Arthur Slade

Book cover of the face of a boy with closed eyes and butterflies coming out of his mouth

Book rec - Dust by @arthurslade.bsky.social.

This is my favourite cover, although it does make it look more thriller than it actually is.

It's a very well written paranormal mystery set in a dry & dusty rural part of the US
Read it years ago & really stuck with me.

www.amazon.com/Dust-Arthur-...

The life cycle of an orange alien made of chocolate who landed in the wrong backyard.

Dragon Assassin: The Complete Series by Arthur Slade is only $0.99 - BookBub Carmen is about to graduate from assassin school when the empire outlaws assassins and snarky, book-loving dragon Brax enters her life! Is Carmen ready to accept her destiny as a dragonrider? This exc...

Forgive me for this ad: www.bookbub.com/books/dragon...

I’m never moving from Geocities

It's hard to imagine living without climate start.

I press the button and am off to the races. I like that.
sladesleftovers.substack.com/p/yes-i-have...

Internet: Any final thoughts?
Art: Yeah, the difference between gas and electric is like the difference between Apple and Windows. Some people get Windows computers so they can muck around inside and change things. People buy Apple to have less fuss. It just goes. The electric car is the same.

Internet: Do you hate the oil industry?
Art: Not at all. Half the people I grew up with worked (and are working hard) to keep our vehicles and tech toys and other oil-based products going. I’m not a fan of carbon, of course.

Internet: How much does it cost to, uh, gas it up?
Art: At home, it’s between $0-13 dollars. I have solar panels so that’s why it starts at zero. On the road, it’s more like $30 to $60 depending on the charging system I use.

It heats immediately instead of waiting for the gas engine to warm before heating the car. Also, the Ioniq has “Snow” mode. By far the best winter vehicle I’ve had in terms of handling in snow and ice.

It’s like going to Costa Rica without the air travel. In fact, I wear a bathing suit all winter now (don’t picture that). If I go to a movie and it’s -40C, I hit a button on my phone as the movie ends and the car is 24C by the time I get to it.

Yep, there is a big drop in distance travelled in the cold (gas engines are much more inefficient in the cold, too). But 95% of my travel is in the city. I plug my car into the charger in the garage. Set the timer so that it starts up ten minutes before I leave and heats the interior to 24C.

And yes, an electric fire is harder to put out. But I’ll take the odds of it actually happening over that fact. And I don’t plan on being a marshmallow in the car.
Internet: But you live in Saskatchewan. It’s cold enough to freeze Hades there.
Art: That’s where this car thrives.

It’s just that every time an electric car catches fire, it makes the news. Also, one bursts into flames every time Elon Musk tweets (couldn’t verify that as a fact). If we put every gas car fire on tv, we’d fill up the news. That said, in all my years of driving, I’ve only had one gas fire.

Art: Actually, a gas car is 7-80 times more likely to catch fire (depending on whose math you trust). Again, it’s simple. There is a flammable liquid running back and forth through a gas vehicle that could start on fire from several sources. A battery fire is much rarer.

I enjoy technology, and I find driving an electric car to be more logical (for me) than a gas car. Yes, I sound like Spock there. But with fewer moving parts, there is a smaller chance of it breaking down. And nothing beats charging at home.
Internet: But it could burst into flames at any point!

I started an intermittent substack with my "leftover" thoughts.

First up: Electric Cars

Art: So, I bought an electric car.
Internet: Are you nuts?
Art: Yes, but that’s a separate issue from purchasing the car. This one is a 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range Preferred AWD.

Don't Look! Is that a clickbait title? Or am I referencing the 1978 Album DON'T LOOK BACK by Boston?

I'm pleased that Podium has released several of my audiobooks on Apple and Spotify: open.substack.com/pub/arthursl...

If you want to hear me talk about dragons, dungeons and heavy metal (it snuck in there somehow) then find Garden of Thought with host Jeff Lippman on your favourite podcast distributor: www.spreaker.com/episode/gard...

Gander: The Social Media You Want, Built for Canada Fun, private, and ethical. We're changing the way social media is done around here, all without your personal data taking an unexpected trip down south.

Busy day for our Early Access Program yesterday.

Lots of sign-ups (thank you!) and also some error messages (sorry). We've fixed the issue.

If you didn’t get through yesterday, please give it another try by following this link:
gandersocial.ca#early-access

More details below 👇

This is basically everything you need to know.

YouTube video by The Cultists Cthulhu's ABCs: A Heavy Metal Muppet Parody Song about the Alphabet

The algorithm knows me. It knows all: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKTF...

Seems Bluesky appropriate

The United Empire Loyalist in me loves this stuff. Ever since my quadrupallyish great grandfather fled the states around 1776 to stay loyal to the crown.

Oilers win! Then a cabinet swearing in. Now if I had some butter beer all my geeky and sporty addictions would be fullfilled.

Our little Ray of sunshine: Rocky

I don't want to brag, but I voted early and got a free chocolate Easter egg. Did anyone else get any treats when they voted? I mean other than the treat of participating in the sweet, sweet joy of the democratic process.

He's so inspiring. So many powerful commas and capital letters. It must all mean something.

Canada’s Role in a Shifting Global Order — with Mark Carney The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway · Episode

Canadians vote for their next prime minister today. A couple of weeks back, I spoke with @mark-carney.bsky.social, the current PM. open.spotify.com/episode/78eg...

J.D. Vance's Best Friend, the Canadian Politician, Has No Comment In his campaign for parliament in Canada, Jamil Jivani has nothing to say about Vance, after Trump’s threats and tariffs upended the election.

Rolling Stone discovers that Canada's Conservatives are generally verboten from speaking to the press (and ravages them for it.)
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...