When we were in Calgary over Easter, I realized that I haven’t read a paper book since I got the PDA - September 10th. Well, that’s probably an exaggeration, since I probably read some after that, but I honestly can’t think of the last one that I read. The pure convenience of reading on the PDA has meant that a paper book can’t compete. They’re too big, and awkward. If I shift them without holding them just right, then I lose my spot in them. They get seriously damaged if they get wet, or crushed in the bottom of a bag, or whatever.

That’s not to say that I don’t read much, because I have read quite a bit in the previous eight months. In fact, I’d bet that I’ve read more in the previous eight months than I did in the eight months before that. You’d think that would mean that I go through a lot of batteries. That’s not the case though. I hardly ever use the back-light, which is the main battery drain. In fact, the set of duracells that are in there have been in there for at least three months (and are still at around 50%) The rechargables that I had been using previously didn’t last nearly as long.

Oh - if you’re looking for video-game news, you might want to check out games.slashdot.org which is a new offshoot site of Slashdot. It looks promising.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Well, between us we’ve read all eight hundred and fourteen issues of Radioactive Man.” - Bart

Erin and I pulled out the BBQ last night and fired up some burgers. Good stuff. Fortunately we didn’t get the two feet of snow that some places in Alberta got, or the BBQ may have been postponed.

Other than that though, we didn’t do much last night. Erin ordered a couple of CD’s from The Old Time Radio Show Catalog lat night (”The Man Named X,” “Dragnet” and “I was a Communist for the FBI”) so when they show up, we’ll see how well they play on our DVD player.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Gabbin’ about God, sponsored by Ace Religious Supply, where they say, ‘If we don’t got it, it ain’t holy.’” - Radio Station KBBL

Erin and I watched a bunch of movies this weekend. We spent a little bit of time cleaning up the garage on Saturday, which resulted in a little archway over the steps to the parking spots in the back. Erin’s brother and sister-in-law gave us the arch after their wedding, and it’s been sitting in the garage in a bag ever since. I came across it when I was moving things around out there, and we decided to put it together. It looks ok, but this morning I noticed a crow sitting on it. I’m hoping that won’t become a problem.

Anyway, then Saturday night, we left William at my parent’s place and went to Moxie’s for supper, then to Bulletproof Monk (don’t ask - free tickets) It wasn’t bad, but I think that’s mainly because I’d set my expectations so low.

Sometime Saturday night, our phone line became disconnected. We went to my parent’s place around noon to place a call to SaskTel service. They sent a repair guy out this morning, and Erin is back in touch with the world again. Sunday afternoon, we watched Battlefield Earth, which wasn’t as terrible as I’d been led to believe. Maybe it’s just that expectation thing again. Anyway, then we watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets which wasn’t as good as the first one (in my opinion.) All in all, it was a pretty relaxing weekend.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “We’re free! We’re free! We can go anywhere we want! (Pause. Nobody moves or says a word.) I’m cold and frightened.” - Grandpa Simpson

I just finished reading the second Harry Potter book, so at some point Erin and I are going to watch the movie (which I borrowed from Bryan.) Overall it’s not a bad book, but the Harry Potter Hype Machine™ is a little out of control…

I’ve read lots of books that are better, and lots of books that are worse. My only comment after reading the first book was that the movie did the characters up better than the book. That’s almost never the case with a movie based on a book, but I honestly think the movie gave them more depth - especially Malfoy and Snape. I remember thinking that those two were exceptionally one dimensional when watching the movie, but the book takes it even farther.

I realize that the target audience is much younger than me, but honestly, I think the kids can handle some depth to their bad guys. Some decent motive perhaps? Based on that, I’d heartily recommend the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, which I could have sworn I’d mentioned here before, but apparently didn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, the Harry Potter books are ok, and they certainly have a sort of addictive quality to them, which accounts for the success of the sequels and the movies. I will be reading books 3-5 in due time, I’m sure. You just won’t find me lining up for J.K. Rowlings’ autograph or trying to buy a Nimbus 2000 vibrating broom anytime soon.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Tell you what. I’ll show you something very special, if you promise to put your grubby little hands behind your back and keep them there.” - Comic Book Guy

Or is this a post?

