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Monthly Archives: February 2011
Oscars Recap
So, I did manage to watch the oscars last night. Like most television I watch, I recorded it on my PVR for later viewing. I have a few reasons for this. First, my schedule generally doesn’t match the broadcasters. Being … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged academy awards, christian bale, kirk douglas, melissa leo, movies, oscars, pvr, shaun tan
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Not The Oscars: Despicable Me
Since it’s Oscar night, I thought I’d post about movies. However, since I’ve not really seen most of the movies, and since I’m watching the Oscars time-shifted on my PVR, I can’t really offer much of interest there. This past … Continue reading
Making Payment Convenient
Back in 2007, Tim Hortons announced a deal with MasterCard, to finally provide a credit-card payment system across their stores in Canada. One of the key benefits of this payment was the use of the new PayPass system, a contactless … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged convenience, debit, mastercard, payment, paypass, pin, security, technology, tim hortons
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Review: Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
While I’ve read plenty of books with Jeff VanderMeer’s name on the cover, it’s generally been preceded by “edited by” rather than “written by”. As such, Finch is the first Ambergris novel I’ve read. It’s a very atmospheric novel, with … Continue reading
Posted in Reading
Tagged ambergris, atmosphere, detective, finch, jeff vandermeer, liminal, noir, postcolonialism, review
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I Grew Up on Trashy Fantasy Novels
While I often write about science fiction, I actually grew up on trashy fantasy novels. Well, maybe not quite trashy. Certainly formulaic. More than one Dragonlance novel imparted a subtle grace to my bookshelves as I grew up. Seemingly the … Continue reading
Review: The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson is best known for his Mars trilogy: Red Mars (1993), Green Mars (1994), and Blue Mars (1995) chart the future trajectory of a martian colony, and the terraforming project that remaps the surface. It’s a complicated trilogy, … Continue reading
Posted in Reading
Tagged alternate history, kim stanley robinson, narrative, review, the years of rice and salt
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The Fiction of Robert J. Sawyer
Robert J. Sawyer published his first novel in 1990, but his first SF publication was a short story called If I’m Here, Imagine Where They Sent My Luggage, in 1981. I don’t remember when I first started reading Sawyer’s fiction, … Continue reading
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Tagged author, morality, philosophy, robert j saywer, science fiction, Writing
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Family Day
Family Day is statutory holiday in Ontario, introduced in 2008. Cleverly, the University of Waterloo also has reading week at the same time, avoiding having an extra day off for students. This hopefully means a more relaxed week for myself, … Continue reading
Adapting Screenplays: Blade Runner
As part of English 408A, Media Writing at the University of Waterloo, I have been doing some extra reading regarding screenwriting. While movies are clearly a visual art, where they excel is clearly in the narrative performance. Due to the … Continue reading
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