Harry Potter to boost Bloomsbury. I need something lighter to lower my blood pressure...

I'm still stunned that a Harry Potter book won the best SF Novel Hugo this year, but it's interesting to see how the books are still increasing literary business.

News agency receives purported bin Laden message. If this is indeed legitimate, it only serves as proof of the evil and hipocrisy of this man.

3 fundamentalists killed is a tragedy? Evil vulture... anything over the number 0 is bad, but zealots killed more than five thousand innocents in New York - and the number is rising daily!

It's alright to murder innocents because they are American? Never!

A few hours ago, I watched my tape of the historic American Aid Telethon, which was held Friday night on practically all the networks simultaneously.

To say it was emotionally draining would be an understatement - but then, it was supposed to be. The events that led to it were beyond tragic. I still don't have the words to accurately convey the scope of atrocity last Tuesday.

One celebrity deserves mention right here: Jim Carrey.

I've been underwhelmed by him ever since his debut on a special here in Canada many years ago. I don't find him funny in the least.

I do admire him now, however, for donating one million dollars to the relief efforts. He's Canadian, and no celebrity has ever found need to give so much of their own money - yet he didn't hesitate, didn't even blink here. He just saw that it would help a lot, and gave it. I wish more celebrities were as selfless.

The first steps of a War have begun: the US are sending military forces into the Persian Gulf.

With the Taliban actually trying to negotiate terms for the release of Osamu Bin Laden, I don't blame them. Scumbag terrorists took too many human lives (anything over zero is too many); what right would they now have to dictate terms? NONE.

What I'm upset with though is the now-current trend of PC censorship. A list of songs radio stations should now cease playing because of potentially offensive lyrics has now been released. On that list is Imagine by John Lennon.

Excuse me?! A song extolling peace and unity for all mankind is dangerous? What are they smoking? Whatever it is, keep me far away from it!

I read this on a forum yesterday, and I can't contain it anymore - ESPECIALLY with the jackals of the Taliban spreading the lies:

JIHAD IS NOT "HOLY WAR" NOR IS IT A "PILLAR OF ISLAM" --------------------------- JIHAD: (Striving) Although it is not a pillar of Islam but is a duty in one form or another. The most common media misconception is of calling Jihad a 'Holy War.' The general meaning of the term is "striving for moral and religious perfection." The broader meaning of this term encompasses one's life and community. The constant struggle of striving to remain on the path of Islam by observing the above five pillars of Islam (Witness, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage) is Jihad. One who Strives is Mujahid. Being a Mujahid, a striver for moral and religious perfection, involves numerous forms of public and private devotion that charaterizes the 'practice' of islam. This includes respecting the dietry laws against eating pork and drinking alcohol, respecting parents and elders, helping to provide for close relatives and kin, giving to the poor and disadvantaged. On the other side, theft, murder, fornication, adultery, lying, cheating, wrongly accusing or testifying are strictly forbidden by Shari'a (Islamic Law). http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/intro.html ------------------------- It is of the utmost importance at this time of justice-seeking and finger-pointing that non-Muslims learn something about the religion of Islam before buying into and passing on dangerous misinformation about Islamic beliefs.(e.g. that jihad is a religious mandate to holy war). Sources of clear information abound on the web, including the FAQ at alt.religion.islam or http://www.faqs.org/faqs/islam-faq/alt-newsgroup/, and the fine longer article "The Spiritual Significance of Jihad" at http://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/jihad-nasr.htm But there are even better sources of information about the Muslim religion: your local Islamic community centers and the Islamic members of your local community. Many American Muslims are currently in deep fear of the reactions of their fellow non-Muslim countrymen; help ease their fears -- and yours. Show them that America is ready to learn about their beliefs and practices from the keepers of those beliefs and not through media-driven misconceptions. Would you expect any less from others if your your own religious tradition were being questioned? America shows her best side when she shows her wisdom as well as her compassion. Let us not add Muslims to the long list of religious and ethnic groups who have suffered due to the ignorance of others or the heinous acts of the few. May the golden lamp of knowledge draw us all together and light our way in the dark days to come. "Without knowledge there is no wisdom" (Sirach 3:25)

- This shows just how evil terrorist fundamentalists are: they perverted the usage of a word signifying peace in their own faith, and convinced people of a lie that it actually represents violence.

A legend to Canadian children died today: Ernie Coombs, the man who played Mr. Dressup on Canadian television for three decades. He died of complications from a stroke at the age of 73.

How significant was his part of Canadian culture? Mike Myers listed him on his list of Top 5 things he loved about Canada - even higher on his list that hockey... and we all know how fanatical he is about that.

Mr. Dressup was a simple children's show. The central character would draw cartoons, or dress-up to enact stories for the puppet boy Casey and his silent dog Finnegan. No explosions, no action or guns. Just a gentle half hour for kids every day.

I saw him perform live on stage when I was a child. That'll be a memory I'll always cherish.

The ABC network are continuing their trend of pointless "Special Reports" to interrupt TV shows.

My friend Pat, a journalism graduate, spoke of the malignancy of the networks in his log, now I've seen it proven: today the tv schedule was supposed to get back to normal, so I tried watching All My Children. After a week of dread, I needed some fluff to lift my spirits. Many people do.

