Commuting by Numbers: Outer Space Edition

Well now, here’s a twist.

As you may recall, I’ve been asking my blogging colleagues to count stuff on their commutes to work, in order to see a) what there is to see in different parts of the country, and b) in what directions their warped minds travel when their bodies are stuck in transit.

It’s part b) that is illuminated with frightening clarity in the case of one Joe Mahoney, radio drama guru and self-proclaimed novelist.

Joe’s response to my challenge looks at the commute of the protagonist in the sci-fi novel Joe writes on the train to work each day. It’s a bit like cracking open his skull to see what wiggles out. Try not to run away screaming.

Commuters: Joe Mahoney and Barnabus J. Wildebear
Location: the planet T’Klee, mostly
Commuting time: the better part of a day (subjective time)
Route: An island on the east coast of Canada to a continent on the distant planet of T’Klee

Astonishingly attractive female operatives: 1
Rather attractive female aliens: 1
Strange alien birdlike creatures: 1
Strange alien creatures being eaten by alien birdlike creatures: 1
Houses, abandoned or otherwise: 1
Eerie abandoned alien bases: 1
Streams and rivers: 1
Hostile aliens: 0… um, so far
Portals to other planets: 1
Magnificent alien cats: 1
Humans possibly under psionic control of magnificent alien cats: 1
Large robotic mechanical spiders: 1
Portable artificial intelligence units: 1
Poisonous alien insects: several thousand
Heartbreaks experienced by one Barnabus J. Wildebear during commute: 1
Episodes of paralysis experienced by one Barnabus J. Wildebear during commute: 1
Level of regret experienced by one Joseph Thomas Mahoney upon pulling into Union Station at end of commute every day: Exceptionally high

Posted by: Paul Gorbould | 03-08-2007 | 11:03 PM
Posted in: Commuting