Over the holiday season, Canadian video gamers who were looking forward to playing Rock Band were surprised when the November 20 release date for the game was missed in Canada, while U.S. retailers got stock as planned.

I look at why this may have happened in my latest “Trigger Happy” column for the Georgia Straight.

You can read it here, and my review of Super Mario Galaxy is here.

Last month, USA Network dropped The 4400 and The Dead Zone from its schedule. The move was unfortunate for fans of the shows as well as the Canadian crews who worked on them (the former was lensed in Vancouver, the latter had moved to Montreal from Vancouver for its final season), but I think was a smart move for the network.

Such science fiction-themes just don’t fit with the niche the channel has carved out for itself. With Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice on its schedule, USA Network is all about the light, fun mysteries.

This – and more – are part of my latest “Remote View” column, now live over at CinemaSpy.ca.

It’s a safe bet that many individuals out there got an iPod or other MP3 player for Christmas this year.

Replacing the earphones that come with that new toy is the next order of business.

To help you out, I run down some of the options in my latest “Techno Logic” column in the Georgia Straight.

I want speakers embedded in my skull. Nice and simple, with sound to beat all. Sadly, those aren’t available. Yet.

Nate Saxon has gone missing.

Well, actually, Nate was kidnapped, held for a few days over the Christmas holiday season, and escaped on Friday, December 28, 2007. We don’t have many details, but what we do know you can read here.

Anyhow, since Nate escaped the clutches of his captors, nobody has heard from him, so I’m taking over responsibility of his blog, Giga Byte Me.

I’ll be spending a good deal of time over there, which means I’ll probably be spending less time here. I’ll still use the Mind Control Divison of Solo Corps as a work blog and a permanent archive of my writing, but any day-to-day thoughts will heretofore be found over at Giga Byte Me.

The “Internal Soundtrack” postings, in particular, will now live there. Not that I’ve heard anything in my head lately, but the next time I hear a song rattling around up there, I’ll be noting it over at the new blog.

No reason you can’t visit me at both places, says I.

I’ll try to make it interesting.

And by the by, Happy New Year to you all.

After watching the first two episodes of the new series, Dirty Sexy Money, I quit the show because the priest was so mean to his illegitimate son.

But after seeing a scene from a later episode that indicated the reluctant father’s feelings changed, I decided to give the show a second chance.

Read my take on the first ten episodes of Dirty Sexy Money in the latest “Remote View” column over at CinemaSpy.ca