ABC doesn't think so. First they interupted 15 minutes in for a so-called Special Report: the presidential press secretary giving the President's schedule for the day. Considering it was business as usual, did we really need to hear that for 20 minutes?

Then, as they were supposed to go back to the show, they cut in with another Special Report - this time for a briefing by Secretary of State Colin Powell. At this point I turned the set off, but I'm sure nothing he said would be important to know now.

ABC, if grinding life to a standstill was a terrorist goal, you're doing their work for them.

One of the most revolting things about these terrorit attacks is how Reverend Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson of the 700 Club have been using this event to spread hate, intolerance, and ignorance to the masses of the world.

Here's what Falwell had to say - no, dared to say:

"The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this. And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God or successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'."

He realized what damage these words may have done for his business ministry, so he claimed afterwards they were taken out of context. NOT a retraction of these hateful words, but that others quoted him wrong.

Pat Robertson did no better. Also on the 700 Club, his words did the work for the terrorists:

On his website, Pat's doing the hateful, anti-American, seditious act of telling people that the terrorism is going to grow worse. He's doing the terrorists' job for them. And get this quote: "We lie naked before these terrorists who have infiltrated our country. There are probably tens of thousands of them in America right now. They have been raising money and preaching their hate."

(Fair credit time. These words came to me thanks to members of the Compuserve Comics and Animation forum.

Can people now get it through their brains that these scum don't do anything good, that they do nothing but program hate into the masses? I hope they get shut out by all like they deserve!

If you're like me, you took the time to light a candle for the fallen at the WTC.

It was almost comical, as I purchased a cheap disposable lighter that I couldn't make work, ended up using a long match anyways.

I've added a Red Cross donation box somewhere on this site. If you can, please use it. Your donation may help in a small part to combat this tragedy.

All day again, the majority of channels carried news about the World Trade Center disaster.

Considering how significant this tragedy was, that's not surprising... but it's still emotionally draining.

At least the speech from my Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, was good. Generally, I don't like him... but he said words similar to what I did earlier today: that an ethnic race can't be called to blame for the actions of a few.

I've been hearing sad news all morning, news that shows the Holocaust didn't teach us a strong enough lesson in the face of this tragic horror... all over the world, people are attacking anyone looking even a bit Arabic.

Even if they don't read this, I hope this message gets through by osmosis: A race isn't responsible for this, individuals are. Break the cycle of hatred.

The Fine Line

This man was there. Fortunately, only on the subways and streets around the WTC, and not in them.

Many of these photos are images burned into our minds already, but the account of someone actually there is very poignant.

Understandably, it's still been an emotionally gruelling day... one with a lot of anger and hatred thrown out - but much of the anger was misplaced in my view.

Last night, I spoke of my disgust with the words of the leader of the Hesballah.

This morning, Osamu Bin Laden was quoted saying that while he wasn't responsible for this atrocity, he wanted to congratulate those who were. Am I deathly in hatred of him? Yes.

The news all showed the same group of Palestinians rejoicing at this action. Am I deathly in hatred of them? Yes again. Such disregard for innocent life is an abomination

Does this mean I now hate all Palestinians, or Muslims, or Arabs? No.

One group of slime does not an entire race make. I have friends who are practicing Muslims; I don't hate them for their beliefs.

As a Jew, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, a culture and ethnic race attacked and killed just for living a mere 60 years ago, I can't perform similar acts of generalization.

How sad that the nation-state of Israel has forgotten those lessons, and helped to fan the flames of similar hatred now.

It was so nice to see how concerned about the loss of life in these attacks that Hesballah and other alleged terrorist group leaders were... having the leader of the Hesballah make a point of saying not to believe Israeli views about this act of war.

Gee... so many people killed, I really care what ideology is taken for the attacks... not.

We've had the first Pearl Harbour of the new century, and I'm both heart- and stomach-sick.

You've likely been hearing about it on all the news: before 9 am, a plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.

At first, it was thought to be a horrible tragic air accident - but at 9:03 am, as Good Morning America was showing the accident, another plane came into view, colliding with the second tower in a horrific fireball.

Shortly thereafter, another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington. Others were then reported over various areas in the US, which may have been intended for strategic targets in the areas.

Before 11 am, the news announced that the Trade Towers were destroyed, and they showed gruesome footage of the buildings imploding.

Other footage was shown of revellers on the West Bank, and Palestinians also rejoicing that the major power (the US) had been shown to be defenseless.

I wanted to reach through my TV to strangle these vultures. Hoow many tens of thousands of innocent lives were ended by this? How can anyone rejoice at such suffering.

I visited the World Trade Center more than 20 years ago. When I think of how I once looked at the city skyline from a building now fallen, I feel like throwing up again.

Welcome to the 21st Century... too bad people are still as narrow-minded as in the 20th.

Here's the deal: For Better or Worse has been a comic strip in newspapers for decades. It's also one of the few strips where the characters have been aging.

The current storyline has the son (Michael) getting married. The storyline has him getting one of his best friends as best man... said friend happening to be gay.

