Happy Spring everyone!!! That’s right, the season of awfulness is officially over and we can get on with our happy, vitamin-D infused lives! Well…kinda. We’re back in the red here in Ottawa! Well….kinda. Although officially in the red, Mr. Ford has said we can bump up our capacities a little, and make things a little more open than the red-zone indicates. So, what does that mean? Nothing really; no significant change from orange, except for lower capacity limits at gyms and for private gatherings (which apparently people aren’t following anyway). However, this indicates that we’re still doing poorly, and makes the upcoming festival season seem unlikely.
This week’s theme is “Geeked Out,” so many of the stories focus on the nerdy. Deep down, I love sci-fi and like to embrace that side once in a while. I’ll take it easy though, I promise. First, this week’s events:
Ottawa Home and Garden Show
Each year, I look forward to the Ottawa Home and Garden Show at the EY Centre. It’s one of a few events that indicate that spring and summer are upon us. But this year, like last, it has gone virtual, being held online this coming weekend. I’m not really sure how good it will be, but with very minimal effort, you can jump online and browse around.
Due to the pandemic, last year there was a massive amount of home renovations and construction being done as people attempted to make their abodes more appealing and comfortable for to spend time in. Now that we’re creeping into year two without much to be excited about, I suspect that this year will be similar, with many people doing renovations and upgrading their backyards. I for one am excited about our pool going in this May! All this to say, if you are looking to do some upgrades or renos, have a look at the online Home and Garden show, and hopefully you’ll find some inspiration!
Geeked Out Events
As per this week’s theme, there are a few “Geeky” events happening this weekend. Both events are typically done in a trade show environment, but have been changed to virtual events as well. The Ottawa Geek Market XII is running for three days, from Friday March 26th through Sunday March 28th at 5pm. Secondly, you can find the Ottawa V Con 2021 online on Saturday and Sunday. Details for both events can be found on my events calendar.
Bits/Bytes
This is my random story and features section. These topics don’t necessarily have anything to do with Ottawa. It could include stories about current news issues, sports, funny videos, and/or perhaps just random things that I’ve discovered over the previous week. I hope you enjoy!
St. Paddy’s Day Mystery is Solved
So last week, I made some comments regarding whether it’s “St. Patty’s Day” or “St. Paddy’s Day”. Without doing much investigation at all, I have received the official answer on how to keep it straight for years ahead.
I thought I was being funny about not knowing which to call it, and wasn’t really taking it that seriously, but apparently this is a big deal for those involved (aka The Irish). Even CNN has become involved in the debate about which is the official shortened name for St. Patrick’s Day.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/us/happy-st-pattys-day-trnd/index.html
So it’s unanimous….the official abbreviated name is St. Paddy’s Day, and not St. Hamburger’s Day.
What I’m watching – Star Trek Lower Decks
If you haven’t heard of it, Star Trek: Lower Decks is the second animated Star Trek series (the first being in the 1970s), and features the lower ranking crew who work as the “grunts” of the USS Cerritos. The original Star Trek series focuses on the command staff and how they interact with life and death situations that the ship and its crew encounter. In the case of this show, the focus is on the “worker bees,” who perform the mundane tasks during these situations. As an example, in the first episode, the characters are tasked with “second contact” duties for a new planet, and the menial interactions with the newly discovered population. Not exactly an exciting plotline compared to what we’re used to on Next Generation or Discovery. Typically, the USS Enterprise, as the flagship of the fleet, would make “First Contact” and run into some crazy issue often related to customary differences. In this show, the lower-class Cerritos goes in after the fact, and this show follows their adventures.
This show is comedy first, sci-fi drama second. I’m not a trekkie per se, but I do consider myself a well-informed fan, and I find this to be annoying. I just want them to get on with the actual plot of the story and skip the stupidity. I can imagine that true trekkies must be furious at this element of the show.
Obviously, humour sells, and attaching humour to a sci-fi space show such as Star Trek has to be done very carefully so as to not scare off the fanbase. Although not part of the Star Trek family of shows, The Orville, written by and starring Seth MacFarlane, has achieved this delicate balance of good old fashioned sci-fi drama with a bit of ridiculous humour. Star Trek Lower Decks does not even come close.
