With more people talking about the idea of a dead internet, I find weird comfort in the gaming site Blue’s News, which served as my homepage over 20 years ago and looks pretty much exactly the same now as it did then:
I still don’t get the three lines at the top, though.
Like a lot of people, in 1990 I bought Queensryche’s fourth album, Empire, because the song “Silent Lucidity” was such an effective clone of that big, spacey Pink Floyd sound. I’ve said before that if you dropped the song onto either of the post-Waters Pink Floyd albums, no one would have batted an eye.
But Empire is more than just “Silent Lucidity”. It also features the title track, which is about the usual decline of urban America, its descent into violence and guns, guns, guns (“Got an AK-47 for his best friend/Business the American way1“).
But there’s a spoken word section that recites the following:
In fiscal year of 1986 to 1987, local, state and federal governments spent a combined total of 60.6 million on law enforcement. Federal law expenditures ranked last in absolute dollars and accounted for only a sixth percent of federal spending. By way of comparison, the federal government spent 24 million more on space exploration and 43 -times- more on national defense and international relations than law enforcement.
This seems like a pretty clear statement of “more funding for police = better!”, which was naive in 1990 and in 2026, with police in most American cities being very well-funded, and ICE terrorizing citizens, the reality is that well-funded law enforcement has created a de facto police state in America. And solved none of the issues that the song “Empire” speaks to. Whoops.
But “Silent Lucidity” is still a very nice Pink Floyd homage.
Today’s run was the opposite of Monday’s: hot and gross. Monday it started out at 19°C, which was nice. Today it was 24°C and I felt every one of those five extra degrees.
It started out seemingly well, with an initial pace of 6:08/km, but I slipped to 6:18/km and after that it was Slog City™ to the end. I stopped twice, once at the Nature House to hydrate at the water fountain and again just after entering the Conifer Loop, because I was tired. I didn’t stop for long either time and I don’t think they had any real effect on my overall result, except for allowing me to push on just a bit longer.
I also did a short loop and made it tighter than usual so I’d have less walking to do on the way home. That part worked well!
No particular highlights on the run, of course, and near the end some dope passed by on an electric scooter. I told him they weren’t allowed on the trail, but he probably heard it as, “Why does that sweaty man who looks like he’s dying mumbling at me?”
Anyway, I started late and paid the price. Lesson learned (in theory). I’ll start earlier on Friday, I totes promise.
Stats:
Run 1,053
Average pace: 6:20/km
Training status: Productive
Performance Condition: +0
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop)
Start: 11:39 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:50
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24°C
Humidity: 55%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 170.0 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,070 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (50/108/158)
Music: Shuffle play
Andreas over on 82MHz has written about how you can’t expect giant tech companies to change if you keep buying their products: Tech sucks: You have to vote with your wallet, or nothing will change.
And I agree.
I realized some years back that for all my Apple-bashing here on this blog (it is legion, and kind of embarrassing, though some of my takes on various Apple events still amuse me) I actually had a lot of Apple products:
That’s just what I have now. I’ve also had Mac minis and a MacBook Air and Pro in the past. Of the still-have items, the only ones in active use are the iPad Pro (2020) and AirPods (3rd gen, and being used with a Samsung Galaxy S26, not an iPhone), so I’ve pretty much moved out of the Apple ecosystem. I no longer use Apple Music, Apple TV, iCloud, or any other Apple services. Once you break from the services, it gets a lot easier to move away from Apple, especially if you aren’t also beholden to an Apple-specific app (I still use Procreate on my iPad Pro, but am drawing more on a Galaxy tablet lately, so I can make the switch if needed).
And I’m happy with the decision to move away from Apple. I can’t and won’t drop every thing from every company I object to. It would be overwhelming. I’d end up being a monk living on a bamboo mat in a monastery up in mist-shrouded mountains. Monks are cool, but I still enjoy using and messing around with tech. Plus I’d probably look funny in a robe.
But I do what I can. And much as I loathe moving over to Android because of Google’s ownership and their nutty desire to shove “AI” into every part of Android, I make do.
Apple got the message from me: I’m done with it, its products, and its services. I’m just one little drop in their trillions-valued bucket, but I’m content with that. For me, it’s nice to have local backups again, to have more direct control over my tech, and to not feel trapped in what looks like a garden but feels more like a cell1OK, even I’ll admit that’s a bit melodramatic, but I couldn’t resist..
Anyone want a used Mac Studio? It doesn’t have Tahoe installed!