Cartoonist Lynn Johnson has the mother of the bride worried about this - but the Bible Belt seem to be up in arms about it in real life. How dare she have a gay character in her strip, and how dare she put him in this storyline.

My question: how dare you people still be so closed-minded and ignorant? Gay people have been a facet of life since time began - and in the grand scheme of life, it doesn't matter one way or the other.

I'm disgusted that such narrow-minded people still exist.

I watched an hour or so on the Comedy Network today (our answer in Canada to Comedy Central).

It was amazing to see Victoria Jackson on Bizarre. It was also a trip to read the copyright notice at the end for 1984 - that reminded me I wasn't yet a high school graduate when the show was still on (I graduated in June of 84).

The funny thing was seeing Victoria - who made her fame on Saturday Night Live... and the very next show was an old (1970s) episode of just that show!

Strange Animal's Live Journal

I figured this site merited a plug (even if he's using something other than Blogger), for the simple fact that the writer is one of my best friends... and he's indirectly mentioned me a few times. :)

Even though I'm not a fan of hockey, the news yesterday hit damn hard:

Sacu Coivu, the captain of the Montreal Canadians, was diagnosed with abdominal cancer.

He's only 26 freakin' years old. Hopefully, that and the fact he's strong will hopefully help him to pull through this... but as I said here about two months ago, I lost an aunt to cancer. She was a few years older at 53, but there's really no age when cancer is okay.

26... sometimes, fate is downright cruel.

Did you watch the premiere of The Amazing Race yesterday?

I'm not a big fan of the reality shows, but I actually enjoyed this one. The 'Ugly American' frat brothers were funny in their crassness, and it was interesting seeing a contest that involves a lot of thinking.

The only thing that made me very uncomfortable was the bungee jump. I suffer from vertigo, so I'll never try it (the lack of dexterity helps) - but every leap here gave me chills.

Another icon of 1950s popular culture has left our world: Troy Donahue died, at the age of 65.

My dad will be 63 this November, and like Troy doesn't look his age. Fortunately, unlike Troy, he's never had a drug habit... that may well have contributed to his early death.

I've felt like I unintentionally capitalized on sadness in this Blog of late.

I linked a few articles about a young singer's death in here (I won't say her name again, to avoid increasing my search rankings for that term). Since then, I've had a minimum of 21 visits to the site a day, mostly from people searching for news of her in the major engines.

It's bad enough that so many perverts come to my site looking for nude photos of popular models (notes to pervs: THERE ARE NO NUDE PHOTOS OF CYNDY MARGOLIS - ANYWHERE!). Now death has brought me bounty.

I feel so cheap.

Winning Powerball ticket suit filed.

Reading through this, one thought came to mind: can you say petty?

TV contraception could counter baby boom. I needed to lighten the mood up a bit...

TV as a form of birth control? Riiiight.

Aaliyahs family devastated. This is a pretty dumb statement. Would a family be happy to lose a loved one?

R&B star crash inquiry. 22. Way too young to end her life.

This tribute came to me in the This is True newsletter:

"Fred Hoyle. An astrophysicist, Hoyle didn't really believe that the "Big Bang" was the start of the universe, but he was the one who coined the term, using it with derision in a lecture. "Every cluster of galaxies, every star, every atom had a beginning, but the universe itself did not," he once said. It was also Hoyle (working with William Fowler, Geoffrey Burbidge and Margaret Burbidge) who realized that all chemical elements heavier than helium were produced by nucleosynthesis (nuclear reactions inside stars). He also led the group that developed radar in World War II. Sir Fred Hoyle died August 20 in Bournemouth, England. He was 86."

Although he didn't believe his own theory, he'll still be remembered as the father of our beliefs of the Universe' origins.

An historical landmark in Montreal is now gone: the York Theatre building was torn down.

I saw films at this theatre about 11-12 years ago. It's hard to put in words how beautiful the art-deco architexture was, the statues and sculptures that made it something unseen anywhere else in the city.

Sadly, a fire shortly after I saw my last film there gutted the building. It remained as a pile of rubble on St-Catherine (the main street of the downtown core) for a decade since. It was never repaired, and just added to the urban blight of that part of the city.

Now, it was torn down for Concordia University (ironically, my alma mater), which bought the land to build new buildings for the university itself. These new facilities are planned to launch in 2004.

It's a matter of putting some use to territory lain wasted for so long... but still, another part of my cultural memories is now gone.

WPIX aired the original Dirty Harry movie yesterday.

A younger Clint Eastwood was a startling sight to see. =) The story and look of the film is very dated today, especially considering how the story logic seems nonsensical... but I was also surprised when I recognized the actor who played the antagonist:

I don't remember his name, but he played Garok on Deep Space 9.

I saw a re-run of The Rosie O'Donnel show today, with the Bee Gees as musical guests...

Forget the 5 disco songs they performed for Saturday Night Fever - they have a tremendous body of work, with classic songs like It's only words, San Francisco, and Nights on Broadway (that last one has stalker-like lyrics these days, but it's still an incredible song).

Anyway, when this show first aired they were celebrating over 40 years as performers. That's a tremendous record any way you slice it!

