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Customer service, on the altar of 'efficiency'. Again.
I had to swing by the library today; one book to return, one book to renew. You'd think this would be a non-event, but that, of course, would be before you learned about the new, 'faster', 'more efficient' self-checkout desk at the library ( Read more... ) -
I've been meaning to mention...
I know there're more than a couple of aspiring writers out there watching this space, so it seemed worth mentioning Canada Writes 2010. Running until March 1st, Canada Writes allows for submissions of up to 200 words in five different categories; the top twenty selected writers will then compete on the CBC program Go in a variety of time trials. ( Read more... ) -
Ugh.
I saw her at work the other day. We didn't speak; didn't even make eye contact. She was halfway across the store at our closest pass, and I couldn't even say for certain if she even saw me.
Still. Just seeing her again was enough to sour my mood, for hours. -
This is what passes for political thought?
Being a decent enough Canadian and human being, Mark Steyn is uncomfortable with what's happening in the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve. Being Mark Steyn, however, he's chosen to express his discomfort in the rudest and most ridiculous manner possible. He starts off by calling the Kahnawake Mohawks racists, which is a word Canadians aren't generally ( Read more... ) -
Expanded? More like blown up.
You know, I quite enjoy the Star Wars EU. Sure, it's got travesties like the Jedi Academy Trilogy and Crystal Star, and the 'Travisty' of Karen Travis herself. But any time Timothy Zahn puts fingers to keypad there's gold, and both Clone Wars cartoons have been quite enjoyable. The problem, though, is that the more the EU opens up the Star Wars ( Read more... ) -
Funniest. Thing. Ever.
So, a while back Frank Miller basically invented the grim'n'gritty anti-hero with The Dark Knight Returns. It was a good, if politically anvillicious, story of the descent of society, the burden of the hero and the changing face of morality. Of course it looked kind of like ass, but it's a Frank Miller comic, you don't go to them for the Alex ( Read more... ) -
I call shenanigans
So I picked up 501st: An Imperial Commando Novel the other week, by Karen Traviss (MANDALORIONS!). As I expected, the plot tumor of Traviss' heroic Mandalorian father-figure and his quest to selflessly save the enslaved clones (well, some of them... well, a few of them... okay, about two dozen out of a multi-million-strong army...) and prolong ( Read more... ) -
The Book of Eli
It's not enough, anymore, just to put someone in tattered clothes and call your film post-apocalyptic. Audiences have grown more savvy, more worldly. Okay, they say, the apocalypse has happened and all of civilisation has broken down. It's great that you're scruffy and kind of dirty, that you're fast with a gun and/or a knife, and that your ( Read more... ) -
A revelation
Between Distr 9 and Avatar, I've come to realise something; private military contractors may very well be the new Nazis of the film world ( Read more... )