Well, the first Blog Meetup has come and gone. I tried to attend, but the choice of venue made it impossible.

I'm guessing that a majority of people chose a downtown Second Cup location because it was in the middle of the street festival for Montreal's summer Just for Laughs.

Problem is, that means the street access was blocked. As a person with a physical disability, I took Adapted Transport, and they couldn't get through. They could leave me outside the blocked off area, but a) I'd be tired out just footing it to the place and b)I'd have needed to leave early just to maybe be at the right place to get picked up for home.

Result: I went there only to have to come straight home. Bah.

I own one Diana Krall CD, Love Scenes. I tried to listen to it again yesterday; I wasn't terribly impressed with this performance many years ago. Frankly, it still doesn't grab me.

Tomorrow evening is the first ever , and it's raining heavy.

I hope it isn't raining like this tomorrow! Unless my Transport cab is close to the door, I'll have trouble getting there.

Blogathon 2002 is coming soon. There's really no point in my taking part though... not having an always on connection, I can't leave my net feed on for 24 hours straight; that would tie up my phone line.

At least I'm taking part in the Blog Meetups, so I'll be getting to socialize a bit more.

Enetation is down again, so my comment system is offline. Not that anyone has used it yet... still, this is the drawback of free services I guess.

I just made a few more modifications to this blog, including adding code for my affiliation to Ebay.ca.

It won't cost you anything to become a member there, but they'll pay me a small amount for anyone who joins from here.

It's no secret that I intend to go to Worldcon 2003. I'm saving up for it, but the World Science Fiction convention will cost a lot for me. Every person who signs up to Ebay through me will help me to afford this event.

I already have an account myself. As soon as I can get my scanner installed again here, I have a box of Dragon magazines to sell through there.

Another Hollywood legend has died: Rod Steiger.

He won an Academy Award for his role as a bigotted sherrif in the film In the Heat of the Night. He also acted in over 80 films total.

He was 77 years old.

I haven't spoken about the music industry and MP3s lately, but this latest bit of news shows the industry's blindness showing yet again:

The industry has again had a record loss in sales. The reason bigwigs give for it: song piracy online.

Uhm... morons? The record sales year you had in 2000? That was before you attacked Napster and MP3s!

David Bowie in interview has spoken in a more intelligent form: he said essentially that in 10 years, copyright for music will be obsolete. The music industry has to accept that and find a new way to do things, or it'll be extinct too.

Rosemary Clooney a classic singer dating back to the Swing era, one of the last surviving stars of the movie White Christmas, has died. The announcement was made on the air tonight.

She will be greatly missed. By me as well.

Unfortunately, because of the weather, I may again miss the Montreal Jazz Fest.

As I mentioned in my last post, high heat makes me feel sluggish... and that's the case right now. I can't stay awake more than an hour at a clip.

This really stinks.

It's now officially summer. Hip-hip... bleh.

Like many MS'ers, heat makes me sluggish - actually, it makes me need to go back to sleep multiple times per day. That's throwing my writing off-kilter too.

My folks bought me an air conditioner. I'll hopefully have it soon.

I've added another comment system to this blog. What I like about the LiveJournal concept is the ability to grow communities via commentary. The last comment system I tried went out of business (rather, they became a pay system) so I guess this is take two. :)

I'll be tweaking the color and design settings over time, and publishing it to the whole site.

I finally got to reading about the line-up at this year's Montreal Jazz Fest. About time, since the newspaper was dated May 8th!

The concerts listed were the pay ones, and the shows are probably sold out by now (the festival starts on the 27th) but they make for an interesting view of where the organizers are going:

They open with Herbie Hancock and a tribute to John Coltrane and Miles Davis, two jazz legends in their own right. Jack DeJohnette (his son was a member of the band Me, Mom and Morgantaler) also has a show, and there'll be a celebration of Dave Brubeck's 80th birthday too.

Then we get the "Huh?" stuff: a show with Grammy Hip Hop winner Lauren Hill, and another show with Peter Gabriel - artists with nothing whatsoever to do with the jazz field.

In other words, the line-up is par for the course.

Site Officiel - Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.- Official Site

The festival starts earlier this year... and it's the 25th anniversary too.

I don't know if I'll get to take advantage of it - even if I'll be able to attend this year! - but I'll definitely buy my "Friend of the Festival" card/CD. I missed it entirely last year; don't want that to happen 2 years in a row.

Blog by Night

I linked to the old version of this site, before it got its own domain.

The language can be harsh, but this is from a fellow Canadian, and a fellow former Atari computer user. Those two facts make it link-worthy.

Bob Hope's 99th birthday was this week. Wow.

When I think of how his contemporaries in the comedy field are no more, it makes the fact that he's still with us all the more precious.

Today is the day after my move... almost everything's here, I still have to get a few smaller items at the old place, and I have weeks of unpacking to do... but I'm here.

I just got rid of my old computer desk. One more day of packing here, and I'll be moving.

It's a little weird adjusting to a "new" desk (I've had it for years, just never used it), but this is the same space saver I'll be using at the new place, so I'll gladly live with it.

I saw a tremendous basketball game tonight, in this year's Playoffs, with the Boston Celtics vs. the New Jersey Nets.

The Celtics used to be the franchise of basketball. They won a tremendous number of championships - but since Larry Bird retired, I don't think they've even been in the running. Longer-time fans than I can correct me if I'm wrong.

It didn't seem any better by the third quarter of this game... they were trailing by an embarassing 26 points at one time - on their home turf (the Fleet Center) yet.

Fourth quarter, they really turned things around, going from a 26 point deficit to a win by four points.

That's the kind of determination I like in the Playoffs.

This was almost an inevitability, but the remains of Chandra Levy were found yesterday.

While over a year has passed, making finding the murderer difficult, I think many have an idea where blame can lie, at least as the man who ordered it: Gary Condit.

I hope this doesn't remain an unsolved mystery. We have enough of those.

I showed my new apartment to a friend tonight. He came over to help me pack, and after we were done, we went there.

The bus to get there didn't go close enough. We had a two block walk from the bus stop that left me exausted. On the way back though, bus connections were easier.

He definitely feels the new place will be a major step up for me, with the neighborhood much better. I still see the place as much smaller; something I'll really have to get used to.