The heat in Montreal is bouncing around the scale right now... I had an interview in the early morning, when the air was at least comfortable. The past evening was too... the first time I've even used my comforter in weeks.

Once I got home though... the heat is barely tolerable. This as I have to go out for another meeting too...

The heat today isn't too oppressive, In fact, it's actually more tolerable today.

I told a friend down in Austin about the heat of the past 9 days... he said it was as if Montreal had become Texas. =)

The fact that the heat is lower finally gave me the drive to update my company site, Thothwares Web Design. I now have branded e-mail, and a lot of information cleared up.

You can visit it at: Thothwares.com

The heat today isn't too oppressive, In fact, it's actually more tolerable today.

I told a friend down in Austin about the heat of the past 9 days... he said it was as if Montreal had become Texas. =)

The fact that the heat is lower finally gave me the drive to update my company site, Thothwares Web Design. I now have branded e-mail, and a lot of information cleared up.

You can visit it at: Thothwares.com

I'm amazed: president Bush actually approved stem cell research for funding.

With the staunch conservative/anti-abortionist interests leaning on him, with the Pope against it (in a move I don't agree with), G.W. actually showed spine by approving something that could help thousands.

Scumbag!

Remember a few weeks ago when the public was led to believe that George Harrison was dying of cancer? A story denied by George, and former manager George Martin, whom the story was attributed to?

Well, here's an update on it from Salon:

"Anyway, now we hear (via www.salon.com) that one James Desborough has been fired by something called the World Entertainment News Network (WENN) after admitting that he took a reporter's mundane interview with Martin, jazzed it up with invented quotes about Harrison's health, and sold it to a London paper, The Mail on Sunday.

Then, Salon says, the Mail further enhanced (my emphasis) the quotes. "

Anyone who perpetuated such cruelty deserves far worse than just firing, in my opinion.

Right now I'm at my aunt's home in Vermont.

The heat isn't much less than in Montreal, but a few degrees seems to make a difference.

Plus, my aunt has a DSL Internet connection. Playing with the high speed is very addictive... if I hadn't hoped to get a high speed connection after my move, I would indeed now!

Well, the deadline for the much-covered "Code Red" virus has come and gone - and pretty much nothing happened.

I'm not surprised. I wish the media would learn: if a virus is mentioned everywhere as supposed to strike on a specific date and time, it's already been thwarted, assuming it was anything more than a hoax story to begin with. A real epidemic would strike with no warning.

Surgery Works, Says Miss World Contender

If you needed any more proof of how these pageants don't celebrate true beauty, this is it!

I got on the computer late today... UPN 38 is showing Imagine, the John Lennon bio-pic.

21 years, and it still reminded me how I've missed Lennon.

George Martin and George Harrison both came out in denial of the reports that Harrison was waiting to die, or that he ever said any such thing.

Purveyors of such falsehoods are scum in my book, but if George is reasonably okay, that's good news.

Strawberry Fields is becoming more of a dream than a reality...

I heard on the radio this morning that former Beatle George Harrison expects he'll die soon from cancer. He just recently had his third operation to remove a tumor for a third type of cancer too.

He told former producer Sir George Martin that he's made his peace with it... but he's only 5 years older than my aunt Susan was when she died of lung cancer recently.

What a sad world...

If you visited this Blog in the past few minutes, you saw some weird formatting... I just did some extra tweaking on the template.

Coolboard ended their free discussion board program at the end of June. Since I was the only person who ever used it, I decided to just remove it rather than find a substitute.

Likewise, the link to a music store that never was. In the year I've been blogging, I never set it up, so it's gone.

I'll add more changes over time... and I'll fix the archive soon.

Well, a large part of my re-design is now in place. Let me know what you think.

I'll work on a redesign for the Archive section Saturday.

I've been working away at a new design for this Blog for parts of today. My first attempt at a new background, while an interesting idea, is a bit faded around the edges. So, I'll fire up Background Magic in a bit and try again.

I'll still have to do some major work on the Style Sheet to get it to do what I want too - but if I pull this off, it may look cooler here!

I viewed some of the winning templates in Blogger's contest yesterday... they really give me the yen to make this Blog more interesting in design too. I've been doing this one for the better part of a year, but the design is starting to look... generic to me.

The Freeservers banner at the top of the page would muddy up my design a bit... but I can't afford the paid, banner-free version just yet.

Today was a day that saw me write a bit, surf the net a bit, pack a box, sit and write, surf some more...

Amazing how I managed to get a lot done in small doses!

Moving a few items reminded me just how much packing I'll really need to do... it's a really large task!

I was very productive today after I woke up: not only did I get 1.5 articles polished off for my next newsletter, I also did much of the fiddling with settings for my ABomanation Blog, worked more on the next Comicopia, and cleaned up the house a bit too.

I learned that a science fiction/media convention in Toronto that I used to attend and speak at invited my best friend to be a guest this year, but not me. Maybe they don't consider me so important.

Let's see: I've been a publisher for 13 years, wrote animation screenplays, game adventures, do Website designs, edit and publish my own newsletter... seems pretty big to me.

