MOVING
Saturday, July 28, 2007 03:18 p.m.
This blog has moved... new entries and my new site (coming soon) will now be at brianchick.com
See you there!
Canada Day +1
Monday, July 2, 2007 10:51 p.m.
So, I realize that I've gotten really horrible about updating this lately. I was walking around yesterday, however, and as usual I was appreciating Canada on Canada Day. I was thrilled to be Canadian, I was happy to be living in Canada, and it was very proud that I could walk around and enjoy the freedoms I do because of the great place in which I live.
I completely thought all that.
Then I saw a dog with an emo haircut. Seriously, he had his bangs combed down over one of his eyes. It made me laugh.
Also, I watched documentary about George Chuvalo's fight vs. Muhammed Ali in Toronto. It was called The Last Round, or something like that, and it was fascinating.
Currently, I'm watching a lot of soccer because the U-20 World Cup is on and I have tickets. I saw Canada play yesterday, today Tai and I watched two more games involving New Zealand and Portugal, and Gambia and Mexico. It was really hot today and we got some sun, but not too much (I don't think).
So there's an update... I know it's been forever. But things are good and a little hectic and soon I'll figure out a rhythym again.
june
Saturday, June 2, 2007 12:57 p.m.
i'm not dead, just busy... and addicted to facebook.
University of Alberta
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 05:22 p.m.
It's always nice to confirm that you made a good choice. In the first few days of my masters program here in Edmonton, I've thought several times that I really do enjoy what we're studying and that the discussion is engaging and enlightening... so far.
I've been in class for 3 days now, and aside from crummy weather and 45 minutes of public transit every days, I'm really enjoying it. Even the transit gives me time to read and prepare.
There are 22 people in my program from a variety of different backgrounds, which affords them different perspectives and experiences on which to base their comments. It's refreshing to be involved in academic debate. I feel myself getting smarter, or at least more mentally stimulated.
So things are good so far. Lori, my only friend in Edmonton and the one with whom I'm staying, is taking good care of me. I haven't done much besides reading, assignments, and school so far, but I'm sure that will come with time.
another update so soon?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 12:00 p.m.
A few more things about Brian...
He's developed an addiction to the internet cult that is facebook.com
He finished his 2006-2007 Curling Season with a 55-34 record, which is a .617 winning percentage that included two trips to Ontario Provincials, for mixed and mens.
He leaves for Edmonton on Sunday to begin further education... because he's nuts.
this may be a record...
Sunday, April 15, 2007 08:27 p.m.
Here are 10 things that have happened since my last post... 1. I curled in the Royals Mens Bonspiel. 2. Dad came out for that too. 3. I curled in Glenmore for the Intermediate. 4. Tai came and curled in that too. 5. I turned 26. 6. I had a little gathering at the Jason George. 7. I saw my nephews on the way to Montreal. 8. I went to Montreal with Chris, Mike, and Mike, to see a Leafs game. 9. I curled in the mixed provincials with Josh, Lynds, and Michelle. 10. We won a couple games and finished 6th.
So... my next post will probably be about Edmonton.
spring is near!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 02:21 p.m.
So... of course it's been a while. I've been very busy doing all sorts of things like volleyball, curling, and working.
I got my official acceptance to U of A for the Masters Programs. So that's good news. I take off for Edmonton at the end of April. Just for three weeks though...
The other big news right now is that I'm heading to another provincial championship for curling. This time, Josh, Lyndsey, Michelle and I are headed to the Ontario Mixed Curling Championships in Ottawa, in mid-April.
Things with Tai are still good. We went to see Lemony Snicket with the Toronto Symphony last week. Very entertaining little show.
For now, though. I'm starving. And I have to get ready for work.
So... February
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 05:56 p.m.
Well the week in Sarnia went quickly. We finished at 4-5 which was better than anyone really expected. And had we played just a little bit better, it could have easily been 6-3. Ahh well, still a fantastic week. I'd like to go back again...
I told Alberta I am accepting the offer of acceptance, so it looks like that is moving along slowly. I just officially asked work to pay for some of it... so that'd be good.
Things with Tai are good. Unfortunately with all the stuff going on, we haven't had a lot of time to do anything too crazy, but she did make it out to Sarnia for a night, and we also made a visit to her cousin's birtday party shortly after. Good times all around.
Work has been busy but enjoyable. We're starting to get a lot of new projects thrown at us, which makes me feel a little more useful. Also we're about to hire a couple new people, which means there will be training to do... and I will be counted on as a guru of various things. Today I got to learn about our Weather Centre. That was fun.
Other than that, not much is going on. Coming soon, more curling, more curling, hockey game, more curling, and my birthday.
big news
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 01:45 a.m.
two pieces of big news...
first of all, i was accepted to the u of alberta masters program last week, so all that hard work has paid off. of course, it was the only school that i had actually filled out the whole application for, so it all worked out quite nicely.
secondly, i'm at provincials. we got our butts kicked by glenn howard this morning, which was not surprising because he's one of the best teams in the world... but we managed to beat Bryan Cochrane tonight, which avenged our loss to them at Regions... but also marks the first time that I've beaten someone who has been to the Brier. I didn't play particularly well, but we all managed to make enough shots for the win. 35-14-1 at the moment.
Other than that, it's a blast here. Lots of perks, lots of drinks, lots of supporters. My parents are coming up tomorrow to enjoy all that Sarnia has to offer, including my first ever game on TV tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 10:35 a.m.
Well, it's been a few weeks and I feel the need to update this thing. Day to day life isn't as exciting as it once was, I guess, considering I used to post almost daily, and now it's been limited to once every week or two. But whatever, I'm alright with that. I just hope my audience doesn't mind... my fan mail hasn't suffered at all. Same as it ever was.
So what's new. Tai and I went to Niagara Falls last week, toured a bit, hung out at the Casino, had dinner at the Hard Rock, etc. We decided that it was time to escape Toronto for a bit, so we took off for a day.
Provincials are inching closer day by day, and I'm starting to get pretty psyched for it. Curling has been going pretty well lately, and the next couple months will be action packed on the rinks. So far the record sits at 33-12-1, which I'm pretty pleased with. The scary part is that it should be better. We've lost some stupid games.
I've written some music for a project that Josh and I are working on, and I'm going to record it as soon as possible. Then we're going to make a video and launch ourselves into a whole new level of stardom, where hundreds of people will mock me on the internet. Can't wait.
And my war on Facebook marches right along...
Worth Mentioning
Tuesday, January 16, 2007 02:26 a.m.
After months of saying the same things over and over again, I finally have news!! As previously mentioned (at least I think I mentioned it), we won our Zone playdowns in December and advanced to Regionals, which took place this weekend.
Wouldn't you know it? We won our first two games, and were suddenly playing the A Final of a double knockout tournament... which we lost to a great team. But THEN...
We went out to a pub and had a hilariously fun night, and a ridiculous number of pitchers and one insanely hot chicken wing. Yeah... long story, but THEN...
The next day, WE WON THE B FINAL AND ARE NOW HEADED TO PROVINCIALS!!! In an arena, crowds, uniforms, ceremonies, tv coverage, interviews, free stuff... the whole shebang.
So I'll be in Sarnia from February 11th to the 18th, if you're looking for me.
happy new year
Wednesday, January 10, 2007 11:19 a.m.
and i'm still alive
the international bowl was fun
i might do a year in review soon. although it's a bit late.
Last Day at Work
Thursday, December 21, 2006 12:29 p.m.
Christmas is fast approaching. I only have a few more little things to buy (should be done today at lunch) and then I'm off to the Mait-rix tomorrow morning bright and early.
Bryan Fink was up on the weekend, and it was great to see him. We went to a holiday party on Friday, the Hockey Hall of Fame and and the Leafs-Rangers Game on Saturday, then to the Lonestar on Sunday. Chris Roberts came down for the Lonestar, and Mike joined us too for some nachos, beer, and football watching. It was great to see him.
Curling continues to go well. We haven't lost in a bit (knock on wood) so now I'm 21-7-1. I have one more game tonight before the Christmas break, and I have high hopes for that one too.
I'm starting to formulate my year-end retrospective. It's hard to believe that this thing has been going on for five years now! It's about time to back it up... and I'm pretty sure that would push the total to somewhere near 500 pages in Word Documents. The year in review piece will likely include photos.
In other news... I got nothin'. Stuff is pretty okay.
it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 11:46 a.m.
I was out yesterday getting most of my Christmas shopping done. I still need to pick up a couple things, but for the most part, I got the big chunks done. I've had the Christmas music on a bit, and we put our mini-tree up yesterday, so I'm starting to get into the spirit of things.
I suppose the biggest news lately is that we curled in the Zones on the weekend with a thrown-together team and managed to advance out of the B-Side. So in January, we're scheduled to play in the Regions, from which 2 of the 8 teams will advance to Provincials... which would be a pretty big deal.
We had a good visit with Capo for the week, and all of us were sad to see him go back to Leigh's. We made a lot of catnapping threats, but then we figured out that she'd know who had him and where he was, and that we couldn't hold him cat-ptive for too long. (Oh god, that's hilarious "CAT-ptive?!" What a pun!). And even if he was a prisoner, he'd developed Stockholm Syndrome because he was really cozy with me all week.
It's been a mild week in Toronto, which is a nice change from the frigid weeks we had a little while ago. It is, however, getting to be that time of year when a bit of snow would be nice. I'm not holding my breath. From what I hear, Al Gore is predicting warm rain until Venice sinks.
Tai's a bit sick this week, along with most people around here. But she was still kind enough to give me an early Christmas present yesterday. So upon entering my room, I discovered "Talladega Nights" The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" on DVD, which I'm very excited to see again. I would have watched it last night, but there was more curling to be done... (Record this year - 19-7-1).
The other obsession around the apartment is now Tiger Woods 2007 for xbox. Mike, Josh, and I have been playing it a little fanatically...
The last thing I will say is that I recommend the new James Bond movie, "Casino Royale." It's a little more raw, and less hokey than your average Bond flick, but pretty decent.
officially christmas season
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 06:51 p.m.
Well, I was going to say that my greatest concern was the fact that I hadn't started Christmas shopping and I had no idea what to get anybody, but then I found out that a girl I was friends with a while back had cancer, and has had for quite some time. The saddest part is that she's pretty much lost the battle and has decided to give up the treatments. So she's got anywhere between a few weeks and a few months left... but it's certainly sad news.
Talking about curling or football or something now doesn't seem like a great idea. But I can assure you I'm curling frequently (and actually winning a bunch of games) and watching a lot of football (Patriots are doing OK, and Michigan got screwed).
My parents went to Paris for a bit, but they're back now. I'll be in the Mait-rix for a few days just before Christmas. I'll be back in T.O. for the 25th because I'm working, and getting rewarded handsomly for it.
I'm babysitting Capo this week because Leigh in away, and it's nice to have him around. Josh and Mike like him too. Speaking of the apartment, I've finally joined their little work-out club. Actually, I went today for the first time in a year and a half. I'm not even sore... yet.
Still spending lots of time with Tamiqua... or Taneesha... or whatshername, oh right... Lafawnda. We got dressed up and went out dinner at the Cricket Club on Saturday, and I rocked that party. Tai has threatened to never take me anywhere again. And I think she means it.
One week later
Friday, November 24, 2006 06:33 p.m.
Wow... only a week this time. Things must have happened worth talking about!! Right?!
Not really.
First of all, I have attended my last wedding of the season. Bobby and Melissa got married on Saturday, and everything was very nice, right down to the priest calling Bobby "Richard" during the service. Oops! The whole crew was out for the occasion, and had a drink or 12 to commemorate the occasion. Goulet!
Tai and I went to visit with our Newfie friend Steph, who was in Kitchener on Friday night. That was fun. Not much else to it. That was about it.
My University of Alberta application is 100% done and sent in. The Ryerson one still needs a bit of work.
We won both of our curling games this week, so I'm now riding a 4-game streak, which feels nice. And the record is back up to something more respectable.
That's about it. But at least I didn't keep you waiting.
Remember, remember, the 17th of November
Friday, November 17, 2006 10:48 a.m.
SO... what have I done lately?
I went to Calgary to coach at the National Training Centre, played with my nephews and neice, and saw my sisters. I watched about 12 episodes of "Arrested Development" on the plane.
I won the Ryerson Intramural CoEd Volleyball League (Competetive Division) with help from Kevin, Josh, Dee, Rose, and Marieta. We won scarves. By the way, this is the first Ryerson league I've ever won, and I think I counted 17 tries.
My curling teams have been both great and awful. The current record is 7-5. It should be better.
I'm sure I've been to a wedding or two lately. Who cares anymore, really?
The Masters Applications are all but finished. Just need to send a few things off.
The Patriots lost to the Jets. I don't even know what to say about that.
Tai moved into her new place, which is much closer than Etobicoke. We hang out a lot and she comes watch almy games, which I think is really very kind of her considering NBC has launched some far more entertaining TV Shows lately (30 Rock... it's great. Watch it!!).
That's about it... I seem to be busy, but not doing much.
Okay, so I lied
Thursday, November 2, 2006 10:52 a.m.
That little bit about getting the next entry up sooner... didn't quite make it, eh? I really meant to, I've just been busy... really!
Curling: I've got a bit of a winning streak going on at the moment. We have an important game tonight too. If we win, we move up to A. So let's hope that works out. Our last two Tuesdays have been dramatic come from behind victories, being down 5 after 3 once, and down 4 after 4 in the other. Managed to win both though... so go us.
Volleyball: Top Gun has finished the regular season in first place with a 11-1 record. It's been crazy fun playing the hardcore competetive games, and my body generally feels it at the end of the night. The Smashing Bumpkins have been doing pretty well lately as well, and are now in 2nd place with a few weeks to go.
Football: Tai and I had an awesome football weekend a couple weeks ago. On Saturday, we went to see Michigan play Iowa (college football) including the massive tailgate party and FRONT ROW SEATS in a 110,000 seat stadium. Pictures will be up soon from that. So then on Sunday, we drove to Buffalo for the Patriots-Bills game, and although traffic was nasty and the weather sucked, we still had fun, and the Patriots won... and we saw a dude get slammed in the face with a plate full of fried dough under a pile of powdered sugar, as usual. Seriously, this is a regular occurence. So we had a really fun weekend.
Last weekend, we went to another wedding (I've lost count), cutting out briefly to visit Clarissa's birthday party at a place where they serve litre size beers. Then I ran back to the Royal York for the rest of the reception. Then the birthday party crew showed up at the wedding reception to say hello to Tai, but fortunately, or unfortunately, the party had pretty much wrapped up, and the wedding crashing was a bit underwhelming.
The masters applications are rolling along. I'm getting my reference letters taken care of this week.
The last big piece of news is that I'm getting a free trip to Calgary to coach at the Kingsmith Camp/Bonspiel at the National Training Centre for Curling. I'll get to see my sisters and some friends. So that's next Thursday...
this is where the procrastination ends... for now
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 12:10 p.m.
As usual, it's been ages since I've written anything in this thing. For once though, I have things to say because I have been fairly busy. Curling season is underway, weddings continue to pop up on every conceivable weekend, volleyball is going strong, and tons of other stuff seems to be happening.
Curling: Off to a slow start, but managed to pick up a couple wins to start the league season. And I managed to throw away a win that we had earned all game, by botching my last two shots. Soooo... I'm 2-3 so far. That WILL improve. I hope. Our mixed team will be really good (they won last night without me), and our mens squad will be okay , despite the rough start.
Volleyball: Monday night competetive (TOP GUN) has started again, and it's pretty intense. We've only lost one game, which makes us tied for first in that league. Next week will be a test because Kevin won't be there, and frankly he brings the thunder every week. So we'll need to scrounge for a little extra thunder. Wednesday night recreational vball (SMASHING BUMPKINS) is also going well, and we are managing to win a lot more than we lose. It's not nearly as hardcore but the people are fun, and we are a lot better than we used to be.
Weddings: I was down in New York with Tai a couple weeks ago, where we went to a friend's wedding and met up with the fam. It was nice to see my parents, and meet my new niece Claire, who is a little adorable 6-week old baby. The wedding was nice, the reception was great, and even the driving wasn't too bad. The next week, I went to another wedding for a cousin of Tai's... actually, I didn't make it to the wedding because I was running a curling clinic, but I caught up afterwards at the reception.
Other stuff: I'm getting stuff together for these Masters applications, trying to track down references and transcripts, and whatnot. Josh and Jen are moving in bit by bit, and have already brought up the nice TV, so we got the HD hookup, and have been glued to the screen for a few days. Tai and I met up with my buddy Chris at Wonderland last week for Fear-Fest, which was great. No lines. No Kids. All the good rides. Half the price. Worked out well.
That's about it for now... I swear I'll try to get the next update up sooner.
It's Time
Monday, October 2, 2006 11:56 a.m.
Happy October Everyone. The weather is cooling off, the days are getting shorter, there's football on TV, and of course... curling season has started.
I played my first two games of the year this week, sparing for a team in Weston, and managed to lose both. 2006-2007 RECORD: 0-2. Our mens league starts on Thursday, and mixed the following Tuesday so hopefully, I can pull up my socks and be back to .500 quickly.
The baseball season ended yesterday, and for the first time in a while I'm actually happy about the Blue Jays. Sure, they didn't make the playoffs, but they did finish 2nd in the division, saw increases in payroll, attendance, and wins, and look to be heading the right way overall. Of course, winning the last game of the year in Yankee Stadium seemed like a good way to end it. As usual, I'm looking forward to next year... and hockey season.
I didn't get the job I interviewed for a few weeks back. Apparently, there was someone just a little more qualified, which I found rather irritating. But, it might be a good thing. Spending more time here at CBC has allowed me to do some research for some other stuff, like the Masters programs I want to get into next year. I've found 2 that look pretty good, and hopefully I can weasel my way into one.
Down the pipe... I see weddings, football, weddings, curling, weddings, and Halloween. I've got some hockey tickets, some Patriots/Bills tickets, and some basketball tickets so I'll have some sports related entertainment to take in this winter.
All that aside, things are still going well with Tai. We get to have lunch together a lot because she works nearby. We went glow in the dark mini-golfing last week, which was new for me, and have spent a bunch of nights hanging around, going for food and/or drinks, and it suddenly occurs to me that it might be time to organize a proper date.
Hmmm... what else. I bought a bunch of books yesterday. My iPod is experiencing a renaissance as loads of new music is getting dumped on it. I got a new coat that I'm excited to wear. I have to make some roadtrip CDs for next week... because I'm going to another wedding.
So yeah.
Been a while...
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 11:37 a.m.
So, as usual, I haven't updated this in forever. But of course, since the world travel is over, and I seem to be stuck in a Groundhog Day type scenario, where I just keep going to weddings, nothing else has really happened.
I went to a wedding with Tai last week, which was nice, and amazingly Ukranian. There was no word of English spoken at the service, and a lot of Ukranian singing and cheering at the reception. There was plenty to eat and drink and lots of nice people to interact with, however, so a good time was had.
The other piece of news is that volleyball is starting up again. We managed to sneak into another year of Ryerson Intermurals and have put together our best team yet. We had two games on Monday and completely dominated... it was intense and fun, and now my legs are sore. I have another game tonight, with the regular Wednesday crowd, The Smashing Bumpkins.
So, more weddings coming up. More work being boring and the same. Hopefully and free trip to Calgary coming soon... maybe not. Who knows? I'm REALLY bored.
settled
Saturday, September 9, 2006 12:35 p.m.
So I think I'm finally nearing a point where I consider myself settled and back into a routine. It's a weird sensation though, because I feel like I should have to pack up and move again soon, but that's not the case. So maybe that's not being entirely settled.
