Help from the Canadians...

(Alethea, posting for Liam)

Is anyone from the greater Montreal area going to be traveling south of the border this weekend, and if so, would you be able to stop at Freya's and collect some of the stuff that I left there last weekend in the scramble?  I particularly need my mirror-box, with all my jewelry in it, for Gulf Wars.

Friday night: Lots of happy stuff . . .

1. Please join me in welcoming hrldndva to the Liamverse.

2. I have mentioned before that in my "other life," I am the mild-mannered Bill Toscano, "Advocate For Yutes."

I run a grant that tries to make more opportunities for kids ages 11-19 in two counties in semi-rural upstate New York.

One of the towns we work in is Lake George, and one of the projects the kids have been advocating hard for is a skateboard park.

You also know that Steve Barnes' "Table Hopping" column at the Albany Times-Union is one of my favorite blogs.

Put the two together, and you get this!

3. Nothing is certain yet, but I might very well have the part that will help put my truck back together. It's down at the shop, with the truck right now. I hope to hear from my mechanic tomorrow.

Anyone, if it works, it's a win for in-person networking.

I mentioned it to a guy at the Cooperative Extension office, and he said to check with "Eric The Tech Guy," who also runs a racecar. Eric has a friend who runs a junkyard, and yesterday he showed up with the piece (still attached to a driveshaft). I hope this works!

4. Dear local outdoors columnist;

When you write "Deer harvest," I see "Killing Bambi's mother!"

The good news is that while somewhere more than 2,000 deer were "harvested" in our county, out hunters didn't get anything in the "Bear Harvest" ("Shooting Yogi and Boo Boo.")

Hiya, Valgard!

5. The local paper did a story on news businesses in our little village of Salem. Be sure to look at the additional photos.

6. While I have read everything in my InBox, I am way, way behind on cleaning it up, and there are 432 messages there.

7. The folks at www.abebooks.com are doing a lot ore marketing, including this gem:

Science Fiction and Fantasy First Editions

by Richard Davies

The Hugo Awards and the Nebula Awards are the traditional yardsticks for fantasy and science fiction writing. Since 1953 when the Hugos began, (the Nebulas started in 1965) there have been 82 titles awarded one or the other prize - and 19 titles with the distinctive honor of winning both.
The Fine Books Company in Rochester, Michigan, is offering first editions of all the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novels for a cool $116,530. From Asimov to Zelazny, every book which won either (or both) award is here. And that's not all.

The listing includes 126 books, and 95% of them are signed or inscribed, and in fine or better condition.

David Aronovitz, from The Fine Books Company, describes the collection as a unique gathering of books that has never been offered for sale anywhere before and in all likelihood will never be offered again.

See all the award winners.