Éric

Éric has had an eclectic career which ranges from casino dealer to canal boat captain to radio station DJ. Since 2009, he’s worked as a desktop publisher for the federal government. During his off time, he works as a freelance typesetter for various Canadian-based authors and publishers, roasts gourmet flavoured coffee, runs several pen-and-paper role-playing games, writes, and helps run JenEric-Designs.ca (Home of the TravellingTARDIS.com).

He lives in Ottawa, Ontario with his author wife, daughter, and son.

Network Television Draft 2018-2019

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2018-2019 JenEric Television Draft

Hello My Imaginary Friends and TV Lovers,

For the past 6 years I’ve hosted and run a TV Draft / Pool. It’s like a football or hockey pool but with new television shows.

2018-2019 JenEric Television Draft

How It Works

  1. Get a bunch of friends over to your house and watch all the trailers for this year’s new network television shows. (List below)
  2. Everyone pays $5. (You can use pretend money or no money at all)
  3. Divide the amount of shows by the amount of people. (There are 41 this year)
  4. Put everyone’s name in a hat, chip bowl, or other receptor.
  5. Pick a name from the receptor and that person gets first pick. Record what that person chooses and have them pick the next name.
  6. Reverse the order of people who picked. (First goes last, last goes first)
  7. Repeat steps 5-6 until everyone has an equal number of shows picked.
  8. Give updates monthly for how well the shows are doing. I recommend TV Line, TV By The Numbers, Is My Show Cancelled, and TV Eh? for checking what is and what isn’t cancelled. Although Wikipedia works well too.
  9. At next year’s Draft give this year’s First place 50% of the money collected, Second place 30%, and Third place 20%.

The Points

Points are awarded by how many episodes air and if it’s renewed. All points are tied to the category of the show.

Categories Points Per Episode Aired Renewal Bonus
Traditional American (18-24 Episodes) 1 10
Mini-Series (6-14 Episodes) 2 10
Mid-Season Traditional (6-12 Episodes) 2 15
Unknown /Summer (4+ Episodes) 2 20

The Shows

There are enough shows this season that you could easily play 3-10 people. More if you let 2 people choose the same shows.

Name Network Anticipated Premiere Genre Category Trailer
A Million Little Things ABC 2018-09-26 Family Drama Traditional Trailer
Abby’s NBC Midseason Sitcom Midseason Description
All American CW 2018-10-10 Sports Drama Traditional Trailer
Blood & Treasure CBS Summer 2019 Action-Adventure Summer Description
Cavendish CBC Midseason Small Town Sitcom Miniseries (8) Description
Charmed CW 2018-10-14 Supernatural Drama Traditional Trailer
Coroner CBC Midseason Procedural Drama Miniseries (6) Description
Diggstown CBC Midseason Legal Drama Miniseries (6) Description
Fam CBS Unknown Sitcom Unknown Description
FBI CBS 2018-09-25 Crime Drama Traditional Trailer
God Friended Me CBS 2018-09-30 Fantasy Drama Traditional Trailer
Grand Hotel ABC Midseason Drama Midseason Trailer
Happy Together CBS 2018-10-01 Sitcom Traditional Trailer
I Feel Bad NBC 2018-10-04 Comedy Traditional Trailer
In the Dark CW Unknown Drama Unknown Description
Legacies CW 2018-10-25 Supernatural Drama Spinoff Traditional Trailer
Magnum P.I. CBS 2018-09-24 Crime Drama Traditional Trailer
Manifest NBC 2018-09-24 Fantasy Drama Traditional Trailer
New Amsterdam NBC 2018-09-25 Medical Drama Traditional Trailer
Northern Rescue CBC Unknown Family Drama Miniseries (10) Description
Proven Innocent Fox Unknown Legal Drama Unknown Trailer
Rel Fox 2018-09-09 Sitcom Traditional Trailer
Roswell, New Mexico CW Midseason Sci-fi Drama Midseason Trailer
Schooled ABC Midseason Sitcom Midseason Description
Single Parents ABC 2018-09-26 Sitcom Traditional Trailer
Street Legal CBC Midseason Legal Drama Reboot Miniseries (6) Description
The Code CBS Midseason Drama Midseason Description
The Conners ABC 2018-10-16 Family Sitcom Reboot Traditional Description
The Cool Kids Fox 2018-09-28 Sitcom Traditional Trailer
The Enemy Within NBC Midseason Drama Midseason Description
The Fix ABC Midseason Legal Drama Midseason Trailer
The Gilded Age NBC Unknown Period Drama Unknown Miniseries Description
The InBetween NBC Midseason Supernatural Drama Midseason Description
The Kids Are Alright ABC 2018-10-16 Sitcom Traditional Trailer
The Neighborhood CBS 2018-10-01 Sitcom Traditional Trailer
The Passage Fox Unknown Apocalyptic Drama Unknown Trailer
The Red Line CBS Midseason Drama Midseason Description
The Rookie ABC 2018-10-16 Crime Drama Traditional Trailer
The Village NBC Midseason Drama Midseason Description
Unspeakable CBC Midseason Real Life Drama Miniseries (8) Description
Whiskey Cavalier ABC Unknown Spy Drama Unknown Trailer

