Category Archives: Site News

I don’t know if it’s a sign but I got probably the worst case of food poisoning I have ever had during a educational workshop last week. I can normally work while being sick as long as it doesn’t affect my stomach. Any stomach bug to me is like a thorn in a lion’s paw. I was able to produce quite a bit of work during the winter holidays considering I had a horrible cold and two computers that decided to take turns on not being able to work. Last week was so bad, I wasn’t able to do anything other than sleep after coming home from work.

I’m still not at 100% but I feel good enough to start writing again. I have two semi-half-finished newsletters but I’ll wait until the normal Friday and Saturday release days to put them out so that I don’t have to over-exert myself to get four newsletters out by Saturday. The worst case scenario (unless I become violently ill again) is that the Video Game Newsletter will be released on Sunday except for Saturday. Here’s a list of the upcoming major items to pop up on the website.

Weekly Movie Newsletter-Double Issue (Fri., Jan. 27)

- Golden Globes roundup
- BAFTA nominations
- Jan. and Feb. 2011 in review
- Box office data for January (so far)
- Report on the decline of the film industry (or so they say)
- Movie reviews including: 50/50, The Adventures of Tintin, Bridesmaids, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, The Ides of March, Margin Call, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, Monsieur Lazhar, My Week with Marilyn, Salt, The Social Network, War Horse

Weekly Video Game Newsletter (Sat., Jan. 28)

- The Top 10 Games of 2011
- Video games sales information for the weeks of Christmas and the New Year weekend
- Q2 2011 in review
- Video Game reviews including: Alien Crush (TG-16), Duck Hunt (NES), Final Fight (Arcade), Rad Racer (NES), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis), Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (Game Boy)

Weekly Movie Podcast (Tue., Jan. 24)

- Golden Globes commentary
- BAFTA nominations discussion and predictions
- Box office data for the weekend ending Jan. 22

Weekly Video Game Podcast (Sun. Jan. 29)

- Video game sales information for the first two weeks of January
- The disappointments of 2011

I’m also working on adding at least one new podcast series on the site (maybe a second). I would like to start producing them this week but it all depends on how I’m feeling.

Really busy day so no daily rant today. I’ll have one tomorrow for sure we’re I’ll post a scathing write up about adorable kittens or something. I know I’ll be out of town on Friday so I’ll prepare myself and have one written beforehand and have it automatically posted some time on Friday.

The Weekly Movie Podcast will be up later tonight. There will also be two movie reviews going up sometime between now and the podcast going up.

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Quebec News

The NDP might still be riding high in Quebec but there seems to be growing frustration that some people can’t even contact their MPs due to the fact that a third of all NDP MPs in Quebec don’t have a riding office. Maybe tomorrow I’ll write something about voting for a party/leader vs. voting for the local candidate. Quebec is a very fickle place and while Jack Layton may be the greatest superstar today, he could easily become yesterday’s news. Just ask Gilles Duceppe.

World News

The Canadian dollar might be riding high but things could turn really bad for Canada soon if the United States defaults on their debt. Make all the jokes you want about how the U.S. wants to be the first major country to default on their debts before Greece does, if this does happen, it could cause a even greater ripple in the financial markets than if Greece goes under. Senate Democrats and Republicans are continuing debate even though they’re supposed to be on recess to see if they can come to a solution.

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Movie Listings

5:10 – Aurore (Moviepix)
8PM – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Space)
9PM – Brokeback Mountain (Moviepix)
10PM – True Lies (W Movies)
10:30 – The Thief of Bagdad (TCM)
10:45 – Everlasting Moments (M Fest)

Whoa, what happened? Did the site die again?

No, just a minor health scare (a concussion, or a upper-body injury for the hockey fans out there). There was a small accident at school and I haven’t been able to do much. I had to take days off from work; which is a pretty big deal for me since in the last ten years, aside from when I had an emergency appendectomy, I think I’ve only taken about a dozen days off from work due to illness from the various jobs I’ve worked at.

My priority is getting better and making sure I can get through eight hours without feeling drowsy, hazy, or experiencing a headache. It’s also getting near the end of the school year so I need to make sure my students are prepared for their exams. As much as I love writing on this website, my health and my job are a higher priority.

Once I feel 100%, I’ll start writing again. I’m penciling in the 15th of May as my return date but it’s not set in stone. (See update below) If you’re someone I was supposed to interview as part of a podcast and are reading this, I will most likely get in touch with you by Monday to schedule a time to conduct the interviews.

UPDATE-May 17th: I’m pretty much back to normal although I’m still sleeping more than usual. The website should be back to normal in the next few days although I won’t have most of the features up this week (I’m going to do my best to publish a Movie Newsletter on Friday and if I can time it properly with Chris, there might be a Video Game Podcast on Thursday). I hope to be back to a normal pace of a rant and a review a day by Friday as well as the regular features returning next week.

As you can see, the look of the site has been changed. I’m also working on tidying up some of the posts that seem are published but seem to be in limbo (no categories or tags). There’s also some formatting issues on some of the older posts which I’ll work on this week.

Updates will resume tomorrow (which I had said last week but am super serious this time). I’ve got some goals in mind for what I want to do with the site in the short term and long term. The main plan is to post on a regular basis which is something I’ve been telling myself to do but not doing it (mostly for good reasons). All the regular features (like the podcasts and newsletters) will resume shortly along with some new things I think most will like.

UPDATE @ 1:15PM – I’m aware of a major problem with the Video Game Review page. I’m working on fixing it. It’s a pretty big one as with this new template I can’t figure out a way to modify the tables. Either I’ll fix that particular page or redesign it completely.

It’s going to be a light weekend on the website. I was hoping to start the weekly news podcast tonight but I didn’t have much time today. Between finishing up assignments because I have a teachers’ convention to go to next week and my new friends that came home tonight, I haven’t had much time to do anything. Keeping a kitten occupied with a shoelace for an hour is more entertaining than any video game or movie. The little black one, who spent the first couple of hours hiding from everyone has taken to my left index finger as if it’s his security blanket.

There will be a roundtable podcast up on Sunday since it was recorded two weeks ago but I still haven’t finished editing it yet. I’ve also have a couple of reviews that are finished but need editing as well so they’ll sneak their way onto the site this weekend. I’ll have my hands full on Sunday with New Super Mario Bros. Wii so look for a review of that either Monday or Tuesday. Chris was supposed to come over and we were going to do a podcast or something but it’s going to be chaotic around here with the new kittens and also other funny business happening. I’m pretty much clear through the back log of reviews so there will be less reviews (down to about one a day) and more rants (which I want to do daily). That’s only if the black kitten will let go of my finger long enough.