Fire up the ol' blogger (AKA my blogger was broken)

So not much is new with respect to blogging. I was briefly listed as a contributer on Doyle Pitches, but I removed myself after an exhausting 11 or so days of not contributing.

I've been told recently (about a month ago) that there's also a blog-off here at Montifax. Cameron sneakily holds these competitions with so little notice that it is hard to find time to come up with ideas. (Author's note: I'm not good with counting or ideas.) On a related topic, I think I should clarify that only posts that have the label "competitions" will be counted in the blog-off. The score below may be corrected upon review of previous posts this month.

Score

Cameron 62?

Neil 5

A Few Quick Notes 508

-Today was a pretty nice day, though at times we did have a few flurries.

-We managed to lose our Ultimate game by about 10 points tonight. Strangely, and I am not sure if it had anything to do with the my new sports goggles, I had a pretty good game tonight. Unfortunately relatively early on in the game I made a rather big diving catch and managed to make contact with the ground with my right elbow, lower back, and left hip. Presently my right elbow and left hip are in some pain. And, though I didn't know it at the time, my lower back has been scratched. I am starting to wonder when the self-preservation instinct will kick in and I can stop hurling my body at the ground in an attempt to catch something that is flying by.

I am also really hoping that this newly acquired limp manages to heal itself overnight.

-We are still plugging away at Doyle Pitches. It seems that CBC having banned key writers from reading us hasn't really slowed us down.

I am still waiting to hear when the Telegram article might be coming out, though I am holding my fingers that it will be soon.

-Today I spent a good deal of time slaving away in the kitchen and I am not sure that I have all that much to show for it.

-It seems that the Canada Games officially started yesterday. I guess Halifax will be a bit messed up for the next two weeks. As I don't have a car or many regularly scheduled appointments this should be too bad for me.

-Neil really needs to get his act together and start posting if he wants to do well in this year's blog-off. Actually, I wouldn't mind if he posted just so that I didn't look as though I was over-posting for no reason.

C'mon first year winner, get you stuff in gear and throw up a few posts.

Score
Cameron 33
Neil 0

Banned by the CBC

Many of you likely know that over past few days I have been in contact with a Telegram reporter who is doing a story on Doyle Pitches, a site where we make unsolicited episode and character pitches for the CBC show Republic of Doyle.

When I spoke to the reporter yesterday she said the would be contacting the Republic of Doyle people, particularly the star of the show, for a comment on the blog and our pitches.

I have now heard from this reporter that the show's representatives weren't particularly interested in giving a comment. Moreover, apparently the CBC has banned the star from even reading our blog over fears that if ideas similar to those on site eventually appear on the show they might be sued. Really? A free blog has been made verboten?

Firstly, I want to make it clear that I do not, nor does anyone else associated with the site, have any interest in suing a publicly funded local TV show. Hell, I would consider paying them upwards of $5 to use either Phonse Tibbo or Cecil Noseworthy in any of their episodes.

Secondly, it feels really funny to have been banned by the CBC (an institution I have loved for so many years). I mean really, is this anything anyone ever thinks they will have to deal with - especially when the organization doing the banning is also the country's premiere news organization?

Thirdly, it feels strange to have created something that lead to pre-emptive action being taken by another organization. Who knew actions had consequences and stuff?

Fourthly, apparently the story will still be coming out - though I don't know exactly when. If I hear details about the publication date I will be sure to relay them here.

Who knows, I may have more to say on this topic. At the moment the whole thing is a little too fresh for me to fully grasp and articulate.

Score
Cameron 30
Neil 0

Picking up steam?

This afternoon I was interviewed by a Telegram reporter about Doyle Pitches. Two weeks ago, or whenever it was that we started Doyle Pitches, I couldn't have imagined this development. The idea that there would be any media interest in this endeavour would have seemed as crazy as having the Halliday's guy look after a stolen horse being hidden in a house across from the aforementioned meat market.

