Hi everybody!..well, its muggy here with the humidex last night at 1 am reading 31 Celsius...between sucking down max amount of extra strength Tylenol/day and grumbling that family doc apparently needs to see sobbng and crying before prescribing painkillers, I'm not a happy camper.

- Did a little research on the Lassie guide and stumbled across the fact that several writers were credited under an alias. Annoying but I figured fixable...touched base with Dju010 to make the necessary swap outs (I don't double dip cast credits when possible). However, he pointed out the correct name isn't listed in the database here..only as an alias to the alias ID. Grumble mutter...

Oh, and the story behind the alias is pretty cool. The writer in question was blacklisted in the 50's as result of the Communist committee hearings that investigated Hollywood. As one of the "Ten", he wrote for several series under aliases both here in North America and the UK (though I have yet to determine which alias he used for the latter). He also may have written under his wife's name, who also used an alias. Confused? I am...

- Working on other guides...TDI has become a hit in the US, I guess, and with it, quotes that are trying my patience. No tags is one thing but not capitalizing names or even "I"...sigh...

- My father visited Wal-Mart recently and was very annoyed to see the amount of merchandise that had been ripped open by customers while it still was in the store. To me, open it after you buy it...oh, and he sees the same thing with Ziploc bags at a local dollar store. Shaking head....

- Well, that's about all...hope everybody has a good week/weekend..stay cool...just over a month before the fall is upon us and the wee beasties are back in school..

I miss my friend.

Hi, everybody...still warm and muggy down here...I saw an ad the other day for a plasma cool AC portable unit that looked nice...price tag not so much...

- Guide work continues....nearing the end of Season 17 of Lassie and 18 starts next week here on TV Land. From what I gather, 18 and 19 don't pop up too often in syndication so I'm curious what they'll be like. Other than that, doing the odd recap for shows (write during the week, post during weekend) and figuring out what to do on weekends guide wise.

- I've been reading the thread in the Editor's forum about why people aren't subbing/good editors and I'll be posting my own thoughts in a bit but here's one thing I'll say here: there are a few people here who think level of submitter quantifies the quality of a guide sub....and that's not the case always. When you get a sub from a mid 30's level submitter who doesn't know how to format a Quote properly, well, it makes you go hmmm....

- Now for the blog title....every summer, fresh strawberries are a fav thing to eat for many people with more than a few buying a flat of 12 quarts in a single trip to the grocery store. However, in Manitoba, CBC news recently noted that people almost got into fist fights at a Upick when a person started picking berries from a row that someone was also picking on. Now, this kind of thing sounds pretty extreme till I remembered in past years people waiting most of a day for a new shipment of locals to arrive at the local store...or how people chased down an acne faced employee to see if there were any more berries in the back...

That's about all...stay cool and such everybody....have a great week!

I miss my friend.

Hi everybody!...well, the first real heat wave is in my area with the humidex approaching 40 Celsius....really makes nights tuff to sleep even with fans and A/C units working all arond the neighborhood...

- Guide work marches on...Lassie work is into season 17 though TV Land skipped quite a few eps to get there. BTW, season 17 was strange in that thru 16 seasons, Lassie always had a human owner (Jeff, Timmy, Forest Rangers...) but the 17th season had Lassie out on her own wandering from place to place much like Littlest Hobo...

- Did some more recaps for TDI,RRH, Odd Job Jack and King of Kensington. The NCAA guides were folded into one which means lots of work to do.....Beachcombers has been fun to do, one thing I've noticed is how many of the writers went on to do other West Coast filmed shows such as X-Files and others.

- Site wise, I hope the staff bring in this airdate fix soon where two airdates can be shown for an ep...given the growing number of Canadian/US joint productions, it'll solve some headaches...

-Oh, one more thing...Season 2 of Masters of Horror comes to DVD July 29 with the discs inside a skull....all things being equal, that is pretty cool and imaginative....

Well, that's about all....stay cool, everybody!

I miss my friend.

I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade
He'd let us in, knows where we've been
In his octopus' garden in the shade

I'd ask my friends to come and see
An octopus' garden with me
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade.

