BUSY WEEKEND

Here are some pictures I took at the flag football game between the EPS and EFD, in aid of the Stollery Children's Hospital.

Here's a picture of Barney, the EPS mascot:

Just to Barney's left is his bodyguard, an EPS cadet, who makes sure that Barney doesn't trip over his own feet. The lion is the mascot for D.A.R.E. , the popular North American anti-drug education program.

The game was on Saturday, and the police beat the firefighters as normal.

Today, I've been canoeing down the North Saskatchewan river, which runs through Edmonton. Here's a view...

We started at Devon and paddled all the way down to the Valley Zoo in just over four hours. This was taken inside the Edmonton city limits.

RPGCast - Episode 139: "Jumping The Shark"

RPGCast finally jumps the shark when Anna recommends hidden object games. Starcraft II also makes large inroads in the conversation. But don't worry, we also have a long discussion on the history of Shin Megami Tensei games, in order to preserve our street cred.

MOZZIES

A combination of a wet July and now sunshine has brought out a plague of mosquitos. They all seem to have hatched yesterday on the same day.

It's like Hitchcock's 'The Birds' outside the car as we try to keep the windows closed to prevent the blighters from getting in.

Apparently this kind of thing is quite common, but because of the previous two dry years we haven't seen the mosquitos is such numbers.

A thorough application of mosquito repellant is essential and seems to work for the most part.

It's no good complaining though because in a few months the temperature will be below zero.

CAMPING

Just back from camping for the weekend near Boyle, Alberta.

Went for a 8km run, before going for a swim in the lake (pictured below)

I'm getting ready for a 300km hike through the Rockies to the north of Jasper, sometime at the end of August/ beginning of September.

A WARM WELCOME

...to readers of the Sunday Telegraph.

This blog has been resting for a while, but feel free to scroll back through previous posts.

If you want, you can read a free extract from Wasting Police Time here.

You can buy the book here (or at amazon.co.uk, or - in the UK - from most decent bookstores).

RPGCast - Episode 138: "Too Good For Dragon Quest"

Phil tells about why his mad skills are too much for Dragon Quest IX to handle. Lee Gordon joins us once again and let's us know how good PSN's PSX classics are in Europe. Finally, Square Enix had some sort of announcement about Ogres.

Prognosis not good for 'Trauma Team'

The critically-lauded 'Trauma Center' series is four games young with the release of 'Trauma Team'. With it borrowing heavily off of popular hospital-based TV dramas like House, ER, and Grey's Anatomy, one could be forgiven for thinking the franchise is already jumping the shark.