[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio while the boy plays with blocks ]
So I recently changed my Facebook Profile Picture to this:

And I am wondering if I should change my profile pic here.

Thoughts?

(Of course I would have to make it smaller.)

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Enjoying the boy’s naptime ]
Just a quick update to let you know that I got all the pieces that I wanted that went to auction. The Husband Unit was successful. My next step is to head to the Art Show to pick-up my bounty.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[  Currently: Watching Whatever is on TV ]
Well today has been a blur of panels. All four of my panels were today, so I have been tooing and froing all over the place. One of the problems of this hotel, and why I don’t think we will be back once the Double Tree is up and running is how much we are spread out and how hard it can be to find certain rooms.

Excellent example, I wanted to attend a panel that was in the squash court. Yup. The squash court. And it was in another building. I could have taken the tunnel, but that would have taken ten minutes. Luckily I ran into someone who pointed us to the shortcut across the parking lot.

Panels today were interesting:

1) Flashpoint – where we talked about this great Canadian show on CBS. We loved the fact that when Jules and Sam realized that they could not have a relationship unless one of them quit the team, Jules challenged Sam to quit as she had seniority. Yes – finally! A strong, career minded woman who doesn’t give it all up because of a man.

2) The Mentalist – I got to be the moderator. I mentioned Joe’s comment about Manimal Handsome. We thought the show had a good premise, but it was flawed as we get very little character development.

3) I Loved That As a Kid! – We talked about how books we loved as a kid, that might not be loved by kids today. We ranged far and wide.

4) It May Be Too Dark For You, But Your Kids Like It! – About the dark turn that children’s fiction has taken in the last few years. We tossed out titles like mad.

Art show wise, two pieces I wanted went to auction, so Husband Unit is off bidding on them. This year it only takes three bids to go to auction. In previous years in has been five, but last year, only three things went to auction, making a very boring art auction. Hence the change.

I also got two necklaces before the cut-off, but I was also bidding on another necklace, but I didn’t know if I got it. We will see tomorrow when I pick up my art.

Now off to bed with a book.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching Castle ]
So the Husband Unit, the Boy and a close friend, the Artisan, headed out to our anual Geek Trek.

The trip was long due to us leaving about 2.5 hours late. Totally a result from having a small child who is old enough to get into trouble, but small enough to not help. So instead of getting her at about 2 or 3, we arrived at 5:30 pm.

Then came the registation, the unpacking, the finding and eating of dinner. In between I made it to the dealer’s room for photos and a quick visit to the art show to see a dear friend, Heather Bruton. Husband Unit and the Artisan are off at Larry Stewart Live, while I babysit the Boy, who is asleep in the travel playyard, leaving me time to write this all down.

Polaris has moved to a new venue in Toronto. The old hotel is undergoing massive renovations, and would not be able to accomodate all that this convention is. So this year, we are in Richmond Hill at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel. And boy are they happy to see us.

No, really! The staff are all wearing "Sheraton Parkway Welcomes Polaris" ribbons. They have a greeter directing people to the free non-alcoholic punch. The hotel staff know where con-related things are and are helping you find them. They also know that Con guests get special perks and make sure you know them.

Wow.

The other hotel was polite, but that was about it. we befriended the staff and that helped, but they could care less about us.

On the other hand, this hotel is older, and smaller than the previous venue. The dealer’s room is half the size (at least) and there are very narrow aisles between tables. The spill over is in the hallway and is going to make moving difficult with a stroller tomorrow. I can’t imagine wheelchairs in that insanity.

Still, this hotel is near a whack of good places to eat, so dinner won’t be hard to find.

We will be juggling childcare again as my mother has had to cancel at the last minute due to her work. It will mean less convention time for us, but we will cope.

[  Mood: Cool ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding My Son ]

233 years – looking good!

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Listening to My neighbours sing “Roxanne” ]
142 years young!

[  Mood: Sick ]
[  Currently: Watching My son play with my mother ]
Alan Rock, the president of the University of Ottawa was on the CBC yesterday discussing a new program that will offer free tuition to the children of Canadian military personnel killed in the line of duty.

I love this idea. My husband and I have already started drafting a letter to our alma mater, Carleton University, asking them to participate in this program.

But why stop there? I think all post-secondary institutions should do this. Colleges, Universities, Apprenticeship programs. If your parent was in the military and made the ultimate sacrifice, you should get a free pass to post-secondary. You’ve already given up enough.

We ask the men and women of the Canadian military to do superhuman things on a regular basis, and they do it. They have jumped out of planes into raging blizzards to save us. We have sent them around the world to fight for us. They are routinely asked to sacrifice time with their families in order to save the day. And they do so willingly and with pride. So when one of them pays the price of this with their lives, we owe them and their families.