Softball season is done, as is beach volleyball. I ended up missing a ton of games for each, but the ones I attended were fun as usual. We didn't repeat as champions in either league, but curling season is just around the corner and I have high hopes for that.
What else... James is moving out of the apartment and into his own place. Josh, coincidentally is moving out of his place... and into ours. So during October we'll have a roommie switch.
I'm getting back to the 1001 side projects I'd left behind. I have photos to print and arrange, I have websites to work on, videos to edit, Jays games to go to. I spend time with Tai whenever possible, which has been cut down a bit due to her recent move to Etobicoke and various job stuff. Today, we're going to see "The Illusionist."
Last week a group of us made a little tour of the various pubs on John Street and played an extra long game of "If I Roll A One" which is essentially like Truth or Dare, without the Truth, and with an element of chance rolled into the dare. For full rules, please contact me... but needless to say, hilarity ensued.
Wedding season continues... holy cow. Another one in September, two in October, another in November. Mix in a few curling clinics, and a couple football games, and I'm booked until Christmas... almost.
Some of that might have to change though. I interviewed for a new job at Canadian Press. It went well, and I'm hopeful.
Oh, and I've finally finished my European Travel Adventure Synopsis for the first trip. It's 14 Pages long, but I'll post it here eventually.
what happened to the summer?
Monday, August 28, 2006 01:18 p.m.
Well... I'm done. All my vacationing, traveling, working, and being away from home-ed-ness is done. No more planes, trains, exotic locales, or campers to worry about, and frankly I'm thrilled.
I've been home 5 days in all of August, and the rest have been spent living out of a suitcase in either Europe or Guelph. While both of those were really fun, I'm ready to stop moving and find a normal routine again.
A few pieces of news... Camp was good, as usual. Nothing terribly crazy or different. Always a good time though.
My sister Diana had her baby on August 22nd. Claire Evelyn Slater was born at 8 am and weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces. Everybody seems to be doing well.
My apartment is a mess and my goal for the next two days is to take care of that.
and we're back... for now
Friday, August 11, 2006 11:23 a.m.
Hey there...
I have returned from Europe and am gracing the people of Toronto with my presence for a few days until I leave for camp on Sunday. It was a great trip, the wedding was nice, I took lots of pictures. I started in Amsterdam, went to Milan for a couple days, then finished in Germany for the wedding and a soccer game in Munich.
I'm sure there's more to say but I'm a bit scattered today, trying to wrap my head around all the things I need to do and all the stuff that's going on. Other than that, my two days at work have been quiet.
In a lighter note, I saw "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" last night with Tai, and it was ridiculously funny. I will be getting the DVD when it comes out. The Royal's Golf Tournament is tomorrow, I have to do laundry and pack and stuff, and that's about it for now. My head isn't all together at the moment.
Europe Bound... Again
Thursday, July 27, 2006 03:00 p.m.
So tomorrow I leave for Europe for the 2nd time in three months. This time I'm hitting Amsterdam, Munich, a tiny village called Burghaslach, and perhaps... Prague? I have a couple of days to kill and have yet to decide what I'm going to do with them. This is pretty much the opposite of my first trip because I haven't researched, I haven't planned much, and I don't know where I might end up on a given day. Kinda fun, kinda thinkin' some research would have been good.
To make matters more interesting, I've been working 5 am shifts all week, which makes for very long and tiring days. I haven't been sleeping enough and my afternoons are filled with bits and pieces of things to do here and there. Overall, it feels like I have a lot to do before flying out tomorrow afternoon, but I really can't think of what those things might be. Packing is really the only major one I can think of.
I'm excited, but considering I'm already exhausted, I'm not nearly as pumped as you might think. After that, I'm back at work for a couple of days, then off again for camp. I'm starting to think that sitting still would be a good idea. It'll make for a good year-end retrospective though.
Our volleyball team continues to dominate provided people show up, and the same applies for Eradicators Softball too.
In other news, I've been hammering out my most recent wedding project which is now well into the editing stage. I might end up taking it with me to camp because I'd like to get it all done before the end of the month.
Again, it feels like there should be more to share, but something between fatigue and laziness has left me stumped. Things are good, I'm keeping busy, my right ankle hurts... I need to pack. That's about it.
thursday is the new friday
Thursday, July 20, 2006 10:51 a.m.
The nice things about working the weekend at CBC is that they're generally quiet, there's afternoon baseball, and you finish with a long weekend. I've worked 9 days in a row, so tomorrow I get the day off which means today is my Friday, although it is actually only Thursday.
I leave for Europe (again) next Friday for Greg's wedding. There's a stag party tomorrow night which will likely involve golf, go-karts, and beer. Let's hope I can avoid a dune-buggy-esque injury like the one from Sean's stag in the Dominican. Left a cool scar though...
The Miss World Canada thing was a lot of fun, but kept me crazy busy for the week. When all was said and done, I got everything done, got paid, and got some footage on CityTV's Breakfast Television. I have a ton of editing to do in the next week and beyond, but the portfolio is rapidly expanding, which is good news.
In other news, I'm officially dating a new girl named Tai(sa). She's super cool and we have a lot of fun together, so she'll very likely be mentioned in future entries...
So between working a long stretch, going to 5 Jays games, hanging out with Tai, having a few talks with Leigh, shooting and editing Miss Canada, trying so sort our Seanat's Wedding DVD issues, getting caught up on laundry now that we've got our new washer, destroying our competition in our last 6 volleyball games, and a ton of other random things, it's been a busy week. I am SO sleeping in this weekend.
Just because
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 09:46 a.m.
Time for the weekly-ish update. Not too much to report, but I figured I should keep you posted. Whoever you are...
Our movie didn't get screened at the gala, so we went across the street to Philthy McNasty's and had some drinks. Then some of us sat outside til about 4am and talked to raccoons. And no, there hadn't been THAT many drinks.
I'm shooting the Miss World Canada pageant this week, which will look good for the company but suddenly became another thing I have to do. Thankfully, I wrapped up Seanat's Wedding DVD and now just have to take care of the cases. Then on to the other wedding... but that'll be next week.
I'm working all weekend which is a drag, but not too bad because the Jays are in town. :P I'll probably spend some time there and enjoy the sun, provided my phone doesn't ring.
Fireworks Exploded
Tuesday, July 4, 2006 11:49 p.m.
Happy 4th of July, and Happy Belated Canada Day...
Things aren't slowing down any, really. Our movie was well received and we're all very excited for the gala on Friday. Who knows, we could win something.
I had a good weekend, saw some baseball, sat on some patios, shot a wedding on Friday that needs editing. I finished Sean & Nat's video, except for a couple of touchups maybe... so that's good to have out of the way.
I'm working nights this week, and I have to say tonight was one of the best shifts I've had in a while. Perhaps because I went for dinner on the patio at Joe Badali's and played Burnout all night. And the Jays are still on because there was a rain delay in Texas.
busy
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 12:19 a.m.
boy... it's been a little nuts. i don't know what i've been doing, but i feel like i haven't slept, and haven't had much time to sleep.
we finished another round of volleyball this week by winning our last 6 games, which put us in 3rd place. i started editing seanat's wedding video, which took a couple days... and still has a ton of work to do. i went to the jays game on friday.
on saturday, we did the 48 hour film challenge this weekend which was a lot of fun. it was a couple of really long days (moreso for others than me) but it came together really well and the screening is tomorrow night.
at softball on sunday, we came back with 8 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win by won, then promptly blew a 15 run lead in our 2nd game... to tie. there was a brawl after the first game between two guys on the other team, which was hilarious... mainly because nobody got hurt, but they were legitimately trying to kill eachother.
i had dinner with chris roberts that afternoon, which was always nice, and went to bed super early.
and i'm back... for a month
Sunday, June 18, 2006 11:24 p.m.
Hey all...
I made it back from the Dominican in one piece. It was hot and sunny and tons of fun. We swam, we sunned, we rode horses and dunebuggies, we ate and drank, and we weddinged.
All went very well, and it was good to spend time with some great friends. I have 170 pictures, Leigh has about 200, Sean has 500 or so. I have 5 hours of video too...
So back to work tomorrow.
just so you know
Saturday, June 10, 2006 11:09 a.m.
I leave for the Dominican today!!
Congrats to all the kids who graduated yesterday (Josh, Jen, Liane, Scotty, Beth, Kyle, Bill, Dave, etc).
Last night's Jays game was awesome. 8 in the bottom of 8 to take the lead and the win. I went with Chris after going for dinner with his family. Good times.
Off to sand and sun.
home for a rest...
Monday, June 5, 2006 04:30 p.m.
I promise that the Euro-Summary is coming eventually, but early indications are that it's going to be crazy long. It's coming though, I promise.
Two newses... 1) I'm off to the Dominican on Saturday for Seanat's wedding, which will be a great week. and 2) I'm participating in the Toronto Film Challenge when I get back with a group of friends. You get 48 hours to make a film based on a particular theme and prop, so 10 of us are going to submit something.
Things are good, I'm settling in, getting ready to go.
back in canada... all is well
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 11:26 a.m.
Yesterday I went from Kitzbuhel to Salzburg, to London-Stanstead, to downtown London, to Gatwick, to Toronto... all that took about 17 hours.
But I'm home... and all is well.
update
Sunday, May 28, 2006 10:13 p.m.
well, germany was nuts. the curling was okay and the party was great. i`m back in austria for one more day, then tuesday i go to salzberg, to london, and home...
see you soon, canada.
austria
Monday, May 22, 2006 06:36 p.m.
this place is amazingly beautiful. rolling green hills with snow capped mountains. paris was great. still struggling with the foriegn keyboards.
la moulin rouge!
Friday, May 19, 2006 12:07 p.m.
Hey... I mqde it to Paris. The train was pretty comfortable. The keyboards here are all out of whack. For example 'whack' would have been 'zhqck' because those keys have actually been moved.
Anyway, I'm here. Things are good.
barthelona
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 11:56 a.m.
So... that was fun. I leave Barcelona this afternoon on route to Paris. I had a blast here, saw some cool stuff, got a bit of sun, had a bit to drink, and met some cool people.
Next stop, Belle Paris!!
copied and pasted from email...
Sunday, May 14, 2006 04:34 p.m.
Hey everyone...
Just wanted to let you know that I'm alive and well in Europe. Everything has gone smoothly so far, but has been really busy. A few days here, a day there, catch a train to the airport for another flight... not that I'm complaining, it's just been a bit hectic.
So far...
Dublin was great. I got adopted by 7 English guys who let me tag along on their stag party pub crawl. I took a quick bus tour the next day before flying to...
Riga, Latvia for the World Hockey Championships. Anyone watching TSN might have seen me, I was on the arena jumbotron about 20 times because ... well frankly, there just weren't a lot of Canadians there to show. It was loads of fun and I met a lot of great people who were thrilled to talk hockey with an authentic Canadian.
London is huge and old. Thatś all there is to say. It was a good time though. I saw most of the major sites and met up with my sister for a look at Windsor Castle and my sister-in-law once removed for a tour on the Thames and a rock show at a local bar.
So now I'm in Barcelona and it's 29 degrees. There is a beach nearby and I'm off to find it...
Cheers, Brian
still alive
Saturday, May 13, 2006 06:16 p.m.
Hey folks... Still alive, still in London. Off to Spain tomorrow morning.
Other than that... I'm taking lots of pictures and meeting lots of people. London is HUGE and BUSY. Makes Toronto look and feel TINY.
Bye!
slough
Thursday, May 11, 2006 01:01 p.m.
Hey... I'm in England. Latvia was amazing, so much fun. Canada won 2-1 and I got to see Sid the Kid score a goal. So I'm heading into London this afternoon and we'll see how that goes.
Cheers!
in case...
Monday, May 8, 2006 10:07 a.m.
In case you were wondering... I made it to London alright, and then on to Dublin, which is a great little town. I'm about to get on a bus tour so I can see the whole thing, and then I'm off to Latvia. So far, so good.
I'm gone!
Thursday, May 4, 2006 11:31 a.m.
So it's my last day at work before I leave for Europe. The last couple weeks have gone by extrememly quickly, but I think I'm ready to go. There's still a little left to be done but all the major arrangements have been made.
I leave Saturday night for London/Dublin, then to Latvia, then back to London, then to Barcelona, then to Paris, then to Kitzbuhel, then to Oberstdorf. Caaaan't wait.
Meanwhile, it's been fairly quiet around here. The weather has been nice, and things have been going well... but fairly quiet.
I'll be checking email as regularly as I can and updating this from time to time, so hopefully I can keep people informed. There will be a major synopsis and loads of pictures upon my return... until next time, keep it real.
i'm alive
Thursday, April 27, 2006 03:42 p.m.
Just a little note to let you know that I am still, in fact, alive. Not a whole lot has been going on worth writing about except for the fact that Europe is now only 9 days away. There was a little complication with my flights which would have meant a 20 minute window to make a connection at a giant airport i've never been to, but it will get sorted out before May 7th, which is when it matters. Other than that, everything is pretty much booked and the only thing left to do is pack... which will likely be an adventure all it's own.
I've gone to 9 Jays games so far. That means I've only missed 4. It also means that my seasons pass will have paid for itself by the end of the month. I should be able to get two more games in before I fly away.
Volleyball started a new season, which went well. We beat one team pretty handily, and played pretty well in doing so. Unfortunately, I get one more game in... then miss the next 3. I'm back in time for the last game of the season...
So yeah, other than that... I've been at work, which has been busy lately and I'm really looking forward to getting away for a while. Should be good ;)
Glenmore 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006 06:36 p.m.
Well, another year, another Glenmore Intermediate in the books. This is usually a contender for the biggest party of the year, and this edition was no exception. I'd give it the prize right now, except I've got two trips to Europe and another to the Dominican on the way, so I can't say for sure quite yet.
We got stuck in traffic on the way out of Toronto on Thursday afternoon, and after a brief stop in Trenton, and a briefer stop in the Mait-rix to see mom and dad, we eventually made it to Montreal after what felt like far too long in the car. Especially considering the two guys we picked up in Trenton had been drinking for a few hours already and were amazingly obnoxious the whole way there.
By the time we reached Montreal, got checked in, and back to the curling club, it was almost midnight. That gave us a few hours of party time though considering a few more car loads of buddies had come up from Massachusetts and arrived only an hour before us. So we had a bit of a good time and left sometime around 4am? Maybe? I don't remember.
We didn't have to curl until 2:15 on Friday afternoon, which was fine with us. I managed to tell Guy the wrong time and made him late, but the guys we were playing were very nice about letting him sub in when he got there halfway through the 2nd end. We were looking pretty rough in the first end until I made a run-back double to sit 2, and then the rest of the game went our way... won 8-0 after 5... and we didn't have to play again until 8ish. Guy couldn't make it, so Josh spared for us... and we all played very poorly, and were done after 6 I think.
A little more partying, some poutine from Lafleurs, and I think we shut down around 5am.
Thanks to brilliant draw making, we didn't have to play until 3pm on Saturday. Which meant we went for A&W, got to the club at noon, and played cards until 3. After losing a completely entertaining nailbiter (i think we lost by 5), we called it a weekend (at least as far as the curling went) and had a party that lasted well into the evening, and ended up again, at Lafleurs.
After a long ride, but a good time, we eventually made it back to Toronto sometime around 10pm on Sunday. It was a blast as usual, and pictures/video will be coming soon.
That being said... I finished the North American curling year at 40-22-2, which I'm going to call 41-23 for the purposes of record keeping. Ties don't belong in curling! But that's a .641 winning percentage... which is barely down from last years .644, but I had more wins this year.
So now, everything is about the Europe trip, which kicks off in 18 days. Almost everything is booked, and I'll be taking off May 6th!!
Times are a changin'
Monday, April 10, 2006 06:22 p.m.
Following my 25th birthday, I started the unofficial one month countdown for my flight to Europe (May 6th), booked a bunch of local flights for while I'm there, started day-dreaming for the warm weather that is starting to creep in, gone to three baseball games, all-but wrapped up a curling season, and actually started being productive at work again.
The weather is starting to get really nice and that's driving me crazy. I can't wait to go golfing.
I curled Wednesday, two on Thursday, and a final on Saturday, going 3-1 in those games, and winning the Mixed Final for our league, which was amazingly satisfying. We were all very happy after the game which was hard fought, tense at times, back and forth, and we pulled away in the homestretch... very fun game to play. So with one (2 actually, but the 2nd isn't until May) more party weekend of curling to play ... 39-20-2. (More wins than last year! Fewer losses too!!) With at least 4 games left.
So the countdown is now at 26 days to Europe... and everything is coming together!
We had a very crazy weekend of baseball watching too, I'd better get some more hobbies cranked up for the summer, or I might end up watching Jodi Foster movies in pizza places at midnight on a Sunday with Greg and Mike more often. Fun times though... $10 Pitchers at the Fox & Fiddle on Sundays!
Tuesday, April 4, 2006 05:04 p.m.
Sooo... I got some catching up to do. We last heard from me on Tuesday. We didn't curl Tuesday night, nothing else really happened.
Wednesday was one of the worst volleyball game ever. We just STUNK. Oh well, it was fun as usual.
Thursday, we curled and won. Then curled and won again. We've managed to find the longest route through the playoffs possible, but we're winning. I've been skipping lately, have been playing pretty well, and we've been winning some games. So it's fun... So make it 36-19-2 on the year.
Friday, I went out after work for a small birthday gathering. Then to the Raptors game with Mike, then to Mickey Fynns, and was in pretty rough shape by the time I got home. I managed to fill out enough surveys at the ACC to get 4 free pens too! Like I needed them.
Saturday, I woke up sometime in the afternoon and tried to psyche myself up for actual birthday festivities. The Leafs helped by scoring 5 goals in the first period against Buffalo, then a bunch of people showed up for the end of the game, some drinks, some poker, and a trip to the bar. Grace O'Malley's was quite nice, although pretty full, and I had a good time but kept it under control.
Thanks to everyone who called, sent emails or text messages, or birthday cards... I felt like people were thinking about me, which is always a nice feeling on your birthday! I got a nice sweater from my parents, a nice shirt from Leigh, and nice poker table top from Seanat, and some nice Tim Horton's money from Erin. Oh, and I don't remember who bought me the nice birthday beers.
Sunday... um... nothing happened. I really can't think of anything noteworthy. Oh, I think I booked some Europe flights Sunday night, Dublin to Latvia and back to London... It's all coming together.
Monday, I worked the afternoon shift, so I was at work all evening. I wasn't too tired when I got home so I read about 350 pages of "Angels and Demons" which is by the "Da Vinci Code Guy." It's quite good. Other than the lack of sleep, it was time well spent.
So today... Tuesday. I had lunch with Larissa... the ex ex, because she was in town. We had a nice chat and got caught up on things. She's doing well, if any of you were wondering. I hadn't seen her in 2-3 years, so it was good to see her. I'm going to the Jays game... HOME OPENER TONIGHT, and everybody seems to be hugely excited. I'll miss the next couple because of curling, but plan on going to a bunch more this year thanks to the seasons pass.
My last Tuesday at 24
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 11:56 a.m.
Hey folks... after not sleeping for most of last week, I managed to sneak in a volleyball game, a curling win, and a whole weekend of curling/drinking at the Royals Mens Bonspiel.
The spiel started Thursday night, and I left early after our game so I could get some sleep before getting up early for work. I made it back to the club Friday afternoon and hung out with my dad for a bit, ran the calcutta display, then rocked out as the Friday night entertainment. My team won without me.
Saturday, we played two more games, had a good dinner, and sang Karaoke. Josh and Derek did "Total Eclipse of the Heart" which was hilarious. Sunday, we won our semi, lost the final, took home some decent prizes and then I went home and napped. I was sooooooo tired. I finished the weekend 2-2, so on top of my Tuesday win, I'm 34-19 and 2.
