[  Mood: Shocked ]
So, just wanted to post my thoughts about the Rikti invasion that City of Heroes (CoH) has unveiled in the last month.

CoH uses free game upgrades, what they call issues, to keep the content fresh. Previous issues have included an invention system that allows you to create enhancements, temporary powers and costume additions. This time around, the developers have brought back an alien foe from CoH lore, the Rikti.

The Rikti are aliens (actually its more complicated than that – but I have to go to work soon). They invaded a while ago, but were pushed back by the efforts of the heroes of Earth. Somehow they have found a way back, and are attacking.

Now to celebrate the release, CoH unleashed invasions of Paragon City. All across the various city zones, the Rikti attacked. Dropships dropped bombs, and soldiers showed up in the main squares of zones. The same thing was happening in CoH’s sister game, City of Villains.

This actually lead to some hilarity as the "superhero trainers" just stood there and watched as a battle raged around them. "Hey Miss Liberty, how about some help here?!?"

I actually had the privilege of being their for the first invasion. So was everyone else. My impression of the invasion is cool, until you get 50 or so players showing up , and then the lag hits. Then it’s like walking through molasses. The designers have done somethings to rectify this, but they also expect your drivers to be upto date. The nerve.

Still, this has been hugely popular with the players, so much so that even though the original invasion was only due to last a few weeks, CoH has brought it back for limited one day engagements, with the last day being September 22.

There will also be an invasion generated when a team completes the Rikti Co-op task force.

You can get yourself a 14 day free trial if you want. Please note that this is a subscription based service.

Tell em Studded Canary sent you. No, really, cause then I get your referral credit. Me, ulterior motive. Never!

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio One ]
So I have just finished the second book of the Dresden Files and what can I say but yum.

This book allows Harry to come into contact with werewolves, but unlike other werewolf tales, author Jim Butcher gives us every kind of werewolf imaginable. Those that use a magical object, those that use their own magic, those that are cursed, heck even a wolf that becomes a human.

Like the previous Dresden book, there is a murder, Dresden is called into consult and then becomes a suspect. He clashes with Murphy. He rubs toes with Susan. Bob gets sarcastic with him.

Overall a very satisfying entry into the series.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]
So I stayed up way too late last night reading and finished Lady night by Tamora Pierce.

This is the last book of her Protector of the Small Series. This one follows Kel in her first command after becoming a knight. The Kingdom of Tortall is at war with its northern neighbour, Scanran. Kel is anticipating getting to fight bad guys, but is instead put in charge of a refugee camp.

This is a very well written and gripping book. Pierce does not shy away from the brutality of war, although it is not a graphic Doom-fest. Characters die, are raped and treat each other like crap.

I strongly recommend this book.

[  Mood: Confused ]
[ Currently: Getting ready for bed ]
I am currently attending a math teacher’s workshop at the University of Waterloo. For the next three days I am going to learn how to better integrate problem solving into my math class.

Tonight, after supper, all of us early arrivers were taken for a tour of the Perimeter Institute (PI). This is a place where academics gather to think about and discuss theoretical physics. No experimentation, they just think and talk.

This is a place that Charlie from Numbers would feel at home.

The building has been created to facilitate this kind of activity. A significant amount of the wall space has been painted with blackboard paint. This means that as you meet your friend Olga in the lounge, you can use a nearby wall or cupboard to illustrate your concept with an equation or drawing.

There are also other areas to help foster this freeflowing thought. Comfy seating has been arranged in conversation groupings that would make a designer from HGTV swoon. There are fireplaces, pooltables, artwork and expresso makers abound. There is also a baby grand piano, a gym, a basketball court, a library, and a ball hockey court.

This is the geek paradise.

The thought is that by allowing for such conversation, the physicists and other thinkers that come here will be coming up with the theories that we will prove correct in 100 years.

As part of the tour we got a lecture explaining how quantum computing works. I began to wrap my head around it a bit by the end of the lecture, but let me tell you, my brain hurts.

Fascinating stuff.

The institute holds public lectures and open houses, so if you are ever in Waterloo (that’s in Ontario, about 1.5 hours from Toronto), make a point of stopping in.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[  Currently: Watching Classic Doctor Who with the guy in the cricket outfit with t ]
So I got an email response from the store. They apologized and explained the entire fiasco as follows:

"Unfortunately the store manager was on holidays last week and the next in command was on her dinner break. The two associates left in the store were fairly new part timers, and obviously not trained up to our usual standards."

They have offered me and my husband a $25 gift certificate each.

Interestingly enough, the associate at Eddie Bower who helped my husband was also a part timer and was exemplary.

I am pretty much sure I am going to turn down the gift certificate. These corporate types have to learn that sometimes you can’t through money at a problem and fix it.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[  Currently: Watching CSI:NY ]
This is the third book in the "Protector of the Small" quartet by Tamora Pierce. Longer than the first two, this book is much better than its predecessors. In this installment, Keladry has been chosen by Raoul of Goldenlake as a squire. Given that Raoul is commander of the King’s Own, Kel is involved in many battles/raids and political intrigue.

Pierce has a way of relating the most mundane of things to the store, giving it a touch of realism. For example, when Kel is called away with no notice due to a raid, she quickly grabs some rags as she has just started her period. That’s it. A quick mention, no lurid details, but still so real.