I guess we now just have to wait and see how this all plays out. I will keep you updated if I hear anything else on this subject.

Oh, and the Doyle Pitches Twitter account now has 31 followers, up from 18 yesterday.

Score
Cameron 27
Neil 0

A Few Quick Notes 506

-As some of you may know, today was pretty snowy. Amazingly, I did seem to capture the short sunny break that we had this afternoon.



[Embedded video]

-Much to our surprise, there has been some traditional media interest in the Doyle Pitches blog. If anything comes of this expression of interest I will be sure to keep everyone informed - but definitely keep your eyes peeled.

Also, remember to keep checking back for new and exciting Doyle Pitches.

-I am still getting used to my new glasses, though the more that I wear them the more I think that they still need to be adjusted a little. I guess I will look into this when I go back to the store to pick up my second pair of glasses (my sports goggles).

-I did a fair bit of grading today.

Score
Cameron 25
Neil 0

Another thing I meant to post yesterday

Another thing that I meant to post yesterday was this quality video that I made for the Doyle Pitches website - it is a mock up of one of our pitches.



[Embedded video]

Enjoy.

Maybe I will have to refine my technique a little for the next one.

Score
Cameron 3
Neil 0

A Few Quick Notes 503

-Today has been a pretty great day all day long. Now, presumably just for a seasonal effect, a few snowflakes are falling, though not really staying around.

-Our Ultimate team played pretty poorly in our game last night. Our poor play wasn't helped by the fact that were were missing quite a number of players. In the end we lost the game by about 7 points. Hopefully things will go better next week.

-Did you know that you can Flickr user's photostreams as RSS feeds? I know that I just learned this a few days ago and was a little saddened to think that I hadn't been taking advantage of this feature for the past few years (assuming it has been around that long).

-I am presently in the midst of making batches pea soup and butternut squash soup for dinner tonight.

The butternut squash soup is turning out a little thinner than I hoped it would. I will soon be trying to resolve the problem by supplementing the soup with some carrots and potatoes. These new additions should give the whole thing a little more body, and make it a little less like yellow water. Hopefully they aren't strong enough flavours to overpower the squash.

-We are still going 'strong' over at Doyle Pitches. My favourite of the day, at least so far, is "Doyle: Pig in the City."

A Few Quick Notes 502

-This morning when I woke up it was snow-raining, which then turned to rain, which has not reverted to snow. What a generally ugly day it has been. Hopefully tomorrow is better.

-I heard a rumour that a number of Halifax universities closed today because of the weather. This surprises me as it really wasn't all that bad here. Actually, by mid-morning things had kind of cleared up and what-not (at least until just a little while ago).

-My Canadian comprehensive is tomorrow. I have spent the better part of my day studying by working through practice question. Obviously I haven't taken the exam yet, but impressed by how useful it feels to try assembling some of these, until now, disparate ideas.

-Fortunately I have been able to avoid spending too much more time on Doyle Pitches. Word on the street is that it has been forwarded to the makers of the show. I really have no idea what they might think of such a ridiculous site.

-For the third time this week I am preparing roast chicken for dinner. Fortunately for everyone the sale on whole chickens ends tonight.

-I am really looking forward to finishing this exam (though this will mean that I get to move on to the next exam in the process).

Doyle Pitches

It seems that today I foolishly allowed myself to be sucked into wasting several hours on a new blog: Doyle Pitches.

The general premise of this blog is that it is a venue for unsolicited character and episode concepts for the Newfoundland PI drama Republic of Doyle.

As of right now I have roped Jeannette, Peter, and Neil into helping me come up with content for the site. Actually, I think some of it is pretty funny and some is close to plausible (at least in terms of actually being a Doyle episode).

Anyway, if you are interested it feel free to check it out (and/or subscribe to the RSS feed). Hopefully I will be able to keep myself under control tomorrow and not allow this site to completely sidetrack me.