At least I hope it's all good news.

Yesterday or the day before, I spoke of an apparent ban on books, magazines and newspapers by Transport Canada.

Seems they've since backed off. (The link ties to the updated edition of the original posting at the National Post's literary weblog, the Afterword.)

Next item is what I trust to be better news for a continuity hound like myself amongst the comics fandom: Who's Who in the DCU is back as of May. And Bob Greenberger's part of the team on that.

So...a hopeful start to this day.

I do not normally truck with the content of the National Post, but in this instance, I might well make an exception for the sake of our dignity as humans and my own petty career ambitions as both writer and illustrator.

Read on and react as you will.

Go.

Read.

Now.

http://kepler.nasa.gov/news/nasakeplernews/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=16

http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/tableofdiscoveries/

...and start a new one with what I hope will be a helpful idea:

http://spacingottawa.ca/2009/12/31/orleans-town-centre-cinema-a-possible-future/

Summerside, PEI - a town I visited two summers ago - has got a wind farm going now.

Looks promising, judging by this CBC News item!

One more gift of the Season to the world at large...

Strangely, I don't feel too much melancholy on this particular anniversary. I do feel some amusement at some of the stories and images shared so far.

Take this one. We may be seeing more pop culture depictions of Saint Nicholas under his multiplicity of aliases along such lines in the years and decades to come.

Or this one about the dietary habits of New Brunswick's squirrel population. That's got to be one of the more painful dietary modifications of the habits of Canadian wildlife I've read of in recent years. *winces in sympathy*

Also, heartened by this one more local in scope on animal adoptions. Good in particular to see the due diligence being carried out beforehand.

Oh, and in case anyone's wondering: assorted clothes, proper hangers to store them in the closet, and copies of Extreme Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean and The Age of Persuasion by Terry O'Reilly and Mike Tennant. CBC Radio shows gone to print editions, yes, the both of them. Worth your time, both.

And that's the under-the-tree tally so far.

Be well, one and all...

Some of you may recall Justin as a founder of the original publicbroadcasting.ca and the organizer of nxew.ca. If you didn't know, he's got a new blog and here's the feed on LJ for it:

justinbeach

Ontario's offering green license plates for anyone living here with a green car. The design looks not too bad. I assume they're sticking with Driver Gothic for the registry alpha-numerics on the actual plates?

John Scalzi pointed out a few things about a certain inevitability that maybe we should finally admit to having achieved as fans and pros and move on to something else from there. What do you think?

No unwanted toilet visits for a few days, I'm actually getting some degree of sleep at night(interrupted by coughing as it still is), and the temperature's been normal for about three days now.

I think I'm recovering.

I'm not sure that I'm all the way back yet, and given commitments I made to WritersFestival earlier in the month, I want to be sure. I need to be sure.

I just saw this article:

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/09/22/australia-sydney-dust-storm-outback.html

Ye gods.

A special "Welcome aboard and thank you!" going out to 88to24, errolwi and imtenaj! I hope you'll have plenty of reasons to stick around for a good, long while!

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/08/31/disney-marvel-purchase.html

http://comicsworthreading.com/2009/08/31/disney-buys-marvel/

Shock wave, fellow gentlebeings. Shock. Wave.

Seems that South Africa and Nigeria are officially in the New Great Game:

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1347

http://www.space.gov.za/

http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/world/nigeria/index.html

http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2007/10/nigerian_space

Should be interesting to see how these developments play out over the next few decades.

Read and react, people:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/fletcher-assigned-to-push-funding-cut-for-parties-54488632.html

Got in the door of the house at about half-past midnight. It was 25-27 ºC outside according to the taxi's thermometer, so we're now officially in a belated heat-wave mode.

I'll try to make time to post some comments and pix here and at Flickr later today or tomorrow. Not sure when I'll be able to manage it exactly.

I just saw the news via cbcnews.ca and Facebook.

I'm sorry, everyone.

And here a bunch of us have been talking him up today re: his Apollo XI coverage...

One bit of relatively trivial good news amidst all the Bad Craziness across the planet is this: my general neighbourhood in the east end of Ottawa - east of the Greenbelt - is going to get a Wallack's store at long last.

Years overdue, this is, and grounds for some small celebration for artists of many stripes in east Ottawa.

Oh, and you'll find it at Innes and Tenth Line. Starting August 15th.

I'd wish them good luck, but perhaps I should wish them wisdom instead?

Details, care of Bill Doskoch.

CBC: Petro-Canada, Suncor to merge

This cannot be a good thing, I believe. Admittedly, I am reacting from instinct rather than training, but this merger and the discarding of the Petro-Canada brand that will result...scares me.

...it seems, so too in Hamilton.