This week in the Blogerati Files, Ryan Oakley's The Grumpy Owl

Describe your blog in 10 words or less.
A science and tech tabloid that booze drives off-topic.

Why did you start your blog? Blogiversary?
I write science fiction and wanted to keep track of interesting ideas or technologies. Writing a short post made these stories stick in my head a bit better than reading and bookmarking. So it's basically my scrapbook. But my inner smartass keeps coming through. The Grumpy Owl was born on December 2nd of 2005.

How long have you lived in Toronto?
I moved to Toronto when I was 18 and have lived here for ten years.

What's the funniest/strangest thing that has happened to you in Toronto?
Recently four guys tried to mug me. I did blog about that. But my whole time here has been kinda funny and strange. The man who killed Holly Jones was my next door neighbour. I appeared on the news saying: "He was a quiet guy who kept to himself." I never thought I'd be that guy. It's funny how the mind travels to cliche in a crisis. It was true though. I never even saw him until they showed his picture on the television.

What are some of the changes in Toronto that you have seen in your lifetime?
Generally it all seems the same except more so. It's like the same song is playing but now the volume is up. Specifically, Toronto is trying to build a star and fashion system like the states. That would be fine but now we have to put up with Ben Mulroney.

What era, day or event in Toronto's history would you like to re-live and why?
Honestly, I think this is about the best time to be in Toronto. You can buy oranges in winter. That's pretty cool.

Who's your favourite Torontonian?
Hugo, Nebula and John Campbell Award winner Robert J. Sawyer would be up there. It's nice to see a Canadian dominating science fiction without moving to the states.

Can we believe everything you post on your blog?
It's the Internet. You can't believe anything. I lie all the time. But usually, when I do, I link to an article that tells the truth.

Has blogging changed you or enhanced a personality trait?
My alcoholism is certainly getting worse. I blame blogging.

Do you have a favourite post from your blog?
I like "A History of Ultra Violence," which is an article about ultra-violent movies. I also like some of the stuff I wrote about sex robots.

Have you had your 15 minutes yet?
Sort of. When I first started doing this, Boing Boing linked to one of my posts. It was a nice shot of egoboo but it was also embarrassing. I wish I had of done a re-write or something.

Fav bloggers?
I'm shallow so I really like Geekigirl at I Want-I Got. (She also writes for BlogTO). I like Melly over at All Kinds of Writing even though I don't usually care for blogs about writing. Graphic novelist Jeff Lemire used to keep a sketch blog on myspace but I think he stopped doing that. A shame.

What's happening in Toronto right now that the rest of us should be watching?
There was a plan to turn the downtown core into a hydrogen village but I don't know what happened to it. Energy supply is the big issue for Toronto. I also think all of these anti-smoking laws are utterly ridiculous. You should either be able to smoke in a bar or drink on the street. Separating the two is against God's plan.

If your blog were a food, what food would it be?
Monkey brains.

Have you ever had a question you wanted to ask random people throughout the world?
Hot or not?

If you could gather all of the bloggers of the world together into one room and tell them one thing, what would it be?
STOP TALKING ABOUT YOUR FUCKING CATS!

Anything else you'd like to add?
I'd just like to say that I'm really disappointed that robots haven't taken our jobs yet and that we don't even have a moon colony. 2006 is a letdown. Let's at least try to move into the future.