Wow! That was the impression I got at the end of this book. Rule of Two is the second in a small off-shoot Star Wars series revolving around the story of Darth Bane, the first Sith Lord to propagate the rule of two Sith, a Master and an apprentice, at any one time. I had first become aware of this storyline a few years back when it was done up in a Dark Horse comic that I had skimmed whilst over at the local bookstore.

Karpyshyn did a really really good job weaving a storyline revolving around the new apprentice and the Jedi who are initially clueless about the continued existence of the Sith and who are then sworn to hunt them down. It’s a bit of a twisty-turn story (aren’t they all) but the best is saved for last. Most of the time we want the Jedi to win out but we all know that both Darth Bane and his apprentice have to have survived in order for the movies’ storyline to exist millennia later. The trick for Karspyshyn is how did the Sith do it?

Very good story and I am really looking forward to the next installment here.

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Well, two weeks has gone by since falling off the bike. Who’da thunk it that two weeks can just zip on by while stuck with one arm down?! Ok, arm-wise, it’s healing; swelling is still evident despite S’ prediction that it would take a week to go down, fingers can work pretty easily, wrist rotation is still only about 50% and forget about putting any sort of pressure on it. I’m able to type with my left hand and a finger from the other.

At this rate, won’t be back on the bike for at least another week. *sigh*

Be prepared for a lot more book reviews! hehehe

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I’ve been interested in photography since grade school, done some developing work, short stint as a yearbook photo editor and read a few books on photography but it’s always good to sit back and go over the basics. This is what Peterson’s book does; he goes back to the basics of using aperture, speed, and light to create great photographs. Sure, he covered a lot of ground that I already knew or felt that I knew but I felt that it was best to just focus (hehehe) and go through it.

I’m glad that I did because it refreshed some things and I did learn some. The book is well-organized, lots of great pics, his writing is pretty simple, it’s a fast read, you pick up quite a few tips but, most importantly, it makes you realize that it all comes down to practice. It’s the same with bike repair, it’s one thing to read about it, it’s another to actually get your hands dirty. Nothing will ever happen if you’re just going to sit there.

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Ok, so I decided to give this mystery series another chance after the first one almost derailed itself by being set not in Quebec but in Toronto (spiritually). This time around, the story of a hateful woman being murdered is really well done with Penny having the reader run through various blind alleys and jumping to the wrong conclusion. Really deft twists and turns.

My enjoyment was a bit tainted by the last book and I felt myself scanning the pages waiting for nasty surprises. There weren’t that many but they did start early so here goes:

• pg. 13 was when the first slap in the face of a Quebec reader happened as Penny mentioned a Dollarama store which, as far as I know, is not present in Quebec. Yes, there are dollar stores but Dollarama?
• she still makes the Tim Horton’s mistake
• She has Terry Moscher being in charge of the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal. This was a real surprise! For those who think that the name sounds a bit familiar it is because Terry Mosher (without the letter c) is the real name of Aislin who is one of Quebec’s or Canada’s most famous political cartoonists. There must be an inside joke here.
• I’ve seen the Xmas display at Ogilvy’s over the years and I don’t believe that they change it all that much. At least, not enough for me to notice over a decade or so of looking at it. I certainly don’t think that the village of Three Pines, which one of the characters thinks looks like the Ogilvy village, has three frogs sitting around.
• Are the Eastern Townships really that cold? She makes it seem as if it was the planet Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back where you can freeze to death in minutes. If it is really that cold then I’d better make a point to visit…I love cold spots!

I think that Penny did a MUCH better job this time around, enough so that I am looking forward to her next book in the series. I do wonder if she would write a much better series if it was set in Toronto or somewhere in Ontario? Guess it has to have that Quebecoise feel to it.

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I strongly believe that this will be the last Spiegelman detective novel for me. They’re turning into too much of a psychodrama involving the hero for me, meaning that they revolve too much around his thoughts and his brooding bad moods not to mention that everyone involved in these stories seem much too wound up. I wonder if NYC has the highest number of psychiatrists/psychologists per capita in the US because it would seem that they’d certainly be treating most of the people in Spiegelman’s books!

It does detract somewhat from Spiegelman’s interesting story of infidelity, blackmail, porn noir and attendant seaminess in the big city. Once again, we are treated to a detective-turned-tourist guide as March tries to track down the blackmailer before all is lost and then trying to find the murderer before all is lost once again! It’s interesting, it’s a good read, just wished it was a bit happier or should I be the one popping the pills?

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So much for being productive this week. It looks like I will be out of commission for a while. Riding back from a ride early this morning, I had stopped by this feral cat colony on Lake Shore Blvd. and had noticed that they seemed out of food. I wasn’t too sure since the bowl was so far in underneath.