This week I'm on a normal shift, sleeping well, and loving life. I had dinner with Leigh last night which was great, and am looking forward to a few final curling games in the next couple weeks.
Of course, I'm also looking forward to my birthday on Saturday, and to my Europe trip in May. Soooo excited.
sleep? what sleep?
Monday, March 20, 2006 05:12 a.m.
so here's the thing... when you sleep all day saturday, and again on sunday, going to bed sunday night becomes a little less of a priority. even when you have to get up at 4am for work at 5. So... by the time 3am rolled around, going to bed just wasn't really something i was putting a lot of emphasis on.
So here it is 5:14 am, i'm still at work and... i haven't slept a wink.
I had a great St. Patrick's day with Greg, Clarissa, Seanat, and Mikerin... Mike & Erin. Drink were consumed, hilarity ensued. I blame the Guiness.
Europe is starting to creep closer, bit by bit... but not before it takes a step back first. My original flight was cancelled, so I need to go a day later. Not a big deal, just one day. Still going for 24! I booked section 2 of the trip, which involves going from London to Dublin on Day 2 of the voyage. I'm going to book bit-by-bit over the next few weeks, so everything is paid for by the time I go... at least as far as flights go.
Big Curling weekend coming up. Mens bonspiel. Dad's coming. 2 losses last week, do the math. 31-17-2.
Starting to get tired... need to stay awake... for 6 hours and 40 minutes.
Goodnight...*thump*esfdihsddddddddddddddddddddddddd
the only thing worth updating
Monday, March 13, 2006 01:42 p.m.
My curling teams went 2-0-1 last week...
So that works out to: 31-15-2.
It's playoff time too.
yes, i'm alive... in case you were wondering
Thursday, March 2, 2006 11:40 a.m.
I know it's been a while since I updated this space, so I figured I'd pop in and let you know how I was doing. I'm doing well, thanks. I haven't been up to a whole lot exciting, but I continue to curl, play volleyball, and work.
In case you hadn't heard... I'm done at the Score. It got to the point where going in that one day a month was more irritating than profitable, and I'd be completely out of practice and make a lot of mistakes when I went in, which was irritating to me and the people I worked with. So I decided to be done with it, and I'm completely okay with that decision.
Curling hasn't been stellar lately... BUT... we're having more fun. I'm 1-1-1 in the last three games, and that last tie should really be a win, but the fact that it's not makes it feel more like a loss. So anyway, 29-15 and 1 now. Booo.
I'm anxious to get up to Blue Mountain for a bit more snowboarding before the end of the season, and it looks like we're going next week. So that's fun...
I have a ticket booked for London on May 5. As it turns out my older sister Sue is flying to Toronto on May 4. And my other sister Diana is flying to... London on May 4. So it looks like we'll have to get together in Mary Poppins, Fish and Chips, Cup O Tea, Bad Food, Worse Weather, London.
In other news, there is no other news.
Oh... and I almost started a riot last night over a high-five. That was pretty hilarious.
so a week has passed...
Sunday, February 19, 2006 12:39 p.m.
One week later, I still have the remnants of a sore throat but the rest of me is fine. In fact, I was pretty much fine on Saturday last week, so I went snowboarding which was great. I love the fact that I can feel myself improving quite a bit and that I think I'm getting to be okay. Pretty soon I'll be doing crazy jumps too!
I had a golf lesson on Tuesday which also went well. I'm getting very excited to play golf this year, because I think I'll be a lot better... after 2 lessons, I'll be a pro! Again though, it's a lot more fun if you feel yourself improving.
Curled on Tuesday... horribly. Curled on Thursday... amazingly (such a good feeling to make a crazy good shot that jsut deflates the other team!). So one loss, one win. Record becomes...28-14. I just realized that I hadn't played a game in weeks because I was sick, it was cancelled one week, I worked nights the week before. So I've missed a bunch of games lately.
So... other than that, we're still playing volleyball with much less success than last season. Oh well, it's still fun. The Olympics are keeping my captivated, and spring training just started... so excited for baseball. That's about it.
things i've learned this week
Friday, February 10, 2006 01:36 p.m.
1. Viral Infections of the throat and Strepp Throat are very similar things, but not the same. A viral infection causes your temperature to drop and comes with cold-like symptoms. Strep is caused by a bacteria, not a virus, and gives you a fever, but will not cause a runny nose or a cough. I had a the viral one.
2. A viral infection can make days at work very unpleasant, so sometimes it is better to leave early or just not go at all and just stay in bed. I did some of both this week.
3. Cepacol will do nothing to treat a viral infection. Good thing I bought a bottle and went through about half of it.
4. When dealing with a sore throat, Fishermans Friends and Ricola have far more medicinal value than Halls. Good thing I bought a bunch of Halls and went through about 2 packs.
5. OHIP Cards expire.
6. The OHIP Card office is about 2 minutes from my apartment, while the doctors office is almost in the lake. So I paid the doctor and made sure I could get a refund with an updated card. It's in College Park for anybody who is wondering.
7. Being sick really screws up your week. I had to reschedule my golf lesson, miss a curling game, spend almost whole days in bed...
8. Friends who bring you soup are the best ever. Even if it's because they happen to have a giant pot cooked and they happen to live nearby... Thanks to Josh and Kari for that.
That's about it... so guess how fun my week was?!
nothing to see here...
Monday, February 6, 2006 01:49 p.m.
This really is a no news update. I worked nights last week, so I don't even have curling to talk about. Really the only thing worth reporting is that I started my golf lessons on Thursday, and the first one went really well. I'm excited for another one, which is scheduled this week.
I'm on the 5am shift this week, which isn't so bad. I find that I get a lot more done when I'm trying to keep myself awake in the mornings. Last week, I was on the evening shifts and had very little to do... but managed to get even less done.
But yeah, like I said... not much to report. Leafs won on Saturday, we went out to watch that, and then to a lounge on Front st. Slept most of the day on Sunday, and Pittsburgh won the Superbowl. That's about it.
ACC
Tuesday, January 31, 2006 11:31 a.m.
I was at the Air Canada Centre three times last week, and watched it on TV a fourth time... all for different things. Tuesday night was Bon Jovi, which was awesome.
Friday night, I saw my first Toronto Rock game, which was pretty entertaining, despite the worst great seats ever (I was six rows from the field, right behind the goal... and there was a big shot clock directly between my face and the far goal. I kept leaning to the right to see around it and I don't think the random guy I was sitting next to liked it too much. Greg thought it was funny though.
Saturday night, I watched the Leafs on TV, from The Score. I still can't believe I still work there. It's like once every full moon or so...
Sunday night, I had Raptors-Kings tickets and caught a very exciting games, which the Raps won in overtime on a buzzer beater. I can't recall being that excited for the outcome of a game since Vince missed the last shot against Philly a few years back.
Other than that, same old same. My team won without me last Tuesday, and I skipped our Thursday team to a win (I played really well too, great feeling... 27-13). Volleyball isn't off to a great start on either night, but what can ya do? I signed up for golf lessons.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 01:41 p.m.
Hey, I curled in a spiel on the weekend and lost the A-Final in an extra end, on a really bad shot, in a game we certainly should have won. Managed to go 4-1 though, so this year I'm 26-13.
I went to Bon Jovi last night, which was great. I don't think I'll go again if they come back to town, but I'm glad I can say I saw them considering I was such a big fan throughout my formative years.
So now, I'm settling back into the curling/volleyball schedule 4 nights a week, which is nice, because it keeps me busy and entertained. James and I are still pumping out new articles on the website, and are starting to recruit some new people and get more interesting ideas for content.
Currently, I'm working on a site for Kurl for Kids, a charity bonspiel in April. And I'm kinda tired... so that's it for now!
Rocky Mountain Recap
Friday, January 20, 2006 05:28 a.m.
Well first of all, I forgot to add a loss to my curling record last time. 22-12. Thursdays are brutal.
Now, Denver... flying out through Buffalo wasn't bad. Mike dropped me off and I was able to check in and fly to Chicago with little fanfare. I had a lengthy layover in O'Hare and ended up watching football for most of it. Eventually, I got to Denver just in time to see the end of the Patriots game, which they lost... to Denver. So Sad.
After forgetting Dan's phone number and calling both sisters and my parents to get it, I eventually met up with my brother who drove me back towards Denver and into his new pad. The next day we went snowboarding at Copper Mountain near Vail, and I had a blast before almost killing myself on my last run of the day. The fatigue was setting in, and I made a poor decision, and ended up surrounded by trees. In tact, nothing bruised or broken. Just surrounded by trees.
Really the other major highlight was obviously the Leafs-Avs game, which the Avs won. We had a good time, and I'm sure all the Avs fans had a good time taunting me. Other than the domestic beating we saw on the way out of the arena, it was a pretty standard game! The beating took place in a car that zipped off the road as we were walking to our car. The guy reached over and started pummeling a girl in the passenger seat. About 10 people went over to the car and were screaming at him, at which point he zipped back into traffic narrowly missing about 30 people, and sped down the street as a bunch of people called 911 and reported his license plate and location. It was a screwy for sure.
The next morning I had to fly home early. Eventually I made it to Buffalo, which felt like it took a while because I lost an hour in each time zone. So when I caught a bus at 2:30 Denver time, it was really 4:30 Buffalo time. The bus from Buffalo costs $16, and took roughly 3 hours to get to Toronto. Boooo.
So now I'm back at work. I'm curling all weekend. Hopefully that goes well. I'm exhausted.
denveriffic
Saturday, January 14, 2006 12:14 a.m.
So I'm heading off to Denver tomorrow. Actually, that involves driving to Buffalo, flying to Chicago, and then heading off to Denver tomorrow... but either way I'm excited. And going through Buffalo was $300 cheaper. The only problem is, unfortunately, that it's Buffalo, and I have to get there and back somehow. Mike is going to be kind enough to drive me down tomorrow, but getting back on Wednesday may involve some serious public transportation.
Sportsguys.ca is moving along really well. In one week, I've put together a pretty sharp site, and written 6 pieces. We're writing more and will keep it up at a frantic pace, which will become less frantic as people start writing for us. Of course we're not paying anything, nor are we making anything, but hopefully we get noticed, or published, or something good comes of it.
I know last week I wrote that I was going to post part 3 of the New Year's Series with my resolutions. The more I thought about it, the less I felt like I had any legitimate resolutions, although I'm sure that is not the case. So... I'm just going to hammer out a few right now, some may be repeats.
1. Go places I've never been (repeat)
2. Take action that will help me persue a career in sports media (partly what the website is about)
3. Read more (at least 1 book a month)
4. Cross a couple things off my Lifelong To-Do List
5. Eat more vegetables
6. Get paying video gigs
7. Buy a car
8. Take a lot of pictures and video
9. Keep the apartment clean
10. Compliment people often
Well, the next one will either be from Denver, or after Denver. So I'll talk to you all then.
part 3 is coming, just not now
Wednesday, January 11, 2006 11:02 a.m.
I booked my flight to London. May 5-30th. Stops planned in Dublin, Latvia, Paris, and Oberstdorf, Germany. Can't wait.
I'm 3-1 since Christmas, and that makes it 22-11 on the year. Thursdays are pretty rough, Tuesdays we're dominating.
James and I launched a new website called sportsguys.ca and that's going well so far. I've been doing a lot of writing and web stuff, obviously.
I leave for Denver on Saturday. Looking forward to it.
happy belated new years, PART 2
Friday, January 6, 2006 07:16 p.m.
LAST YEARS RESOLUTIONS:
1. Go to gym 3 times a week
2. Go to places I've never been
3. Don't put things off that can be done at the moment
4. Get some video gigs to I can pay for a vacation
5. Put more money into savings
6. Eat less junk food
7. Volunteer to worthy projects
8. Read "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and adopts some of those habits
9. Sell things I don't use on ebay
10. Complement people more often
11. Make a short film
12. Cross three things off my list
13. Be a good person
NOW... HOW DID I DO?
1. THE GYM - I kept this up for about a third of the year. After Moving out in April, I think I went once. Yet I still weigh the same as I have for the past 5 years or so.
2. PLACES I'VE NEVER BEEN - Regina, Saskatoon, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Cuba... I guess that one went pretty well.
3. PROCRASTINATE NOT - In general, I think I did pretty well with this one. Deadlines are not what they used to be in the days of school, so there's no point in putting them off to make the assignment more exciting.
4. GIGS FOR VACATION - I did have at least one paying gig, but it wasn't enough for a vacation. However, I took a vacation, so we can pretend one had something to do with the other.
5. GEEBUS SAVES! - I actually put money in RRSPs this year, which counts as savings. If I can keep this up for a lot of years I'll be rich someday.
6. JUNK FUD - I don't know if I ate any less junk food, but I don't think it was possible for me to eat any more than the previous year. I also made a conscious effort to eat healthier alternatives... Like today, I had a pita. And yesterday, I had mushrooms on my pizza instead of the normal bacon and extra cheese...
7. VOLUNTEER - Other than a few website jobs that were done either freely or cheaply, and some curling instruction and coaching, I didn't do much in the way of worthy causes. I mean, these things were worthy, but didn't really involve the needy or unfortunate. I should work on that.
8. READ 7 THINGS ABOUT STUFF - Nope. But, I've looked at it a few times and thought, I should read that. I did read a lot more this year than I have in previous years, so I was happy about that. Maybe I'll start a Chillblove Book Club, for my faithful readers.
9. EEEEEEEBAYYYYYY! - I looked over and over for things I wanted to sell, but couldn't really find anything. Until I decided that nobody was going to come to U2 in Buffalo with Leigh and I. So those went up on ebay.com and sold like hotcakes for far more than they were worth. So I guess that was a success.
10. YOU STINK! COMPLI-MINT? - Again, one of those things that's hard to quantify, but I think I did a pretty good job of that. I know that I love it when people compliment me, so I try to return the favour to everyone.
11. FILM SHORT - I made a lot of videos. Some of them are even watchable. None of them really had a plot of any sort though... I'm calling it a success anyway.
12. THREE THINGS - Well... I got one for sure, I was supposed to have 2, and I don't even know what the third would have been. Cuba can now be crossed off, and soon Europe and other exotic locations will be as well. I'm going to start writing more soon, I think, so many some sort of work will develop.
13. WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD PEOPLE GONE? - Again, a vague one. I guess that's why they tell you goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, and time-oriented. Well, I didn't kill anybody, I didn't hurt anybody's feelings too bad (except maybe Do-Rag, but I think his rage was steroid induced), I didn't break any major laws, or put other people in comprimising positions... so again, I think this was a pretty successful one.
Tune in soon, for Part 3. This year's resolutions, goals, and plans which will be SPECIFIC AND MEASURABLE... and MAYBE ATTAINABLE. We can hope, can't we?
happy belated new year (PART 1)
Wednesday, January 4, 2006 11:44 p.m.
Happy New Year, Folks. Sorry this is late, I've been horribly under-stimulated lately. You'd think the boredom would leave me with all sorts of time to write pages and pages, and of course it does... but i have nothing to write pages and pages about. So I started thinking about a year in review column, which sounded like a great idea, but far too much work for someone who is horribly bored.
So, I'm going to give a very brief version of my year, as clearly as I can remember it without doing any actual research.
JANUARY - I went to Saskatchewan, curled in Trenton, went to Saskatchewan again, and spent the rest of my time with Leigh and Capo.
FEBRUARY - Valentines Day, Leigh's Birthday, Curling, and THE MOST AMAZING TRIP TO CUBA EVER.
MARCH - Work in Whitehorse, Work in Yellowknife, Dogsled/Northern Lights, Fly Home, Get U2 Tickets.
APRIL - My Birthday/Leigh takes care of me (best present EVER!!), Blue Jays season starts, We move out of 50 John St. seperately, and eventually break up (like two weirdos who still see eachother every other day).
MAY - Um... I caved. I couldn't think of anything that happened in May. All the entries are about being bored. Eradicators season started, I went to Maitland, our vollyeball team got uniforms. Oh, and my sister had a baby.
JUNE - RAGGED III (Niagara Golf Trip) was a huge success, I went to a bunch of Jays games, continued to hang out with Leigh, but managed to go out a couple times with a girl who immediately moved to France. Went to a cottage in Bobcaygeon and had a blast.
JULY - Spent most of this month on a patio, playing volleyball, or generally hanging out. I went to Jays games. I golfed.
AUGUST - I start to seriously plan my Europe trip, Dave and Brooke come to visit, bought new furniture, went to a cottage for a weekend, went to camp for a week. I got locked out of CBC.
SEPTEMBER - Lockout continues, I hang out with Leigh a lot. I play volleyball and drive to Detroit for a ballgame with Greg. Dad visits. Ballgames and Volleyball. Sleeping in was huge this month. I went to Brockville for a couple days. Saw a Jack Johnson concert. Leigh went to Argentina.
OCTOBER - We go back to work. Curling starts. Hang out with Leigh (yes, I did a lot of that this year), Hockey came back, I went to Boston with Mike for Leafs game.
NOVEMBER - Curling, Volleyball, watched movies with Leigh. ... i'm such a giant idiot...
DECEMBER - Saw my first patriots game (with Greg), went to U2 in Buffalo (with Leigh), curled in cricket (with Josh), went to the Cricket dinner (with Kari), and did some crazy Christmas shopping. Saw my family. Went to a buddy's place for New Years.
Tune in tomorrow for part 2 of this series.
Merry Belated Christmas
Wednesday, December 28, 2005 02:20 p.m.
Hey all... first of all, let me extend warm holiday wishes, retroactively. For the last couple years, I've been working on Christmas, so I've had a lot of time to spend updating this thing. This year, however, I was in the Mait-rix, hanging out with Mom, Dad, Sue, Neil and two crazy little boys (Ethan and Stephen). So, anyway, Merry Christmas, and here's some holiday wishes.
So first of all, last week we won our Tuesday night curling game without Josh and Jen. I skipped, Lisa viced, and Ian spared for us. 19-10 on the year. Should be better.
I went snowboarding last week for the first time in a long time. Bobby and Melissa gave me one of their old boards, and I got to use my own new boots. We went up and down the mountain a few times and had a great go ot it. No injuries to speak of, and a hankering to go up again.
Later that night, Seanat had a Christmas party, and we had some food and drinks and present exchanging. Leigh and I spent too much money on each other again (it's TRADITION!) and were both happy with what we ended up with. She got me some REAL Oakley sunglasses, and I got her a bunch of little things inluding some DVDs, a bag, and some fancy shampoo... Sean got me a mini guitar amp, which I tested out the other day, which reminds me that I need to play my other guitar more often.
I drove to Maitland on Friday and spent a few days with the family. It was a pretty standard Christmas visit, complete with dinners, drinks, presents, movies, board games, and all that good stuff. The two boys were happy and loud most of the time, and were thrilled with all sorts of new presents. I ended up with some books, a housecoat, some cash for golf lessons.
I came back on Monday morning, picked Chantelle up on the way, and had a pleasant drive back to the city. I took Leigh TV shopping, where she bought a fatty 46" HD thing. It's beautiful.
Now... as we were buying a massive TV on Yonge and College, people were shooting at each other a block away. Unfortunately, a girl was killed by a stray bullet and now the city is in a frenzy over gun violence. Of course, it is tragic and gun violence needs to be addressed, but I still don't feel anywhere near unsafe while walking down Yonge Street. It was a freak occurence in a busy place, and I don't want it to happen again, but I'm not going to worry about it either. I'm just as likely to get hit by a car on Yonge Street as I am by a bullet. Also, smog in Toronto kills 10 times as many people as gun violence. So while yes, it's a horrible thing to happen, Toronto is not Beirut, or Iraq, or even Chicago... which has 4 times as many gun deaths a year.