Good Luck,
Éric

Disneyland Tokyo Instant Coffee

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Hello Coffee Lovers,

My wonderful sister in law bought me a small can of instant coffee from Tokyo Disneyland. With this, I’ve tasted coffee from 3 Disneylands and Disney World.

Here’s the adorable minikeg of coffee with my favourite Disney World mug.

Unfortunately the instructions for opening were in Japanese. Fortunately it wasn’t too complicated.

Each packet I think makes a regular sized cup but the instructions were again in Japanese. So I used 2 packets in my large 18oz cup.

The coffee was smoky with a weird bitter aftertaste.

Overall it was fun to try, but I won’t be trying to import more. I do have another 6 packets though. Maybe I’ll try cooking with it.

Thank you sister in-law for the fun experience and the awesome coffee keg decoration.

What are your thoughts on instant coffee?
Éric

Top 5 Things I Never Thought I’d say – Public Servant Edition

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I received my certificate for being in the public service for 10 years (only 20 more to go. Woo!)

I have seen a lot and said a lot in that time. Countless amounts of, “Huh?” and “Why?” but some things have really blindsided me.

 

5. Do we still have pens/highlighters?

A few years ago the government released a directive to lower the amount of paper we use. I never liked printing things anyway and most of my work is digital but every once in a while I need a pen and can’t find it.

There’s a little area that has some, but nothing compared to the stationary closets of the past.

4. Template, form, mock-up, or style?

Surprisingly depending on people’s background, all these things can mean the same product. It can be:

  • an example file used to recreate the same look
  • a fillable document meant to collect information
  • a technical product that has all the styles and look built into it for easy formatting
  • a list of detailed instructions or examples that show how something should be done.

It’s not always obvious what people want and trying to navigate that without sounding condescending is a pain.

3. Free food? I’ll pass.

I love free food, like a starving college/university student loves free food.

There are a lot of events that are held where they give free food. I’m still learning which ones are worth it and which are, “standing in line for an hour in the hot sun wishing I was dead”.

Some of these events are just not worth the burger and bag of chips that’s offered.

2. My Agency has an Instagram strategy…

It was bound to happen. I’m so old and out of touch with social media and tech that my agency is outpacing me. They are looking into Instagram as a way to spread the accomplishments of the public service.

That means that it’s possible that my workplace will have an Instagram account before me.

It both makes me want to sign up and not want to… yikes.

1. You’ve reached a government phone… stop calling me

Three years ago my office got rid of landlines in favour of cellphones. That, unfortunately, meant the death of extensions and government specific numbers. Which meant the rise of spam calls.

Since I don’t deal with clients directly I get very few, real, calls.

The fake CRA scam, duct cleaning, credit card scam, Chinese Embassy, and people looking for Genevieve call me on a regular basis.

My favourite thing to do is answer the phone with my name, position, and agency and then repeat it twice. Most of them hang up or laugh and then threaten me.

 

What odd things have you said in your day job?

Éric

Why We Don’t Offer Brewed Coffee

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Hello My Imaginary Friends and Coffee Lovers,

I’ve been asked a lot by people why we don’t offer brewed coffee for sale. Recently, an event we applied to rejected us because we wouldn’t sell brewed coffee.

On the surface there doesn’t seem to be a big difference between selling coffee beans and selling coffee. Because of that, we often get people asking us why we don’t sell brewed coffee. The short answer is that it’s a completely different business and we don’t have the money, time, or roasting output to invest into it. The long answer breaks down into 3 parts; Equipment, Permits, and Roasting Output.

Equipment and extras

Here’s a basic list of equipment we’d need to do it properly:

  • Grinders (We’d need to pre-grind all our beans, so we’d need something that can do large loads and is easily cleaned to avoid allergic reactions.)
  • Brewers (At least 2 large-scale airpot drip brewers. That way we can brew directly into large pots and not burn each other with glass diner pots.)
  • Airtight Storage for the ground beans (In order to prepare we’d need to have something that can store the grinds without losing their quality)
  • Cups, lids, and stuff for coffee (Even at one size, it’s quite the investment to get enough of everything and always best to overbuy rather than run out)
  • Booth set up and organization (We need everything to store dairy products in bulk safely. Then then we need a place for people to prepare their coffee, a place to roast, and a place to vend.)