Today, the difference was all in the timing and weather.
Once again, it was sunny and warm, but the max temperature today is expected to be 25°C, which is a bit cooler than it’s been on recent run days. That helped, because it meant it would not be as hot, no matter when I headed out.
But I also left much closer to my usual start time and it was a mere 19°C at the start of the run, which feels almost comfy at this point in the summer.
The result is a much better pace (6:10/km), better BPM (147) and even a lap (the fifth) where my pace almost dipped below the six-minute mark (it was right on the nose–6:00/km).
The trail was pretty lightly occupied, probably due to the earlier start, and I didn’t experience any issues. The higher humidity was not a factor, given the lower temperatures. I still got all sweaty up in the hizzy, but not as much.
I went clockwise and this time decided to go up Roberts Road if the Trail Closed sign was out. But it was not, and it appears the trail work is complete, so I was able to finish my run without any puddle jumping. Neat.
A good start to the week. I implore everyone to go out and touch trees. Or at least get near them. You don’t have to run, I just do it because it’s cheap exercise.
Stats:
Run 1,052
Average pace: 6:10/km
Training status: Productive
Performance Condition: +1
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:27 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:00
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19–21°C
Humidity: 68–63%
Wind: light
BPM: 147
Weight: 169.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,065 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (45/100/145)
Music: Pyramid, The Alan Parsons Project
Where: Serpentine Fen, Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach (Surrey), Brydon Lagoon (Langley)
Weather: Sunny, 21–27°C
In which certain aspects of the food chain are demonstrated live.
As we often do, we saw some Great Blue Herons at the fen, standing in or near the river, waiting to stab fish. We saw a little action, but didn’t notice any great blue success.
That would change farther down the river, where some gulls were hanging out. One took off, circled over the river, came in to land and promptly snapped up a sizable fish. It then started gliding around the very still water and dunked its head in, coming up with an even larger fish that took several large gulps to swallow. I swear I could see the fish twitching from inside the gull on the way down. It was a vivid demonstration of how gulls can hunt and eat more than just French fries.
We also watched a pair of Kingfishers chase each other about in the sky above us. Whether it was love or war I could not determine.
We also saw a sole Hooded Merganser, which allegedly don’t migrate, but like coots, pintails and shovellers, seem to hide somewhere during the summer.
One of the three viewing towers has a hole in the (wooden) floor and it seems to be getting a little bigger each time we visit. I guess if you stick to the parts of the floor where the planks are intact, it’s still safe?
We also saw a million grasshoppers because it’s grasshopper season. They continue to demonstrate the power of excellent camouflage, as I often did not see them until we got close enough to prompt them to vamoose.
It was nice to return to the fen, even if birds were a bit in short supply. This is expected in summer, but we could at least appreciate the lush vegetation and warm weather.
Blackie Spit’s parking lots were full, so we had to park on a nearby street. This meant we started a bit further down on Crescent Beach, where I saw a hydrant that I had to shoot (with my phone). Nic said he overhead some guys walking by commenting on the weirdo shooting photos of the hydrant. Yes, I am that weirdo!
Here is the hydrant:
We saw bunches of herons here, along with some Greater Yellowlegs, and Killdeer. Sadly, most of them were a bit far away, but we were lucky to see them at all, as the tide was actually in when we arrived (it’s usually not just out, but way out).
The beach and picnic areas were very active, so with birds, especially songbirds, a bit on the rare side, I took more scenery shots of boats and random objects.
Our final stop was Brydon Lagoon, which gave us a single Grebe and our first Wood Ducks. There were gulls here, too, but instead of hunting, they were mostly bossing around the ducks, establishing just which floating objects they could sit upon. We saw one rather young Wood Duck that still could not fly and it was either parent-free or the parents were letting it test its freedom. It seemed to be fine.
Overall, a perfectly cromulent day of birding. The fall/winter migrants should be arriving soon, so variety should be improving. Also, the mostly absent squirrels might return. I have no idea where or why they are hiding. Maybe they don’t like the sun. I mean, if you were fur-covered, would you?
All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
I realized I used the one that has the Subway colours again. Whoops. I mean, it works fine, but I don’t want someone expecting to get a six inch ham and cheese from the site.
As the title says. This one is a mix of bugs, birds, and scenery, with a few horses thrown in.
Original post here.
