Month: July 2012

There’s a fantastic Tron series out there, don’t miss out.

It’s called Tron: Uprising, and it really is worth checking out. Set in a timeframe that falls between the original Tron and the 2010 sequel, this animated series tells the story of a new “renegade” who teams up with Tron to fight the good fight. It airs on the Disney XD channel, and five episodes have aired so far (out of a season order of 18).

The storylines so far have kept me interested, but the real reason I tune in is for the show’s striking look. It uses CG, but in a way that looks slightly more cel-shaded than what we tend to think of as CG, with a very stylized design that, although quite different, reminds me of the old Aeon Flux series — I think it’s that the characters are abnormally thin with long legs.

Many were disappointed with Tron: Legacy — for me, although the story was ho-hum, the visuals were enough to keep me glued to the screen — and it does feel like Uprising is really the Tron that we all wanted. They also attracted some great voice talent, with Bruce Boxleitner reprising his role of Tron, and Elijah Wood voicing Beck, the series’ main character.

Just try not to get derezzed.

Last night was the 62nd edition of PauseTalk, and yes, we talked.

I’d like to thank everyone who made it out. It was a nice mix of participants as usual, filled with regulars and new faces, and you’ll find the list of those who came (or at least those who signed the attendance sheet, which was the majority) on the PauseTalk website.

It’s not really a regret, but I do think that I took control of the discussion a bit too much, and so I hope I didn’t alienate anyone. Yes, a certain topic I raised on this site last week was brought up, and it was discussed. But I also enjoyed drilling Mimi U on her experience as a stand-up comedian in Tokyo — born and raised here, she spent 7 years in the UK, coming back with a thick accent, a love for a few British comedians, and a desire to tell jokes in English. Oh, and she sings jazz too.

I’m always thankful for the turnout at these events, and although I joke about it, there is in fact a lot of truth when I explain that the whole point of doing PauseTalk is to get interesting people to come and see me in my hood.

August is always a skip month due to the large number of people who tend to be out of town — and this year, for the first time in 4 years, that means me too — so Vol. 63 will be held at the start of September, on the 3rd.

And no photos this time because Michael was ill and wasn’t able to come. We all looked great though.

I’m reading my first Agatha Christie book. Ever.

It’s a bit odd that I’ve never read one. My mother is not only a huge fan of mystery novels, she always did love Agatha Christie, and we had all of her books at home when I was growing up, in both English and French (or at least a few in French). I read avidly as a kid, and my regular trips to the library always resulted in a stack of books that I would devour at a pace that made another trip necessary within 2-3 weeks.

But I stayed away from Agatha Christie. I think I may have started one or two of her books, but never made it through more than a few pages, and I honestly can’t remember why. It certainly didn’t stop me from watching and enjoying films based on her novels — the ones with Peter Ustinov especially, and I have particularly fond memories of Evil Under the Sun (and interestingly enough, it was directed by Guy Hamilton, famous for his Bond films).

Which brings me to the point of this post, which is that yesterday I decided to pick up (or rather download) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and was sucked in to the point of reading through half of it in one sitting. Keep in mind that I’ve lost the ability to read books — blame my internet/magazine-induced ADD — so this is quite the feat for me. I’m now quite looking forward to finishing it, although it will probably need to happen over a few nights.

The moral of the story? I don’t know if there really is one, but I’m glad I decided to give Agatha Christie one more try.

Today is Canada Day, and I actually remembered this year.

There are a few reasons for this. One of them is that for the first time in a decade I’m reading a couple of Canadian newspapers. I recently test drove an app called PressReader — which I reviewed on The Magaziner — that lets you read scans of newspapers from around the world. To try it out I checked out the two national newspapers in Canada, The Globe and Mail and The National Post, and I’ve continued to follow them since.

The other reason is because for the first time in four years I’m going back hom this year for a visit, back home being my hometown of Moncton, New Brunswick. When my parents made me realize not too long ago how long it had been since my last visit, I started feeling a bit homesick, and now I’m very much looking forward to the couple of weeks in August in which I’ll get to spend time with family, friends, and everything else that a trip back home brings.

I even get to make it connect with PechaKucha, as there is a PechaKucha Night to be held in Moncton on August 16, and I plan on presenting — I also hope to do a daytrip to Halifax to touch base with the PKN organizer in that city.

So realizing it was Canada Day this weekend — something I have quite honestly forgotten most years — I decided to record a special episode of the Codex last night, something I did while drinking a bottle of wine. Since I include Canadian artists quite regularly on the show, I decided to make it extra special by digging into the past, and focusing on the indie rock music I enjoyed in the early nineties, most of it from the Atlantic provinces (there are a couple of exceptions at the end).

So here’s to Canada, happy 145th birthday!