Oh, that wacky weather!

Looks like global warming is continuing to promote craziness in the weather patterns of BC. After the snowstorm of a couple weeks ago, we've had three major storms hit us in the past week. Last estimate I heard stated that 200,000 people in BC were without power. Fortunately, I managed to get by so far with only a damp basement. *fingers crossed* *knock on wood* *other assorted luck bringing incantations* But really, things are just getting out of hand. Makes you want to grab some SUV owner and deck 'em, eh? Or is that just me?

The White Stuff

You may have heard that much of BC, including Victoria, has been blanketed in snow this week. While not so much for the rest of BC, this is a fairly rare event for Victorialand. I have to say: the snow has been a mixed blessing. On one hand, it looks completely gorgeous. I managed to snap a few photos on Monday, which I haven't developed yet but have high hopes for.

On the other hand, different fingers. Victoria as a city is completely unprepared and unable to cope with this kind of weather. It hasn't snowed since Monday and things are still nowhere near normal. You may recall that the city sold its only snow plow back in 1995: the year before the blizzard of '96. Fortunately, Pati and I were back in Ontario celebrating the Christmas holidays when that one struck, so we only had to deal with the aftermath a week later when we flew home, which was bad enough. But apparently things were completely insane in the days before we returned, as opposed to moderately insane days after our homecoming.

This time is no different. I couldn't get to work on Monday because the buses stopped running. Shortly after I woke up I heard on the local branch of CBC radio that the conditions were so bad that the bus drivers had been ordered to stop at their next scheduled bus stop and just sit there waiting for things to improve. Taking a cab would cost a mint and they were backed up with calls anyway. The only option was to walk, which would have taken me an hour and a half minimum. So I did the only sane thing: I emailed work and let them know that I was staying home.

Snow day!

I hung out at home, playing video games, taking pictures and enjoying Pati's company. I had the rare opportunity to use my snowshovel, and happily cleared my walkway. I was of a small minority. Victorians, by and large, do not shovel their walks even though they are legally obligated to do so (They are generally not even aware of this. Myself, I would shovel regardless).

I'm thinking of renaming this blog "Griping about Victoria".

Here's another one: few people in Victoria are capable of driving in the snow and virtually no one has all-weather tires. There were numerous accidents, lots of people stuck in snowdrifts and sliding on ice.

Anyway, enough rambling on my part. Here's to future Victorian Snow Days!

Erratic, not erotic

Well, my erratic posting has continued full steam. But I will take another kick at the can. I've heard that would be writers should keep a journal to keep the creative juices flowing, so consequently I've decided to contribute more random thoughts to this crazy blog thing. I figure that as long as it doesn't take away time from my regular writing projects, then what is the harm? Anyway...

I've been pleasantly surprised by the recent opportunities that I have had to witness some mind-blowing performances. One of the most annoying things about living in Victoria is the lack of shows - nobody seems to want to make the ferry ride over to the island. And getting to Vancouver for a show is expensive and inconvenient: including the ferry ride, it's a 3 1/2 hour trip one way. It makes me miss the relatively short trip into Toronto from Hamilton. This situation has contributed to my general malaise in regards to Victoria nightlife.

You might imagine my surprise when I heard about the coming of political hip-hop stalwarts the Coup. In case you can't imagine it, I did a lot of jumping around and going whoot! And the show did not disappoint, even though it was lacking the talents of turntablist extraordinaire Pam the Funktress, Boots Riley provided a thouroughly enjoyable time for all with the cooperation of an able backup band and guest vocalist Silk E. A funktabulous time had by all, or at least me.

I also had the great fortune to hear some thought-provoking speakers hold court in Victoria. The first was Dr. Gerald Durley who came to speak at my employer's annual business forum and the second was Jello Biafra, who appeared to make it to Victoria at the last minute almost by accident.

Dr. Durley was a genuine treat to hear. I knew very little about him coming to the business forum and was not expecting to be so completely entertained and inspired by the man. He is, among other things, a southern baptist minister and is no stranger to public speaking, with a style which is at times personal, humourous, uplifting, and thought-provoking or any combination thereof. It was a pleasure to be a part of that audience.