Man, I've spent most of Saturday on the 'net! This would make more sense if I had a cable modem or DSL... being on a 56K connection, with a single phone line, is pretty weird...

I was offline to eat, or write, or to do some packing. I also took some time to work on the new site for my ABomanation blog. Overall though, I'd say I've been earning my ISPs keep on Unlimited access. :)

The hacker who sent Viagra to Bill Gates

It's always scary when someone so easily breaks codes and gets information like this... but let's face it: anything done to Bill Gates can't be all bad. :)

Eddie Van Halen & David Lee Roth Blame Lawyers For Reunion Failures

Let's face it: the band has had nothing but trouble since Roth was originally kicked out. That they're still having trouble is no surprise.

Customer ate stolen cheque to destroy evidence. File this one under "People do the dumbest things".

Dog Walks 16 Miles to Church Every Sunday This is just too cute to pass up on.

I realized yesterday (Sunday, actually) a very depressing fact:

I missed attending the 22nd annual Montreal Jazz Fest entirely.

The weather was either too hot for me to handle, or too rainy every day. Either way, I couldn't participate in the outdoor shows at all.

I packed another box this evening. I hope to pack many more tomorrow.

I learned this week that I was 2nd on the Housing list. That may be lowered if someone with a more urgent need for housing comes in, but it's still way better than being lower on the list.

This doesn't mean I won't possibly have a long wait ahead of me; one of my friends was #1 on the list for a year and a half. I likely still have a decent amount of time to pack. Still, on the off chance that something becomes available in the near future, I have to get ready.

CBC News: Tributes flow in for Mordecai Richler

Another sad, significant loss.

I first learned of Mordecai Richler from the film version of his novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. From there, I often saw him as the voice of Montreal Jewish culture.

In his later years he became the terror of sovereignists, blazing the federalist trail and publicly denouncing the crimes against Anglophone culture.

He will be greatly missed.

I phoned my uncle to pass on my regrets on my aunt dying.

(They're family friends, but as close to us as family)

He could barely keep his emotions in check; like you could, losing your wife!

GoUpstate News: Senator Thurman pushes for stem cell research

I've heard the arguements for awhile now, and I'm still scratching my head.

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but stem cells are taken after a baby is born. Furthermore, what is taken doesn't affect the child in any way.

If I'm right, then what's the problem?

Felix and Oscar may now be together in the Afterlife.

More sad news today: Jack Lemon, star of many films, passed away at 74.

One of my favorite films of all time is Some Like it Hot, the Billy Wilder-directed film that starred Lemon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe. Tony is now the only surviving member of that group...

The film is a prime example of the screwball comedy. Years ago, a film teacher almost managed to ruin the film for me, but couldn't succeed.

Lemon was a well-loved member of old school Hollywood, an actor famous for great comedies, but also a great dramatist. He was a man so loved and respected, actor Vim Raines gave him his 1999 Golden Globe, because he felt Jack deserved it.

Goodbye, Mr. Lemon. Those of us who remember your work will make sure you're never forgotten.

The family friend I mentioned a few weeks back died in the early hours of the morning.

She stopped eating more than 2 weeks ago, and she hadn't opened her eyes in over a week. She'd gone into a coma.

She didn't feel pain in the end, and her suffering is now over - but what an awful way to go.

It's something we've expected for weeks now, an inevitable ending... but it still hurts. I've been on the brink of tears ever since mom told me.

The day after St-Jean. I went out to a banking machine in the morning, but stayed in the rest of the day. It was insanely hot outdoors... I'm not stupid!

I spent a large part of the day copying over my personal diary to another program; problem with Lite versions of some apps is that they don't provide proper export functions... so, I cut and paste, and re-live some of my older journal entries while I do.

Sunday is Quebec's major summer holiday, St-Jean Baptiste (Saint John the Baptist). It's not a holiday I celebrate. Actually, one I haven't celebrated in many, many years. I call it "St-Jean Alcoholic Day", because it's really an excuse for people to get drunk.

(Not that Canada Day next week is any different. The whole "I Am Canadian!" ad campaign for Canadian Beer fits to a T.)

Today brought sad news for both music and TV fans.

Johnny Lee Hooker, legendary blues man, an influence on the Rolling Stones, died at the age of 80.

He was still performing to the end, still recording. He will be missed.

The other I didn't hear of until a few minutes ago - but his memory will always be significant: Carol O'Connor.

Archie Bunker was a character I grew up with, and played a significant part in my pop culture gestalt. Archie's favorite chair has been an exhibit in the Smithsonian for years. Now, memories of Archie - and Carol - will be forever in our hearts and minds too.

I got a set of 10 boxes to pack with this morning. At least my bookcases will soon be done!

I wanted to start today, but the heat really slowed me down to a stand-still.

NYPOST.COM Entertainment: CLAPTON BAND'S NEW MEMBER By WILLIAM J. GORTA. He's not a Jazz musician, but Eric Clapton is a blues man, and that's close enough!

BTW: if my post about the NBA Finals seemed callous after the news of my family friend: it wasn't intended as such.

I always try to mix some lighter postings with the heavier ones, for my mental sanity as well as my readers.

