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Friday, March 25, 2016

Gas In Saskatoon, March 25, 2016.

Many people believe that the price of gas goes up before a long weekend.  I'm not convinced, but this week would confirm such beliefs.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 92.9 cents a litre at most locations.  I doubt anyone will be surprised if we're over a buck a litre within the next month or so.

Monday, March 21, 2016

The Truth Is...

...you don't want to go to Toronto.



Sunday, March 20, 2016

The Nightmare Lottery Scenario.

I was just checking the numbers for the Saturday Western 6/49 draw to see if I would have won anything if I would have played my usual numbers.  I wouldn't have.(Not that I had a ticket of any sort.)  But it made me wonder if anyone has ever experience the nightmare scenario:  You look at the lottery numbers, and find out that if you had played your set of numbers that draw you would have won the grand prize.  Of course I'm thinking about a lottery like the Lotto 6/49 or the American Powerball lottery, where you have to get 5, 6, or more numbers to win millions of dollars.  Given the odds of winning such lotteries are in the millions to one the odds of not playing your numbers when they would have won should be identical.  

Friday, March 18, 2016

Gas In Saskatoon, March 18, 2016.

A minor drop to report.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 84.4 cents a litre at most locations.  But with the price of oil going up I expect we'll slowly see it rise to the 90 cent mark before long.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Fading Out.

If you've been paying attention to coverage of the death of Keith Emerson you probably know by now that he committed suicide.  This was apparently prompted by health problems in his hands that were increasingly effecting his ability to play.  Emerson had problems in the early '90s, but seemed to have gotten past them.  But that was 20 years ago, when he was 50.

It made me think of this Rush song, one of their lesser known pieces, from 1982's album Signals.  Ironically Rush themselves are currently trying to figure out their future as health problems make the rigours of touring hard on Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart.  We're going to be seeing this hit more and more rockers in the next few years. 

Friday, March 11, 2016

Gas In Saskatoon, March 11, 2016.

The price of oil is creeping back up, and with it the price of gas as well.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 86.9 cents a litre.  One station did try to push the price over 90 cents today, but it didn't catch on.  But if it goes up next week I won't be surprised.

Another One Passes.

Yet another rock musician from the '60s and '70s has died.  Keith Emerson was 71.  Emerson first came to public attention with the band The Nice before forming Emerson, Lake, and Palmer with bassist Greg Lake and drummer Carl Palmer in 1970.  Although the instrument had already been used on pop recordings Emerson was an early advocate for synthesizers in rock music, touring with a Moog modular synthesizer from the band's earliest appearances. ELP were successful for a number of years, but were often the whipping boys for the excesses of the progressive rock genre they were one of the biggest bands in.  After their breakup in 1979 Emerson would go on to do a number of film soundtracks, such as for Sylvester Stallone's 1981 thriller Nighthawks.  He would reunite with Lake in Emerson, Lake, and Powell in 1986, with Palmer in 3 in 1989, and with a reunited ELP in 1991.

In tribute here's the title cut from their second album, Tarkus. 

VROOM!

I saw someone driving a motorcycle this morning.  Definitely not the kind of thing you normally see during the first half of March in Saskatoon.

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

"I Heard The News Today."

There is probably nothing novel I can add to the stream of stories and tributes you'll see today.  But there is no way I could let the death of veteran record producer George Martin pass without acknowledgement.  Along with figures such as Sam Phillips and Berry Gordy it's fair to say the musical world would be a much different place, and my life with it, without him.  Without Martin's open mind and creativity the Beatles would likely have been a much lesser group than they became.

But Martin did more than produce the Beatles.  He produced numerous comedy records in the 1950s and '60s, including for British comedy greats such as Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan.  He worked with numerous pop and rock musicians, including the Beatles' Liverpool contemporaries Gerry and the Pacemakers, '70s soft rockers America, and jazz saxophonist Paul Winter.  He also had connections to the James Bond films, producing the theme song to Goldfinger, and scoring Live and Let Die

The past few months have not been good for the world of pop and rock music, with several prominent figures dying.  Hopefully this is the last such death we'll see for a long time to come.

Monday, March 07, 2016

Listen To Her.

I heard this Johnny Cash classic on the radio this morning.  Too bad more Americans don't listen to the kind of advice Bill's mom gave.

Friday, March 04, 2016

Gas In Saskatoon, March 4, 2016.

Last week's post indicated that gas was probably going to be 84.9 cents a litre at most locations by day's end.  That turned out to be the case.  That was followed early this week by a drop, to 77.4 cents a litre.  But that drop did not last long.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 84.9 cents a litre at most locations.  Yep, exactly where it was last Friday.  Why?  Don't ask me.

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

A Night Quandry.

There are times I don't want to go to sleep at night.  It just seems like time wasted.  Then there are times when I want to go to sleep, but can't sleep worth a damn.  Too bad things like that don't get in synch.