Heather on Body Worlds 3 at Science World (see my review): “I think that too often we want things to be toned down and made easy on the eyes, wrapped up and presented nicely so we don't have to truly face the reality of human life (which is disgusting, confusing and fragile, heaven forbid). I know the role of the liver and kidneys, but when I saw the system of arteries and capillaries that feeds these organs, it sort of made me want to switch to a diet of grass and tree bark. Everyone's got a body, in whatever shape or form it may take. Rather than shrouding this reality in the realm of complexity and academia, we should all know what's going on in there, and understand that our bodies are ultimately our own responsibility, not simply a mysterious work of God.”

The tour of Royal Oak Station last weekend (part of SkyTrain Explorer's walking tours), wasn't remarkable except for the huge Burnaby South Secondary School and a cul-de-sac in the shape of a barbel (at the appropriately-named Barbel Place). Then again, Burnaby, the suburb of Vancouver I live in, is not terribly remarkable either, despite the coolness neighbourhoods like Burnaby Heights (picnics every weekend at the park, the crazy old Italian guys playing and arguing over bocce, the restaurants and other cool shops on Hastings etc.). The size of Burnaby South Secondary is an indication of how residential the Royal Oak neighbourhood is. Not a lot of people got on or off at this station, but the basis for comparison is the high traffic Metrotown Station, which must have a crush of students on their way to SFU on weekdays. It was rainy and a little cold, but a little water from the sky isn't enough to discourage this Vancouverite from getting some fresh air and discovering my surroundings.

Five chapters in and five tours taken on the list of stations in SkyTrain Explorer (Main Street-Science World Station, Nanaimo Station, 29th Avenue Station, Edmonds Station and Royal Oak) it's probably time I invited people to come along with me. The best candidate looks to be Broadway Station, sometime late October or early November. I'll probably check out a copy of the book so that I'm not the only one who can read from it, and ideally I'd like to do it on a weekend day early in the afternoon. I might even post it at Upcoming.org as a self-promotional event. Even though he conducts walking tours himself, I'm sure John Atkin thought that people would (and should!) organize self-guided group tours using his book, and that encouraging people to explore neighbourhoods was what he had in mind when he wrote them.

vanmega: “there was a time during the winter of 2003/2004 where I logged a lot of hours with WOXY. Back in my night owl phase I used hangout alone in my basement while working on my laptop, listening to WOXY. Yeah, It sounds a bit bleak but it was, in fact, joyful as hell for me. It was exciting, I remember being exposed to what felt like an endless stream of new bands and new sounds (you have to remember this was before "indie rock" as common the ipods which everyone now listens to the stuff on). Time has since passed, and a lot of these bands are now staples on The OC. But that's ok.”

I logged similar hours listening to WOXY after an article about the station in SPIN Magazine. After a hiatus from listening to online radio, I heard about KEXP through Joey deVilla, and have been listening ever since. I'm surprised that VanMega's editor hasn't mentioned KEXP recently, because it's the logical place for now-former WOXY listeners to go. A note for those who are used to WOXY's continuous indie format, though: KEXP's daytime schedule is heavy on the type of WOXY favourites, but in the evenings KEXP broadcasts specialty shows, my favourite evenings being Wednesdays and Thursdays, with DJ Riz. (I'm tempted to resurrect my "DJ Riz Drinking Game" list, since he has a lot of catch-phrases, like "Riz here" and "in the background soon to be in the foreground".) Right now, I'm listening "Swinging Doors", that features country music. Good, tear-in-your-beer country, not the stuff you hear on commercial radio.

So worry not, fellow-former listeners of Cincinnati's breath of fresh air, since KEXP is not only "member-supported"—I'm a card-carrying member, two years running, though really the station gets most of its funding through a large grant from the Experience Music Project—but plays great music with no commercials, save a few 'supported-by' announcements here and there.

The website, with a weblog (which updates too frequently for me to keep up with, so I just look at the pictures of in-studio performances), podcasts featuring local i.e. Seattle bands and more 'out-there' music, and live playlists. The one thing it doesn't have, at least not yet, is the ability to have a song that plays on KEXP, when I'm listening, appear on my Last.fm playlist. That would be pretty cool, though I'd probably want a way to let people looking at my playlist to know where I heard the song.

I only play two video games right now: NHL 06 and Burnout 3: Takedown. Both games from from Electronic Arts, which has a studio and office here in Vancouver. I've played the game since Blades of Steel and NHL '95 (I can't remember what I did between those games).

EA has several videos on their website introducing their newest incarnation of the game, NHL 07, taking us from the "next-generation console" perspective as well as that of the "current generation console". I evidently fit into the latter category—it's a measure of how out of it with regards to video games I am that I barely know what either means—still with my plain vanilla XBox system. Dean Richards in the first video says that those with real-world hockey experience will be able to do whatever stickhandling they dream up. Since I only have some street hockey experience, and have a current generation console, that doesn't really apply to me. Eric Chartland says that current generation console players will see improvements in passing and team play as well as better team AI, like defensemen stopping forwards at the blue line and blocking more shots. They both emphasize that the game is realistic, close to what we see on TV, so I'd be interested to know if the referees stand near the announcer's box and you can hear them call the penalty over the PA system like you can now at games.

(Just from the teaser videos, I can see—or rather hear—that they've included music from bands. It's an interesting distribution method, and a way for bands to get their song heard over and over in the background when people are more interested in doing something else. But has a band broken out because of their song appearing in a video game?)

Video game teasers, especially the ones for hockey, suck, though. They suck because they show little if any actual gameplay. The Ovechkin video is fun to watch, but doesn't show him scoring a goal during a game as played on the system. It's all flash and no substance. Note that I don't think Ovechkim himself is all flash and no substance. His rookie season, from the highlights I saw, were simultaneously 100% flash and 100% substance. The team videos, of the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes are identical (and feature no actual gameplay) except for the jerseys. One for each market I guess.

So, YouTube to the rescue again: someone posted video of someone actually playing the game while an EA rep mentions as many talking points as 4 minutes will allow. Nobody scores during the video, which I would have liked to see, since in NHL 06 each goal was followed by a replay at a different angle. I'm going to buy NHL '07 based on the YouTube video, and not the teasers at easports.com. So a successful marketing effort, despite what's on the official website. Now I just wonder if I can import my Stanley Cup champion Vancouver Canucks into this year's game.