Today’s run was mostly a replay of Wednesday’s, with almost every stat and condition being very similar to the last run:
It was marginally better overall (and air quality was much better), but mostly it’s a rounding error. I started out stronger with an initial pace of 6:09/km, but that dropped off after the 2K mark. I detoured to the Nature House and got a drink at the fountain. This revived me enough to improve my pace…for exactly one km. After that, it was slow again, but in the end the watch declared the run Productive, so who am I to argue?
I minimized the overall workout by doing a short loop, running about 2.75 km CCW, then turning around and heading back. I originally planned to skip the side trails on the return, but the main trail is a lot more exposed to the sun and the shade was very inviting.
I feel there were a few more runners out today, but maybe that’s just a Friday thing.
Other than sweating a lot and feeling like the whole thing was a bit of a slog, I experienced no real issues. In all, a perfectly okay run, but I’m really feeling that six-week gap when I was recovering from surgery and the weather went from pleasant to kind of hot. 25 feels like 30 to me. At least it’s not actually 30.
Stats:
Run 1,051
Average pace: 6:23/km
Training status: Productive
Performance Condition: +1
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop)
Start: 11:00 a.m.
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 32:05
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24–25°C
Humidity: 54–51%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 169.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,060 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (40/92/132)
Music: Private Eyes, Hall and Oates
As the title says.
Canada has a colour-coded weather alert system and when weather is fine, it is colour-free. When it is bad, it can be Yellow, Orange, or Red. Today it is Yellow.
Environment Canada described today’s alert thus:
Issued By
Meteorological Service of Canada, CA, Environment and Climate Change Canada
Affected Area
Metro Vancouver - central including the City of Vancouver Burnaby and New Westminster
Description
Smoke is causing or expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility.
Yellow Air Quality Warning in Effect (High Health Risk)
Limit outdoor activity. Reduce activity duration and intensity.
The weather app on my phone described the air quality as “unhealthy”:
I ran anyway.
Did I regret it? Not exactly, but I can also say the run did not make my socks roll up and down in excitement, either.
It was not as hot as Friday, but humidity was significantly higher and I sweated like crazy. The first few km were fine, but the heat/humidity/haze triple combo began wearing me down just past the midway point. I kept going because to the west the sky looked more blue than yellow, and I was running toward the west.
Along the way, I noted precious few other people out jogging, so most were smarter than me. I didn’t experience any specific issues while running–no cramps, creakiness, or whatnot, the whole thing just started feeling like a long, sweaty slog.
Which it was.
In the final km, I reached the rowing pavilion parking lot, crossed over and was greeted by a Trail Closed sign. The last time on this stretch there was only a Trail Closed sign on one end and no sign (ho ho) of any work activity. I paused to contemplate whether to turn back, ignore the sign and assume no work was actually being done (which was the case last time), or go up Roberts Road and reconnect with the trail somewhere over yonder. I couldn’t recall where Roberts Road came out in relation to the trail, so decided against that and could not hear any activity, so I decided to continue running past the Trail Closed sign, telling myself I’d turn around if I saw any people and equipment.
I saw people and equipment right at the very end. Whoops. I felt bad, but at least they were working on the little spur of the official Burnaby Lake Loop and not the part of the trail I was defying the sign on. Ironically, my run ended about 20 seconds later, anyway.
Despite the conditions, I ended up being only four seconds slower than Friday, which surprised me. I guess that’s good. And the watch, which does not know anything about air quality, declared the run productive, so also good.
Now I am off to drink three kegs of water.
Stats:
Run 1,050
Average pace: 6:24/km
Training status: Productive
Performance Condition: 0
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:40 a.m.
Distance: 5.01 km
Time: 32:11
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22–24°C
Humidity: 62–57%
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Weight: 170.0 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,055 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (35/84/119)
Music: Accelerate, R.E.M.
Lately I’ve noticed people shortening the word podcast to just pod. I understand the reasoning–a podcast originally referred to an audio program meant to be played on an iPod (kids, ask your parents) but with the iPod dead and buried, if not forgotten (I still have two) I can see why people might want to use a different term now. And this is before you get into what even counts as a podcast now, since a lot of them are now also on platforms like YouTube, where they are…videos.
Still, “pod” bugs me because it still retains the “pod” part of “iPod”, which seems to me to be the part you’d want to replace. But mainly it just sounds just too twee (yes, I have a kind of twee meter in my head that tells me when something crosses the “too twee” line) and doesn’t really make sense because peas are in pods, not people talking to each other. Also:
Podcast > Pod
Broadcast > Broad
If the latter becomes accepted usage, I will embrace pod.