So yeah, that's my rant. Toronto is great. Naysayers can go stick it in your ear.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!
Sunday, December 18, 2005 11:07 a.m.
First of all, let me wish my mother a Happy Birthday. She's a wonderful lady. You should call her too. I called, but nobody was there... they must be out partying (at 10am on a Sunday morning).
Next, let me mention that the afformentioned BLAHs are lifting bit by bit. I've sorted some things out, finally, and got some good news from work to lift my spirits (more money baby!!).
I had a nice dinner with Leigh, Erin, Mike, and Natalie last night. We did up a turkey, stuffing, and the whole bit. I was responsible for beans... which I NAILED. It was a nice little evening, but I was exhausted by the end of it.
Curling this week was a bit of good and a bit of bad. After pulling a clutch win on Tuesday (playing light, with Jen at vice), we had a little trouble scoring points on Thursday. So, I'm 18-10.
I took my new stereo (from the Cricket Speil) to work, and hooked it up on my desk, which I love. Good sound beats the little crummy speakers I used to have. I also got a copy of the U2 show we saw last week, which is a nice little memento of the evening.
Patriots won yesterday, so they're officially in the playoffs. Good news, now we can spend a few weeks getting completely geared up for another Superbowl.
All in all, I just wanted to let everyone know I was in a better mood than I was on Tuesday...
debbie downer
Tuesday, December 13, 2005 05:33 p.m.
Things have been so BLAH lately, I hardly feel like writing about any of them. The rut I thought I was in managed to get deeper... and the only thing I'm really excited about, doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon. However, with patience, I'm hoping it will eventually... and that's what matters.
Cryptic enough for ya? Good.
Leigh and I saw U2 on Friday in Buffalo which was an exciting little trip. The show was great, and the drive was pretty uneventful, except for one lane change that could have gone a little more smoothly. We both had a good time though, and ended up back in Toronto around 2am.
I was in Buffalo again on Sunday for the Patriots Game. Most people in Buffalo would have said it was a Bills game, but why would I go to Bills game unless they were playing the Patriots? Besides arriving 4 hours early to tailgate in a blizzard, and some of the rowdiest obnoxious fans in our section, and the Patriots DESTROYING the bills 35-7, it was pretty uneventful. It was a good time though.
I've done nothing at all for two days except get a bit of Christmas shopping done, and I have to curl tonight. I lost my one game last week... so... that's 17-9 this year. And I feel like I've lost a lot of interest... who knows why?
Back to a NORMAL week?
Tuesday, December 6, 2005 12:20 p.m.
For the first time in who knows how long, I'm on a regular 10-6 shift at CBC. This is a lovely feeling because I can get up at a normal hour, go to work, come home, and not feel like I'm missing any huge part of my day. If I work early, I usually sleep all afternoon. If I work late then I miss volleyball or curling. 8-4 isn't bad, but I don't get those much either lately. Thankfully, we're pretty close to hiring a new person pretty shortly, so the schedule should level out a little more soon.
Christmas season is in full swing, and party season is getting ramped up. I've already been to one, had another one on the weekend (kinda), and have 3 more in the next week. Shopping season is also going a little crazy, but I have yet to take part in any of that. Monday and Tuesday next week are reserved for a shopping extravaganza... unless somebody happens to say "hey, wanna go snowboarding?"
Curling went well on the weekend. The annual event at the Cricket Club was a blast as usual, and after losing our league game on Thursday night, we won, lost, won, won, won, on the weekend, which made us the B-Champions. I was curling with Josh, Ian, and Larry (not my usual team), and we managed to fight back after being down 5-1 in the final, in the 4th end. We took two, stole, stole, and stole in the 8th for the win. Very exciting. New stereo and some calcutta cash later, it turned out to be a very good weekend... not to mention the all-you-can-eat roast beef buffet on Friday, and the dinner/dance on Saturday with my friend Kari, which were both a lot of fun. I gained six pounds at dinner alone on Friday.
So add 4 wins and 2 losses this week... 17-8 on the year. And a game tonight.
Other than that.... nothin.
mornings again? yeah, i know...
Wednesday, November 30, 2005 05:15 a.m.
It seems lately that I'm forever getting up at 4:30, standing in the shower half-asleep for 15 minutes, slowly getting dressed, and then somehow getting my sleepy behind to work. So this week, I mixed it up a bit...
A few weeks ago, my boss at the Score asked when I could work, so I glanced at my schedule and told him that Monday night is okay this week. I'm not sure what week I was looking at, if I even looked at all because of course I have to work at 5am all week, and a shift at the Score goes until 2am at the EARLIEST.
So Monday's schedule was a little like:
5am-12pm: WORK AT CBC
12pm-3pm: NAP AT HOME
3pm-5pm: LOOK FOR FOOD AT HOME, REALIZE EXTREME NEED FOR GROCERIES
5pm-2am: WALK TO WORK (RAIN), PICK UP SUB, WATCH LEAFS WIN, WORK UNTIL I CAN'T TYPE ANYMORE, LEAVE
2am: GO TO CBC, SLEEP ON COUCH IN MY OFFICE
5am: WAKE UP, FACE DAY...
Facing the day ended up being pretty painless actually. I made it through just fine, went home, had a nap and a shower, then met Leigh for a coffee and did some grocery shopping. I had time to make myself a real dinner before curling. We won big (and also on Thursday night) so our mixed team is 7-1, and I'm 13-6 on the year.
I didn't do much on the weekend. Just a little holiday type gathering on Saturday night, which was pretty tame. I'm starting to get in the Christmas mood, which is fun. Today may be a big shopping day...
The government exploded two nights ago, so now we have to have another election. This is one thing I hate about Canadian Politics. We just HAD an election. And if you ask me, nothing has changed. The Liberals will still win a Minority government and it will be July before anybody gets any work done in Ottawa.
more like BRRRRS-DAY
Thursday, November 24, 2005 06:50 p.m.
Hey all... It's Thursday, and it's the 2nd day of our First Real Snow of the Year. I haven't been outside lately, but rumour has it, it's pretty miserable.
So it's Thanksgiving in the U.S., which means in Canada, it's just 1 month until Christmas and for whatever reason there's football on TV in the middle of afternoon on a Thursday.
Curling has been going well, after taking a week off for work purposes. Both of my teams won without me, and on the weekend the girls I'm coaching lost the A-Final of the Guelph Cashspiel, which is the 4th time they've won money in 4 Cash Events. Our mixed squad played Tuesday (it was my turn to skip), and we won. 11-6 on the year, and looking to improve it tonight.
Ummm... what else. I saw "Shopgirl" which was awful. I saw "Harry Potter: IV" which was pretty good. I also watched the BBC's "The Office" - Seasons 1 & 2, which was awkwardly hilarious. Pretty funny, but also pretty... cringe-worthy. I bought some books and I'm looking forward to reading them, because I feel that far too much of my life has been in front of one screen or another lately.
Did I mention I want to go on vacation?
Get Busy Livin'...
Tuesday, November 15, 2005 08:28 p.m.
So... how was your week? Mine was okay. I had a pretty quiet weekend, which was well deserved and necessary. The Patriots beat the Dolphins. I got to sleep a lot.
Thursday was a bit crazy at the curling rink. I think everybody on our team was a little edgy, so people were snapping at eachother a bit, and there was a bit of an issue in the 6th end (which didn't involve me), and there was a bit of excitement. Anyway, we won. I played 3 games on Saturday with Gareth, and went 2-1. So.. that makes the 2005-2006 Curling Record: 10-6.
We lost the championship volleyball game last night. We had a great year, and were playing really well, and just came out a bit flat on Monday. Ah well, these things happen. I've lost things before, and I will lose things again. The best you can do is do your best to play like a champion and learn something...
I've been really busy lately, with what feels like the same old things. I need a vacation... so I'm trying to plan something good. It looks like I'll be traveling a lot in the coming year, and I'm looking forward to it. There may be some work trips, as well, which I really wouldn't mind.
So after giving myself a few days to recharge mentally, I've got a solid week to recharge physically. I'm working the 3-11 shift this week, so I can't make it to curling or my other volleyball game. And like I said, it's probably a good thing so I can recover a little bit.
So in short. I'm well. I'm busy, but I'm bored.
darn these stupid weeks
Wednesday, November 9, 2005 05:16 a.m.
Things I did before 5 am today...
1. Got in a taxi and hit every red light on the planet.
2. Sacrificed a shower for 20 minutes of extra sleep (i had one last night, i'm not stinky yet).
3. Listened to AC/DC on my ipod.
4. Shuffled through a stack of ballcaps, trying to find a good one I hadn't worn lately.
5. Pondered my curling games from the previous evening (a big win, and a similar loss. 2005-2006 RECORD - 7-5)
6. Saw a big scary lookin' maintenance guy whose overalls pretty much overflow with the girth of his belly.
7. Chugged a large glass of water thinking the hydration will help destroy whatever illness is starting to surface in my throat. It's got one of those scientific names... like "Sore Throat."
8. Thought about getting a coffee. Didn't.
9. Wished I had gotten a coffee... planned to get one shortly.
10. Talked to a security guard who looked like Deion Sanders.
In other news... Monday Night Volleyball is now in the playoffs, and we're in the final next week. That's about it. I'm taking this weekend off from everything, so I can recover from a few hectic, low-sleep weeks.
filling the seat
Wednesday, November 2, 2005 08:52 a.m.
Well, Boston was a good time. The Leafs lost to the Bruins 2-1, but Mike and I were there cheering in full Leafs-gear. We got a little razzing, but most of the commentary was fairly complementary... People in Boston seem to like Toronto.
So the next few days were spent hanging out with the Dirty White Boys and having a good time. Of course, I made the mandatory trip to Abercrombie & Fitch on Saturday afternoon... while it SNOWED LIKE CRAZY!!
We drove back on Sunday in beautiful weather, and made it back in almost exactly 8 hours, which was pretty decent time. We had about 15 minutes to enjoy being home because we had a dinner engagement with Seanat and the girls (that's sean, natalie, erin, and leigh) because Sean was about to leave for Edmonton for a while. We went to the Korean Grill House on Queen, which was pretty good, but I think I overdid the all-you-can eat.
I was back at work on Monday, which was Halloween. And that was uneventful. Team Top Gun lost only our 2nd game of the season, to put our record at 9-2 heading towards the playoffs. I went up to Leigh's and watched "Batman Begins" which I thought was really good.
Tuesday, I curled with my mixed team and I got to skip. We won (2005: 6-4). It felt good. I'm not playing as badly lately!
So, I'm trying to organize my life for the next year or so. That's about it. Trying to figure out where I'm going to be when and what I'm going to spend money on. I'll tell you more as soon as I figure it out.
3 things
Thursday, October 27, 2005 07:27 a.m.
1. I'm going to Boston for the weekend, leaving in about 20 minutes. Very much looking forward to this. Partly because I don't have to go to work today or tomorrow.
2. Josh and I won a game to get our curling season back on track... my record thus far, 5-4.
3. The White Sox won the World Series and I really don't care. I lost interest in the baseball season a month ago.
rough week
Saturday, October 22, 2005 12:36 p.m.
Geez... I haven't updated this thing lately. I haven't slept very well all week, and have been fairly exhausted both physically and mentally. I felt like garbage on Friday, and was so excited for the weekend, until I realized that I had to work at CBC for Saturday and Sunday. Ahh well.
I have been curling horribly for my last few games, probably because I've been tired. So I'm 0 for my last 3 (2005 RECORD: 4-4). Volleyball is going really well on Mondays and we're leading that league. Volleyball on Wednesday is struggling, mainly because we had trouble getting players out for our early games... ahh well, it's fun.
CBC is essentially back to normal, as far as I'm concerned. There was a bit of craziness for the first few days back, but then it kinda settled right back into how it was. It's kinda boring at the moment, but some major projects are coming down the pipe, which should breed some excitement. There may be some travel involved again, which should make next year a jetsetting one, when you consider the trips I'm already lining up.
I'm going to Boston on Thursday with my roommate Mike. Tickets to the Leafs-Bruins game are on their way, so that should be fun. I'll meet up with as many friends as possible, but I don't know how many that will be. No matter how many, it will be a good time.
That's all for now...
it's all good, hollywood
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 10:28 p.m.
Well... Today was the first day back after nearly two months of lockout. Everything was bizarrely normal at CBC, except for the obvious confusion of people remembering how to do their jobs after a long layoff. There was no drama to speak of, and only a bit of healthy debate and banter surrounding the return to work. I'm glad to be back though...
So then I went out with Leigh and got groceries. That was fun, and it's good to have food again.
And then, I went to the curling club with Josh and Jen, where we played our first mixed game of the year. We all played pretty well, and were in control for most of the game, and won pretty handily. So that felt good, even though I'm not throwing particularly well. (2005-2006 Record: 4-1).
And then, I got home in time to watch the end of the Leafs game. They beat Philly 4-2 for their first win of the season. What a relief that is to have out of the way... Lindros is looking good. Everybody cross your "no concussion" fingers.
I need a haircut.
Stinkin Leafs
Sunday, October 9, 2005 12:25 p.m.
I went out with Mike O. last night for the Leafs game, and of course we lost another tight one... to Montreal. Mike is a Canadiens fan, so he was giddy all night. The rest of us, not so much.
We had a practice with the curling team in the afternoon yesterday, and I'm finally starting to get comfortable in the coaching role, running the practice. I know I know everything I need to know, but I wasn't feeling the confidence enough to tell other people what to do... but that's coming now, and I feel like I'm making a positive difference now.
Leigh is in Montreal with her family for Thanksgiving, so I'm minding the cat at her place. I'll probably swing by after the Patriots game, and before work tonight at the Score.
It's officially starting to feel like fall, and I love it. The cooler air, the crispness... you need a jacket, or a sweater, long pants. Everything turns orange. Could be my favourite time of year.
I'm going back to work, Tuesday at 5am. Yipee.
Do-Rag
Friday, October 7, 2005 10:16 a.m.
First of all, I'd like to give a shout out and a Happy Birthday to the newest member of the "People who I didn't know read this thing" list, Cid. It always cheers me up to find out I have another reader...
That being said, we had our first curling game last night and squeaked one out. We had to steal in 7 and 8 to tie, then again in the extra end for the win. We really should have been beaten in the 7th, but got a break when the other skip missed a shot he'll make 99% of the time. (2005-2006: 3-1)
Volleyball was a bit of a disaster on Wednesday, but a fun disaster. We only rounded up 4 people, and 2 of them were ringers. When Chantelle pulled herself from the game with an injury, we ended up playing 3 on 6, fairly effectively. We kept the games close, and actually won the 3rd. So that was good...
I'm trying to fill my last few days off with all the stuff I won't get to do once I'm back at work, but really I can't think of what all that stuff is... so usually I just end up going for coffee with Greg, or walking around with Leigh.
I'm excited to go back to work, but I'm sure I'll be begging for a day off before you know it.
OH... and then there's this. After curling last night, I went out to Fynn's with Sean, Mike, and Natalie. We play a few games of pool and this weird old guy in a do-rag asks if he can play the winner. We ended up playing 6 or 7 games, and we definitely won most of them, but at one point in the middle of it all, he goes off on me about trying to cheat and being disrespectful and all this stuff that comes from out of nowhere... and as I try to smooth things over, he doesn't let me get a word out, and tries to tell me that he plays pool for $100,000 a game. So Natalie and I beat him 3 more times and left. But boy, did he suddenly become a psycho.
so much for...
Wednesday, October 5, 2005 02:36 p.m.
So much for keeping this thing updated more regularly! I thought about it a number of times but never really did much about actually typing anything...
So much for the lockout!!! We'll be back to work on Tuesday it seems, with some nice cash bonuses coming our way. The CBC essentially caved and gave in to the Union, right before hockey season, which was the most predictable thing, but also pretty much guarantees that this was never about labour agreements and that it was only about the CBC saving a bunch of money. And yet, all the Union people are patting themselves on the back thinking they won... Yes, you gained a bit for the CBA, but really you just got screwed for 2 months because management wanted to save some cash. Yes, you got a decent outcome after a 2 month screw-job, but it's still a 2 month screw-job. I can see being happy it's over, but I'm more upset with management now than I was ever before, because it really seems all they were worried about is money.
So much for the Jays... I was at the last game on Sunday, and I realized that I really enjoyed going to all those games this year. They had a decent year, marred by a few unfortunate injuries and one unfortunate bullpen pitcher. It was a lovely day though, and a great way to end the season.
So much for waiting for hockey... The Leafs play tonight, and I'm very excited. I'm working out a plan to see Leafs games in Montreal, Boston, and Colorado this year, and of course, none in Toronto.
So much for summer... It's officially over. Curling season is almost in full swing (as was evidenced by last weeks Oakville Clinic, the Weston Spiel, and the Austrian girls visit). The nights are getting cooler, and tomorrow is supposed to be really really cold.
oh, and there's this...
Monday, September 26, 2005 05:22 p.m.
I realized that I didn't mention the Jack Johnson concert. It was last Saturday, and it was incredible. Really really really good show. So amazingly good. I got a nice T-Shirt too.
Update
Monday, September 26, 2005 04:55 p.m.
For the record, it is now Day 43 of the CBC Lockout. The last month and a half and felt a little bit like being unemployed, but lately I've managed to find a few things to make my empty weeks a little more exciting. Besides a few shifts at the Score, and a steady diet of video games and sports on TV, I've managed to find a few projects that require attention, creativity, and effort... which are things that have been doled out very sparingly in the past 43 days.
On top of those projects, which I will get to shortly, Capo the Cat lived here for the past 10 days while Leigh was away in Argentina. He settled in quickly, and found a very comfortable new home for himself. When Leigh showed up today (after what sounds like an amazing trip), he seemed reluctant to pay her too much attention, but was eventually coaxed into his travel pen, and carried home. Early reports indicate that within minutes of arriving back at Leigh's place, he forgot all about his little 10 day stay with me and the guys.
So projects... I've found new and exciting ways to keep myself busy. After a few coffees with Greg, we decided to resurrect an idea for a TV show that he had been kicking around for a while and give it an honest shot at making a series. ***EDITED SO NOBODY STEALS OUR IDEA***
Another thing that will require my attention in the upcoming while is a new website I'm working on with my brother called MediaSpoof.com. It's going to be a lot of Photoshop Contests and humour columns, which I recently decided was going to be a weekly-ish deconstruction of random blogs. I plan to make fun of a lot of people's ideas on what is the best way to showcase yourself to the world.
With all that in mind, I'm going to try to keep this updated a little more frequently, instead of the weekly recap. I find that the more often I do it, the more interesting the stories are that I decide to share... like the one about my pizza order the other night, when the delivery guy showed up to my building, then left without dropping off the pizzas. And then I had to essentially call and reorder and they still made me pay for it... I was so mad, but too hungry to complain properly.
What else... OH! I taped a funeral last week. Yeah, talk about the creepiest thing you can do. I got asked, it was a paying gig, and it was easy. But from an emotional standpoint, it was a bit sketchy. Think of a wedding and how everybody is having fun and acting happy... it makes for great video. Now picture the exact opposite, and watch it on TV. Woo woo!! Talk about a pick-me-up!
