compost portability

So with the eventual renovations, we will lose our current side yard. I will miss the nice shaded area for the barbeque and the patch of green right out the door. In preparation for this, I moved the composter we had by our side door.
Inside the bottom third of the unit was a nice, dark earth – perfect compost. I used this to put around the base of most of our trees and tossed some in the garden when we turned it. The top third was still in progress so I used it to start the new location.

I’m quite impressed with the amount of composting that occurred. I’m not really on top of keeping it moist or turning it often. I do try to keep a decent mix of ‘green’ (nitrogen based items – fruits, vegetables, etc) and ‘browns’ (leaves, cardboard, ash). That’s one of the things that attracted us to composting – we could be as low-key about it as we wanted and it would still break down eventually.

The new location at the back of the yard will a bit more difficult to add to during the winter so we’ll probably switch to the other one at that time. With the kitchen bucket we got last time we only have to empty it once a week.

(pics to follow)

one less David

Last week we also lost David Eddings. I did read and enjoy his novels High Hunt (the line “I always pack my .38s” still cracks me up) and the Losers, but I first encountered him through the Belgariad – a fantasy series of 5 novels. I quite enjoyed the series and thought the sequel, the Malloreon – another series of 5 novels, was a familiar visit with old friends. I think the maps were what first drew me to it. I always have a soft spot for a good map. The world was very in-depth and the different races/countries were well thought out. I’m going to have to check to ensure I have the three extra books - Belgarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the Sorceress, and The Riven Codex and read the whole lot again.

Goodbye Grasshopper

It sounds like David Carradine died last week on June 3 at the age of 72. I remember watching him in Kung Fu when I was younger. I recently picked up Season 1. It seems that there were only three seasons made. I will have to track down the other two seasons and watch them through.

I used to bear him a bit of enmity for getting the role of Kwai Chang Caine over Bruce Lee but have since relented. I also remember him in several roles from Circle of Iron – which I recommend. He also starred in Death Race 2000 (a cheesy-but-fun 70s race film), and had a small cameo in the new Death Race film (which is basically Car Wars - the movie - and also fun).

We also have one of his Tai Chi tapes that I still use from time to time.
Too bad. With Kill Bill, his career was on a solid comeback.

The monkeys are calling!

LucasArts is rereleasing Monkey Island in a Special Edition version. This will have both updated graphics and the capability to use the original pixilated version we grew up with. As adventure games go, this was right at the top of my list. I loved the insult swordfighting – a great concept that still holds up.

My son and I are working through the series even now – we’re up to MI3.


Perhaps the best news about this is that it sounds like they have made up with the original designer Ron Gilbert. This sounds like we will get more new Monkey Island content – and maybe even learn the true Secret of Monkey Island.

Jugger - The Blood of Heroes

I had seen The Blood of Heroes about two decades ago. I am fairly sure I saw it in the theatre and I know I saw it many times on cable and recently picked it up on DVD for very cheap. It stars Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen. It’s basically Mad Max meets Blood Bowl.

Like most gamers, I thought it would make a neat game. I know Chris MacLaughlin had talked about designing a Blood Bowl team based around a Jugger team – naming his catcher a Kwik, etc. I thought about it again recently and did some searching online.

It seems that there are people playing this as a sport. There is a league in Germany and in Australia.
While it looks like fun, and I’m fairly certain that I could get enough people together to field two teams for a game, I’m not so sure that we could play without too much trouble from the Park Police. We’ll have to keep it on the back burner for now and let it mull.

Further searching seems to come up with a lack of a Jugger board game. So I finally put together rules for one. I had an epiphany moment about the movement and it all came together from there. I had a bit of an issue with the board but sorted that out yesterday.
When I get my notes together, I'll post the rules up here.

Get your PHD in Horribleness

I’m not sure – I thought I had mentioned it here before. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog is wicked funny.
It was only on the internet for free for a while, and then was available at many places that aren’t in Canada. It has been out for a bit on Amazon but it has finally come to “actual” stores. We picked it up last night at HMV but it is also at Best Buy and Future Shop and, though I haven’t confirmed it, probably at Walmart.

It’s well worth the money. If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a try. If you have, you don’t need me to convince you. My family was singing the songs all the last half of last year. I'm looking forward to the commentary.

A bit behind

So, with most of the season finished, we're still a bit behind.


We currently have well over 100 hours to catch up with. We're currently about mid-February in viewing. I'm certainly willing to believe that we watch far too many TV programs. Luckily, natural selection has pared back a fair number of these for next year.