This is worth picking up.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Drinking Royal Begal Tiger Tea ]
Woke up a bit too early to get going this morning, so I finished Tris’s Book by Tamora Pierce.

Another good solid offering from Pierce, this is the second book of the Circle of Magic series. This book follows the fallout from the events that ended book one. The four young mages fight off pirate attacks and learn more about their special kind of magic and how to control it. While the focus in on Tris, the book does take time to show us Sandry, Briar and Daja as well.

Good stuff.

[  Mood: Shocked ]
[  Currently: Working on Peach Fondue Jam ]
So the husband unit and I went clothes shopping for him on Friday. (He’s a bit of a clothes horse.) We went to the Rideau Centre here in Ottawa to do our shopping. As we went from store to store, we found some of what we were looking for, but were still missing a few pieces. So I suggested Tip Top. My husband had rented a tux from the store when we attended a dinner on Parliament Hill a year or so ago, so he was amenable to the suggestion. Apparently this was also the store where my husband rented the tux for our wedding.

How wrong I was to suggest that store.

When we entered the store, there were two employees standing behind the cash counter. A man and a woman. Neither of them made any effort to come over and serve us. In fact, we were not even greeted, nor did either of them make eye contact. In fact, both of them made a hasty retreat to the other side of the store to rearrange the ties almost as soon as we entered.

My husband and I found several shirts that might look good on him. Once again the two employees made no effort to help us. We managed to find the change rooms and my husband started to try on the shirts. At this point I started to look for a place to sit while this happened. Once again, I was on my own, even though the woman noticed me looking, but quickly ducked her head to avoid having to speak to me.

As my husband came out wearing the first shirt, the most interesting event of the evening happened. Two slightly older couples couples came in and made a be-line for the suits. As I watched, the two employees stopped working with the ties and hustled over to them. Another middle-aged gentleman came in, also to look at suits. The female employee quickly went to help him. They couldn’t have be more helpful to these customers.

I have tried to figure out why this happened. Admittedly, neither my husband nor I were dressed up, it had been a warm summer day, but neither were these two couples. They were in shorts and t-shirts, as we we. Both my husband and I had showered that day, and wore deodorant, so that also wasn’t it. The two couples did however, have full heads of grey hair. My husband and I do not.

We may not look like it on the outside, but we have money to spend. My husband also owns his own business.

When my husband came out of the change room with the shirts, he and I had a brief conversation. There was at least one shirt he liked, but given that neither he nor I were feeling the warm fuzzies about the store, we simply put the shirts on the counter and left.

After this experience, I am not returning to any of Tip Top stores again. Which is a shame, because I make it a point of buying some nice sweaters or shirts for my husband at Christmas every year. Also, given our charity work, we attend several formal dinners a year, so my husband occasionally needs a new suit or to rent a tux.

They have lost at least one customer with the very poor behaviour of the staff at the Rideau Centre. I wonder how many more have also been treated this way and have not taken the time to write a letter to Tip Top like I did.

We’ll see what they say.

[  Mood: Silly ]
[  Currently: Eating Breakfast ]
So yesterday, I finally made the trek to the local comic book shop, appropriately called the Comic Book Shoppe. My purpose was to track down the Black Canary/Green Arrow engagement issues. Apparently the rest of the world has been waiting for this too, and issue #75 is SOLD OUT. There will possibly a reprinting which I have my name down for. The guys at the shop were a little startled that I wanted the non-collectible second printing (Cause I need to read it!!!!)

Anyhoo, while my purchase were being rung up, I glanced down at the area behind the counter and there she was . . .

The Black Canary action figure.

I could not breathe. Somehow I found my voice and asked if I could look at it. They said, "Sure."

So I held her in my hands. It was like one of those movies. There was music in my head. I could hear nothing of the comic book store. My vision had become tunnel and focused on only her.

She looked like the Black Canary that I grew up with, with a minor alteration in the top and boots. That I could live with. She didn’t look like that creepy stalker Black Canary from Crisis, nor the lame 80’s aerobic instructor, nor did she look like an Alex Ross drag queen. She even had real fishnets made of thread.

I knew I had to have her.

So I bought her and promptly called the husband unit and gushed poetically in my Bubbles voice that I use when I get excited. I am torn as to whether I should take her out of the box and play with her.

My plan is to wait for the accompanying Green Arrow action figure to come out and then I will leave the two of them alone so they can make babies!

[  Mood: Silly ]
[  Currently: Watching Grease: Your the One That I Want (Old video tape) ]
When I was a little girl, I loved the Trixie Belden series. Nancy Drew was a rich, goody two shoes that had life handed to her on a silver platter. But not my Trixie! She had brothers, working parents, (Dad was a banker, Moms stayed at home) and a fairly normal life. Except she kept stumbling across mysteries. Oh yeah, and her best friend was rich.

Recently the publisher has decided to reprint the first 15 of the series, after having been out of print for years. And unlike Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, they have not updated the text. These are the original Trixies, with all the out of date language and values. The girls do the dishes and the boys help with the heavy lifting.

And that’s what’s beautiful about these books. They are dated, they are politically incorrect, but they are the original texts I fell in love with 25 years ago when my stepmother gave them to me. Cudos.