All that goes with making sure we have electricity, cleaning supplies, water, and enough of everything to get through the day.

Permits

The required permits for sealed coffee beans are minimal. Selling them doesn’t require to much paperwork. Meanwhile, selling prepared food requires permits, permission from the venue, inspection of the product, equipment, and location.

That’s a lot more work and expense. Especially for a 2 or 3 day convention.

Roasting output

This is a big one. It takes me roughly an hour for every 2.5 pounds of coffee. That’s a lot of work. I normally take roughly 4-6 days of 12-14 hours to prepare for Ottawa Comiccon. A large bag (1/2 lbs) should make roughly 12 large (16-18oz) cups of coffee. I’ve estimated that at Ottawa Comiccon we would on the low end sell 300 cups a day high end 1000+.

This would roughly double the roasting I need to do (I would be running on the “expect the worst but plan for the best”) unless I completely dropped selling beans. Which would be a stupid decision seeing as it’s a great seller.

Conclusion

Coffee is our passion and we love it. I would love to buy a coffee cart and spend a whole lot of time at festivals and conventions selling brewed coffee. However, that’s not my business. You wouldn’t ask a milk farmer why he doesn’t sell cakes or a writer why they don’t sell paper. Right?

It comes down to resources. I’d rather concentrate our money on perfecting the beans and the roasting rather than branching out.

 

Thank you for reading,

Éric

Take Two – Recommendation Thursday

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I love mystery books, movies, and television shows. I also enjoy a good old procedural. Recently a network show came across my radar that I hadn’t heard about. Take Two is a buddy cop show by  Andrew W. Marlowe and Terri Edda Miller, the former creator and executive producer of Castle respectively.

This show owes a lot to Castle and doesn’t even try to hide it, including hiring some of the cast.

If you liked Castle for it’s wittiness and the fact that it never took itself seriously, you’ll love this show. If you liked it because of the charisma of Nathan Fillion, you’ll get almost as much spread between the cast.

I’m enjoying the fact that this show revels in taking its mysteries into weird and unexpected directions.

Have a look at one of my favourite episodes so far:

 

What do you think? Will this fill the Castle-sized shape in your heart?

Éric

Is it autumn yet?

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I have a secret to tell you… Come closer… Closer… Ok that’s good… I HATE HEAT!!!

This past month has been torture for me. Like alternating between a sauna and an oven. As much as walking in snow is a pain, it’s much more comfortable than walking in the rain. As much as I hate shoveling, I’d rather do that than mow the lawn (I’m literally allergic to mowing the lawn).

There’s only one thing that I like about summer and that’s when it’s not too hot… I love the cool evenings were it dips below 20 degrees Celsius. That I can stand, but this… arg.

Added onto that, Baby Dragon has been sick since mid month and I’ve caught the cold. For her it was a sore throat, cough, and fever. For me it’s a head cold. I feel like someone is trying to inflate a balloon inside my nasal cavities.

Being sick sucks. Being sick and overheating sucks X1000.

I should be writing, beta-reading, or writing, or editing… sigh.

Is is Autumn yet? I want hoodies, pumpkin pie, cool nights, and Halloween movies.

 

How’s your summer going?

Éric

The Teapot Chicken – Heroes, Legends, Fairies, and other Absurdities

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In a realm of magic, in a time of heroes; lived an old cantankerous wizard named Myrka. Despite living in an ideal little village, close enough to the castle to buy anything she needed but far enough not to be disturbed, she hated people. Wanting nothing more than to be left alone in her small, comfortable cottage, to drink tea and read her books.

Unfortunately, as a Wizard, people always seemed to need her to heal something, fix something, find something, or just stop some ultimate evil.

Because of the drain on her time, people were constantly touching her things. They’d come into her home begging to turn their children back from frogs. (Despite the fact that those same children had been warned that kissing an enchanted frog was a terribly dangerous idea. She’d even done a very informative talk at the local schoolhouse.) While they were inside they’d start touching things. Leaving fingermarks all over the wizard’s books, paintings, or teapots.

One day, after one of the ungrateful townsfolk had a second head removed (How’d she get the second head? That’s another story and the wizard didn’t care to ask.) they touched her favourite teapot, a dainty little china number with pastel blue flowers. The dark black smears on the spout of the teapot made the wizard’s stomach roil and she had to throw out a perfectly good pot of tea.

