Not A Surprise.

The Death Merchant "postmodern pulp" novel series, written by the late Joseph Rosenberger, has come up on this blog more than once.  I have a perverse fondness for those books, even if they are bad by various objective criteria.  Not much is known about Rosenberger.  He was never an important enough writer to generate much press attention.  But we've been given a new look into the man, however limited it might be.  Joe Kenney, on his blog Glorious Trash, has printed a 1985 letter written by Rosenberger, courtesy of an anonymous contributor.  The article also has a picture of Rosenberger and his wife Virginia, taken in 1984.  

Much of the letter won't be a surprise if you're familiar with the Death Merchant books.  Rosenberger wasn't a pleasant person, and the racism found in the letter can also be found in the books themselves.   But the bits he reveals about his life are quite interesting, as is the glimpse the letter gives us into the goings on at Pinnacle Books, and the mass market paperback publishing business in general, in the early '80s. 

That Rosenberger apparently tried to sell the Death Merchant series to Gold Eagle makes me wonder what might have happened if he'd been successful.  What would a post Rosenberger Death Merchant have been like?  Presumably either a lot closer in tone and attitude to the Mack Bolan universe books Gold Eagle still publishes, or perhaps they would have pushed it in the black humour/parody direction of The Destroyer books. Then again it might have vanished like most of the other similar book series spawned by the success of The Executioner.  Whatever the case, I doubt Rosenberger would have been happy with the results.

Wrong Again!

Over on Pharyngula the ad keyword software popped out a funny.  It's an ad for how to become a life coach, offering free training.  No one in their right mind would hire me as a life coach, no matter how much training I had.  Of course given the rise in the number of folks practicing the concept in recent years I suspect that applies to a lot of life coaches.

Gas In Saskatoon, June 14, 2013.

Given today's monsoon-like weather I hope you didn't have to gas up your car if you live in Saskatoon.  But if you did it cost you a tiny bit less than it did last week.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 130.4 cents a litre at most locations.  With the July 1st long weekend coming up it will be interesting see which way the next price change goes.

Go Simple.

There's been some discussion lately of what the new Circle Drive South bridge, soon to open for use here in Saskatoon, should be named.  A number of people have been suggested.  One is Christopher Yorath, Saskatoon's first city commissioner, who envisioned what we now know as Circle Drive.  But maybe they're thinking too hard.  Perhaps they should just give it a single, simple name.  Call it the Robert Bridge.  Or the Tara Bridge.  Just don't be like some modern parents and make it something Kayleyeee, with a bunch of extra, unneeded letters added.

Neck And Neck.

I have no interest in seeing it, but I've been curious about what the reaction to the just released dystopian thriller The Purge would be.  Given what many people think is a less than believable premise, that a future US dictatorship would allow one night a year where any crime is permissible, I expected the critical reaction would be poor.  Instead it's turned out to be considerably better than I expected.  It's currently rated at 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, based on the reviews of pro movie critics..  No, not good, but far from the depths some films have reached.  40 percent means 4 out of 10 reviewers liked the film.  I expected the positives to be much lower.  Even more interesting has been the response of  the general public, as recorded at Rotten Tomatoes.  Only 43 percent of visitors to the site gave The Purge a positive rating.  I expected it to be higher.  Interesting to see how close the public and pro reaction is.

Apparently a sequel to The Purge is already in the works, buoyed along by an opening take of 37.5 million bucks worldwide, versus a reported budget of only 3 million bucks.  I'm a bit skeptical of that budget figure.  I would have thought Ethan Hawke would still be enough of a name to make that kind of salary by himself.  Whatever the case it's all but certain The Purge 2 will be in a theatre near you within the next couple of years.   The obvious question though is how many of those who disliked the original will see the sequel, and what effect their word of mouth might have on audiences for it.

Later Than Expected.

I thought I was going to go to bed an hour ago, as I was falling asleep.  Yet here I am.

Funny how things like that happen.

Gas In Saskatoon, June 7. 2013.

Well, I missed last week's price change.  But I won't miss this week's/  Gas in Saskatoon is now 131.4 cents a litre at most locations, a drop from the previous price.  I suspect the next price change will be up, but I've been wrong before.

A Little More For The Estate.

I get regular product emails from the good folks at Fender.  Among the products in the latest one is the Elvis Kingman acoustic guitar.   He apparently played one of the originals in the 1967 movie Clambake.  Seeing this I immediately started to wonder what kind of fees Fender is paying to the Presley estate.  Obviously they're low enough that Fender is willing to use his name to try to sell this thing, as Fender's acoustic guitars have never been particularly popular.

More that one guitarist has wondered why Fender has never released a Buddy Holly Stratocaster, as Holly was one of the early proponents of the instrument.  Supposedly the answer is that Holly's widow wants very high endorsement fees, and is hard to work with.

Evening Fox.

I went out for a walk tonight, which I probably shouldn't have because I'm going to be doing a lot of walking tomorrow.  But I'm glad I did.  As I came around the corner onto the street I live on a fox ran across the street about 30 feet in front of me.  It was running from one alley to another.  It was presumably a Red fox, as an Artic fox presumably doesn't get this far south.  I live close to a major highway, so it no doubt had easy access from the country.  But it was still quite the surprise to see one.

