Who ever thought that I would be researching, among other things, Canadian mannequin manufacturers?
6 minute read
December 25, 2012, 1:35 AM
So I’m working on creating my new Today’s Special wiki, and I’m “deep in the weeds” in fleshing out what articles and other titles should exist, and creating the categorization scheme. If it tells you anything, I have titles for nearly every character that was on Today’s Special (though most of the one-off characters will be redirects to the episodes where they appeared), and did a lot of research on filming locations that were used.
By the way, for those of you who aren’t familiar with Today’s Special, you may get a tad lost in this, because I’m about to get very detailed. For a basic overview of Today’s Special, check out my existing T.S. site, which this wiki is going to replace.
Probably the biggest bit of research that I’ve done for this so far is the filming locations. I quickly discovered that almost all of the location filming done for Today’s Special was done in the Toronto area. I believe that the furthest afield that they ever went for a location shoot was the Trent-Severn Waterway, for the episode “Sam“. Just about everything else was done right in Toronto. In researching locations, I looked into any public place that I had a good chance of locating. Thus I did not bother to research location scenes shot in private homes, such as the home of Jodie’s Aunt Millie in “Being Alone“, nor did I research places like the doctor’s office in “Soup” or the barber shop in “Hair“. The likelihood that I would never find them was too great. But I did have quite a bit of success in other areas.
Continue reading…Categories: Today's Special
ZooLights!
7 minute read
December 23, 2012, 2:10 PM
You can tell that my life has been busy lately. This happened a week ago and only now am I finally getting a chance to write about it. Nonetheless, though, I had fun last weekend. I got together with my friend Melissa, who I know through a few Anons, and who I first met at the Silver Spring Zombie Walk in 2011. We went around the mall in Wheaton a bit, and then headed into DC for ZooLights at the National Zoo. That was a lot of fun.
First of all, I had not been to the National Zoo in ages. I think that the last time I was at the zoo was, I believe, the summer of 1996. Back then, Mom and Sis and I went on a weekday, and I remember its being my first time ever making any sort of Metro transfer, and my first time on the Red Line. Prior to that trip, we had been to Washington a few times, but never before had we done anything other than one train. I took the Blue Line on my first trip, and several Orange Line rides. That first transfer was interesting, because I had never been to Metro Center before, nor had I ever transferred. It had never crossed my mind that one line crossed over the other. Then when we got to the zoo, I recall our being not so impressed with it at that time. But at the same time, it was also really hot out and I was not doing well on the hill that the zoo is built on due to my being somewhat out of shape.
Back in the present, though, I’m in really good shape, and it’s time to see Christmas-themed lighting. I will admit that I had some fun (in a mean way) with the identity of the main sponsor for ZooLights: Pepco. Pepco, you may recall, is the for-profit utility that has the notoriously unreliable power grid in DC, Montgomery County, and PG County, and that keeps asking for permission to raise rates. My comment was that with Pepco sponsoring it, I was somewhat surprised that the lights were even on, considering that they often have problems with that.
Categories: Christmas, Melissa, Retail, Washington DC, Wheaton
“Where is this train going?” takes on new significance with Rush+…
5 minute read
December 18, 2012, 9:37 AM
So in reading the Express this morning, I looked at Dr. Gridlock’s column on the DC Rider page. There were three questions: two about escalators, and one about destination signs at Franconia-Springfield.
I took issue with the answer to that third question, which went as such:
Q: I am a regular rider at Franconia-Springfield and am adjusting to most parts of Rush Plus. However, the problem remains that trains pull into the station, turn off their destination signs, and you are left to guess whether it’s a Blue or Yellow Line train until about 30-45 seconds before they close the doors. It’s particularly frustrating when it is cold outside and there are two trains waiting with their doors open. Is there any way to persuade Metro to leave the direction signs lit?
A: I don’t see a good reason a train operator would need to turn off the destination signs, unless just maybe Metro isn’t sure where to send the train till the last minute. What I’m thinking of here is that the operations center monitors the crowding on the platforms and could alter a train’s route – though unlikely.
Categories: DC area local news, WMATA
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have just defeated Metro’s bag inspections.”
6 minute read
December 12, 2012, 10:40 PM
As summed up in this tweet, this evening’s commute was definitely a memorable one for me. The ride itself was uneventful, but the events leading up to it demonstrated major flaws in Metro’s random bag inspection program (which has been discussed in this space in 2008 and in 2010) and proves that it will never catch anything. Ever.
My evening commute got started as it usually does. I packed up my stuff, walked over to Dupont Circle station, and went down the brand new south escalators. Coming down the escalator, I noticed signage at the bottom that indicated that Metro was doing its random bag inspections. That was a first – I’d never seen one of those happen in person before. There were two Transit Police officers standing behind a table, swabbing people’s bags. No one said anything to me. Then as I headed toward the faregates, the female Transit Police officer standing in front of the kiosk stopped me and said that I had been selected for screening.
I was a bit surprised about that. I figured this would be just walking by and watching as Metro unnecessarily slowed people down on their way home from work. I never imagined that I would be the one getting chosen for extra scrutiny. I knew that I wasn’t going to take this one lying down. My exact words to the officer were, “I am refusing the search,” and I went back up the escalator. According to a quote from Metro in a 2010 Washington Post article on the subject, a person who “refuses to submit their carry-on items for inspection will be prohibited from bringing those items into the station.” Note that. Since I refused the search, I was, based on information provided to the public, prohibited from bringing my blue work bag onto Metro, which contained an umbrella, my by-then-empty lunch container, my transit log book, a set of keys, and a few various odds and ends (mostly junk – I really need to clean out my bag).
So I’m at work modernizing websites again…
6 minute read
December 11, 2012, 1:07 AM
So I’m at it again, working to modernize a Schumin Web property. You may recall (and it’s pretty hard to miss) that Schumin Web proper was converted to WordPress over the course of a year in 2011-2012. Then College Life was converted to WordPress last month in a process that took about a week and a half to do. That leaves the Today’s Special site and Transit Center left to be upgraded.
The current project is to convert the Today’s Special site to a content platform of some sort. However, unlike Schumin Web proper and College Life, this one isn’t going to be where the site is ported to a content platform but looks the same to the user in the end as it did before. This is going to be a big project for different reasons. I am finally going to take the Today’s Special site and bring it into the 21st century. Here’s a little secret for you: I have been unhappy with that site’s design and structure for a little over five years now. The site last received a major redesign/overhaul in 2005 (while I was out of commission due to some minor surgery), and that mainly improved the writing and the layout, while keeping the general structure the same. When I converted the site to PHP with the move to Dreamhost in 2007, I had wanted to do a big overhaul on it, but ultimately ended up converting it more or less the same as it was before, owing to time constraints and also my own capabilities at that time.
Now, my long-dreamed-of overhaul is coming. I have the time, and I now have the technical knowledge and the maturity to bring my vision to reality. The Today’s Special site is going to become a wiki. It’s going to move away from fansite and more towards being a knowledge base – the source for all things Today’s Special. Using Homestar Runner Wiki and Muppet Wiki as inspiration, my plan is to greatly expand the depth and breadth of coverage of the Today’s Special site, and be as extensive as I can get it. And with the wiki format, this can and should be a collaborative effort. I want other fans to join in. I hope that Today’s Special alumni will contribute. I hope that TVOntario joins in, too. I think everyone with an interest in the show has something to contribute, even if it’s just correcting a typo, or removing a stray comma.
Categories: Schumin Web meta, Today's Special, Wikipedia
New fins means new things to try in the pool…
3 minute read
December 3, 2012, 11:40 PM
Categories: Swimming