from the "brain dead" dept.

Yeah, yeah... I know I've been slack when it comes to providing you my daily blather. But I've been so busy providing blather to others, I've had little time for my own.

This will come to an end. Soon.

It's less than a week until I depart for the tropical south. In fact, I leave for Seattle on Sunday -- where I will overnight -- before flying the redeye to Belize City on Monday. I arrive Tuesday afternoon.

So, in addition to the above mentioned daily blather creation for others, I am running around doing errands and buying stuff.

Lots of irons continue to glow in the fire, though none are ready to yank out yet. More news soon.

I did hear back from the Lonely Planet folks... will have the thumbs up/down by April 15. Mark your calendar.

Oh! Saw the British film Tristram Shandy with Chris, Vince and Randy this evening. Funny as hell. Weird too. Perfect!

More soon. And much more from Belize.

Cheers!

from the "this and that" dept.

It's officially Sunday morning, almost a week since my last (short) post.

I've been busy with all kinds of work and various projects. Friday was a day off and I did very little. Today I spent the morning buying stuff for the trip -- memory cards, dry bags, et al. It's not very far off, and much needs to be done, and bought.

Speaking of Belize, I will be working on a couple of projects there -- both are music based and both will be a nice change from writing news. I'll be back to my old tricks as an audio guy.

I'm already thinking of extending my trip by a week... not sure what that will cost. My airfare was dirt cheap (C$460). A change will probably mean a $100 fee and the difference in a new fare. It might be a ton, it might not. We'll find out soon.

That's about it... sleep calls!

Cheers!

from "away at home" dept.

This entry comes to you from Don & Linda's fab pad near False Creek. A stunning view and a hungry cat reward me when I house sit here. Although, I'm not overnighting, due to an early start in the mornings.

I've run out of words since I put the Lonely Planet project to bed. But, so sum up:

I survived.

Working every day (save one) before I go to Central America. Can't wait.

Lots percolating, and a longer entry is to come.

Cheers!

from the "planet clear" dept.

The Lonely Planet project is done.

I's been a long two weeks, but back to the normal 7-day work week.

More soon.

Cheers!

from the "utata" dept.

***UPDATE***

Made it to the homepage of Utata (a photography website)(Fri 2/24). Here's the PERMALINK!

Spent the day working on my guidebook listing project. Wow, it is SO much more difficult than I had thought. Try writing a short piece of text that tells how to get to Tofino from Vancouver. The different ways, different costs, different routes. And they all have to be accurate. Now multiply that several dozen times.

Still sounds easy, but I have a whole new appreciation for guide books.

Back to "work" Saturday -- and it will continue pretty much every day until I go to Belize. THANK GOD!

And we close with a great quote:

"The camera always points both ways.
In expressing your subject, you also express yourself."
~ Freeman Patterson

Cheers!

from the "where's Dougo" dept.

I'm not far away. In fact, I am right here with a mid-week update.

I've been working since Saturday, so this is a day "off," which means I am working on a secret project. Or is that many secret projects.

Monday night I met a bunch of cool fella's at a BBQ hosted by Ted Shredd. We swaped stories of being drunken teens as we wolfed down burgers.

It was an eclectic group: an orthopedic surgeon, two CEOs and an actor, just to mention a few.



Last night Randy and Vince and I visited Fet's on Commercial Drive to sample Scotch and shoot the breeze. We were treated to the always amazing Commercial Drive parade of people outside the window. And, as luck would have it, a dandy sunset.





Today, as mentioned is secret project day. As are the next two. Following that, at least 9 days of work lie ahead.

That's pretty much the story to this point. More to come!

Cheers!

from the "mr. fix-it" dept.

So, it wasn't part of a global conspiracy. There really were problems. This post is more of a test to see if the previous one sticks around.

Here's what Blogger had to say on their status-blog:

Blogger Status
Saturday, February 18, 2006

We’re experiencing some problems with one of our databases. Some posts may not be saved, and other, saved posts, may not be visible in the app. Working on fixing this now…

Update, 12:44PM: This has been sorted out. We’re continuing to investigate the root cause and why our monitoring didn’t catch it sooner, but Blogger is back to functioning normally. Posts made from now on will be saved.

I’m very sorry to say that, if your blog was on this database, posts and template changes made in the last 18 hours or so were not saved. They may appear on your blog now, but will disappear if you republish. If you made a post between Friday afternoon and now, we suggest that you look at your list of posts (“Posting” tab, “Edit posts” sub-tab) and compare it with what is published on your blog. If posts are missing, copy them from your blog pages before you republish.

Major apologies to those of you who were affected. We work hard to maintain Blogger as a trustworthy place to keep your writing, and we really hate to let you down.

//

Cheers!

from the "BLOGGER REALLY BLOWS" dept.

Ok, blogger is F**KED!

Every time I change the main picture above, or post a new entry, I lose all previous entries going back to last Wednesday.

This has been a continual problem, and it's a real piss off. Luckily, I've learned to back up my previous entries, so I can repost them again.

And, of course, THIS one will disappear when I post the next time. GRRR.

Here's the old stuff:

Saturday, February 18, 2006
from the "recovered" dept.
My last post seems to has disappeared... but it was a short one, to wit:

There are more interesting words coming from my colleagues at CTV who are in Turin and working the Olympics.

If you look to the right side of the page, you'll see I've added some links. Links to blogs, links to music, and links to US politics.

Murman & Mike's Olympic blogs make for fascinating reading ... especially for those of you who think A) TV is easy and B) working on the road is a holiday.

Although there are some benefits as evidenced by Murray's meeting with the Great One.

Cheers!
posted by Doug at 11:12 AM 0 comments
from the "BLOGGER BLOWS" dept.
ARGH!

Two posts have now disappeared. No more posts until this is fixed.

GRRRR!
posted by Doug at 11:07 AM 0 comments

...

from the "sunny & cold" dept.

Back from Tofino, and one day of work behind me, I now have three days off. Not that I am lacking things to do. My list is long and includes such fun as muffler repair, bill paying, and laundry. Gold medal life, no?

But it is nice to have a bit of a break after a bit of a break. The weather is bright and sunny but cold. Well, not cold like Manitoba, where it is -20C. Bah! +5C here.

More work looms too -- all weekend, and part of next week. Though this Lonely Planet project needs my attention. Perhaps today I'll continue working on the draft. It doesn't seem too difficult, yet at the same time, a lot is riding on it. Massive opportunity to reach at least one of my many goals.

And the big trip is now about a month away. Certainly looking forward to some heat and cheap rum.

Cheers!

from the "testing video" dept

OK, so the video posting works. Here's a larger movie of the waves on Long Beach Sunday afternoon.

The video should play without having to navagate away from the blog. If it stutters, that's just because it's loading slowly. Once it's fully loaded, you can press play again.

Cheers!