A few minutes ago, the LA Lakers won their second NBA Championship in a row, beating the Philadelphia SeventySixers four games to one.

By winning this title, they've also become the first NBA champions of the 21st century, and it seems they've possibly started a run as the new dominant franchise.

A few things about the games stuck out to me: first, Tyrone Hill of the Sixers is a fantastic player - but he really needs to eat a bit. The guy must be the one player I've seen who looks way emaciated.

Secondly, Shaquille O'Neil is a truly dominant player, one of the strongest big men I've ever seen on the courts. His size must be the reason he seems to sweat so much, however.

Finally, one of the announcers really annoyed me: PJ-something, a guy who offered commentary off-court. He always looks like he's in tremendous pain or furious when he speaks.

Regardless of anything though, the Sixers played a hard-fought series. Even from down scores, they fought back to the end.

Some parts of life just stink, make me wonder about the idea of a higher power watching over us:

A family friend, one I haven't seen in many years, is right now in Paliative care, most likely on her death bed.

The reason: lung cancer.

Was she a smoker? No.

She's only 53 years old.

About 4 years ago, she went to her doctor for chest pains. He discounted it as nothing serious, gave her some cough medecine. The pain didn't go away. One of her friends recommended an Oncologist. A few months after her mis-diagnosis by one doctor, it was found to be cancer - a cancer that had spread throughout her body by now.

She had two operations to remove tumors - but now it was inoperable. She had to face four damn years of getting worse, being sick from drugs and radiation, just to lead to this. Death by millimeters. Sometimes, life really sucks.

According to the newspaper today, many surviving family members of Oklahoma bombing victims feel no relief at Tim McVeigh's execution... what a surprise - not.

Today was a protest rally in front of the STCUM (Montreal's transit service) to berate them for the horrible state of the city's Adapted Transit service.

Apparently, Toronto has one of the best such services in Canada - as if we don't have enough reason to hate Toronto!

I had to pass on the rally because of the high temperature outside; high heat makes it hard for me to get around, so I wouldn't have been able to participate for long.

The problem is: as far as I can tell, Montreal news services didn't find it important enough to mention, as I didn't hear word one on the air! I guess I'll have to hear the radio news tomorrow and check the newspapers to see if everyone ignored it.

As I type these words, it's been a little over an hour since the execution of Tim McVeigh in the US.

I suspect that right now the families of the Oklahoma bombing victims are feeling their loss no less. His death doesn't erase the deaths of their loved ones in any way. It does bring a small measure of closure to events, though.

I stand by what I said previously in this Blog: for killing all these innocents and showing NO regret whatsoever (calling them incidental to his plans), for his callous disregard for other lives, McVeigh didn't deserve to continue the gift of life... but how sad is it that any of us would think that now?

I did a large amount of Jazz Web-surfing tonight. The 22nd Annual Montreal Jazz Fest is now about 3 weeks away. I visited their site to get more of an idea of what they'll be offering. I'll try to see more of the evening shows to prevent the sun and heat from wiping me out... but if the line-ups are more than hype, it'll be a fun show this year.

One bonus, clipped from their site:

The Festival's closing performance will be devoted to Miles Davis, who would have celebrated his 75th birthday this year. As such, master trumpet player Wallace Roney has been invited to offer us a glimpse of Miles' musical legacy, in a concert entitled " Miles and Miles: A Musical Journey." Furthermore, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Miles Davis' death, the Festival is holding a posthumous tribute, and presenting one of his unknown achievements at the Galerie du Festival. This work, a signed and numbered serigraphy, will be available during the event.

As I mention on this site's discussion boards, I've grown to really enjoy Miles Davis music in the last few years, so this'll be a plus for me.

I also visited Holly Cole's Website. I haven't been there in quite awhile, and saw it was redesigned top to bottom.

One of the changes is a very welcome one: the message boards are now using Ultimate Bulletin Board. UBB seems to be growing more popular by the day... it meant I had to register for it again - but the nice thing is that it remembers your login information for you... a good thing, as I'd forgotten my old login!

Taking a Jazz approach to writing can be very effective... for fiction. Letting your mind pull you down unexpected routes, improvising, that can lead you to areas you didn't forsee.

With news, however, improvisation is unforgivable. Not doing the research needed to actually be knowledgable in your stories - that's just neccesary, not a choice.

Yahoo News failed on that miserably: they had a piece about actor Scott Bakula coming to play the Captain on the next Star Trek series. They spoke of him playing "Doctor Sam Bennet on Quantum Leap for five seasons".

Bennet? Could have sworn his character was Sam Beckett - a fact this reporter would know if he actually reasearched his piece.

The Yahoo staff must now be hiding in shame.

Since Netscape gave up, I downloaded Mozilla to try. The Mozilla project is actually what Netscape used, so it's the same browser, really.

The big difference: Mozilla is actually updated regularly, and is supposed to be more stable. I'll see... it seems to take as long to load, and pages do render slowly with it... that may be improving in later versions.

(This will be one of my more techno-geek postings. No jazz in this one; sorry)

I'm stunned at the tech news today: Netscape announced they're no longer in the browser business.