On Thursday and Friday last week, I went to the Maitrix for a bit, and hung with the parents, golfed a bit, and hung out at the Brockville Country Club where a competetive bonspiel was being held. I interviewed some big name curlers (Kevin Martin, Mike Harris, and Mark Dacey) about team-building stuff, and used some of that for my presentation on Saturday in Oakville, where I was working at a junior/bantam high performance curling camp. It was a two day thing, so Sunday afternoon when it was all done, some of the instructors went out for dinner and a bite to eat with a team visiting from Austria. A few beverages were consumed, and after the party moved downtown and we could park the car, a few more were consumed. On the same weekend, the ladies team I'm coaching did very well in their bonspiel, losing the main event final, but still cashing in around $1000.
And today... I'm trying to catch up on the cleaning I've neglected for the past couple weeks. I'm putting things away and hanging things up. I'm doing laundry. I'm cleaning the tub. That's right... going wild, cleaning-style.
So volleyball tonight. That's about it.
I know I'm way behind
Wednesday, September 14, 2005 01:09 p.m.
Yes... I'm aware it has been a while since I updated this. But really, I've been so busy with work and... wait, no. I've just been lazy. Where was I?
DAY 23 - I don't recall exactly what I did on this particular Tuesday. I can assure you that I certainly did not go to work, and considering nothing else is written on my calendar, I probably hung out with Leigh. I'm fairly sure we walked through Yorkville and down Spadina, just because it was a nice day and it was something to do.
DAY 24 - I had lunch with Greg and David from CBC. We talked about the lockout situation, video games, movies, socks, the whole bit. I had a meeting at the Score at 5, so I had to bail for a while, but caught up with them later and resumed conversating. :P Of course, it was not an easy thing to leave, which was why I showed up last for the Smashing Bumpkins championship BBQ. This was apparently an outrageous crime, because I was bringing the buns.
DAY 25 - The NFL season officially kicked off. Of course I was in Oakville curling, so I didn't get to watch the whole game, in which my Patriots defeated the Raiders. We won our game though (2005-2006: 2-1), and got home at a decent enough hour to watch the end of the game with Leigh, who is taking an interest in football... or at least football players.
DAY 26 - I didn't sleep well on Thursday night, and was in a crusty mood on Friday, so after a bit of errand running with Leigh I took a nap in the afternoon. I felt much better in the evening, and decided that I'd stay in and take it easy. So I played video games, talked with Mike, and chatted with some folks on MSN.
DAY 27 - I met in the morning with a ladies team I'm going to be coaching this year. We discussed their goals, schedule, plans, etc. over breakfast on the back deck of one of their houses. It was a lovely day, and a nice little meeting. After that, they were to meet with their sponsor Goldline for a uniform and equipment fitting. So I went along because I had nothing else to do. After watching them try on a bunch of stuff, the Goldline rep. realized I was the coach and informed me that coaches are privy to the sponsorshp benefits too, and proceeded to outfit me with a load of curling equipment which I later figured out to be roughly $800 worth. So thank you GOLDLINE. And for any curlers out there, support them please! They do a lot of very generous sponsorship work, not only with teams, but also with a number of camps and clinics.
DAY 28 - I watched football for most of the day. Tom came over for a bit. We played some video games. I had Wendy's for dinner. That's about it.
DAY 29 - My dad came out for a couple days, so we went out for dinner and then to the ballgame. Darren (from the Score) got us some amazing seats, about 10 rows behind the dugout, and we watched the Jays fight back from a 5-0 lead, only to lose 6-5 in the 11th. We had a good time though, and continued to do so after we got home that evening. James and Mike were around so we had a few drinks, and watched TV for a while.
DAY 30 - Dad and I golfed at the Don Valley Golf Course, at Yonge and York Mills. It was a pretty decent course with a LOT of hills and elevation changes. The 401 also runs right across the course... or should I say, over it. I had a pretty average game, with a couple of good holes and a couple of really awful ones. I did birdie a par 4 (which is exciting for me, okay?), which required a putt of about 5 inches. So that made my day... We went to the Jays game again, and sat in my usual upper bowl seats, and were eventually joined by Greg and Clarissa. Jays won 9-6, and a good time was had by all.
DAY 31 - Dad left about an hour ago, so I'm catching up on all my geek habits like web design and email. My mother sent me one telling me that she got a hole-in-one (ANOTHER hole-in-one.... this is her 2nd) yesterday, but I wasn't allowed to tell my dad, because she wanted to when he got back. So Congrats Mom! And unless dad stops somewhere along the highway and calls up this site, I'm fairly sure your secret is still safe!
All that being said, I have to work at the Score tonight. Leigh leaves for Argentina on Friday, at which point I adopt a cat for 10 days. Capo is going to come and live with me. That's about it for now... this will get updated again... eventually.
champions again/lockout diary
Monday, September 5, 2005 10:06 p.m.
DAY 17 - In the daytime, I hung out with Greg and worked on getting a functioning copy of Madden '06 Football for xbox (which we did, discovering that it's an awesome game). In the evening the Smashing Bumpkins won the semifinal in the 1 vs. 4 game. And then we won the final in the 4 vs. 2 game. So there you have it... the Smashing Bumpkins are Beach Volleyball Champions!! A few celebratory beers and a pizza later, I was home.
DAY 18 - I sat around most of the day with Leigh and Melissa and talked about movies. The sun was hiding behind a building for most of it and it was really windy. I had to bolt to curling, which didn't go well this week. We lost (2005-2006 Record: 1-1). Some Bumpkins went to the awards dinner to claim our prizes, which consisted of team t-shirts and a volleyball for the captain (me!).
DAY 19 - Leigh and I walked around the Distillery District for most of the afternoon then spent some time sitting on the roof. There was a BCPT (Brian Chick Poker Tour) Stop at Tom's house on Friday night, and that was well attended event. I lost a bit, but left before it got too bad.
DAY 20 - Really, I don't think I did anything other than play video games. If I did, it wasn't worth mentioning.
DAY 21 - To celebrate the three week anniversary of lockoutdom, I went golfing with Josh and some buddies. We played at the Maples of Ballantrae which is in Stoughville. I golfed okay, but had my usual meltdowns on various holes. I had my par, and played solid bogey golf for about 6 holes in a row, which pleased me. I hung out with Josh and Tom later in the evening, played some poker and some more xbox.
DAY 22 - I had my first Score shift in a little while, and worked from 12-8 today. Jerry Rice retired, the Jays won, and that's about all there is worth mentioning from that. I felt useful for once, which is an unfamiliar feeling lately. I came home and continued being useful by cleaning up the apartment, my room, and my computer (deleting a lot of old junk).
Analysis... really I've found my lockout time enjoyable, although incredibly boring. I've found a lot of time to be social, spent a lot of time with friends, and obviously a lot of time playing video games (it's free entertainment, and it kills a lot of time). I'd really like to go back to work soon though. I'm sure I'll start missing that paycheque really soon.
Lockout Diary - Trilly and then some...
Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:22 p.m.
DAY 7 - I made it to camp on time (Thanks for the ride, Hyde!) and exhausted after yet another night of late night pizza and beer. Days 8-9-10-11-12 were filled with all sorts of fun, and I was thrilled to be able to spend my week with such an amazing group of people. The campers had a blast, as did the instructors, and by the end of the week (which flew by) everyone was quite tuckered. Friday night, I hung out with Josh (like I hadn't been doing that all week) and played a few games of caps.
DAY 13 - I'm pretty sure I slept in for a long time. I played Tiger Woods for a while on Xbox with Mike, and then went to BBQ with Leigh and Melissa. After that, we headed to the Bier Market and rehatched all the stories about how crazy things got last time we were there (my birthday). This was not a repeat of that, however, and everything remained extremely calm. We went to the Harbour Grille afterwards and had some of the tastiest nachos ever. I stronly recommend them.
DAY 14 - Now... this is where it gets exciting. Eradicator Softball took it to a new level. Our playoffs started at 9am, and we'd keep playing until we lost. We won the first (I hit a bomb and made the catch of the decade - better than last years), we won the 2nd (against a great bunch of guys) and won the third (we shut them out in a slo-pitch game!!). So the Eradicators won their first championship ever... and to celebrate, I had to go to work.
DAY 15 - I met with some people from Kurl for Kids and am going to make them a website. So I'll have something to do for the next couple weeks. I'm also working on a couple other web projects, but I'm sure I'll have more to share on that later.
DAY 16 - Today... I played a lot of xbox, did some website work, answered a lot of emails, and then grabbed some baseball tickets. I went for dinner with Leigh and her parents (... you can all shut up now) and then we went to the Jays game. Jays won 7-2, and Rafael Palmeiro had the biggest earplugs in I've ever seen. He still went 0-4 and got booed mercilessly. In other news, talks are supposed to start up tomorrow for CBC. Progress? MAYBE?!
Lockout Diary
Saturday, August 20, 2005 02:29 p.m.
Okay... so I'm officially locked out of work. I'm not thrilled about this because I don't think my union is doing anything right, but then again, I don't really believe they believe in the right things anyway... So I've had a week off, and here's what happened so far.
DAY 1 - I slept until noon, got some groceries, and hung out with Leigh for a while.
DAY 2 - I cleaned my apartment, did some laundry, ordered some poutine from Dangerous Dan's, then later saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Leigh on the IMAX Screen at Paramount. It was pretty good, but nothing mind blowing.
DAY 3 - (this was a good one) Greg, who also works at CBC and is therefore locked out and taking a week off, asked if I'd be interested in going to Detroit with him to see the Red Sox play the Tigers in an afternoon game. Of course I agreed, having never been to Comerica Park, and having less than a clue about what else I could have done with a Wednesday. So we drove down, parked, bought tickets in the upper deck, just to the left of home plate, and enjoyed a lovely day of sun, baseball, bratwurst, and beer. Tigers won. We left, drove home. We pulled into the Docks at about 9:00 which was convinient because I had a volleyball game that started at 9:00. We took 2 of 3 in each of our games, which means we're still at the top of our league.
DAY 4 - I spent the afternoon editing the video from the cottage, and finally put together a finished product, which was very well received. I curled my first game of the year, with a new team in the Oakville Summer Curling League. It'll run for 7 weeks. We won our first game, and I like the team, so I think we'll have a good time.
DAY 5 - I slept in, bummed around all day. Eventually my new furniture showed up, so I know have a legitimate living room! This stuff is pretty sweet too. You should all come sit on my new leather sofa, loveseat, and chair. It's amazing. I watched movies and played video games with Erin, Mike, and Sean last night. Perfect way to break it in.
DAY 6 - Getting ready for camp. I leave tomorrow.
boozefest iv
Sunday, August 14, 2005 09:14 p.m.
First... the good news. I had a really fun (but really exhausting) weekend. I went up to Steve's cottage with 3J (that's my new nickname for Josh, Jen, and Justin) on Friday afternoon, and proceeded to go a little crazy, along with everyone else in the group. Most of the people were from Trenton, but I had hung out with them a number of times before.
There really isn't too much detail worth mentioning. Pretty standard cottage stuff: drinks, cards, BBQ, swimming, paddleboats, drinks, dancing, throwing full beer bottles out of the boat thinking they'd float, bombing down the backroads in Josh's car etc. Based on reports from previous years, it sounds like we lived up to the reputation. I got a nice tan and got to hang out with some super fun people...
Now the bad news: I'm locked out of my job. If we weren't locked out, we'd probably be on strike. This annoys me for so many reasons, among which are the lack of money, the fact that I don't agree with the union stance, and the fact that the only way to get strike pay is to get out there and picket or work in some other pro-union capacity. So I'll be sleeping in tomorrow and sitting at home editing personal videos. I don't know how long this will last, but I think I can wait it out and not go too broke.
That's it for now.
sparkly play by mora
Thursday, August 11, 2005 07:50 a.m.
Well it's Thursday morning... One week ago, my buddy Dave Riley came up with his girlfriend Brooke and hung out for a few days. We went out a few times, had a bunch of drinks, and saw the Jays play the Yankees. Of course, they were cheering for the Yankees (who won 2 of 3) and the game I couldn't go to was the one the Jays won.
I skipped the game on Saturday because I was playing in the Royals golf tournament, which was a blast. Next year I hope to not be the driver, because it seemed like everybody else was having a little more fun than me by the end of the day. Either way though, I golfed alright, the weather was nice, and our foursome finished -1 in a best ball competition. By the time we picked from the prize table, I was able to snag a nice new sand wedge...
I was able to share some of my favourite Toronto-food with Dave and Brooke. We had some Dangerous Dan's poutine, some burritos from Burrito Boyz, and also hit up some Thai food on Sunday night. There was also a late-night trip to Big Slice for pizza, but really that was just some drunken-hungries.
This week I've been doing the 5am starts at work, which means I'm trying to be productive with my afternoons. So Monday afternoon I took a nap, Tuesday I went backpack shopping, and Wednesday I bought some new living room furniture which will be delivered next week. I got a wicked deal on a 3-piece set... can't wait to get it.
I've been hammering out more details for my Europe trip, and now may be dumping the Dublin stop for a couple more days in France, where I recently learned I can stay free for a couple days. So that leaves London, Amsterdam, France (Paris, Dieppe, Strasbourg), then Italy (Venice, Milan, Rome). October 7th is the day I ship out.
Now, what makes this all a little more interesting is that CBC is currently experiencing some labour turmoil. As of next week, we could be on strike or locked-out. I'm not at all thrilled about the concept, so I'm really hoping it gets worked out. The union, however, seems to have some pretty childish negotiating tactics and I can't say I agree with the stance on many of the issues in general. So that'a little frustrating. I'm fortunate enough to have another job to fall back on, not to mention a week of camp that will pay me a decent wage. Let's just hope they sort it out before Monday. I get the feeling the union WANTS to go on strike, which irritates the *biff* outta me.
Anyway, the Smashing Bumpkins are still doing well. Probably not in first place after last night though. We'll see when the standings get posted.
Good News: Plane Crash
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 08:17 a.m.
Hey everybody... I'm sure most of you caught a glimpse of Toronto's latest appearance on the world stage when an Air France jet skidded off the end of the run way into a ravine and caught fire. Amazingly, everyone survived and people really only had minor injuries.
I'm pretty sure everyone is thrilled that nobody was killed, but I was amazed how fast it was no longer news. But good for the crew and airport staff to get people out of there before the plane caught fire. Although it was an Air France plane, it's a pretty Canadian way to do things... Crash the plane, get the world's attention with live shots of a burning passenger jet, then eventually tell everyone that everyone survived because those mundane safety procedures worked and people cooperated.
In a way, I think it gives Torontonians and Canadians a little boost of self-confidence anytime we're in the news because we compare ourselves to our American neighbors. We do elections faster and more accurately, we're a far more liberal society in granting and preserving rights, and we even do plane crashes better.
I don't think I've said that exactly right, but it's too early and I haven't slept enough. I was at the Score until 2 last night, and here we are shortly after 8. Ouch. Work was good though... a bit crazy, but good.
Maybe I'll try again later when I have more thinking available. I'm almost ready to book tickets for Europe.
Fashion Show
Friday, July 29, 2005 10:22 a.m.
Click here for the blogTO.com link.
Jays won in 18 innings last night. What a game.
long weekend... did nothing
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 10:39 a.m.
Well besides going out for a few drinks after work on Friday, my weekend was fairly tame. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything on Saturday, played video games and poker on Saturday night, and went to bed fairly early.
Sunday, we had two softball games, and we won one of them. We're not winning nearly as often as we're used to. For some reason, nobody can hit this year... except Mike, who is supposed to move in this weekend, finally.
From softball, I rushed home to have a shower and a quick nap before Bobby picked me up for golf. The Smashing Bumpkins guys (all three of us) went to Richmond Hill Country Club and played 18. I was pretty awful as usual, although I did par my standard one hole, and have a couple other bogeys. I couldn't hit a drive to save my life... didn't matter though, we avoided the rain and had a good time.
I hung out with Leigh for most of Monday and Tuesday, running a lot of errands, shopping for odd things all over town. We barbecued with Sean & Natalie on Monday night and I made some wicked potatoes which everyone was very impressed with. The steak was pretty darn good too. As was the Baskin Robbins afterwards. Yesterday, we hit up Ikea and I bought a couple chairs for my table... so I can actually sit and eat at something, should I ever decide to cook.
And last night... well, I should rewind a bit first. In an effort to do more video work, I was in contact with a guy who runs a website called blogTO.com. He's interested in putting some video content on his site, and I'm interested in getting more exposure and experience, and a possible paycheque, should we ever reach that point. He asked if I wanted to shoot a fashion show last night... so I said sure.
So I go to this place called The Ultra Supper Club. I'd actually been there before, they've got an amazing rooftop patio, which is where this show is supposed to take place. But if you've been in Toronto for the last few days, you'll know it's been threatening rain every 4 minutes... so they moved it inside. I was told to show up at 11:00pm but that the show probably wouldn't start until midnight, and around 12:20am they finally turned on the runway lights and out walk a load of beautiful girls in bikinis and lingirie (all work-talk aside, a few of them were just SMOKIN'). The lighting, however, made shooting difficult so I had to be creative and move around quite a bit, and I think I eventually put together a pretty decent 2 minute piece for this site. I'll post a link when it's actually up. Who actually gets dressed up to go to a fashion show at midnight on a Tuesday? I don't know... but there was no shortage of them.
So tonight, Smashing Bumpkins Volleyball returns (provided it stops raining). We've moved to a new location and a new time, and now have a new record of 0 wins and 0 losses. That really annoys me, because we were in first place, but people keep telling me it's fair because the whole league got reshuffled. Ahh well, hopefully we can keep the streak alive.
Meanwhile, I'm doing the Tour-de-Pants which involves 9 stages of workdays in a row. Stages 2, 5, and 7 will be grueling mountain stages (doubling up at CBC/The Score), while number 9 will be an easy ride down the Champs Elysees...
I'll post a link to that video soon.
patio therapy
Saturday, July 16, 2005 06:44 p.m.
So again, it's been a little while... but like so many things, the summer months are a time for taking it easy, slacking off, and entertaining yourself with tasks more fun than sitting at the computer.
Lately, it's been a lot of the same old same at work. Things are fairly quiet around the CBC which doesn't create a lot of work for us (although summer replacements are a little more clueless than the regulars, obviously), and although I've got more shifts at the Score these days, they still consist of watching baseball and the odd golf tournament.
Outside of work, I've been having a really good time with friends. Whether we're sitting on a patio in the sun (the weather has been incredible), playing volleyball on the beach (we're in first place, but don't have games for a couple weeks), or finding other ways to have fun (BBQ, Poker Nights, Softball Games), it's been a really good time for the past few weeks... to the point where I was often asking myself "don't I have to be working? or doing something else now? am I sure I don't have to be somewhere?"
But people keep telling me, "It's summer. That's what it's supposed to be like!" And I guess they're right. I just don't recall it being like this in recent years... I'm not complaining at all, I just don't remember spending so much time sitting in the sun or hanging around with my friends.
On a sports related note, I watched Jack Nicklaus play his final few holes at the British Open yesterday. He's retiring after a long and glorious career. As he walked up the 18th fairway at St. Andrews to an amazing ovation, it was pretty obvious it was a special moment... and I was at work watching it. And I teared up... seriously. I didn't "cry," but I got goosebumps and my eyes welled up. There was just something about the fact that he wasn't going to get to do what he had done so long, and so well, anymore. I was actually sad for him, but happy at the same time. He seemed to know that it was the right thing to do.
In other news still, the Jays just lost. I'm not sure how confident I am in the rest of the season.
patio weather
Friday, July 8, 2005 09:14 a.m.
Well starting around 2pm on Canada Day, Josh and I sat on the patio at Fynns with our Cuba-buddy Daryl, then went to the Red Lion, then went to the Fiddler's Green (where Paul and his sister joined us) then went to Josh's place for burgers, then went out... I went and hung out with Capo for a while in the middle of all that.
