatively low. The temperature, though it has dropped since I first arrived, is still quite pleasant, particularly if one is walking. Unfortunately, it seems that rain has been forecast for this weekend (at least I don't have to go walk to school on either of these days).

-Thinking of school, it has really been keeping me busy the past few days. Actually, to a large extent, the large quantity of reading and writing which I have been expected to do has been keeping me away from recreational activities (including blogging).

The notable exception to this trend was a trip to Yuk Yuk's that Neil, Rebecca, and I took last night. We decided to head back to see Kyle Radke, a comedian we saw on our first trip there a few weeks ago.

Just like on our previous visit, the evening was hosted by a local comedian who did some performing before each of the acts. The first two acts of the evening were from Halifax while the third was from New Brunswick. I think that all three of us weren't as impressed with the third act of the night, but that may just have been because he was quite clearly targeting his jokes to the middle-aged members of the audience.

As was the case on our first visit, all three of us really enjoyed Kyle Radke's performance. While there was some duplication of material (as one would expect) the show was consistently funny and entertaining. The material we hadn't heard before was great and was interspersed with some of the stuff we had heard, giving it a new context so that it didn't feel stale.

-I finally got around to baking some bread today. Unfortunately, my batch wasn't quite as large as I had hoped it would be. Some how I ended up with only three loaves, instead of my intended four. The bread is also not quite as sweet as usual, though that is mainly because I didn't put as much sugar as usual.

-Our neighbours, one of whom is also a political science student, will soon be moving out of their apartment. In preparation for the move the started to sell some of their belongings a few weeks ago. Neil and I took the opportunity to buy a few things, including a pair of end tables, some wine glasses, and a bookshelf. We were able to take possession of most of the item immediately, but we had to wait on the bookshelf as it was filled with books (this wasn't a particular problem as we didn't have an immediate need for the bookshelf).

Today we finally took possession of the bookshelf. Now that I have the item I really don't know where it will go. I guess I originally intended it go to in my room, but now I am not sure if I really need another piece of furniture, particularly one that is so large. Anyway, I guess I will have to figure something out sooner rather than later as I can't leave it in the middle of my bedroom for much longer.

A Few Quick Notes 220

-The weather seems to have finally turned the corner and started to improve. Fortunately, with the increase of sun we have also had a decrease in heat, making the days much easier to tolerate. As far as I know this is what is to be expected for much of the rest of the week.

-Things have definitely started at school. As of this morning I have had all three of my classes, finalized my TA assignment, and secured an RA position. Along with all of these responsibilities comes a pile of reading, a pile that I hope to be able to make my way through in a reasonable fashion.

-Yesterday, while grocery shopping, I purchased a banana plant. While the plant is quite small, and in a small pot, it appears to be healthy and alive. What I don't know about the plant is whether it is the type of banana plant that might be expected to produce bananas at some stage (presumably once I transfer it to a pot of a reasonable size). I guess I will wait to see how it does in the coming days.

-Our comedy club experience last Thursday was pretty good. All of us managed to get in for a total of $12, a pretty fair price. Almost as soon as things got under way we learned that the advertised headliner wasn't going to be appearing but that we would be seeing about four comics through the night.

While the emcee had his ups and downs all three of us really enjoyed the other three comedians. Rebecca, who was a little hesitant at the begining of the night, seemed quite interested in seeing one of the comics when he comes back to headline a show in a few weeks time.

I should also say that the drinks were reasonably priced, which wasn't what we expected. Unfortunately we did experience two problems with the drinks. Firstly, the beer selection was very limited. The bar stocked only 6 types of beer, all of which were distributed by a single national brewery. Secondly, Rebecca's cola was off, so off that it didn't even smell like cola. Because the first one was so off we didn't go back for a second so we don't know if what we experienced was part of a trend or was a one-off incident.

A Few Quick Notes 187

-For the third day in a row we have had pretty decent weather. While we now have blue skies, they were not visible when I awoke. Strangely, the temperature seems to be higher than predicted, but still not particularly hot and unpleasant.

-At some point during the night before last I was awoken by the ka-chunk feeling of a kidney stone moving through my innards. Fortunately this wasn't a bothersome enough experience to truly jar me from my sleep (probably because I knew that there was nothing that I could really do about the matter at that point in time). Anyway, after a few brief, but sharp, spurts of pain I seem to have reverted back to my status quo antebellum (and the 'bellum' would be a reference the mono that I experienced last summer).

-While looking through the Globe today I saw an article about a new CBC Radio One show to be hosted by Gordon Pinsent. My understanding is that the show will basically be radio obituaries for individuals who are not particularly well known. As I am a big fan of obituaries and CBC Radio One I will have to make an effort to tune into the first show this evening (though it would really be better if the show was available via podcast).

-The newspaper also gave me some surprising news about George Carlin. It seems that Mr. Carlin passed away on Sunday.

Just a few days ago I listened to an interview that suggested that Mr. Carlin played an important role in the growth/changing of American comedy. His use of 'obscenities' might be the aspect of his comedy that is most famous, and, at the time, groundbreaking.

-Yesterday, while looking through my wallet I noticed that I had a few unused Roll-up-the-Rim winners that I hadn't used. All three of them were doughnuts. I guess it would seem that I might not eat as many doughnuts as I once used to.

-While at work today I competed in a long putt competition. The goal was to get one's ball as close to an 'x' on the ground as possible. Due to a slight mis-understanding of the rules I didn't take advantage of the fact that I could bounce by ball off the walls as well as the door behind the 'x.' The result was that my balls were pretty wimpily swatted done the course for poor results while other were really rocketed a the target for fair degrees of success.