Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

I LOVE MY JOB. I work in an apartment building as a concierge, and over feasting holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etcetera), afternoon shift is one of the best because often kind and generous residents will bring down a nice plate of dinner or dessert. It always makes me feel grateful for my job which is otherwise really not particularly glamourous or well-paying. We also received a bunch of neat apples from the Okanagan, each with an Ogopogo logo on them, presumably done by pasting a sticker on the apple while it was developing. As we had such an excess of them, I gave some away to residents who were kind enough to give us staff a little something as well -- It's the season for giving and sharing, right? Happy Holidays everyone!

I recently finished playing Spellforce 2 : Shadow Wars and the Dragon Storm expansion. It was for the most part standard fare, but there were a few really good subplots. These very short stories were told in bits throughout the main story arc. In our last posts I talked about the DreamStalker and the themes of the innocent and weak defeating the wicked and powerful; and Judge Caine and moral dilemmas. In this post, I'll mention the short but touching story of the protagonist and his ward Yasha. In bits and pieces, we learn that Yasha Ashir is a mean, possibly evil woman, taking after her powerful father, a Mage of the Circle, Hokan Ashir. In the time of the Circle Mages, Rune Warriors traded free will for immortality, bound to a magical rune stone that forces them to obey whoever carries the stone, but which also allows them to return to life again and again so long as the stone exists. After the magic of the Circle ended, their artifacts also lost their enchantments, and with i...

Well, my dad's still in Royal Columbian Hospital . I guess I never really did update my blog about it. He's had multiple surgeries, and the nurses have hinted on occasion that he might not make it through the night. We had another such call tonight. He went in for some surgery, and it looks like he's having trouble pulling out. Breathing is weak. The hospital called to let us know, and of course they are doing their best and trying this and that. I missed the call and they spoke with my sister. Who then relayed it to me in the most long-winded fashion imaginable. And she wanted me to call the specialist later to get an update. I suppose the feel-good thing would be to call the hospital, but at this point, I'm not sure what the point would be. I'm sure if they're not busy with my dad, they're busy tending other patients. And if something happened, they'd try to call. Meanwhile, why bother them? And why load me with detailed information about the exact...

I recently finished playing Spellforce 2 : Shadow Wars and the Dragon Storm expansion. It was for the most part standard fare, but there were a few really good subplots. These very short stories were told in bits throughout the main story arc. In our last post I talked about the DreamStalker and the themes of the innocent and weak defeating the wicked and powerful. In this post, I'll examine the moral dilemmas presented by the Judge Caine. In the world of Eo, there are otherworldly demons that offer power in exchange for one's soul. When the contract is up, the demons come and take what is theirs. However, they cannot enter holy ground, and so some parties hide from their fate by staying in such areas. When that happens, a human assassin is sent. Not being a demon, holy ground does not deter them. In exchange for these errands, these assassins are given the power to sustain their life indefinitely by drinking the blood of their targets. Caine is one such assassin, and when ...

I recently finished playing Spellforce 2 : Shadow Wars and the Dragon Storm expansion. It was for the most part standard fare, but there were a few really good subplots. These very short stories were told in bits throughout the main story arc. In this post and over the next few posts, I'll talk about some of these short but powerful stories. One of these stories is the series of quests involving the DreamStalker. A similar story appeared in the first Spellforce game, but the resolution was much simpler: Kill the Dream Thief. Except it was extremely difficult unless you also killed the innocent woman whose dreams it was stealing and giving him power. In Dragon Storm, this sidestory has been re-written into a full quest. In the city of SevenKeeps, we quickly find out that the dreams of children are being stolen, and as a result they wither away. As part of the ritual to this, four children were murdered and their dreams stolen. Each continues to linger on with painful memories, ...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. One of the things I found in Germany, and indeed everywhere I've ever been in Europe, is that people are the same everywhere. There's graffiti. People litter when it's inconvenient to go to the next garbage can. If you can't speak the local language, you're probably from North America. And everyone does the same thing with soup apparently. On the last night, my friend brought me and two of her closest friends to the Ratskellar in Bad Hersfeld where they ordered for me. They started me off with Ochsenschwanzsuppe , a soup which, with my limited German, I thought to be ox tongue soup, but turned out to be something surprisingly available in many cultures. When it came, there was no ox in it, just a couple of really thin dumplings. By the time it landed o...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. One of the stories that was shared with me was about a person who hated, or was at least contemptuous, of his neighbour. But one day, his neighbour passed away. He contritely went over to convey his condolences and offer assistance but was turned away: A lifetime of ill-will had nursed resentment and bred distrust. It was even thought his gesture was a cunning attempt to improve his own reputation, to be seen as a respectful person even to someone he thought so little of. Perhaps he was really, at this too-late time, sorry for the relationship with his neighbour. Perhaps pride had gotten in the way of reconciliation when they were both alive, and somehow at his neighbour's death, when an olive branch wouldn't be met with rejection, it was easier for him to be sorry. ...