On Saturday night, James and hosted a small poker game with Duncan, Josh, and Jen. I played poorly, and Jen ended up winning, but we had a good time. Live 8 was on TV so we had some decent entertainment. There was some quality Capo time in the afternoon too.
Sunday... didn't do too much during the day. I watched the Jays game with the cat at Leigh's place, where I was until she got back. We had a little chat about her weekend, which sounded like a blast, and then I went to Duncan's for some BBQ. Good times were had by all.
I hung out with Leigh on Monday, and we watched "Friday Night Lights." SPOILERS FOLLOW!!! - She was annoyed that Odessa-Permian didn't win the state title, and I argued that it made it a better movie. Far more touching, gut wrenching, moving etc. It's definitely a good one for sports fans.
Tuesday night, Mike and I met up with Terri and Cathy at the Cameron House on Queen. We had a few drinks, caught up, reminisced about our university days, debated current events, then caught an amazingly entertaining band called "Run With the Kittens." If they had a CD, I would have bought it because I liked it that much. I'll probably go back sometime... they were funny and talented.
Wenesday night, we played our second week of Beach Volleyball and the Bumpkins were triumphant. We won both our matches, and all 6 games within those matches. Not only did we win, we dominated. And I cut my foot on a rock... I'm alright though.
Thursday... got a new 1GB memory card for my digital camera.
Friday... I'm working all day.
Now you're caught up. And the Jays are actually winning a lot of games!! Making me happy.
HAPPY CANADA DAY
Friday, July 1, 2005 11:56 a.m.
Um... that's about it. Happy Canada Day.
I slept in. We won both of our games on Wednesday. I hope everybody has a good weekend. Really that's about it.
Oh, and I have to babysit Capo again.
dog days of summer
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 06:56 a.m.
And we're back...
Welcome to yet another entry and what promises to be yet another riveting piece of writing, and a unique and special glimpse in my life. I'm pretty sure anybody who reads this regularly just looked to see what time this was posted thinking "He must be on the 5am shift this week because he's not making any sense." If you said that, you nailed it. I always go a little crazy when I have to be up at 4:30. But it's also always very quiet so I can take as much time as I want to write nice long, yet nonsensical, postings.
Getting caught up from last week... I went to a few Jays games, a going away party for a friend who is going to camp then Paris, a volleyball final in which we played well but got creamed, another Jays game or two, and then away for the weekend.
Seven of us headed up to Bobcaygon to a cottage owned by Paul's family. I had hung out with Paul a few times before, but only ever through Josh & Jen, but regardless, I was invited and it sounded like a good time, so we rented a car and headed northeast.
First of all, the car I got was a PT Cruiser. I actually like the look of these silly little things, and they're very spacious for the passengers. Sadly, there's not a lot of trunk space, and not a lot of kick to the engine. The little boost you want to pass somebody on the highway is practically non-existant, but if you give it enough time it will eventually get up to speed. The trunk space was the greater issue though, due to the guitar, the sleeping bags, the luggage, and the mandatory beverages.
It took us a little while to get out of town. We left about 7:30ish, but were all starving enough that we had to stop in Whitby at Wendy's. So after a short stop there, we were back on the highway, then found our exit, and got promptly lost after missing a turn or two. With a less-than-stellar map and a few tiny tiny directional signs, we managed to lead our two car caravan to downtown Bobcaygon, where Paul eventually was able to track down his cottage.
We had some drinks, played some guitars, played some poker (I won, yee haw $25!), sat by the fire, took the canoes out, jumped off a giant rock, played with a dog, sang karaoke, chatted up some cougars, shot off some fireworks, barbecued some sausages & porkchops, sat in the sun, tossed the football around, took some pictures, shot some video, stayed up late, and had bacon and eggs for breakfast on Sunday morning.
Our drive home was far less eventful and took less than 2 hours. The only problem was that the Gay Pride Parade had shut down about 95% of the streets around my apartment, and any place I would have liked to drive. It took a little working, but eventually we got the car returned, and ourselves & our luggage back to the Lex.
When I returned home, it became obvious that Sandeep's move had gone according to plan. He was gone, his stuff was gone, James had switched rooms, and James's former room was vacant. I hung out with Leigh on Sunday night when she got home from work, and we just sat at Queen's Park and chatted for a while, it was nice.
On Monday morning, I was in at CBC at 5am and the phone didn't ring until after 8:00. I was going to give blood because the Blood Services people were in the Atrium at work, but they didn't have a time available before I was ready to go home. I made an appointment for next time though. Speaking of which, you should all give blood. It doesn't cost you anything, and it is very much needed. Besides, you get cookies and juice!
In the afternoon, James and I went through with the plan to throw out a ton of stuff that had been left by previous residents of 1506. Because people kept getting replaced one-by-one, a lot of things were left from tenant to tenant. Seeing as none of those tenants are left anymore, we were able to get rid of a lot of junk that was taking up a lot of space, which allowed us to unpack my junk to take the place of the old junk. The living room looks less like a warehouse now, and the kitchen actually looks like it could be used for some sort of cuisine. Furniture is the next step.
So today... I got nothing. I'm sitting at work, waiting for the phone to ring (still hasn't), researching the web for fun places to go in Europe. I am making official tentative plans to go in October. No idea where I'm going, who's coming with me, what I'm going to do, but it is an official tentative plan. So there.
Oh, and the Smashing Bumpkins have their first BEACH volleyball game tomorrow.
aaron hill is my dawg...
Monday, June 20, 2005 11:27 p.m.
I went home for the weekend which was a nice but brief trip. I golfed on Saturday with my dad, and visited with the fam on Sunday, then did a little version of my own private CannonBall Run on the way home, in order to get the rental car home on time. I did, despite hitting a bit of traffic on the way into the city... it was a nice weekend though. Nice to see Di, Mom & Dad. Golf was fun too.
I was at work today, which was nothing crazy special. I had a nice lunch at a pasta place on Spadina. I went to the Jays game tonight with James & Sean, and they won. Aaron Hill was 4-4, with a walk, and is now hitting somewhere near .385 which is just insane.
In other news, I'm starting to get the itch to do something different or crazy... you know how it is every 5-6 months, I just get a bit bored. I need a big ol' vacation. People all around me are taking off on trips to Australia, France, and whatnot... I think it's almost time for me to go and do that. NATO is hiring for a job in Norway.
That's it for now.
*thursday* - creative name unavailable
Thursday, June 16, 2005 07:22 p.m.
What's up folks?
I know you were probably all dying to hear about the craziness that was RAGGED III, but really there wasn't much out of the ordinary. Of course, it was still a really good time and fun was had was had by wall... but there was nothing too out-of-control. We golfed, we gambled, we had a few drinks, and we ate wings at Hooters. What else is there?
Besides enjoying the weekend as a whole, the highlights for me were the back 9 of our 2nd round (2 pars, and a really decent bogey save... up-and-down with a 20+ foot putt!), and actually playing texas hold'em at Casino Niagara. I played for a few hours, lost a bit of cash, but had a really good time sitting at the table... if only I had gotten a bit of luck!! I got no cards.
Then it was back to work for the week, which was fine. Volleyball playoffs started this week, for the spring season, and we were tied for 2nd place going in. We beat the other 2nd place team by playing pretty well, and will be in the final next week. Which is crazy because we wanted to play in a REC league, and ended up in INTERMEDIATE. We're awesome.
I got to babysit Capo this week, while Leigh was at home for a while. We had some quality time... he's a purr-box, especially when he's been lonely for a while.
This is a bit dull, so I'll wrap it up. Oh, and I went to the Jays game on Tuesday... 37,500 people too!
you gotta pick your spots
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 05:34 a.m.
It's day... um... 7... of a 9 day stretch which actually involved 11 shifts of work. I had a nice long weekend coming into it, and have a 3 day weekend coming out of it. In the meantime though, I have to be somewhere everyday, and sleeping in just isn't going to happen. To make it doubly irritating, the schedule lady (who from this point forward will be known as Luthor, a captain of Hell's Demonic Army) decided that the last 4 days of my 9 day CBC stretch would be 5am starts. Boy, that was swell. I've never wanted to punch Luthor so much. I don't think her two kids would like me much if I did though. It's hard enough doing a week of 5am starts after a restful weekend, let alone two days when you worked 32 hours. Curse you Luthor!! And for those of you who are wondering, I've already voiced my displeasure with Luthor's superior's, who are actually not members of HDA. They're just regular people who agree that Luthor has been botching the schedule regularly, in an effort to benefit herself.
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That light is called "RUGGED 2005." I believe that stands for Ryerson University Golfing Gambling Extravaganza Deluxe. Don't get me started on the name. I don't feel that it encompasses the whole scope of the mission but nevertheless, I didn't come up with the acronym. First of all, This is not a Ryerson sanctioned event. Not even close. Don't look for any photos in the alumni magazine. Next, the D should stand for something else. And Extravaganza Deluxe sounds more like I'm trying to sell a winnebago...
But I digress. RAGGED (as I will call it for now - Ryerson Alumni Golfing Gambling Extravaganza Drinkfest) is a sequel to the boys golf weekends of previous years. Myrtle Beach was RAGGED I: Mission to Myrtle, Niagara Falls was RAGGED II: Drunkzilla vs. Gamblor - Game 7, Niagara Falls II will be RAGGED III - Title to Follow. I really should come up with a better naming convention.
Chris, James, Mike, Justin, and I will all head down to Niagara on Friday for a weekend of goodtimes, which will include the following: Chris losing a bunch of money on the craps table, Brian losing a lot of balls on the golf course, James putting is money on the table in a game of Hold'Em, Justin putting his balls on the table in a game of... wait, I don't know where I was going with that. Mike is along for the ride and another $24 Denny's Breakfast.
So until then, I will be at work at 5 am. After that I'll try to enjoy the outside as much as I can before staying out too late to make 5 am enjoyable. It's a horrible cycle. And yes, I know I'm going to run myself into the ground if I keep this up, which is why I'm not keeping it up... I'm going golfing.
movin on up... to the room with windows
Thursday, June 2, 2005 10:48 a.m.
How eventful has this week been? Pretty... eventful.
Since going out to the "SuperMarket" on Saturday night (and having a good time, I might add), I've had softball games, I've had volleyball games, I helped James move, I switched rooms in my apartment, and unpacked a bunch more boxes, but not all in that order.
Sunday: Softball started at 10:30 for our first game. After a horrible call by the umpire opens the door to an 8-run first inning, we eventually fight our way back and win the first game 14-13. In the 2nd game, we scored early and often, and eventually the mercy rule came into effect, about the same time it started to rain hard. *Don Gibb Tribute Follows* "Rain failed to dampen the spirits" of the Eradicators as the post game celebration headed indoors at K.C. McFly's where food and drink was served.
Later that night, I had dinner with Leigh, and Sean-Nat, which was excellent. Leigh told us all about finishing the Nike 10K Race earlier in the day, and then we had ice cream.
Monday: Not much happened on Monday. I walked around with Nat because we were both amazingly bored, we marveled at the nice cars and rich people in Yorkville.
Tuesday: On Tuesday, I helped James move in to the coolest apartment in history. Well actually, it's really not that cool, but it's good enough for me. And because James moved in, it was time to pull of the switch of rooms. Sandeep moved to the big empty room, I moved into Sandeep's old room, and James moved into the room I had been in. I settled in pretty quickly in the new room although several boxes of junk are still living in the living room. It's not junk... just stuff that needs a better place to live, like a kitchen, or linen closet, or laundry room. Strangely, all of these places are about to be cleaned out.
Wednesday: I worked. Then I played volleyball. The gym was hot, we were missing people, but we won all three games. We rule. I hung out with Leigh and Capo for a bit and then went home to bed.
Thursday: Now I'm at work again. Obviously very busy.
saturday synopsis supermarket et all.
Saturday, May 28, 2005 08:14 p.m.
It has recently been brought to my attention that certain people are not happy with the frequency with which I add updates to this page. This has a two pronged effect on me...
First of all, I feel guilty because I think I have let down my friends, who rely on this page for updates about the happenings in my life and for information about my daily proceedings. I feel bad that I've gone a few days without mentioning the fact that I haven't done anything lately, but apparently my boredom is at least worth an entry or two on the CHILLBLOVE page.
The second effect of these complaints is that I start to wonder how pathetic some of my readers must be if they feel slighted when I don't update every few days. Seriously, don't YOU GUYS have lives? Things to do? Places to see? Frankly, I love the fact that you read this, but it shouldn't really have any effect on your day-to-day living! Then again, this is coming from a guy who write angry letters to the TV sports stations when the play-by-play guy makes a mistake.
So maybe we're meant for eachother... my crazy readers are perfect for crazy me.
I went to the Jays game with Dennis (the old roommate) today. They lost, but managed to make it exciting in the bottom of the 9th. I'm heading out tonight with Sean and Nat and friends, so we'll see what hilarity ensues.
I hope I have something more exciting for you next time. Cheers all, enjoy your weekend.
wasn't i just here?
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 08:16 a.m.
Good morning, all. Welcome to Tuesday, which really feels like a Monday, because Monday felt more like Sunday... and Sunday REALLY felt like a Saturday.
While I sit and write, my stomach is growling, wondering why there is nothing in it, and my coworker Joe has gone to Tim Horton's to solve that issue, and some of his own as well. I worked at the Score last night, which was really uneventful, but also stress-free. Anytime I can get paid time and a half to do less work than normal is generally a good shift.
The only drawback was that I had to stay until 2am, and be in here at the CBC for 8am. I did, however, sleep til about 3pm yesterday afternoon so I had stocked up some reserves.
Sunday, I went to the Jays game with Chris and his buddy Nick. Then we met up with Scott, and somehow ended up at three different bars by the end of the night. It was good to see Chris, and we had a lot of fun. He says this blog has gone all to hell and that I need to redesign it, update it more often, and include more political commentary.
I don't claim to be an expert on the politics, so my commentary could likely be flawed, inaccurate, or perhaps even downright fabricated. We'll all just have to wait and see.
In other news, my apartment is a mess and needs a thorough organizing/cleaning, my ribs have finally healed from a diving catch I missed at softball last week, we're in the process of rebuilding Leigh's computer, and I'm loving the new iPod. Life is so much more exciting with a soundtrack.
And now I get to find out what my work week has in store...
i'm on performance enhancing hugs
Wednesday, May 18, 2005 09:28 a.m.
Actually, I'm not... but I think that's funny. Don't ask why, I just got a kick out of that concept. Performance enhancing HUGS, get it? Oh man, I need to get a life.
First of all, Congrats to my sister Sue and her husband Neil. They just had a new little boy named Stephen, and everybody is doing well. He 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Ethan apparently loves having a little brother, and I'm thrilled to have a new nephew.
So anyway, the latest news is that I got an iPod. I got the 4GB Mini iPod, which holds about 1000 songs. It's pretty sweet.
I've been playing a lot of Xbox lately, which has been a load of fun made easier by the custom modifications I've made to the system. For the record, The Incredibles is an awesome game, as is Forza Motorsports. I'll be tweaking it a little more this week, with some help from Greg.
The Eradicator season kicked off on Sunday, and we split our doubleheader. Nobody on our team hit very well, myself included. I had 1 hit, missed a diving catch, and now my ribs hurt.
We got our shirts for volleyball and they look good. Tonight, I present them to the team and we play our first game wearing them.
I've been doing a lot of training at work, which is fun. It's more groups and classes lately, which I enjoy a lot more than 1 on 1 sessions. I have two sessions of teleprompter training today...
I have no plans for the long weekend. So somebody should pick me up and take me somewhere. Okay?
Good Morning
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 06:19 a.m.
Yes... another week of 5am starts. Why, you say? Good question, I say. It seems like I'm doing these a little too often lately, but what can you do. They sign the paycheque so I'm not allowed to complain... too much. I'm getting more responsibilities thrown at me, which I suppose it a good sign. I have three classes to teach this week, which is fun too.
I'm going to the Jays game tonight, and again tomorrow. So that's exciting. I'm going to try to buy some shoes before then. Life is just too exciting!
Softball starts on Sunday and I'm definitely looking forward to that. The weather has been nice for the last few days and I hope it continues through the weekend. Our volleyball team started another season last week, and somehow ended up in "Intermediate" instead of "Recreational" but still manage to not look really ridiculous. As is always the case, we're playing for fun so it doesn't really matter.
Hmm... what else. I'm itchin' to go somewhere again... who knows where?
And I'm still loving the Discovery Channel.
mr. transmission
Tuesday, May 3, 2005 11:30 a.m.
Hey all...
It seems like Spring. Winter is wrapping up. It's getting warmer. Baseball season is going strong. The Jays are actually winning games. And of course, everything else is changing.
I was in Maitland for the weekend and managed to accomplish my goal of doing absolutely nothing. Really it was just eating, sitting around, and watching TV. Oh, and we hit golf balls on Sunday. The drive there and back was uneventful, besides the stops to drop off/pick up Leigh and Capo. That cat loves me, he's awesome.
In other news, I'm torn between getting settled in this room and waiting for a few weeks so I can settle the other room more permanently. I started to unpack everything and then remembered that it's all going to change in a month anyway... so I'm still kinda living out of boxes. And the living room looks like a warehouse... just boxes everywhere. Sean isn't completely moved out, and the other guy Jamie is starting to get his things out too. Madness.
Work is going well, both at CBC and The Score. I've been able to get back to my 1-2 shift a week diet of Ticker shifts because I've actually been in town to do them.
With curling season done, all eyes are looking ahead to softball, which is right around the corner. I'll probably miss a practice this week for work reasons. But I'm looking forward to it in a bad way.
Leigh is getting pretty cozy in her new place, which is quite nice, I have to say. She's doing well, if you were wondering.
Oh, I got the Jays Season Pass, and a guest pass, so I'll probably be going to a ton of Jays games this year. 3 so far. Let me know if you want to join me in the cheap seats for a game. >p? That's all I got for now... I'll keep you posted.
guess who's at work?
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 05:18 a.m.
What's up peoples?
It's 5:18 am and I'm back at the CBC, keepin' it real. I don't know what that involves besides sitting here, but pretty soon keepin' it real will involve getting a coffee. My ghetto style can't be stopped.
Sorry, I don't know where that came from.
The move is 99% done and will be 100% done this afternoon. A few more things need to be hauled from 50 John St. to 45 Carlton or somewhere else, depending on who they belong to. I say "somewhere else" because Leigh hasn't told me where she's living now... something about a restraining order. Just kidding. I just don't want you guys to stalk her. I hear that's a problem people are having. Supplemental characters in obscure weblogs end up being the victims of obsessed fans...
I must be delerious.
I spent the last week between the three apartments, and work, obviously. It got a bit frustrating at some points when the thing you're looking for is either in a box you can't find, or at the other apartment, or just plain missing. Like the toaster... I was trying to make Eggo Waffles in the old place before realizing that the toaster had already been moved. Have you ever tried to make an Eggo without a toaster? Take a second and think about what the recipe might be for that one. I'll tell you right now, the microwave and the oven were BOTH bad ideas.
Let me know if you want the answer.
I'm heading to the Maitrix this weekend to chill with the parents for a couple days. Hopefully, I'll get some golf in. I'll drop Leigh in Kingston along the way...
In other news, the Jays started being awful around the same time the new Pope was crowned. Coincidence? I think not. He looks a little curmudgeony for my liking. Like a dirty old Tigers fan...
In other news still, Ryder truck people have been 100 times more accomodating that U-Haul in every respect of the rental. Consider this an endorsement, that they aren't even paying for. U-Haul still is awful, Scotia is getting better, and I haven't been on a train lately... that list should probably be revised.
FINAL SEASON STATS
Monday, April 18, 2005 07:13 p.m.