The wizard finally had enough and decided to enchant the teapot. She took her time in deciding how, but finally settled on making the teapot turn into a chicken when touched by anyone but the wizard or her family.

Why a chicken you ask? Well they’re both cuddly and vicious at the same time. Like tiny dragons, with feathers. She named the teapot Tina and could be seen absentmindedly stroking its spout and lid while reading.

One day the ruler of the land decided she wanted something from the wizard. Despite the wizard doing everything in her power to make people think she wasn’t powerful, word had gone around and Queen Renelle the Sixth needed something.

The Queen didn’t send a messenger or a knight to bring the wizard to her, no; she and her personal guard, court wizard, royal band, and half her court, showed up one morning on poor Myrka the wizard’s doorstep.

The small cottage was only able to accommodate the Queen and two of her guards.

“Would you like some tea Your Majesty?” Myrka asked forgetting the rituals of the court. She had always been more interested in the workings of the magical universe, so it’s understandable that she not know that, in that queendom, when the Queen visits, she must serve her host.

Before anyone could say anything, the queen picked up the teapot, yes that one, and started to serve tea. The events that followed saw the Queen soaked in scalding tea regurgitated by an angry chicken, and the wizard imprisoned for attacking the Queen. Tina hovered off in a huff, pecking several guards on her way out.

The Queen promptly forgot about the Wizard, who was placed in the deepest part of the dungeons. So deep as to have no guards, light, food, or drink. Just a rotting smell from the other prisoners.

Thankfully for the wizard, Tina the teapot was fond of her. The little teapot forced herself into chicken form and made her way to the dungeons. It’s amazing how little attention people will pay to a random chicken and how a strong peck to the nose will dissuade predators.

The valiant teapot freed the wizard from the dungeons and the two headed back to their little cottage.

The thought of cursing the Queen came to the wizard’s mind, but in the end she decided that wherever there was a curse there was always a pesky hero trying to break it. Instead she cast a spell making everyone in the castle forget that she existed.

To avoid the same situation happening again, the wizard enchanted her cottage. The next time a royal knocked on her cottage, the entire thing sprouted legs and ran away.

The moral of this story is simple: Always warn your guests about spells placed on your dishware. Also, don’t bother a wizard while they’re relaxing with a cup of tea and reading.

Heroes, Legends, Fairies, and other Absurdities are the expanded versions of stories I’ve told my children at night before bed. They’re short, silly, and were completely improvised in the telling.

Star Trek: Discovery; I finally finished it

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I had a hard time finishing Star Trek: Discovery. That says a lot considering I’ve happily watched every Star Trek series to come out since TNG.

I have a lot of thoughts that I’ll share after the cut.

Star Trek: Discovery (l-r): Oyin Oladejo as Joann Owosekun; Sara Mitich as Airiam; Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets; Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly; Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham; Ronnie Rowe as Bryce; Patrick Kwok-Choon as Rhys; Doug Jones as Saru; Emily Coutts as Keyla Detmer © 2017 CBS Interactive. photo by Jan Thijs

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Devices of Desire (Serial Story) Chapter 7

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Chapter 7: Autopsies, Cranky Physicians, and a New Assignment

Demon blood is green and acidic. Artemis stood in shock after being sprayed by what had been a demon before the princess had efficiently shot two large holes into it. Her monk’s robes started to sizzle and that’s what shook her out of the stupor.

The robes were comfortable and loose, they hid her shape and any indications that she wasn’t a man; and they were disintegrating. Between that and the burning on her skin she ran for the well.

There was already a monk at the well splashing people with water to wash off the demon blood.

“Take off your clothes, it’ll limit the damage,” The monk said.

Artemis had to make a decision at that point to either expose herself, in every way possible, or risk permanent scarring or damage. She started taking off her robes. Becoming a master wasn’t as important as protecting the world and the princess.

“All of you idiots stop what you’re doing,” The voice was gravelly and sounded annoyed. The man they came from had dark skin and a grey close cropped beard. He was shorter than Artemis by a head and was thin. Despite his size, he had no problem ordering, and being obeyed by, the fighting monks.

“We need to take these clothes off to avoid burns,” the monk at the well said. He was one of the older monks and didn’t take orders from anyone.

“Unless you neutralize the demon blood, it’ll soak into the ground and contaminate our water. I can both do that, clean, mend, and heal your monks with a simple spell. I don’t need to see their naked bodies while I do it.” He looked over at Artemis and waved his hand. The pain disappeared and her robes looked better than when she’d put them on that morning.