Seeing Jello Biafra speak was an interesting experience. Coming from a punk background, I was already familiar with his work in the Dead Kennedys as well as with Lard and in spoken word. It was a bit surreal to actually see him in person, and in a small venue to boot. The event was held in what I would refer to as a community hall, with no stage and just a semi-circle of folding chairs. Jello performed some of his classic spoken word pieces such as "Die for Oil, Sucker", but the majority of the time was just one long rant - nearly 4 hours worth. The subjects ranged from many different subjects, all highly political, all highly entertaining. My brain felt pretty full by the end of it, I can assure you.

So, I'm hoping that this is the beginning of a trend, and I will have more opportunities arising in the future to see such intriguing people. But knowing Victoria, I'll not bet the farm on it quite yet.

Writing Contest Continued

So, as part of winning BioWare's Neverwinter Nights writing contest, they have conducted an email interview with yours truly. To get to the interviews page go here, or to go straight to my interview go here. I was happy to do the interview (who wouldn't be?) in part because it gave me a chance to plug some of my ongoing projects like my game development and the comic series that I am writing with my bud Myke Allen, which I will no doubt post about in the future. One thing that I didn't mention that I would like to here were the specific game projects that I am working on. The first one is an ongoing project that has the working title of 'Discordia'. It is a computer role-playing game set in the dark, cyberpunk future of an ancient magical world. This game is fairly complex, so it will no doubt take me forever to finish. In the short term, I am starting work on a puzzle game tentatively called "Shock Jockey" which should potentially be quite fun and addictive. Once I finish these games, there will be much rejoicing and plugging of said games all over the damn net.

Who needs a car in a modern city?

I have often thought that within city limits car use should be severely restricted. I like the idea of people only being able to drive smaller vehicles like smart cars unless they had to drive larger vehicles for licensed, business-related purposes. Also, people could get a permit, a day pass as it were, to drive their larger vehicles for some good reason, i.e. lugging furniture around or the like. I think shutting down specific downtown streets to cars in general (excepting buses and taxis) is a really good idea. Government St here in Victorialand comes to mind. I am sure that these ideas would probably cause people to label me as a "crazy person" however. Folks do love their cars.

Ummm.. Hi!

Damn that J over at Simacia! Now that he has revealed me, I must write additional blog entries or the public will wail about my lack of output! Ah well... so be it...

The thing is though, it's not like I don't have anything to say at this point. Thus far, I have just been too lazy to post. But here it is: I am now an award winning writer. It's true! I have been announced as one of the winners of Bioware's Neverwinter Nights Writing Contest. This means that besides great critical acclaim, I will soon be the proud owner of a Bioware Mug! My module is entitled "Walking with the Ghost" and was voted 2nd in the community choice category. In addition, my module has been in the middle of heavy controversy on the Bioware forums due to being a late entry. But besides all of this, I am pretty proud of my work, especially as it is my first effort in this area. If you happen to be a gamer and possess a copy of Neverwinter Nights, go to the Neverwinter Vault and give it a whirl. Let me know what you think.

Neverwinter Vault -> http://nwvault.ign.com/
Walking with the Ghost -> http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=4815

Simacia

Simacia

This is the reason I ended up back here and blogging by the by. I was trying to track down my buddy J as the phone number I had for him was out of commission, and I happened to find his blog here. Happily, I now have his new number and will be calling him post-haste, but it turns out that his blog is pretty entertaining as well. It's what we call gravy. So check it out, if you are feeling so inclined, which I imagine you are if you are reading this as it clearly indicates that you enjoy reading random blogs for no apparent reason. Huzzah!

You see? You see what happened? I start a blog and can't even be bothered to post until months later. I'm not entirely sure why this happens. I think that it is just that I have fifty thousand other things occupying my attention and so some things are bound to fall by the wayside. I'm actually not certain why I thought that I would bother in the first place. I guess it's kind of like keeping a diary, except that there is always the possibility that complete strangers will read it. But being complete strangers, they won't really know who you are so in a way it is safe. Until, of course, you run into that one guy who recognizes you and blabs out to the rest of the you-knowing world about the depraved thing that you admitted to thinking about while you were watching VHS tapes of the old G.I. Joe cartoon. Be warned, there is danger here.