2004-2005 Season:
59 Games Played
At LEAST 15 games missed due to travel.
38 WINS
21 LOSSES
.644 Winning Percentage
And I can't help but think that it should have been a lot better...
what did i do this week?
Monday, April 18, 2005 06:34 p.m.
Editor's Note: This entry is dedicated to John and Ed. For their dedicated readership, constant queries, and appearance of genuine interest in things pertaining to this page and the updates contained herein... *editor's note on the editor's note: i believe this is the first time i've ever used the word "herein" ever.*
First things first... We won our game last Thursday night in mens curling. It was pretty close all the way through, which was actually a good thing considering how badly we had been playing in the early part of the game. It could have been a lot worse early on, but fortunately, it wasn't and we were able to pull it off later in the game.
That in put us in the mens championship at 5:00 pm on Saturday, on what is appropriately called "Finals Night." More on that later...
On Friday, Leigh and I started Phase 1 of what I am calling "Operation: Move Out." Most people already know this, but if you didn't, we've decided to move out of our share accomodations and get our own places. And to do this, we rented a truck. I was very clear on one thing going into this: I would NOT get a U-haul. So I went with Ryder. The price was good, the communication was good, the truck was good, and they offered a satisfaction guarantee. Can't beat that!!
So we had a 16-foot cube van, and managed to fill it up with loads of stuff, going to two separate apartments. We went to Leigh's new place first which is on St. Josephs street, just north of Wellesley. As I was turning down the lane towards the loading dock of her building I heard a bit of a "crunch." Apparently you have to make your turns a little wider when you're driving a 16-foot cube van. Or at least that's what the Acura I hit would have you believe. Its bumper was not at all impressed by my tire.
The bad news is... I definitely did hit a parked car. The good news is... I left a note. The damage wasn't too horrible. I talked to the Ryder Insurance people and they seemed pretty good and made me feel a little more at ease. It's not going to cost me a ton, at least this is what they tell me.
I spent a whole day hoping that the guy wouldn't call me and that I couldn't have to worry about any of it. IT actually worked for a whole day too, but about 26 hours after the fact, my cell phone rang, and the guy left a message. That's what Caller ID is for... I didn't need to answer that one.
Shortly after not answering that call, I was on the ice with my curling team playing for the club championship. We all played really well through the whole game, and ended up winning pretty convincingly against a really good team. In fact, the last three teams we played were all really good. Somehow we managed to beat them all and win the league. So the mandatory drinks followed, and some horsing around ensued. Everybody had a good time. Leigh and Sean came to watch, and of course indulged in the mandatory beverages as well.
Sunday, I called "Guy I Hit" (that's how he's listed in my cell phone) and sorted out shared some details. I was at the Score last night, and that went well. Getting paid to watch sports on TV never gets old... especially when you don't have a TV at home anymore.
The move should be pretty complete by the end of the week.
birthday weekend... a week late
Monday, April 11, 2005 12:21 p.m.
First of all, I can't believe that my curling season is still going. I had two games this week, won 1, lost 1, and have at least two more this week. If we win on Thursday, we're in the Mens Final on Saturday. If we lose on Thursday, we play on Friday, and if we win on Friday, we play the final on Saturday. So either 2 or 3 games left, and I'm actually ready to hang it up for the year.
The record is now: 36-21.
Speaking of records, how about them Jays?! Off to a good start so far, leading the division for the first time since I don't know when. I was at the game on Saturday, where I saw the Jays smoke the Red Sox. It was a great game, and a nice way to spend the afternoon.
Saturday night, I had a little party for my birthday, which was actually a week sooner. We went to the Bier Market again, which is becoming an annual birthday tradition for me, but I always have fun. Chris, Mike, Justin, Cathy, Terri, and many more managed to make it out, on top of the regulars like Sean, Nat, and of course, Leigh.
Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself. On Saturday, after the game I was walking along Front St. and I noticed a guy at a hotdog stand who looked very familiar. So I walked by again and decided that it actually was Jon Borey. Some of my readers may recognize that name as a guy I went to highschool with... when I lived in Massachusetts 6 years ago. And now we run into eachother on the street in Toronto. Random. But we got caught up, and he came out for my birthday too.
Yesterday, I took a nice long lunch break with Leigh, SeanNat, & Erin and we sat on the rooftop patio at... get this... Hooters. The other three were there, so Leigh and I joined them for some food. The weather was awesome. It's almost patio season!!
That's about it for now. I gotta start packing some boxes.
The April Fool
Monday, April 4, 2005 11:06 p.m.
Hey hey hey...
My birthday has come and gone. The Royals Mens Bonspiel has come and gone. My week of 5 am starts is over... at least until next time. Isn't that always the case?
So first of all, after Montreal, Tuesday night, and the men's bonspiel, my record for the year is now 35-20. We're still alive in Tuesday night and Thursay night, so I'll have at least 3 more games before the end of the season. I should have played at least 20 more games but thanks to my CBC travel schedule and a trip to Cuba, they were missed.
My birthday was on Friday. I turned 24. My dad was in town for the bonspiel, and I talked to my mom on the phone. The rest of the family let me down... ;) Until Saturday when I got a call, and a chance to check my email, and today, when the mail came. Leigh did an extra over-the-top job on my birthday present which was extremely exciting. So we have a Jack Johnson concert to go to in September and 3 CDs to listen to. Oh... and an X-box on the way. Wowee. What a present. I'm having a birthday party on Saturday, so a crew will gather to have a good time, not unlike the crew that gathered this weekend to have a good time, only generally younger.
Speaking of which, the bonspiel was a great success again. We went 2-2, and had some good games. I've actually been curling pretty well lately too, which is a great time... at the absolute end of the season. Josh, Mark, and I got a little stupid on Saturday night, and I woke up with an extremely painful shoulder. It's doing better today, and assuming recovery continues at this rate, I'll be back to normal in a couple days.
And baseball season started today for my Toronto Blue Jays. 1-0 to start the year. Go Jays Go!! Halladay looked good, Vernon crushed a ball, and things were generally looking good. Now, if the defense can tighten up a little, we're in good shape. I might buy a jersey for myself as a birthday present.
Oh... and I'm absolutely HOOKED on the Discovery Channel lately.
Geez...
Wednesday, March 30, 2005 06:16 a.m.
I have been doing a poor job of keeping this thing up to date. Amazingly, nobody has complained! What happened to my faithful readers? I thought we had something good here!?
Well Montreal was a blast, as usual. I met up with a bunch of friends, had a bunch of drinks, threw a bunch of rocks, danced to a bunch of songs, and ate a bunch of poutine. It was good to see Bry Fink and his American compatriots, as well as all the usual characters who generally just appear from year to year. A good time was had by all, I think.
And now to the real news... this is exciting. I found out yesterday that I am no longer on contract with CBC, because I am going to be a permanent employee instead. Which means NOT having to worry about my job every 6 months! YAY!! It also means a bit more money and a different arrangement on benefits. But that's just bonus stuff... I have a job! A real full-time job!
Now if only I didn't have to come in at 5 am. It's killing me today.
home for a rest...
Thursday, March 24, 2005 11:23 a.m.
Well, this is a little late, but I landed in Toronto on Saturday evening, and was thrilled to be back. We went out with Leigh's friends and had a great time, which resulted in doing very little on Sunday.
I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at work settling in to the groove, filing my expense claims, and interviewing for my job, which I think went really well.
I curled on Tuesday in my regular Toronto league... I hadn't been there in about a month. We won pretty handily and I played well. So the offical record for the year is: 32-16. And of course this weekend is Easter, so I'm heading to Montreal for more curling.
That's about it for now. More later. Just checkin in.
northern adventure... last legs
Friday, March 18, 2005 05:37 p.m.
DAY 16-DAY 19
After finding out Monday morning that I’d be flying home on Saturday morning, the week suddenly had nothing to do with training iNews and producing radio shows and everything to do with counting down the hours until I could fly home.
After several days of very little work, my expertise started to become more and more valuable to the CBC staff as they learned how to do their jobs with a new tool. Of course, this is why I’m in Yellowknife in the first place, but considering how little they needed me last week, I’m pleasantly surprised that I get to do something and act like the expert I apparently am. So, in a way, I’m glad this location isn’t going as smoothly as some of the other ones because I actually get to do my job, solve some problems, and share some wisdom… which is especially fun when I’m dealing with people who have been working for CBC longer than I’ve been alive, which is a surprisingly large percentage of employees.
Other than that, I’ve become pals with a few of the people around the shop, so at least I have people to talk to during the days to keep me entertained. In the evenings, I tend to hang out in the hotel and watch movies, because I’m told I’ve seen most of what there is to see, and instead of going out and wasting my per diem on drinks and nachos at Boston Pizza, I’m banking a good chunk of it instead.
Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and there are some rumours that an outing might take place. There doesn’t seem to be a very obvious Irish population in Yellowknife, so we’ll see what happens. Although, I fear that if even a fraction of people go out for a St. Patrick’s day drink, the bars will quickly become full and likely people will freeze to death on the sidewalk waiting to get in.
But like I said, I’m just counting down until I fly back to Toronto. In the meantime, I’ve got some work to take care of, some plane tickets to sort out (which involves a trip to the airport), and a curling game on Friday night, which will be the last thing I remember before my 7am flight.
CUBA and Northern Adventure
Friday, March 11, 2005 11:34 a.m.
For those of you who are interested... the CUBA SYNOPSIS is now ONLINE.
WARNING: This is an uncensored look at a week-long trip, and may contain a few naughty words, drunken hijinks, digestive pyrotechnics, and overall silliness. It is however the most thorough record of the weeks events... that is, until the video is done.
---NORTHERN ADVENTURE (NOTE: These are written a paragraph at a time, when I have time. So I'm sorry if the narrative is a little screwy.)
DAY 10 –
Well, I’m back at the Vancouver airport. My flight for Edmonton will start boarding soon, and I’ll be stuck there for most of the afternoon. Today started really early, catching the 6:20 shuttle to the airport, after staying up way too late last night…
My flights eventually made it to Edmonton, where I sat and waited for another four hours. Thankfully, they have some comfy chairs where I sat and watched DVDs for a while. I also ate a giant plate of nachos while I waited. Unfortunately, the timing was just wrong to get to a game at the Brier. I could have made the last end or two of one game, and then still had to sit around for a few hours.
Instead, I wandered around the airport in my giant parka, which made me feel extra cool. I got on the plane with 50 Japanese tourists (the rumours are true) and eventually made it to the frozen tundra of Yellowknife.
It was windy and snowy and freezing when we got off the plane, and I had my giant parka on. All the luggage showed up, and the shuttle driver picked us up and drove us to the hotel… which isn’t nearly as nice as … your average hotel. It’s a bit disappointing in more than one way.
At least I get the movie networks.
DAY 11 –
Little did I know, but the training we’re scheduled to do is at the CBC Corporate Office, which is in a different building from the CBC Studios. Of course all the people we’re training work at the station, so there’s a bit of back and forth hectic times. The office is near the hotel, the station is not.
The training went well, but I just sat in the back and emailed for the most part. Every now and then the class would ask me a question, and I would use my infinite iNews wisdom to enlighten them. Then I’d go back to email.
DAY 12 –
I was at the station all morning, which was pretty quiet. I only had to look after a couple people we trained yesterday, and also perform a few one-on-one sessions for people who needed extra help. I met some of the locals, and a couple that I can actually talk to and get along with. I had lunch with a guy named Dave, who I’m going to curl with next week.
In the afternoon, I went back to the office building and ran a short class on another little facet of the program…. And then I went back to email. I booked my weekend entertainment as well, which is called “Aurora by Dogsled” and for this, I am very excited.
Tonight, I’m watching curling. Then Dave is going to come by and we’re going to go see if we can’t see some Northern Lights.
For those of you who are wondering, Yellowknife is more of a city than Whitehorse, and apparently quite a bit colder most of the time. Yellowknife is surrounded by lakes, while Whitehorse is surrounded by mountains and has a small town feel. Yellowknife seems to be a little more spread out, but I’m sure I wouldn’t notice it at all if I had a car. I’m not a big fan of Yellowknife yet, but there’s still plenty of time for me to warm up to it… and for it to warm up for me. It was –27 today.
Northern Adventure (cont.)
Monday, March 7, 2005 12:44 p.m.
Day 3-
I woke up, had a shower, went to work via Tim Horton’s. And have been sitting in training all day. I had donaires for lunch, which stunk my breath up something awful.
Apparently my guitar finally made it to Whitehorse. Awesome.
The weather is +1 and dry. There’s no need for the giant parka… yet. The puffy vest is good enough for now.
The guitar did make it back to the hotel. I played it for a while. Then went down for dinner and watched some basketball. These Yukoners love the Score. It’s on TVs EVERYWHERE.
I’m up to 11 pages in my Cuba write up.
DAY 4 –
Not much new today. Tim Horton’s for breakfast, a bit of work at the station. We went out to the curling club at lunch and then I ate at Dairy Queen.
I have chicken fingers for dinner, and watch 5 episodes of Seinfeld on DVD before going to bed.
DAY 5 –
This is cutover day. By today, all the shows are supposed to be working on the new software we just introduced to them. And so far, things are going very well.
But, I have to say I’m a little shocked at one thing… The meal I order almost everyday from Subway in Toronto, is almost $2 more expensive here. It’s a little ridiculous.
I have the keys to the CBC Truck, and will be heading to the curling club tonight, to see if I can find a game.
I found a game last night and had a good time curling despite the fact that my team was “less than stellar” and that the skip had probably learned his strategy from “a magic bunny” who had obviously never curled. The club was very nice and the ice was great. It was well-lit, and the view from the lounge was fantastic. I’ll probably go back on Sunday to throw rocks. DAY 6 –
I’m not really doing much anymore. I hang around and answer the odd question, but I feel that I could leave and they wouldn’t miss me much, because they know what they’re doing. Of course they’d miss me… but not my knowledge of the system.
They bought me pizza for lunch. It was good, but I think my gut is going to explode.
Tomorrow, I think I’m playing street hockey with some guys from the station.
DAY 7 –
Today, I played street hockey with some guys from the station. I managed to blister another finger (the other was from curling) and also score the series winner, which ended the day’s hockey activities. After that, the day’s drinking festivities took place, and I’m pretty sure I did well in that event as well. And to my complete and utter joy, we watched curling.
It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I got to do something fun with my days off. I’ve managed to blister two of my fingers though.
DAY 8 –
Nothing was open today so I didn’t really do much. I slept in, went for a little walk, then played guitar and watched TV all day. I also talked to Leigh for a half hour which was nice.
DAY 9 –
This is my last day in Whitehorse. It’s been nice, but it’s pretty obvious that there’s not much left for me to do. If I can leave with that feeling, then it’s a pretty good sign that things went pretty well.
Apparently, I need to go to a place called “Joe’s” tonight for some local cuisine.
Oh… and suddenly it looks like they’ve decided that it might not be worth sending two people to Inuvik to train two people. So my trip may have just gotten a week shorter… but maybe not. Who knows?
The Cuba write-up is done and is really long. I'll post the link soon, after some fine tuning... and editing.
Northern Diary...
Tuesday, March 1, 2005 04:10 p.m.
This is the northern diary. The cuba synopsis is being developed and is going to be mega long.
----
Northern Diary
Day 1 –
I leave my apartment at 1:45, and get to the airport at 2:10 for a 4:00 flight. I try to check in at the desk and they tell me I don’t have the right tickets and that I need to see the ticket office, which is odd, considering I’ve done the same thing for my last 5 flights with work. I go to the ticket office and they tell me that there were PAPER tickets issues, not e-tickets. I say I never got paper tickets, and they say okay, it’s $100 to print new ones. Fine, I say. Reimbursement is a wonderful thing.
To print new ones, they have to re-enter everything manually. I’m on a 9-leg domestic flight. The system only let’s them enter 8 legs. They call the support people. They call the AmEx people. They finally get it working, after AN HOUR. They check me in at the ticket office, but I still have to check my bags. I have enough time to do that, get a bag of chips, call Leigh, and get on the plane.
The plane leaves about a half hour late. The movie is Friday Night Lights. The movie was great. The laptop didn’t work because it was out of batteries. Apparently I left it on….
I land in Vancouver thinking I have a 2 hour layover. The flight is delayed an hour. I charge the laptop battery, and type up my Cuba story. The flight is delayed another hour. I have a bite to eat and watch SportsCentre. I can’t believe the shot that Jennifer Jones made to win the Scott. Wow. I go back to typing. The flight is delayed another hour.
So here I am… I’m supposed to be in Whitehorse by now. I’m sure not there. I’m still in Vancouver. However, I’m getting some major work done on this Cuba piece.
Flight finally leaves around 11:15, Vancouver time. Lands around 2 am. I get off the plane and the first thing I see is a big dog sled poster. Then I walk past a security guard who is older than dirt, to the baggage carousel that doesn’t bring me my guitar… which was apparently checked through Vancouver only.
So on day one… I’ve lost my tickets, I’ve been delayed three times, and I’ve lost my luggage.
The hotel seems nice enough. I was dead tired by the time my face hit the pillow.
Day 2 –
The alarm clock went off at about 7:15 local time. The wake up call came at 7:30. I asked how to get to the CBC at the front desk, and found out that it’s about a 3 minute walk. And there’s a Tim Horton’s on the way…. Perfect.
The training room was pretty much set up and ready to go, which meant less work for me. And now we’re training 4 people and it’s going well.
After work, I had a couple drinks with the station manager, then had dinner on my own. And now it’s roughly about 7:00 pm local time, and I just want to go to bed.
After a few episodes of Seinfeld on DVD, I did so.
Gobo's Uncle Matt
Saturday, February 26, 2005 06:39 p.m.
CUBA WAS AMAZING!!
I had so much fun, met some awesome people, details will follow soon.
Tomorrow I leave for Whitehorse, and I'll spend my airport time writing up some nice long stories for everybody. I bought a nice warm parka yesterday so I should be toasty while I'm gone up north.
one more day
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 10:27 a.m.
SO... We won on Thursday, and won on Tuesday.
I am now 31-16 this year. And won't curl for another month or so.
I'm leaving for Cuba tomorrow and am very excited.
This will also be my last day in the office for about a month. The Great White North beckons.
I'll keep you posted, but I really don't have much else to say right now.
patriots win again
Thursday, February 10, 2005 02:52 p.m.
Woo woo, go New England! The Patriots are the best! YAY!!
Okay, sorry about that mock enthusiasm. I really was excited on Sunday, but in the past few days I've been fairly scattered and the whole Patriots thing seems like 3 weeks ago.
We curled on Tuesday night. I skipped. We won huge (29-16). Our volleyball team won all three games last night, which was great, but it was also only because we played a really awful team. But as usual, it was fun.
The biggest news, outside of the sporting world, is the upcoming travel diet-extravaganza that I'm about to be fed. We booked our trip to Cuba on Tuesday, and will be leaving one week from today (that's Thursday the 17th) and shortly after returning from Cuba, I'll be leaving for the Yukon territory. I have every intention of documenting both trips with journal entries, photos, and video, so I'll make an effort to keep this page as current as possible. Cuba has gotten me very excited though, and I can't wait to leave.
In other news, I got a new puffy vest, some luggage, and a new pair of shorts.
Dynasty Day - In Stereo
Sunday, February 6, 2005 05:41 p.m.
Hey peoples... What's up?
I'm sitting here in all my Patriots gear waiting for the big game to start and getting fed a healthy dose of pre-game garbage. But still, it's the Superbowl and it's all part of the experience.
I was at the Raptors game today. They were down 25 at one point, and brought it to within 4, and then lost by a few more than that. It was exciting though.
I curled twice this week winning one and losing one. So that brings the record to 28-16.