Netscape 6 was far delayed, granted. It's a fantastic browser, albeit one that hogs mondo RAM to run. They set-up entire sections of their site for it too; Sidebar Central and Theme Park.

It's also more Standards-compliant; as a Website designer, knowing a Website would appear as designed would be a tremendous plus.

Netscape was the first browser I ever used to surf the Web. MSIE is a good browser, but a) it is a Microsoft product, which seems a synonym for a product being buggy and full of security holes, and b) they are a company that has ever to follow the Standards rules 100%, which is why we have to design multiple versions of sites.

Now they won't have any real competition; Opera is nowhere near that level, so I just hope someone comes along to compete soon.

I must be a masochist: I submitted Jazz Life for review to Blog You! for review a few days ago.

I read some of the site's other reviews, as well as reviews of them. To be honest, they make me think of the comic shop owner on The Simpsons in terms of critquing style: mean, detailed, brutal...

To which I say: GOOD! My creative writing courses were harsh and brutal (which may be redundant terms). To me, that was the only way to learn and improve. I'm a better writer now for it (although in my mind I still have a lot of learning to do). I tend to get upset when people soft-sell their critiques, or just leave comments at the level of "Good stuff!"

So to the reviewers at Blog You!: if you look at this site and say "He's a disabled artist. Let's go easy on him." I'll personally track you down to bash you with my canes! (not that I think you'll go easy). I'm hoping to improve my design here; feedback will only help me do that.

The "free Internet" is losing yet another piece...

I had several of the free Internet 'hard drives' for several years: Freedrive, I-drive, and X-Drive. The first two I've used quite a bit to port work files between the office and home.

X-Drive announced they would be closing the service last month. Today I-drive did the same. I'm currently downloading a legal MP3 from there as I type, and I've removed any other files I want to keep from it, deleted those I don't.

It's a shame to lose another great resource like that.

If I believe the following post from the Evrsoft bulletin board, then updates on the software are pretty much kaput:

"I just received some complaints from Bravenet about the excessive use of this Message Board. To clarify the reason that there have been no update is that the software company previously owned by myself and known as Evrsoft Pty. Ltd has been sold to a source who does not wish to be identified. I am still very much involved with Global Planet the makers of Under Construction 98. We should be releasing a new version of Under Construction by September. "

I say "if I believe" because, while it was posted by someone named Napoleon Pham (the name of the supposed owner of Evrsoft), people have posted false names on the board before... in any event, I didn't post the URLs from the post, as I didn't want to give them any advertising.

For myself, I'll just move on. I can't afford to buy UC 98, so I'll stick to free programs available out there.

Tonight, Montreal's Global Television affiliate aired a special about Jazz Fest 2000. It showed footage of Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, Chick Corea, Holly Cole, Didi Bridgewater and the Manhattan Transfer performing. They made it seem like the 21st Annual festival was full of great outdoor performances.

They mis-represented the Festival, big-time.

Oh, all of these performers did play during the Festival - but all in indoor concerts, shows you had to pay major bucks to attend.

The outdoor free shows, while they sometimes had talented newcomers, were shows repeated as many as 10 times each during the entire festival. Not all of them were jazz music either.

The big outdoor show presented was a concert by a Brazilian group; last year was actually a show that garnered a lot of controversy for not being suitable: a Techno DJ spinning records. That caused a major uproar.

The show was packaged well; it adds to my desire to check out this year's Festival, more than I was able to last year. It just wasn't very truthful.

I think it's safe to call Evrsoft and it's re-launch of a new version of 1stPage 2000 a dead issue now.

Unlike the many disgruntled and abusive posters in their guestbook, I haven't flamed them about taking time to release a product... I know enough about the development process to know it doesn't always work to a fixed timetable.

BUT...

• their Website hasn't been updated in the slightest since late February / early March, announcing a hoped-for launch date of April/May 2001


• no request for an update in the guestbook has ever been answered; that's something many of us have had trouble with already from Hero Games


• they produce in Australia, were it's already almost noon on June 1st (I'm terrible with time conversions, so I may be off a bit)


• many of the listed designers have gone on to other companies


• this is the clincher: when I tried the link to their Guestbook a few minutes ago, it wouldn't connect at all

It's really a shame... I've been a Website designer for years, and FirstPage is the first product I've used in a long time that freed me up to think more of the creative process rather than the technical side. That's like the difference between free and structured Jazz: when you can think more of the sound rather than worrying about the technique, it usually sounds better.

As mentioned in this article "Kaycee", a supposed Blogger who just died from cancer, didn't exist. She was a composite made of several different real-word cases.

As a disabled person, this upsets me. Those of us with real disabilities are harmed by this, as our stated conditions may now be questioned.

For the record, I do have MS. This isn't pretend for the Web, this isn't a case of "On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog"-things... it also isn't life threatening, or even a sticking point for this Blog.

I had to reboot before posting this... my keyboard wasn't reacting.

I added a new Blog to my personal site about a week ago, to replace my writing journal. If you'd like to check it out, you can find it here.

Today was a busy day of packing and cleaning for me. With an Adapted Housing inspector coming on Monday, I want this place to be as ship-shape as possible; anything that can push me up the waiting list is a good thing.