When I mentioned this to my father he said he and my mother saw a fox a few blocks from here when they left for their trip to the US a few weeks ago.

I've seen other non-city comfortable wildlife in Saskatoon.  I've seen deer in a couple of places over the years, including one that ran into the streets that flank College Drive.  I've also seen rabbits several times, including in Buckwold Park near where I live.

If you do run across fox, deer, and other large animals in your town, keep your distance.  Cornering them may lead them to attack you.

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong.

This afternoon I saw a car with a Romney/Ryan bumper sticker on it.  It had a Saskatchewan license plate.  From my point of view they were on the wrong side  in several different ways.

Another Off The List.

My taste in food is questionable, but I do have some discernment.  After years of seeing them in the frozen food section I decided to try Michelina's Zap'Ems Fries and Chicken Nuggets.  Even by my standards they're poor.  Yet someone obviously eats them, since they remain in production.  It just won't be me again.  Not very tasty, and the chicken nuggets are tiny.  $2.40, and I'm not sure they were worth the $2.40.

You Know It's A Cool May Day...

...when it's mid afternoon, and the furnace is running.  Well, not that cold.  But wet and rather windy, which may be what is making the house cool off.

Gas In Saskatoon, May 24, 2013.

Would you be surprised that the price of gas went up in Saskatoon this week?  I'm guessing the answer is no.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 135.9 cents a litre at most locations.  One observer expects it to go up another 5 cents or so soon. 

It's been higher here.  Back 2008 the price was 145.9 cents a litre the week of September 12.  Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico were being blamed, despite none of our oil coming from the area, or gas being refined in Texas refineries.

You Can Keep "Bohemian Rapsody..."

...this is a superior Queen tune.

A Welcome Distraction?

The latest allegation about Toronto's controversial mayor, Rob Ford, is making a lot of press, even in the US.  The purported video of Ford smoking crack, and making idiotic statements, has led to comparisons with former Washington, DC mayor Marion Bradley, whose own drug use caused him a world of trouble.

The cynical side of men wonders if there's one  person who is quite happy to hear about this, Stephen Harper.  The Ford mess may distract attention from the ongoing controversy over the expenses of Conservative Senators Mike Duffy and Pam Wallin, both of whom resigned from the Conservative caucus in the Senate this week as a result. Questions have arisen about the role Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, and Harper himself,  might have had in trying to make this scandal go away. 

But that story revolves around questions of campaign spending and loans to pay off expenses.  Stuff that can be slightly confusing or dull to the average newspaper reader or TV watcher.  "OMG, the loudmouth, loose canon mayor of Canada's biggest city is a crackhead!" is much easier to understand, and  no doubt much more exciting for many folks.  And it's the mayor of Canada's largest city, allowing a large number of voters to be distracted. 

Gas In Saskatoon, May 17, 2013.

The price has gone up again.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 129.9 cents a litre at most locations.  Supposedly problems with a refinery in Alberta have caused the jump, but since this is Saskatchewan I'm a bit skeptical.

Elusive.

I don't know about where you live, but here in Saskatoon a single serving bottle or can of Diet 7 Up seems to be hard to find.  Few places carry them, and the places that do aren't the ones you can buy them cheap.  Is it just because no one buys those sizes, so they don't get stocked, or is there some other reason? 

Just Imagine.

I was just looking at someone's favourites over on Deviantart.  One of them was some fanart of Starfire and Wonder Girl from the Teen Titans.  The artist drew what I thought was a rather African-American looking Starfire, and the thought came to mind of Beyoncé playing her in a movie.  And with that thought came the thought of the howls of indignation that would probably result in the dumber and, to be blunt, more racist section of comic book fandom.   They would ignore the fact that Starfire, being an alien, doesn't fit into human concepts of race, and decide that the character is white.  All one has to do is look at the idiot comments that came from some Hunger Games fans when one of the characters  was portrayed by an African-American actress in the movie adaptation.  Apparently the fact the character was described as having dark brown skin in the novel somehow eluded their grasp, and they thought she was a cute little white girl.

(Beyoncé would obviously be the wrong choice to play Starfire in a Teen Titans movie, being too old, but would be a good choice if the character was portrayed in a context where she was older.)

When I Rule The World 16.

When I rule the world, all sidewalks will have to have that rubberised coating on them that some people put on their driveways.  I really like walking on that stuff.

And since this is number 16 of these, I  will add an additional requirement.  When I rule the world all homes will have to have all episodes of 6teen on DVD.  And the whole series will be put on DVD.

Seven To Ten.

Today marks the end of the seven digit phone number in Saskatchewan.  The existing 306 area code is almost used up, so a new area code, 639, will be used for new numbers in the province.  This means you will need to dial an area code before entering the rest of the number you wish to connect to.  Apparently most customers have begun doing so, although it might have something to do with the automated message that's been running for  a while.  It notified you that you would soon need to enter an area code to reach the number you are trying to dial, then would pass on your call.  Now if you don't dial an area code you get an automated message telling you to dial again with an area code.  I'm sure it will still confuse a few people for the next while.