With that being said though, I’m going to continue watching it, because why not? With only two seasons under its belt, it may be worth the short investment of time to binge the rest of it. I think I’ll try and put my brain to rest and maybe it’ll be a little more fun. I’ll also say that if you’re going to give it a try, you don’t necessarily have to be a Star Trek fan. You may miss some of the subtle jokes, but can still get into the story, if there is one.
Current State of Crazy
This is a new section of the blog, and to be honest, I’m not sure where it will fit going forward. As the blog is transforming from being mostly events-focused to more of a weekly entertainment piece, I figured this is a good fit. In this section, I plan to make a bit of a mockery of the big (or small) news stories or events from the previous week. I won’t just be another news outlet through, so maybe you’ll learn something–but probably not!
Keeping with this week’s theme of “Geeked Out”, my first two stories are a little geeky.
Gina Carano FIRED from a Second Franchise
If you have a single nerdy bone in your body, you’re a huge Star Wars fan! Even though some of the new releases don’t live up to the original trilogy, you’re most likely still watching them and loving them to a certain extent, even if you are dissecting every line. The Mandalorian is the latest craze in the franchise and has finished up season two. There’s more coming though, and lots! My first news story is about one of the main characters of The Mandalorian, played by Gina Carano. She played Cara Dune, the kick-ass former Rebel Shock Trooper who became a mercenary, helping Mando to locate a Jedi and return “Baby Yoda” to his rightful home.
Well, in February, Lucasfilm has declined to offer Carano a role in upcoming seasons due to some controversial posts that she made on social media. According to Wired Magazine, fans of the show have been crushed with this news as her portrayal of Cara Dune was a key aspect of the show. Her social media posts included controversial comments on mask-wearing, voter fraud, trans-gender sensitive pronouns, and finally a comment suggesting that having different political views is similar to being Jewish during the Holocaust.
The story doesn’t end there though. Just this past week, Carano was dropped from the Fast and the Furious Franchise as well to “avoid PR headaches” due to her political and personal opinions. This is no doubt related to the social media posts that lead her to the unemployment line in the Star Wars Universe as well.
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2021/3/19/22339705/gina-carano-reportedly-fired-by-fast-furious-franchise-for-fear-of-pr-headaches-mandalorian-mma-new
It always amazes me that someone who’s found success in a niche goes and ruins it with social media. One too many kicks in the head during her MMA days maybe?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot
It was announced a couple of years ago that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer was being re-made. And really, why not? Many other shows have seen various levels of success in reboots (The Connors, Saved By the Bell, 90210 (twice), and most recently Punky Brewster). But unlike many of the shows that we’ve all seen round 2 of on prime time over the past year or so, this one appears as though it will not have a key piece of the puzzle returning. According to an article in Deadline, Sarah Michelle Geller, at 43 years old, says she’s not likely able to play a teenager vampire slayer anymore, so will not be returning for the re-boot. The vampires were apparently representative of adolescent problems that needed to be destroyed. Who knew the show was that deep?
The funny thing is that she made this announcement on the Mario Lopez Podcast. Have you seen the new “Saved By the Bell?”…seems like AC Slater (Lopez) can still pull off playing a teenager, at least in maturity.
Texas Rangers Home Opener
Can you say “S U P E R S P R E A D E R”? Yup, the state of Texas has pretty much opened up the entire state;the pandemic there is over, supposedly. This includes Globe Life Field, where the Texas Rangers play baseball. The season starts in two weeks, and according to many sports media outlets, including CBS sports, their home opener will be fully attended by over 48,000 idiot fans in the stadium. I really have no words for this ridiculousness, and wouldn’t even think it’s worth posting, except that the Ranger’s home opening series is against the Blue Jays. UGH.
Naming Yourself Salmon
I have to end this week’s post with this insane story. I have witnessed a lot of odd things in my life that people will do in order to get a free product or a big discount, but officially changing your name is new. In Taiwan, a specific sushi chain had a promotion on where if a customer’s name was actually “Salmon”, they’d get free sushi for themselves and five guests! Seems like a pretty risk-free promotion by management to me! What they didn’t realize is that people would actually change their names in order to get the free meal. Whoops!
You must log in to post a comment.