We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an octopus' garden near a cave

We would sing and dance around
because we know we can't be found
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade

We would shout and swim about
The coral that lies beneath the waves
(Lies beneath the ocean waves)
Oh what joy for every girl and boy
Knowing they're happy and they're safe
(Happy and they're safe)

We would be so happy you and me
No one there to tell us what to do
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden with you.

- Octopus Garden - a nice little song that has been covered many times with the Beatles version perhaps the most famous.

- Speaking of musicians covering tunes, I see where Celine Dion's version of You Shook Me All Night Long was voted the worse cover of all time. Given the singing of AC/DC and how it contrasts with the diva's way, I shudder to think just how bad Dion's version was...

- Well, it's been muggy and somewhat warm round here...makes it hard for me as pain increases quite a bit in these conditions but I shall persevere....sorry if I haven't been quick responding to PM's or blopping..just a little out of focus...

- Guide wise, shifted recapping to a couple others shows like King of Kensington, Rocket Robin Hood and Little Mosque. One thing I've noticed with the latter is that the eps quickly transition a lot from scene to scene...tuffer to recap that way...

- The recent retirement by staff of guide collectors is a good thing...I have no problem with anybody amassing a large quantity of guides providing they make an effort to make them better. I've seen too many person guides that have an editor with no bio for the actor/actress in question...and heard of a few show editors who reject subs with no reason given. A shame staff has never brought a code of sorts that at least editors of shows with high traffic have to follow...

- That' about all...take care, everybody!

I miss my friend.

- Hello, everybody!...kinda cool here now....all things being equal, I can live with this weather till, oh, September but everyone wants the heat and it's probably just weeks away...

- Some incidents round my area have cast a light on some bad teens.

1) When I got a haircut recently, my barber told me that the washrooms in the mall they are located in were blown up by two teens on a recent weekend to the tune of 25K damage. The mall has no security guards (too cheap) but does have visible surveillance cameras. The teens wore hoodies over their faces and moved in and out in a matter of minutes...nobody caught yet for this...

2) A couple of nights ago, four teens set fire to playground equipment at 1 am but were arrested same night thanks to a police dog brought in.

The YOA act in this country really needs to be overhauled....it protects the names of these "innocents" time and again. If I could change it, I'd make it like a "3 Strikes" law....if a youth is convicted of three offences that are deemed serious by the courts, their name gets published....no more whispering in the shadows or bad pups flaunting the fact they get away with a slap on the wrist for stuff that warrants stiff punishment. It's not much but it's a start, I think....

-On the TV side of life, I see where Fox is going to develop an American version of Little Mosque on the Prairie...I'm sure it'll start out similiar to the gentle Canadian comedy but let's not kid ourselves. This is FOX we're talking about...not exactly the home to sensitive/non exploitative programming...we shall see...

- Well, that's bout all..don't forget Jericho Season 2 comes out on DVD next week...I think the show is done for good this time so if you like the show, I'd pick it up!

Have a good weekend, everybody!

I miss my friend.

Hi everybody!...well, the first summer hot day fast approaches round here with highs tomorrow around 30 Celsius and the low near 20 plus humidity driving that even higher......on the good side, I bought a new fan before the forecast (one of those temp sensitive ones..) so I should be ok though sleeping might be a tad difficult.

- Working away on da guides...finished another season of recaps for Red Green, which means 6 of 15 are now fully recapped. I picked up a new guide this week - The Beachcombers, which ran for 19 seasons here in Canada. The guide itself is in horrible shape (I'll be asking staff to add 10 seasons to the available ones) but I'll work away at it...a shame none of the networks here show the early seasons and CBC refuses to put it on DVD...ah well...

- I see where Hockey Night In Canada is ditching its traditional opening theme starting next season. If you're a hockey fan or hockey widow in Canada, this is one theme that is known country wide...a shame the accountants at the CBC don't realize this...

- I have to wonder how toned down the movie scene will be over the next 4-5 months given the protracted writer's strike and such....I have hopes Watchmen will be as good as the phenomenal graphic novel by Alan Moore but I also have my doubts...

- Well, that's bout all...stay cool, everybody, and remember, fall is only 2 1/2 away....

I miss my friend.