So we took my stepmother to the zoo for her birthday this past weekend. The last time she did this was when she was eight. Without saying anything that would get me killed messily, she's now older than that. However, she had just as much fun this time.

The Calgary Zoo is awesome. We got a private tour of the new Africa exhibit, which consists of two large buildings: one for the Savannah and one for the Rainforest (or the TransAlta Rainforest as it's now known).

What they're trying to do is show an 'integrated ecosystem' which essentially means that you have all the animals hanging out in the same general environment, divided only by natural-looking barricades. So in the savannah area, there's a pool for hippos adjoining a warthog pen, which adjoins a large grassy area for giraffes / zebras / wildebeests. It's all predator-free, of course, given that little ten-year-old-Timmy doesn't need to see a lion chomping on a gazelle.

There's no animals in it yet (it opens in January) but you can tell it's going to be crazy cool. Everyone should go.

Without naming names, let it be said that I work for a large evil empire in its 'Fall of Rome' stage.

Our corporate email has now be down for more than twelve hours. Apparently the server crashed and (i) no one knows why, and (ii) no one can restart it.

I've lost my faith in technology. I think it's time to look for alternative modes of power and processing. Bring back Nedd Ludd

In an effort to differentiate the look of my site from Warren's, I'm made some changes to the colour.

Let me know if it makes your eyes bleed.

With regard to the comments on today's earlier entry...

Hooray for Science!

Here is where I break my earlier vow by talking about my life. See? That didn't take long.

So my Ultimate team is getting creamed this fall. So far we're 0-3, one of them a default when we couldn't field a full team. This does not bode well.

That isn't my point though. My point is that I've finally reached the point where I can barely walk the morning after every game because my ankles are in so much pain. And yes, I stretch out. I was hoping to at least reach a quarter century before I became aware of my own mortality, but it was not to be. I'm singing 'Dust in the Wind' in my head right now. Sing along with me.

As a bonus since it's been so long since an update, I'll also recommend the sequel to Perdido Street Station, The Scar.

It's not so much of a sequel as a book set in the same world subsequent to the first one. Little to none of the first book is discussed in the second. The second book is also really cool, and also not a happy book.

I should also note that the physical books for both Perdido and The Scar are quite nice. I can't say enough about how much a good book printed on good paper improves the reading experience. It's one (of the many) reasons I despise Clancy novels.

Now get out of here. You have some reading to do.

This would be a good time to quit your whining. Here comes book #1.

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville.

The genre is Sci-fi with a heaping helping of Steampunk. It's well written and long and involving. It is also a book that almost no-one seems to have read or heard about, in my personal experience.

It is also not a happy story for the most part, so if you like happy endings go somewhere else. I would contrast it with normal works in saying that normal Sci-fi always seems to take place in worlds that are squeaky clean. This book is better described as being caked in a layer of dust and grime. Very satisfying.

That's all. Go read it.

This will not be me a blow-by-blow account of my life, for the simple reason that my life is (i) not very interesting, and (ii) none of your damn business. What this will be is a place for me to post stuff I find interesting and maybe vent a little from time to time.

Should you find what I post interesting or amusing, please stay. If you don't, there's plenty of other stuff out there so go crazy.

May I recommend London Calling for a slice of life in London? Or perhaps the illustrious warcode for whatever he writes (it appears to be mostly about music right now).

Anyways, that's all for now.

So here's what I'm going to call a 'feature.' It's called the Book of the Month Club, though you should note a few major difference from what you might expect:
1) it's free,
2) it's not so much monthly as 'whenever I damn well please,'
3) you have to buy the books yourself,
4) there probably won't be any discussion of the book.

So every once in a while I'll give you the title and a blurb on a book you should read and you go read it. Or don't, depending on your preference. Not so much a club as you'd think, but the idea is there.

Watch this space for book #1.