Raven's View

Seems to be THE week for new series to start, and last year's successes to resume. I was busy trying to figure which were worthwhile, which were worthless. I know, in our younger days we were proud of NOT watching TV, now I've the time and like to be entertained. I do draw the line at 'reality' TV though.

Highlight on Monday was a new double Doctor Who for the fall. OK - not a kickoff, it was an end to this current series. But it still was good. I'm not sure when it resumes - maybe January.

Tuesday House resumed - with the old grump on his own. All three of his pet doctors from last season were gone - I'm not sure if that was plot driven or studio politics.  This season he'll hire more eager ones and it will be deja vu all over again. Hugh Laurie is great, but not sure how long he can he can keep it up. I'll stick with him for now. Competition in the same slot will be from Reaper - I like it so far. A bit like Dead Like Me - young man discovers his parents sold his soul to the Devil, now that he's 21 he has to work for his new boss. His job is to return escaped souls back to Hell, using a bright red Dirt Devil hand held vacuum to suck them up. He then delivers them to one of Hell's portals - in the first show it's a typical crowded and inefficient DMV office. Not a great concept, but interesting for now, with some good cast members.

Wednesday was a night of more double bookings - Private Practice at 9 - a spin off from Grey's Anatomy. Was entertaining, with the same preoccupation with sex and people trying to grow up as we saw in Grey's. All while they work in a "wellness" clinic - whatever the heck that is. Also at 9 was Bionic Woman - it was pretty good. Same concept as before, with the addition of a bad version running around too, sort of a beta version that got released by mistake. Then at 10 was a new one called Life, about a cop with a Zen twist. Interesting, so far. Also on then was Dirty Sexy Money - about a lawyer that has to babysit the various spoiled and/or weird members of a very rich family. Donald Sutherland plays the patriarch of the clan. A nice collection of rotten spoiled, yet oddly charming characters. We all love to watch the rich be less than perfect. Also, on Wednesday, Kelsey Grammer started (last week) in Back to You. It might be OK, did get a couple of big guffaws out of me.    

Thursday was the new season of Grey's Anatomy - still a soap, with some sex in a corner, involving winsome Merideth of course. More new interns, some of the old issues still chugging along. And then another new one on after it, Big Shots. "The boys", CEO's, with problems just like us poor folk, just with more foi gras and champagne. How cute.

And in the midst of them all - annoying ads for the Ontario Election. Annoying because they all seem to be the same negative - don't vote for my opponent because he did/didn't do whatever, and he's a right bastard. Vote for my party because here's all the things we will do, for free, we promise, cross our hearts. And, don't forget the referendum on what new process we should use to pick one of these bright eyed optimists next time. OK - maybe I'm getting a little cynical.

Woohoo - my first grandson. It was a long 24 hours of labour, long for all of us but especially mother. We all tried hard but he was stuck so they ended up doing a c-section. And they did it just before midnite, so he wasn't born on the 13th. Noah, 9lb 9 oz. and his mother doing well - as well as my son, the proud father.

Here's the two of us just after he was born -many more pics will make their way to Flickr and Facebook, and many adventures to be documented here of the latest addition to our family.

It had been a long time since I was last in coaching a pregnant mother (1982) and I found it was different as a grandparent. I get along well with my daughter-in-law but it was good that her best gfriend was there too as that intimate first line support. Her friend knew when to be supportive and when to tell her to suck it up (actually push it out!). My son was calm and laid back too, that's his style, so part of my job was just to support him. And once they get home my role will be to visit occasionally, help out with some chores, and bring some casseroles, so that the proud parents have more time to be proud parents. I may skip the changing diapers part - as a single parent, and even before that,  been there, done that, got the stained t-shirt (boys have quite the surprising range). Grandma's were both there to coach on breastfeeding, Noah was a little slow in starting because mother was a bit nervous about technique, being first time and all, but once she got the knack they both did just fine.

Being a new grandparent will be fun - all the great things about being a new parent without most of the dirty diapers. There were lots of how to parent guides out there, not many on how to grandparent, not much of a market I would think. The challenge for some cane be to back off and let the new parents be parents now, they may do things differently than the grandparent was, but it's their way - unless it's life threatening or they ask for help, just calm down and enjoy the new role. 

For all my enviro-friends, there was an interesting article in the July 27th Globe and Mail Business Section.

According to recent study by CNW Research, when they looked at the dust-to-dust, total life-cycle impacts for a number of vehicles, the Hummer fared much better than the Toyota Prius. 40% better.  One of the many data points was batteries:

“Toyota buys 1,000 tonnes of nickel a year from Ontario (mined and smelted in Sudbury). This nickel gets shipped to Wales for refining, then to China, for further processing, and then to Toyota's battery plant in Tokyo - a 10,000-mile trip, mostly by petrol-gulping container ships and diesel-powered locomotives.”

Check out the G&M, or the original article.

I was also thinking - which has less overall impact of the following choices:

• You can keep an older, less efficient car, and be one of those awful polluters the papers whine about.
• Or, junk it for a new more efficient one. In the latter case, less pollutants, but there’s the impact of building a new one, and trashing the old one. The good news is up to 75% may get recycled from your clunker, so they’re not all just left to rot.

I know - should be gays, lesbians, bisexuals, trans-identified, intersexed, two-spirited, queer and questioning, according to the Pride Ottawa site. Anyways, I finally finished editing and uploading my pics from last weekend's parade and festival to a set on Flickr.  Enjoy.

When I told a friend I was going again this year to the Ottawa Gay Pride parade and festival , he asked if I was gay. I replied that if I watch the NHL does that mean I'm a hockey player?

Not that there's anything wrong with being a hockey player.

Off to Mingleworks now for some socializing - it is more of a meat than meet market but there are a lot of Vegans there too.