“Thank you Royal Physician,” Artemis said.

“Don’t be so formal, Master. Just call me Fred.”

“Thank you, Fred. But I’m not a master yet.”

He made rude noise and said, “You’re more qualified than these shmucks. Come with me,” They walked back to where the body of the demon was slowly melting. The Princess kneeled next to the body with thick gloves and appeared to be dissecting it. “Couldn’t help yourself Diana, huh? Had to get started?”

“It’s a darn good thing I started. With the pace you move, old man, the body would have dissolved by now.” The Princess looked up at him and they both smirked.

“Good. What have you found?” He bent down and picked up a set of gloves that matched the princess’s and they both started to rummage around inside the demon’s corpse.

They said a lot of science themed words but it might as well have been Troll for all she could understand. As they worked they put things in jars, took things out of jars, and scooped things back into jars. There were a lot of jars.

“Not a master. What do you think?”

“Don’t tease the poor boy,” the Princess said.

“My name is Arty and I have no idea what either of you was saying.”

“Arty huh?” Fred winked at her and continued, “We think that the acid in their blood is a by-product of the magic that lets them regenerate… heal.”

“Okay?” Arty didn’t understand how that was relevant.

The Princess explained, “If we can stop them from healing we’d have a better chance of defending ourselves. Fred thinks he can isolate something that we could tip our arrows with. I want you and,” she pointed at two guards, “you two, stay with him and protect him.”

Arty wasn’t sure if she should or if she could be assigned to the mage but when she questioned a senior Master, he told her to follow the princess. There was an odd avarice in the master’s look.

“Why the long face youngin?” Fred asked as they headed back to the castle. She’d expected some sort of fast transport but he was just walking.

“I’d rather not say.”

“Ah. You’re uncomfortable with the Monks gaining favour with the princess and even more so with you helping that along. I understand.”

“How did you know that?” He was right. She loved the fighting monk’s technics and they had some unique methods, but their pseudo religion based on emotional suppression and misogyny made her uncomfortable.

“Child. I’ve been a healer for three of your lifetimes. I’m very good at my job.” He winked at her. “What I don’t understand is why someone like you would want to become a monk. You started ten years older than most and have almost reached master-hood in less than a year. Frankly, you’re better than they are.”

“I… I’ve spent my life learning how to fight. I’m very good at it.” She smirked at him. “But there are countless orders like the monks that are renowned for excellence. I want to learn from them all.”

“You’ve done this before?” Their conversation was cut off by a scream. “Looks like the monks weren’t so special and the serum will have to wait.” He pointed at a guard, “Get a platoon and tell the princess that I’m going to help the villagers.”

“Sir, I was ordered to escort you to the castle.” The soldier stepped forward to grab the healer.

Artemis was going to block him but the healer said, “Touch me and I’ll make sure you die slowly, in the dungeons, and I’ll use your skull as a flowerpot. Do what I say or go complain to your major. Either way, deliver my message and leave me.” The man’s posture was almost comical. He was two heads shorter than the guard, wearing no armour but his scowl. It was effective. The guard turned and ran.

The royal physician and his now two guards headed towards the screaming.

“A flowerpot?” Artemis couldn’t keep the laughter from her voice.

His only response was an aggressive, “Bah,” and a smile.

Read Next

If you’re enjoying this year’s serial story why not check out those from past years?

Today I’m 35

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

Today is my birthday! (If you’d like to get me a gift, read and review my books.)

It’s easy to look back on your life and think, “AHHHHHH. I’ve accomplished nothing!!!” But that’s your insecurity speaking. At the very least you’ve done something that a lot of others haven’t; you’ve survived.

Surviving is good. I’ve been lucky enough to not only survive but do a few things that, I think, are awesome: (no particular order)

  • Graduated University
  • Had 3 books published
  • Written 7 novels and part of two novels
  • Made sure there was constant content on this blog since 2014
  • Learnt how to roast coffee and made a semi-successful business out of it
  • Been married for 9 years to my best friend (Although that’s mostly her being patient and a little luck)
  • I’m super proud of Baby Dragon
  • Wrote and developed an RPG (Can’t wait for FADDS to be available to all)

I’ve spent my life feeling average. I’m not the smartest, hardest working, most handsome, etc. So it’s nice to have things I’m proud of and that I feel I’ve done well. Yes, I realize there’s nothing on that list that hasn’t been done before, or that hasn’t been done better before. But I’m proud and consider myself lucky.

Who knows what I’ll be able to accomplish in the next 35-50 years.

 

What are you proud of?

Éric