It’s the darndest thing — I was walking along the beach at Riviera Beach in Florida and I’m sure it said “tell the people I say ‘Hi'”, so I pulled out my iPhone and recorded it:

Sixty-one years ago one of the most influential authors of the 20th century was born. I am referring, of course, to the late Douglas Adams.

Author of great works of literature such as the wildly inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy and several Dirk Gently novels, not to mention his contributions in the Doctor Who universe, Douglas Adams’ passed away suddenly in 2011 due to a heart attack.

The Google Doodle today was a very clever tribute to Douglas Adams, complete with animations and sounds. Very classy, Google!

Next year, Douglas Adams would have been 62, which as luck and math would have it is a significant number. I wonder if there’s going to be a special celebration.

I almost forgot about it, but fortunately someone (Thanks, Ken!) reminded me earlier this week: This is the weekend that we set our clocks forward an hour (unless you live in Saskatchewan in which case don’t worry about it). As I’ve mentioned once or twice in the past, there isn’t any reliable evidence that daylight saving time has resulted in energy savings (ever) and there is research that shows an increase in accidents in the days immediately following the switch.

(more…)

I guess I was naïve in thinking that NHL hockey players were genuinely trying to play hockey and that the games weren’t staged spectacles, unlike professional wrestling. Based on a quote from the Leafs’ Frazer McLaren in a CBC article, it seem I was wrong:

McLaren, noting the Leafs had a flat start last time out, said he asked [Ottawa Senator Dave] Dziurzynski to fight.

“I was just trying to get us going early. I asked him [to fight] and he actually said no, so I thought we weren’t going to go and then he ended up dropping his stuff there when the puck dropped,” he said. “He’s a big guy and he actually gave me a few good ones early there.

I can’t recall seeing a quote from an NHL player admitting that the fights were staged before. I think this is why I much prefer watching Olympic hockey games rather than NHL games. At least in the Olympics the hockey players are trying to win the game rather than follow some elaborately choreographed script. (If I’m wrong about this, too, please don’t tell me.)