This measure is the least we can do.

In fact, I think this program should be extended to the children of police, fire and ambulance workers who are killed in the line of duty. Again, for the reasons above.

But small steps first. Get my alma mater on board, then the rest of the institutions in Ottawa, then Ontario, then Canada.

Who’s with me?

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching So You Think You Can Dance ]
So I did leave someone out of my look back at the TV show seaQuest and someone was very quick to point that out to me.

seaQuest – Where Are They Now? – DVD Extras

Darwin the Dolphin

Darwin was Captain Bridger’s companion. More of a best friend than a pet, Darwin travelled through the water tubes that were specifically designed to allow a dolphin acces to all parts of the sub. He was also given a voice by the vocoder designed by boy genius Lucas.

Darwin was played by an animatronic puppet, not a real dolphin. This meant that when the show ended, so did Darwin. Despite my best efforts, I could not find out what had happened to the puppets (there was more than one). Best guess from the experts was that they were sold off as part of the end of the season auction along with the costumes and sets.

Next time: Small Wonder: Where Are They Now?

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching The Colbert Report ]
So, dear readers, we come to the sorry end of this on-going series. This time we are looking at season 3 saw yet another re-tooling. The sub, which had been trapped on an alien world at the end of season 2, mysteriously reappered in a corn-field ten years after it left. It’s crew appeared all over the world not a day older than when they left.

This sounds like it might be an excellent episode of the X-Files, but instead of exploring the idea of how the crew could re-integrate themselves into society, the show tried to turn into dark military sf. Think of it as an underwater Battlestar Galactica but written, in part, by the people who brought you Diagnosis Murder a few years later.

The third season saw the removal of fan fave Miguel Ortiz as well as fan pariah Wendy Smith who died on the alien planet. Captain Bridger also left to raise the grandson of his dead son, although the fact that his son was dead and then alive and then dead stretched the suspension of disbelief a wee bit. And that’s saying a lot given what seaQuest had already asked fans to believe.

They were replaced by the talented actors below in . . .

seaQuest – Where Are They Now? – The End Is Near

Michael Ironside
Micheal Ironside came to seaQuest with an impressive Sci-Fi pedigree. He took on the role of Captain Oliver Hudson, a military hard-ass who seemed to take pleasure in riding the crew of the sub. I know, that was such a departure from the rest of his work.

Since seaQuest, Ironside has continued to be one of the busiest character actors in Hollywood. When you think hardass, guess who you call? Witness the recentTerminator Salvation, where he gets to play the hard-ass leader of the resistance who is tired of John "the Savior" Connor.

Elise Neal
The role of sub-fighter pilot Lt. J.J. Fredricks proved to be a breakout role for Neal, who came to seaQuest from a series of guest spots. Fredericks was also a "chippie", meaning she had a computer chip in her brain to control her emotions. This meant that there was not a lot of range given to her. And given that she was killed off in the final episode, the producers clearly felt that she had outlived her usefulness.

Since seaQuest, Neal has done well for herself. She moved on to starring roles in The Hughleys, All of Us and K-Ville. In fact, one could argue she has had the best post seaQuest best career of all.

Next time: Manimal – Where are they now? (Tee hee)

[  Mood: Silly ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC ]
It’s been a while since I posted one of these.

Sky Alphabet
Very cool set of photos.

Polar Opposites
Learn what is directly opposite where you live. HINT: It is most likely water.

Self-Supporting Lego Bridge
Just cool.

Proud non-reader
Irony: He is a proud non-reader, but he wants you to buy his book. I think if you look up stupid in the dictionary, you would find Kanye’s pic.

Crawling Zombie Torso Gelatin Mold
For your next Hallowe’en party.

Star Trek Meerkat Bones McCoy Original Series
Yes it sold out, but come on! It’s a knitted Bones!

Top 50 Text Acronyms Parents Should Know
I am printing this off for work.

Star Wars Bathroom
Without getting into what the moisture will do to the toys, not the most obvious decor for a bathroom.

Monorail Modeling – Puppy Mover Monorail
Good that we are expanding the puppy transportation network. Criminal how its been neglected.

Cat in China grows a pair of wings
Wings.

Bacon shoes!!
Declare your love.

A Cute Yoshi Nursery
Cute!

Dice-O-Matic
When the radom number generator is not random enough. And yes, I know that it really isn’t. I am married to a computer programmer. I have had this told to me more than once.

Dead Bananas
A photoblog of discarded peels and squashed bananas.