“Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver.”

For the next five weeks, Vancouver-based game developers Hinterland have introduced a special event for The Long Dark, their quietly apocalyptic winter survival game.  The harsh Winter's Embrace option lowers the already fatally cold outdoor temperatures in the game by an average of 10 degrees Celsius, reduces the indoor temperatures by the same amount, and makes the game's deadly blizzards longer and more frequent.  Players who manage to survive for 25 days will unlock a special achievement badge to acknowledge the extent of their frost-bitten survival skills.

However, it's not all bad news.  Since Canada Day takes place during the event, Hinterland has added a special Canadian twist to things with the addition of two new food items:  Maple Syrup and Ketchup Potato Chips.*  Players are challenged to consume 25 bottles of syrup and 25 bags of chips to receive another achievement badge.

As a final salute to Canada, the game now has a Heritage filter which gives the game a kind of 70s National Film Board feel, if you can imagine such a thing.**   I haven't tried that out yet, but so far I've survived for ten days and eight hours, found and eaten five bags of chips, and drank six bottles of maple syrup.  The tricky part is that I've pretty much cleaned out the local supply, and now I need to make the challenging trip to a new map, rather than hunker down and ride out the storms.  Wish me luck...

Happy Canada Day, everyone!   Be kind, be calm and be safe.

- Sid

* The apocalyptic nature of the game precludes poutine, unfortunately.

** There's also a Noir filter which makes the game monochromatic, but there's nothing particularly Canadian about it.

Packing for Mars.

Impressive book collection, and not intimidating at all so long as you keep them to sturdy small and medium sized boxes.

Moving company response to apartment photos

Good news, everyone, Karli and I are moving to a new apartment!  It's very close to being the perfect place:  a spacious 900 square feet two bedroom condo in a quiet neighbourhood that's close to shopping and restaurants, complete with free underground parking, en suite laundry, dishwasher, fireplace and balcony - and 1.5 bathrooms.  We're giving up our view of the mountains, but after 16 years here for me and five for Karli, we're willing to trade that for a nicer apartment.

As always, my book collection represents the most significant part of the move, at least from the perspective of the movers.  The good news is that, due to their consistent rectangular shape and relative immunity to breakage, books are a quick pack.  The bad news is, of course, they're heavy - and I've got a lot of them.

With that on the table, we've got a convenient two week overlap between the two places, and at $145 an hour for the movers, I am happy, HAPPY to invest some time and perspiration into transporting as many boxes of books as possible before Moving Day.  To quote the Solomon Kane movie, "It is a price I shall gladly pay."

- Sid

"A legend in his own mind."

I'm pleased to announce that the Storm Crow on Broadway has escaped the fate of the original Storm Crow Tavern on Commercial Drive, and is once again open for business.

Karli and I paid them a visit on Friday night as part of our cautious return to dining out - they've installed dividers with a bit of a steampunk feel between the booths to ensure social distance, but I'm not sure how they're managing the communal tables in the centre of the venue.  We were seated on the patio, where we were separated from other diners by a comfortable ten feet or so.

The dining options on the now-standard disposable menus were a bit reduced from the previous offerings.  I was a bit disappointed not to be able to order Old Ones Fish and Chips, but their burgers are quite good, so I wasn't too upset.

To order a burger, there was a checkbox setup on the back of the menu so that the customer could specify all the possible options for their burger experience:  patty type and quantity, condiments, upcharged items like bacon or mushrooms, and a selection of sides.  Because of the Storm Crow's connection to the gaming community, you also have the option of rolling dice to make your selection, which frankly strikes me as a terrible way to order a burger:  I do NOT want tomato, regardless of whether I roll an 8 or not. (They use the same system for cocktails, which is probably a better place to take that approach.)

I was a bit puzzled to see that the final option on the burger list was my selection of Alignment.  For those of you who have never played Dungeons & Dragons, players choose from nine different Alignments for their characters: Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, (True) Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, and Chaotic Evil.  Their choice dictates the character's moral compass throughout the game.  As such, it seemed like a lot of commitment to make for a burger, but I carefully pencilled an X in the Chaotic Good box and handed the form over to our waitress.

When our meals arrived, I was disproportionately pleased to receive a Chaotic Good Burger card with my meal.  Once again, congratulations to Storm Crow management for understanding the little things that will make a geek happy - and welcome back!

P.S.  The burger actually was pretty Good, without being particularly Chaotic.  The french fries were also Good, come to think of it.

- Sid