Star Trek Humour

Earlier this week I read a pretty funny Star Trek joke.  I don't know how long it's been around, but it was the first time I'd heard it.  It was in an article in Car & Driver or Motortrend, can't remember which.  It went something like this:

"[...] as sure as Captain Kirk has three ears, the left ear, the right ear, and the final front ear."

Lazy Language

I decided to take the time to describe two more examples of what I consider to be very lazy and misguided use of language. A couple years ago I uploaded a post of a similar vein regarding a cbc.ca story I'd read. This time around, the examples happen to relate to NHL and NHL playoff reporting/commentary.

In what I can only attribute to a misguided and inane attempt to be (tragically) "hip", I've noticed several NHL commentators in both television and radio refer to the city of Vancouver as "Van", as in "the Kings next take on the Canucks in Van". Is it simply a matter of too many syllables, is three too much? Do they then refer to Winnipeg as "Win", Buffalo as "Buff", Montreal as "Mon", Ottawa as "Ott", Toronto as "Tor", Washington DC as "Wash", Winnipeg as "Win", Edmonton as "Ed", Anaheim as "An", and Los Angeles as "Los"? If that's the case then I wonder how they would bastardize Philadelphia with five syllables (apologies if I've left any surfeit-syllable cities out).

I don't want to single anyone out (though I will) because I've heard several reporters (both from Vancouver and not) abbreviate Vancouver in this fashion, but the most recent reporter (and the one that finally tipped the bucket, so to speak, and provided the motivation for this post) was James Duthie on TSN, on a live national broadcast of the NHL playoffs.  Say it ain't so!

The last example for this post is regarding a link on CNN.com, titled "Brodeur blanks Cats, sets record", linking to this story.  Now, abbreviating team names ('Nucks', 'Wings', 'Sens', "Hawks' for example) is nothing new, but this is just going too far.  Brodeur plays for the New Jersey Devils, who are currently in a series versus the Florida Panthers, not the Florida Cats.

Update (25APR2012):  Ugh. Now cbcsports is calling the Florida Panthers, "Cats".

The (Totally) Phantom Menace

:o)



Found on "One Cool Thing a Day".

Honking as an Excuse

My first post of 2012 and turns out it's another rant.  Oh well.

My apartment building has multilevel underground parking, which is good; each and every corner, however, is a blind corner, which is bad.  When I first moved in I noticed some residents would honk as they approached a corner, which is good... in theory.  Why only in theory?  Two reasons, one perhaps slightly facetious, the second more dangerous. 

What happens if you're leaving and you hear someone honk?  What do you do, honk back?  Do you both stop, honking one after the other while you each try to figure out which direction the other is going, what level they're on?  Shave-and-a-haircut... two-bits! 

More seriously, though, is that too many use honking as license to drive too quickly in the underground parking.  Just because you honk doesn't mean you can blithely cruise around two successive blind corners at 30+ km/h. 

Fortunately, management has now placed convex mirrors on each and every corner, which is good, meaning that in practice there are no more blind corners.    The bad?  Some drivers are still honking (look at the mirrors, already!) and speeding like if they don't gain a minute on their day they'll lose a million bucks.

Canada Post Can Be Aggravating

Just as this post title says, sometimes Canada Post can be aggravating.

• I'd ordered an item online from Amazon.ca and was following its progress via its Canada Post tracking number.   My order left the warehouse in Ontario and arrived at a Canada Post sorting facility, a mere 40-60 minute drive from my address, on the same day -- where it promptly stayed for two weeks.  Did it fall behind a counter or something?
• After the Canada Post lock-out ended earlier this year, all I received was junk mail for the first week or so before receiving any legitimate mail.
• Another example:  I knew Canada Post had attempted delivery of an order because I had its tracking number.  However, when I returned home there was no delivery notice in sight.  No biggie, since I was still able to pick up the package at a local post office using the tracking number.  The aggravating part?  A week after picking up the package, I finally received the failed delivery notice in my mail box. 
• At my current residence I receive an inordinate amount of wrong mail -- correct address, incorrect recipients (I assume previous residents).  Each time I dutifully write "not at address" on the envelope and send it back to Canada Post.  Aggravation?  When weeks later I receive the exact same letter, AGAIN.  Do I really need to write "not at address" twice? Should I capitalize?  Highlighted in nice red ink?

PS3 NHL12

NHL 12 for PS3 has been out for a while, now, and while there have been a some neat improvements, I have to say that despite the improvements over all NHL12 has been more frustrating than NHL11, and not in a good way.

Why is it frustrating (other than the fact that it's too difficult/slow to earn xp as a goalie -- that hasn't really changed from previous iterations)?  In my case, at least, NHL12 for the PS3 has the nasty habit of locking up mid-game, for no rhyme or reason that I can determine.  It doesn't lock up all the time, but just often enough for me that I've put NHL12 on the shelf.

A shame, really, because without this issue NHL12 may have been the best iteration, yet.

A few random proposals for NHL13:

• Fix the bug with the volume settings.  Every time I load a save file the menu volume settings are reset to default.  Annoying.
• Get rid of the Verizon (gag) advertising at the start of every BAP game.  Annoying redux.  Even if I were living in the U.S. (where Verizon is located), which I'm not, this unwanted intrusion of an undesired telecom into my home would make me less likely to become their customer.  At the very least, get rid of the vocal.  Ugh.
• Even if I decide to start a career in the WHL/CHL, I'd still like the option of choosing which team drafts my BAP player.

A Quarter Hour in Traffic

Ever since I stopped commuting to work by automobile, essentially only driving on weekends, I've found that I can accept the sometimes frustrating vagaries of traffic much more calmly (though I must admit my re-introduction to the world of drivers who ignore pedestrians hasn't been without close-calls or risk-free).   Anywhoo, this morning was one of those days where I was actually relieved to return home and out of traffic.  I hadn't had one of these in a long while.

In no particular order:

• I escaped, by less than a minute, being trapped in traffic behind emergency vehicles attending to the aftermath of a vehicular accident (I hope everyone involved is okay).
• I was boxed in by traffic insisting on traveling 10 kph below the posted speed limit, on a sunny, cloudless, dry day.
• A driver took a liking to my right blindspot and decided to take up residence there for a couple kilometers prior to, instead of pulling into the completely traffic-less space behind me, speeding up and cutting me off so she could make a left turn.  A turn signal wouldn't have noticeably lessened my annoyance, but it still would have been a nice gesture.
• A car on a side street with its nose blocking oncoming traffic.  This one I gave a good blast with the horn.

All of the above events occurred within the span of 10 - 15 minutes.  So, as I said, arriving home was a relief.