I met Erin and William downtown for lunch today. I think Erin is starting to go a little cabin-crazy. The nice weather probably has something to do with it.

Sorry, no Simpson’s quote today.

Heading into last night’s games, I thought I was sitting in pretty good shape. Turns out I was wrong. I still say that if St. Louis hadn’t been hit with the flu, they would have won their series a couple of games ago…Oh well, no point crying over spilt - uh, I won’t go there.

On to my picks for round two:

(1) vs. (7)
Who would have thought that Anahiem would knock off Detroit in four? Apparently none of us. Dallas will have some trouble with Anahiem, but I’m still picking Dallas to win. Dallas plays a different game than Detroit, and Turco is a better goalie than Cujo ever will be.

(4) vs. (6)
Minnesota surprised a lot of people too, knocking off the heavily favoured Avs. I think that the flu bug that hit St. Louis did a lot of favours to Vancouver, including getting Bertuzzi, Naslund and Morrison rolling. It doesn’t hurt that Linden is playing some of the best hockey of his career, and the Sedin’s are starting to blossom a bit. This will also be a tough series, but I think that Vancouver will win.

(1) vs. (4)
Philly was given the last series on a platter. I’ve never seen the leafs play as badly in their own end as they did for the last seven games. Rest assured that Ottawa won’t make that mistake. Ottawa is rested, they’re ready, and they’re going to roll over Philadelphia

(2) vs. (3)
I said that last round was Khabibulin vs. Kolzig, and to a certain extent, that played out. This round will be Brodeur vs. Khabibulin. I have to pick Jersey. I don’t think they play as boring a style as some people think, but they do play solid in their own zone. Brodeur is the consumate playoff goaltender (some would say that he’s the best of what’s left, now that Roy and Belfour are gone) As much as I hate picking all the favorites, I have to pick Jersey.

I see quite a few of you have your picks in already, so thanks - for those of you who don’t - get them in early. First games are on tomorrow night, so you don’t have a lot of time.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “People, take it easy. We are all upset about Mr. Burns’ plan to, uh, block out our sun. It is time for decisive action. I have here a polite but firm letter to Mr. Burns’ underlings, who, with some cajoling, will pass it along to him or at least give him the jist of it. Also, it has been brought to my attention that a number of you are stroking guns. Therefore, I will step aside and open up the floor.” - Mayor Quimby

When we were stopped in Oyen on Sunday, I noticed that they were selling books on tape in the gas station. I thought it was a good idea, since I was tired of listening to the CD’s that I have in the car, but sadly, our car doesn’t have a tape player. It did get me thinking though. Why not? I was thinking that it wouldn’t be that expensive to produce CD based audio books based on classic PD content graciously supplied by BlackMask. I’ve mentioned this to a couple of people now, and it seems like an idea with some merit.

One person even suggested we should go one further, and set up a website that produces “radio plays” on a regular basis. People might be willing to pay a small fee to download the plays, if they’re any good. The other merchandising types of revenues might also some day materialize. It’s an idea that’s still in the tire-kicking stage, but I’m really giving it some thought.

Anyway, when doing some research about radio plays, I came across the Old Time Radio Shows MP3 CD Catalog. They’ve got thousands of radio plays from the 40’s and 50’s for sale in MP3 format - $5 a CD, which is quite reasonable, especially considering how much material will fit on a CD when encoded as 32Kbit MP3s. They have samples you can download and listen to, so I’ve been listening to various things so far this morning, as I work. I’ve listened to “The Shadow,” “Nero Wolfe,” and “Dimension X (The Martian Chronicles)” so far this morning. Pretty good quality, especially considering how long ago they were created.

Ron McLean’s “3 7s? I thought you said Cherrys!” comment at the end of last night’s broadcast had me cracking up. Should be an interesting night of hockey in store for us tonight.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “A cup-holder! Bart, we’ve got to stop and get a cup!” - Milhouse