The show is on a roll, now.

Last episode, “The Option Period,” spent some time focussing on the writers, which is something I’ve been waiting for. In this episode, Mark McKinney appears as writer Andy Mackinaw, who is brought in to provide some experience for the two rookies that remain after the other writers left.

And Mark kicks ass.

It’s another role we’ve never seen him play before, that of a comedy writer who is sad and morose and depressed. It’s different from the manic and neurotic Richard Smith-Jones from Slings & Arrows and different from his Kids in the Hall sketch characters.

Not sure when Mark’s character will feature again, but I’ll be waiting.

My brother, Ben, was the one who introduced me to Cowboy Bebop. It’s a 26-episode anime series about a bunch of futuristic bounty hunters who struggle to make a dime.

The title of the show conveys the hybrid nature of the show: a wild-west culture enveloped within a bebop jazz soundtrack. The music for the series was composed by Yoko Kanno, and was performed by a band assembled for this show, the Seatbelts.

There are something like six or seven CDs of music from the show available either domestically or by import. Taken as a whole, the music is uneven (a few pop songs are quite awful), but many of the pop-jazz tracks, like Bad Dog No Biscuit, are fun, and will stick with you.

Vlad, a colleague at work, gave me a tip on how to become a better player.

“When you’re not doing anything else, perform long division in your head,” he said.

Yeah. Thanks, Vlad.

1. Who had the idea to invite Belinda Stronach to be a commentator?

She comes across as such a non-person. She has no anima whatsoever, but seems like a wooden marionette controlled by person with no arms.

And when she speaks, she can’t even repeat what she’s heard properly, let alone espouse an original idea.

2. Krista Erickson was the best of the CBC reporters on the floor of the campaign. She was professional and natural and quick on her feet. Too bad she was saddled with covering the four “bottom” candidates.

Not sure where Erickson comes from – I don’t recognize her from anything else – but if the news director at CBC knows their stuff, she should get more high profile assignments.

Nobody was as surprised as me to discover that Alec Baldwin is the reason – and a good enough reason – to watch 30 Rock, the new sitcom-that-isn’t from Tina Fey.

He’s damn funny, that Baldwin boy.

Read all about it in this week’s Channel Changer.