I decided to go home and bring back something to help me drag the bowl out. To that end, I took out my Manfrotto monopod and placed its strap on my right handlebar and headed back to the colony. Yep, disaster struck!

Within a meter, the monopod’s end swung into the spokes and I went down hard. Landed on my right wrist and knee. The monopod was scratched a bit and it had ripped out a spoke. Grrrrrr…

After being helped up by a passing security guard, I staggered back into the apartment to clean out my knee that promises a matching set of scars to the left one’s, had a bit of breakfast since the hospital wait is usually long, downed some ibuprofin (I can open a childproof cap onehanded it seems.) put together a little bag of stuff such as cellphone, wallet, book and ice to go down to the hospital.

Usually, when you can’t move your right hand/wrist it’s a good idea to have x-rays done. Is that an understatement or what?

What I learned at St. Michael’s? First, all intake of this nature is at the Emergency entrance. No such thing as non-emergencies it seems. Second, I’m on file for some reason even though I don’t recall ever being a patient there. They didn’t even ask for my health card.

One of the more worrisome parts of this visit, aside from having a crippling injury, was catching something deadly at the hospital. This worry was amplified by the numerous c.difficile warning signs all over the place. Feel like I need another shower.

The wait was not so bad. I highly recommend a fiction book to anyone who faces the prospect of a wait in the gloomy confines St. Mikes or any other hospital for that matter.

I finally progressed to a cheerful orderly who inspected me and happily prescribed a tetanus shot for the ugly scratches on my knee. This, despite my reassurances that I had used a liberal amount of alcohol on it. Geeze, if I had known I was getting that shot I would have left the cleaning and bandaging to them. I believe in making some people work for it.

The reading after that was marred a bit by the looming prospect of an unfriendly needle.

X-rays were done shortly thereafter and a couple of docs had a quick look at them and then me. We all concluded that it’s not a break (I had a look at the x-rays too) and to leave everything alone for a bit.

The tetanus shot still happened, though. The orderly warned me that the needle went into the muscle and hurt. I’d had something similar done a couple of decades ago and it really bruised the butt muscle then! This time around, she went for the shoulder and I hardly felt it! She’d said that many people dreaded this shot but it was nothing like what I remembered. Nothing.

So, for those of you expecting anything involving typing over the next couple of days from me, I may be a bit slower than usual but that’s balanced out by the fact that I won’t be riding for a while. Guess this is just another Yin-Yang balance thing.

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I was out watching “WALL*E” (great movie, not as good as “The Incredibles” but better than “Cars”) last night with a friend of mine and they asked what other interesting biking things were happening and it turns out that that same morning I had witnessed a hit-and-run. Here goes:

I was cycling back early yesterday morning when I noticed a white commercial van moving to the right into a parking space except that he was scraping along the left front corner of the parked sports car right behind him. I thought that he might stop once he heard the sound of squealing metal but he just kept going. I felt like yelling no no no and what are you doing?! He just kept going and I thought that he might rip off one or both fenders.

Eventually he stopped, got out and took a look at the damage. We had a short exchange that ended when he said that he would stay and wait for the other driver. I was only a tad suspicious but this same white van had been sitting on this stretch of street most mornings for as long as I’d been riding there waiting for someone to come out and go to work. Still, I had a good look at the license plate number and about half a block further on I decided to write it down.

I then turned and saw the van making a u-turn and speeding off! I thought, no way, he’s not that stupid! So, I rode back to see if he had left a business card so that the other driver could contact him. Nope, nothing. I then called the cops and gave them all of the info.

I have to go back later today to leave my contact info for the driver of the parked car since others have suggested that that might be useful. Unbelievable, the damage might be a thousand or two but now the van’s driver may be charged with hit-and-run or leaving the scene of an accident.

So, to conclude, a lot more interesting things happen when you’re on a bike. I am considering a skateboard too, though.?

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I tallied up my total mileage for June a couple of days ago and am pretty disappointed. Usually, June represents the first month of the year where my mileage just ramps up as the weather improves and I start riding all over. I don’t commute. So, my total for June is only just over 800 kms which is far short of what the total has been for the past couple of years.

The primary factor, other than sheer laziness, is probably the weather. June has been pretty wet and cold. Actually, it’s not that I don’t like getting wet, it’s that everything else on the bike is too. *ugh* I’m seriously considering riding through showers with a more stripped down batch of stuff. I’d also have to put on new fenders to avoid dirt up my back.

The bright side is that the “drought” that Ontario has had over the past couple of years at least is now broken. I remember cycling up the Niagara Escarpment last year to find that the fields up there were all parched-looking and hearing how the peach crop was a bit light in weight due to lack of water. Mmmm…this year should be different. I am seriously considering a fruit run this weekend.

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