Well, congratulations are in order.Congratulations to hotshot Martin Gero whose first feature, Young People F*cking will open the Canada First programme of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Martin co-wrote the script with long-time buddy (and part-time Atlantis character Kanayo) Aaron Abrams, and directed the movie over the course of last year’s hiatus. For those…

Yesterday, I received a follow-up email from James Williams himself: “How are you? Can i know what is goin on that you have not respond back to my mail your urgent replay is needed to my mail with out any kind of delay okay.” I sent off my response:“James Williams not respond to Cookie Monster…

Since moving to Vancouver from my native Montreal, there are three things I’ve missed over the course of my eight years here: mom, a proper smoked meat, and a really good French bistro. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the caliber of the French cuisine this city has to offer, an overall quality to rival that…

Rumors of Gatecon’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. By me it would seem. I’ve been told that Gatecon is far from dead, having split into two different incarnations - Gatecon U.K. and Timeless Destinations (here in Vancouver) - way back when and developing separate entities ever since. So, apparently, with a 2008 con planned for…

The other day, I received an email from longtime gater Gilder who informed me of the recent troubles being experienced by a once-mighty fan-run Stargate convention. Gatecon was the first and, in my opinion, best of the Stargate cons as it: 1) Took place in Vancouver where the show (SG-1 at the time) was being…

My yahoo account used to get inundated with spam promising everything from lottery winnings to big money business proposals. I would receive almost thirty a day. But ever since I actually started responding to them, their numbers have dwindled. Now, I’m lucky if I get one. So imagine my delight when I woke up this…

With Fondy awash in doggy-related paraphernalia, I was on my own for lunch today and, rather than celebrate my last Friday of my hiatus with a tin of Brunswick sardines and a bottle of spring water, I decided to go the Lonely Guy route and treat myself to a table for one at Fuel. Since…

Oh, dear. How depressing. My three-week hiatus is almost over and what have I got to show for it? One script completed, less than 20 books read, and a peeling sunburn. Speaking of reading, I’m just about to finish up on Terry Pratchett’s The Light Fantastic, a delightfully wicked read, and one sorely needed after…

Last night, Fondy and I had dinner at Feenies. Not long after beating Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in the infamous Battle Crab, chef Rob Feenie incorporated a couple of his winning creations into the standing menu. Alas, those selections are long gone, but many of Feenie’s favorites remain including his calamari sandwich, Feenie Burger and…

The sad thing about trying to correspond with scammers is that you rarely hear back from them after the initial missive. More often than not, they just give up and try their luck elsewhere which makes for a depressingly empty junk folder. And just when I figured Ali was a delightful exception to the rule,…

My comfy seat afforded me an unobstructed view through the restaurant’s big bay window to the neighboring KFC parking lot where the shirtless crystal meth addict was putting on a grand performance: pacing, gesticulating wildly, muttering to himself. “What are you looking at?”asked Fondy, craning her neck to peer out the window, no doubt suspecting…

Well, after calculating my carbon footprint and subtracting the amount I will personally be saving the environment by following the ten-pronged strategy outlined in yesterday‘s blog entry, it turns out that I am now OWING carbon emissions. As a result, I have had to take up cigar smoking to make up the difference, thereby attaining…

My cell phone battery died yesterday so I had to pick up a new one. As I completed the purchase, the salesman informed me that he had put the new battery in the phone and packed the old one away for me to take home. Take home? What the hell was I going to do…

The “investment specialist” greeted me with a “Hi, I’m Sean” and a firm, all-business handshake. “Joe,”I replied, looking him in the eye so as not to let my eyes wander over his not-quite-convincing ensemble: white shirt, brown tie, cream suit. He looked, I thought, like a kid playing banker. Hmmm. Did I really want to…

Well, it’s been two days since I last heard from my Nigerian pen pal. I fear that he has left this cruel, cruel world for a far better place - or, at the very least, a more gullible and less loquacious patsy. And it was while I was mourning the loss of dear old Ali…