The sheer base depravity of how some find this Blog never ceases to amaze me... I keep getting visits from people searching for Dani Ashe, Cyndi Margolis, pictures of either one nude, or Montreal lapdances.

I realize that just mentioning these names now will guarantee my logs showing them as search terms to visit Jazz Life again... well, let the pervs feel dumb while I just get a few more visits!

On Entertainment Tonight this evening, I saw a large piece of the musical medley from the film Moulin Rouge.

It'll possibly be laughed at by many viewers, because the songs are all contemporary pop, sung as if they were written in the late 1800s.

Hearing the KISS song "I was made for loving you" sung by a romantic man of that era just sounds too weird.

- Oh, it may also be that I attributed Blueberry Hill to the wrong Fats. It may well have been sung by Fats Domino, not Waller.

Today would have been the 97th birthday of jazz legend Fats Waller. Many of you knew of his music from Happy Days; Ritchie Cunningham's favorite song, Blueberry Hill, came from Fats.

His life should be cause for celebration at this year's Montreal Jazz Fest... but I don't expect organizers who got freakin' Prince in concert to feel this way.

Insufficient DNA Halts Tests on Two Titanic Dead.

Although this item was listed under Bizarre News, it's really a bit sad; a century later, and the families of some of the people dead in this tragedy still won't have closure.

My first learning steps on E-Bay will be finished in about 10 hours.

One of the two items I listed has had no bids; the other has now seen 3... totalling a "whopping" $1.25 more than my initial price of $2.50.

The first item I'll attempt to relist with some images to entice buyers and more information. For other auctions though, I'll know better to start them at a higher bid...

Today was a prolific, busy day for me!

I spent a large portion of the day tweaking the settings for my new message boards on The Wild World of Jeff. I started doing much yesterday, as I mentioned in the last post, but continued today, pushing at it until I got it right.

But that isn't all! Both my Comicopia and Apacalypse zines are due on June 8th. I've already written most of my materials for them... but today I worked on a lot too.

Mr. Prolific is slowly coming back.

I've just spent the last hour-and-a-half updating my personal site, The Wild World of Jeff. It's been stagnant and unchanged for far too long - and as a site devoted to the writing craft, that felt lousy to me.

While working on it, I also remembered my love for hand-coding HTML pages. I know, it's a skill I'm trying to make a career of, but it's been so damn long since I used it... it felt good.

hidden city

Marc Kevin Hall here has a very well-thought out essay for those most upset with Blogger the last few days. I have to admit, I was one of the.

(Well granted he wishes a happy birthday to a guy named Jeff too... I know it isn't me, and it was posted a few days ago, but I take all the ego-boo I can. :])

Entertainment Tonight had some good and sad news this evening.

The good was finding out both George Lucas and Tim Roth were born today too. One of my favorite directors and favorite actors; a good blend!

The sad news was that crooner legend Perry Como died this weekend. I think this is something that comes with age, that you begin to appreciate more performers whose careers were before your time, their material not 'hip' enough in your youth.

Well, as I mentioned/hinted in my last post, today is my birthday. I'm 34 years old.

(Cue the Beatles song)

34 is the year before we reach mid-thirties. Most folks have accomplished a lot by now... I don't yet feel I have. Mind you, a large part of my nature is always trying to do more.

I think of my former classmate Anne Marie at times like this: she was a few years my elder in University, but far younger in spirit. She pointed out that as Animation people, we tended to be younger at heart.

I think she was right.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms of the world!

I called mine this morning, to continue a tradition of well-wishes and a litany of "I'm sorry!"s too; Mothers Day 34 years ago I was born, a long and tiring labor the 'gift'.

CNN.com - Entertainment - Hitch Hiker author Adams dies - May 12, 2001.

"Hitchhiker's Guide" was one of my favorite early readings.

Douglas Adams, like Joey Ramone, died way too young.

I got a few extra minutes of fame now: I have a featured discussion thread on the main page of Compuserve's SF Media Forum!

It cheered me up a little... as I got the notice on my provincial tax refund - all claimed between the student loan folks and Welfare. Almost three hundred bucks.

I anticipated the loan people taking their blood money, but it still smarts.

Haven't been practicing to retake any MENSA tests the past few days... just going through minor spring/summer fever! Since I've been able to go outside more I've been getting some air... also started my day early today, because of a medical check up at 8 am. I got to basically open the clinic today!

I just tried a practice test for MENSA; one of my best friends just qualified as a member of the group.

My first try: not great. 16 on 30. Might be enough to squeak by into MENSA, but it's a start.

Back to the drawing board!

Its time to can spam. This expresses an opinion I've held for at least 10 years now.

Sadly, I don't think spam can be best, since spammers change tactics as soon as folks make them... but I can dream.

MuchMusic, the Canadian MTV aired a classic videos show today. The songs were all less than 2 years old

That's something that I can't understand as a jazz fan; some of our songs are timeless classics, songs almost 100 years old.

In typical Montreal weather tradition, we went from late-winter weather to mid-summer yesterday, with the temperature rising into the 30s Celsius!

So now, we're in the other season that I can't spend much time outdoors in; no snow and ice, but great heat that messes me up...