And yes, it's official. Most of March will be spent in the North. That's Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Inuvik. That's going to be an adventure, and sadly it'll be a really really long trip.
Sorry this is a rather bland entry. I don't have my normal spice, flair, or pinash.
GO PATRIOTS!! WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!! WOO WOO WOOOO!!!
the cat just jumped on the TV
Sunday, January 30, 2005 01:10 p.m.
Well, what can I say... Saskatoon was really uneventful. I was there from Monday night to Friday, and all I can say is that the pizza I had in the hotel bar on Wednesday night was tremendous. As were the beers... but not the Raptors game that was on TV at the time.
Other than that, Saskatoon seems like a nice place, but I didn't have much of a chance to get out an explore. The work went well, and I left first thing Friday morning. The plane was pretty much on time, there was only a little traffic on the way back from the airport, and I was home by 11:30.
I spent the afternoon shooting a video with Erin and Natalie. This was not nearly as provocative as it sounds. It was an interview for a project Erin is doing... regardless, it got done. And by the way, congrats to Sean and Natalie on their recent engagement!
Friday night, Leigh and I went out for dinner with Cherish and Rob. Cherish and Leigh had been skiing all day at Blue Mountain. We went to Milestone's (again) and had steaks, and had a fun time of it.
Saturday, not much happened. We slept in, went grocery shopping, walked through St. Lawrence market. Later in the evening, Leigh went to work and I went out to play cards. Euchre becomes quite a bit more challenging when you use a French deck of cards. Jen, Duncan, and Paul agreed that R, D, and V screws you up pretty severely when you're used to looking at K,Q, and J.
Today, Leigh and I are going to the Raptors game... Steve Nash and the Suns are in town. Should be a good game, or at least a good crowd. Everybody loves Steve Nash.
In other news, I may be going away for a long time. Details to follow... but it involves the Yukon.
jet setter
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 02:49 p.m.
PART I - THURSDAY EVENING
I'm sitting in the Regina Airport waiting for a plane to arrive, so I can get on it and fly to Winnipeg. Once I arrive, I'll get on a different plane and fly to Toronto. Once I arrive, I'll grab my bag (assuming it has made it from Regina/Winnipeg) and get in to a taxi and tell the driver to take me home.
Sounds like a plan, I know. But already i'm behind schedule. Plane #1 is late, so that could cause some trouble... it's only behind about 15 minutes, but as I stare across the frozen tundra beyond the run way, it reminds me eerily of Siberia... Very flat, very white, few signs of life.
BUT... I'm almost out of here.
I left CBC around 4pm this afternoon knowing that they were up to speed and functional using the new computer system (iNews). I was presented with a little parting gift, and wandered out to the taxi and snapped a photograph of the building as I drove away.
And now, as I wait for my ride out of town, I reflect on my two week adventure. I'm very excited to go home, but really wish that it wasn't for a weekend away from Toronto. I'm sure Leigh would like to have me around for longer than a day, and I know that Capo would like to spend some time on my lap. Of course, the brief time I am home is fairly booked with all the things I haven't been able to do for the past few weeks.
I liked Regina. It didn't start to wear on me until the last day or two, at which point, I got more and more excited for home. The hotel was nice, and not haunted, as far as I could tell, and the people at CBC were very pleasant to deal with. Amber and Ron (two friends from Trillium) took turns keeping me entertained during my down time, and I saw bits of Saskatchewan I wouldn't have otherwise seen. Chances are, I'll never see some of them again. I really dont know why I'd ever go out to Montmatre, SK again. Who knows? Maybe a friend will get married there or something.
The plane just landed, so I should be boarding soon... more later.
PART II - Trenton
12 hours after I landed from Regina (via Winnipeg), I was in a car and headed to Trenton to curl. We won our first 3, and lost the A-semi final, which was good enough for nothing at all, except getting home to watch football on Sunday afternoon. We played a lot of cards and had a pretty good time, but couldn't quite pull of win #4. (2004-2005 CURLING RECORD: 27-15)
We got back to Toronto in time to watch football. PATRIOTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!! WOWOOO!!!
PART III - TORONTO AND SASKATOON
About 30 hours after getting back from Trenton, I headed to the airport to catch a flight to Saskatoon. Leigh and I managed to hang out for most of the day, running some errands, buying some DVDs, and cat food. Capo was thrilled to see me, and sad to see me go, but will have the pleasure of my company upon my return.
So I flew to Saskatoon. I watched "Dodgeball" on the plane. I was exhausted when I got to the hotel. The hotel is nice, I have a nice view. 7am came early... aaaand CBC is in a nice area with things to do. That's all I have to say about that.
Except for the fact that I'm now working hard on the Penske File.
one more thing...
Sunday, January 16, 2005 01:30 p.m.
GO PATRIOTS!!!
saskatcheweekend
Sunday, January 16, 2005 01:13 p.m.
Well, I've been here for a week now, and believe it or not, I'm not too miserable. I've been talking to Leigh almost every day on MSN, and have been able to keep up with most of the happenings happening whereever they're happening. Regina is still amazingly cold, but I don't think I've ever seen so many beautiful FROZEN days.
Work at CBC Regina is going very smoothly. My job has been pretty easy because the people have been willing to learn and use the new system. Other locations have been more resistant, but thankfully that is not the case here.
My two friends in Regina have been taking care of me and keeping my busy. Ron Meyers & Amber Holland are both people I know from Trillium and both of them have been very hospitable. We've watched a bit of curling, had some drinks, and had some lovely dinners. Amber and I went out to Brewsters, while Ron and his family had me over for a nice home-cooked meal.
While we were watching curling on Thursday, we saw one rarest things in sports. More rare than a hole in one, more rare than a 300 game in bowling, more rare than... Shaquille O'Neal making a free throw. We witnessed an 8-ender, which is when all 8 rocks count for points in a single end of curling. As luck would have it, a CTV camera man was at the curling club for something else, and managed to catch the final shot and the hanging of the score on video.
Today, I'm going to watch football and throw some rocks at the curling club. At some point, I should probably eat something.
I'm looking forward to getting back to Toronto on Thursday... just in time to leave again. :(
good morning, saskatchewan!!
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 11:49 p.m.
So... here I am Regina. But before I get to that...
Thursday: We won. And on Tuesday. So that makes it 24-14 this season. Looking more respectable now. Sadly, I'm missing the next few games for each team because I'll be here.
Friday: I had a nice lunch with Merrick, Justin, and Mike (aka friends from Ryerson). It was great to see them, and I laughed a lot. In the evening, I went into work and watched a couple DVDs in between phone calls, and internet poker hands, and of course the occasional phone call asking about computer stuff. Leigh had gone skiing with friends, and when she got back we went out for pitas.
Saturday, we saw the Modigliani exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I really liked it. Like most artists, he died penniless. Regardless, he made some amazing paintings... so amazing in fact, they inspired me to paint myself. Yes, I painted a picture.
Now, I don't recall the last time I painted anything other than a wall. I'm sure it was in art class back in school, what grade I couldn't tell you. So anyway, I painted a portrait resembling Leigh in the style of Modigliani. I liked it at first, and then it dawned on me that it was actually pretty crappy... ahh well. I got to be creative, which is something I haven't been able to do lately.
Sunday, I attacked a list of 30 things to do, starting with working out in the morning, moving on to various web projects, then packing, and a bit of shopping, and a few other things. As is our habit, Leigh and I got subs for dinner and watched football until it was time for her to go to work, and time for me to catch a plane. I caught the end of the football game from the airport Casey's, then popped "Casablanca" into my laptop DVD player, which I finished on the plane.
The flight was long. I was in the middle of three seats on the left side of the plane. I was getting pretty tight by the time we landed, but it could have been worse, I suppose. The funniest thing was the fact that two large flights were both emptying at a tiny airport at the same time. So there was this little tiny baggage carousel trying to handle two big planes worth of luggage. I have never seen a larger crowd waiting for their bags. I have never seen more bags on a carousel. I have never seen the thing get so full that bags get backed up down the converbelt, and build a giant pile of bags, which causes others to tumble down. People were diving over people to grab their things, it was nuts. I was just chuckling the whole time. I grabbed my bag and went to find a cab... just like 50 other people.
The hotel is nice, my room is swell. The CBC is nice, the people are decent. The project is moving along very smoothly so far. All in all, things are going well, and I'm not too crazy yet. Regina is actually pretty nice, except for the -30 temperatures. I had dinner with my friend Amber Holland (who I know through Trillium), and am now back at the room watching a great Simpson's episode (The Germans buy the power plant).
So... that's about it right now. I'll update more as things go along.
Regina HOOOOOO!!!!
Friday, January 7, 2005 07:22 p.m.
In an effort to make this little diary more interesting, CBC is sending me to Regina, Saskatchewan for a couple weeks. Starting Sunday, I will be updating this page from the Radisson Hotel in Regina... apparently it's haunted.
On the same day I recieved this wonderful news, I also received the payment for my first actual paying video gig. So that's in the bank for a rainy day. Or maybe it should be for the credit card payment, either way.
Anyway, I thought you all might like to know why Ontario will be one person light, and why the usual cast of characters will not be involved.
Let's see if any of my preconceived notions of that province are actually true. The only things I know came from a top 10 list I read about 10 years ago...
Saskatchewan is easy to draw.
You can watch your dog run away for three days
None of that Spring ahead/Fall Back Crap
You don't have to worry about your car rolling down the driveway
You can see guests coming hours before they arrive
There were a few more (probably 5 or so) but I don't remember what they were.
Oh yeah, it was -50 last week in Regina.
the things i said yesterday
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 05:12 p.m.
What I forgot to mention:
1. Leigh and I went to see the Modigliani Exhibit at the AGO, but it was closed.
2. With the time we would have spent at the museum, we wandered through Kensington Market instead looking at all the funky thrift stores. We got a front door rug.
3. I had blueberry eggo waffles for breakfast.
What I got for Christmas:
A watch, a long sleeved t-shirt, a book about the Simpsons, a necklace, a set of shelves, a power drill, a dress shirt, a couple of framed prints, some Seinfeld DVDs, some money, some socks, a spatula, a bit of chocolate, a new Score spring jacket, a LCBO gift certificate, a liquor bottle rack, some pictures of my nephew.
New Year's Resolutions/Goals:
1. Go to gym 3 times a week
2. Go to places I've never been
3. Don't put things off that can be done at the moment
4. Get some video gigs to I can pay for a vacation
5. Put more money into savings
6. Eat less junk food
7. Volunteer to worthy projects
8. Read "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and adopts some of those habits
9. Sell things I don't use on ebay
10. Complement people more often
11. Make a short film
12. Cross three things off my list
13. Be a good person
Happy New Year
Monday, January 3, 2005 11:45 p.m.
Well, this is entry is a while overdue, so let me first say "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!" I know I should have said that a couple days ago, around midnight, and I did. Unfortunately, you were just not near enough to hear it. If you were near enough to hear it, you probably said something similar. If you were there, sorry I missed you.
So a lot has happened since our last visit. I went to the Mait-rix to see mom and dad, and the grandparents and the cousins, and managed to accomplish all that in a couple days. I got a whack of Christmas presents, and exchanged a bunch with my parents and had a good time, but not a long time. I think there's a song about that.
I got back on Tuesday evening on the train. After lugging my Christmas presents back to my apartment (as is the annual tradition) I ended up hanging out with Capo, who was whining excessively about how much he had missed me. So I let the little beast sit on my lap for a couple hours as we watched TV and waited for Leigh to get back from New York City, which she eventually did. She and her family had a good time, and she was kind enough to bring me a nice little after-Christmas present: a really nice, cowboy-style shirt from Diesel. I love it. She saw the sights, toured the city, went to the ballet, ate at some nice restaurants, and whatnot... if you want more details you'll have to ask her.
New Years Eve, Leigh was working, so I party-hopped with Josh and friends. By the end of the night, I had been to 4 apartment/houses other than my own, and had consumed quite enough.
The next couple days were fairly uneventful. We put away the Christmas gear, cleaned up the apartment, and started getting ready for a spectacular 2005, using our new day-planners. I worked on a new chunk of the Countdown Productions website devoted to wedding packages which I hope will score me some more business once people start to look at it. I got a Tom Brady jersey on ebay and am very excited for it to arrive.
That's about all I got for now... tomorrow, I'll post my New Year's Resolutions, what I got for Christmas, and the things I forgot to mention about today.
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2004!!
Saturday, December 25, 2004 01:06 p.m.
It's Christmas. I'm at work. In a couple hours, I'll leave this work and go to the other work. The best part about it is that you could fire a cannon down the hallway and nobody would notice. Nobody is here today, and nothing is happening. So it essentially boils down to me getting paid extra to sit and watch the "American Choppers" Marathon on the Discovery Channel. Of course after an episode or two at work, I walk across the street and "work from home" for a couple episodes. Capo much prefers that, because he can hop on my lap as I work hard waiting for the phone to ring.
I worked last night as well, which essentially involved waiting for the slowest college football game in history to end. I walked home around 11:30pm, glad it was still Christmas Eve, and wondered why so many people were out at the bars on King Street.
After a few days of effort, I've concluded that I still have the worst luck with rental cars in history. Every location I tried to rent from was either booked solid or closed for Boxing Day. So instead of driving out to Maitland with the cat, I'll be taking the train and leaving Capo to watch the apartment.
Leigh and I traded Christmas presents on Wednesday night. She did an excellent job of picking thoughtful gifts that I didn't exactly ask for. It was more things I needed or had mentioned in passing that I would like. So in a series of unwrappings, I discovered a new Diesel watch, a new long sleeve t-shirt that says "So Hip It Hurts," a book about the Simpsons, and a necklace to replace the one she brought be from the Dominican, which later broke. All in all, I loved what she got it. She liked her diamond earrings, her fuzzy pants, and the framed piece of customed-designed art featuring several images of her beloved Capo starring in movies, famous paintings, and the like. It now hangs in the kitchen.
The reason we did our exchange on the 23rd was because I was working all weekend, and she was flying to New York City on Christmas Eve. She flew out around 5:00 and landed at La Guardia around 6:00. The rest of her family was supposed to arrive from Montreal around the same time. Their plane was delayed though, so she was stranded alone for a couple hours in the baggage claim area waiting for them. They showed up though and managed to tour some of the city last night.
So... I guess I just want to say Merry Christmas to all of my faithful readers. The numbers continue to grow, which is kinda baffling.
Feliz Navidad, Amigos!!
so here's the deal...
Monday, December 20, 2004 12:17 a.m.
It's Sunday night... I'm exhausted, I have a wicked headache, Capo sounds like he's ripping up the bathroom, Payton Manning didn't break Dan Marino's TD record, yesterday was my mom's birthday, it was stinking cold outside today (-18 before windchill last time i was out), and Leigh is at work. Of course many of these things don't matter to you, but I suppose if you care enough to actually read this page, some of this might matter to you...
I curled 6 games this week, 2 in my leagues and 4 in the zone competition for the Holiday Inn Challenge. We won on Tuesday, won again on Thursday, and went 3-1 on the weekend, which was good enough to win the B-Side (even though we played pretty poorly for all 4 games). That means we go to Trenton next month for the finals. 2004-2005 CURLING RECORD: 22-14.
My cell phone was finally bugging me enough to take it in to get fixed. In the meantime, I'm using one of Sean's extras. Of course, it doesn't have my phone numbers stored in it. You'd think I'd know my mom's phone number, eh? Well, I was 1 digit off 6 different times before finally calling my grandparents to get the number so I could call my mother and wish her a happy birthday.
My Christmas shopping got completed this week, Thursday to be exact. Somehow I managed to get sent out on Friday to pick up some present's on Leigh's behalf. We also got some Christmas decorations up, so everything feels suddenly festive.
I have a couple days off ahead, no curling this week, so I should have a lot of time to relax before I go crazy working all weekend. But for now, I gotta go to sleep. My head is pounding.
friday has a feel
Friday, December 10, 2004 08:17 a.m.
Last week I completely forgot to mention anything about The Score Christmas Party. It was on Thursday after curling, at Fionn MacCool's on King Street and it was quite a bit of fun. I walked in from curling, ordered a free steak, then went through my drink tickets and chatted up the Score folks. It was a really fun party, I played with the band. Eyes were opened. People said I have "no fear," which I'll take as a compliment.
Back to this week... a couple major headlines. First of all, Countdown Productions has finished it's first paying gig. I sent it off on Monday, and I'm happy to be rid of it. That's the problem with editing video. By the time you're done it, you've seen it 1,000 times and never want to look at it again.
Elsewhere, I started my Christmas shopping yesterday and managed to knock four people off the list. I have a pretty good idea what to get everybody else, but some still require a little more thought and care. Leigh's has already been quite a bit of work, but I know she's going to love it.
Curling is going better as of late. I've been playing pretty well for a few weeks now, and I'm happy to say that we won our Tuesday game (huge) and last night's game (extra end) bringing my 2004-2005 Curling Record to: 17-13. I'm still not happy with those numbers, but at least they're headed in the right direction.
Oh thank the lord... Joe just got back from Tim Horton's. Mmm breakfast at work.
Leigh's work Christmas party is tonight, so I'll have to get dressed up. I got a new sweater yesterday, so I'm workin it today, and I think I'm looking pretty good. Capo is still a spazz and a sucky-baby depending on the minute, and other than that things are pretty standard.
Volleyball starts up again in January. One more week of curling before the holiday break. It looks like I'm going to the Mait-rix for a few days after Christmas.
That's about it.
playing with ketchup
Sunday, December 5, 2004 10:02 p.m.
So it was a pretty eventful week. After working all weekend and into the new week, I curled on Tuesday night. With Christine back in the lineup, we had our "A-Squad" and it made a difference. We won huge (record: 12-11).
Wednesday night, we had a volleyball game, which as usual was fun in a horrible defeat. The first season on the Smashing Bumpkins is officially in the books. We finished somewhere in the middle of the pack and had a great time doing so.
Thursday: I ran some errands, finished up the Sunbeam project, and curled another game. We came back from down a few points, and won later in the game. I played well and was extremely happy with both of our games this week. (record:13-11).
Friday: The 56th Annual Chisolm Bonspiel kicked off Friday morning at the Cricket Club. We won both of our games on Friday, and had a load of roast beef on Friday night. Ian, Josh, and Justin and I were all playing well, and because of our two wins were in a spot to play a tough team in Heath McCormick (record: 15-11).
Saturday: After a good start in our big game, we ended up dropping a big end which put us in a little bit of trouble into the home stretch. We fought back, and were tied coming home... we made all our shots, and made him draw the four-foot for his win. He did, we lost. We drop to the 3rd event. (record: 15-12).
Saturday night: We made it back to our respective apartments in time to relax a little before the dinner on Saturday. So Leigh and I watched a bit of TV and had a little snack before getting ready for the fancy shmancy dinner... well about the same time as we were about to get changed, the power went out in our building... and stayed out. We managed to get dressed and proper, but it was a little more eventful than initially planned. The dinner was fun. All the dates were lovely. And get this... they changed the meal! For the last 4 years, the Saturday night dinner was Capon stuffed with rice and mushrooms. This year they went with a Chicken Picotta thingy which looked more like a pancake than your average chicken dinner. And frankly, they shouldn't have changed it. Not nearly as good.
This morning we lost. Sloppy game. Didn't go too hot. Had lunch, came home, chilled all afternoon. Patriots won. Woo hoo. (Their record: 11-1, mine: 15-13).
Note: There was a little criticism last week after counting the default/2-on-2 game as a win. Some people said neither should count, others said both should count, but I split the difference and took half a win for the default and a half for the little game we played. So either way, it counts for a win. So what if I pad the stats a little!! Although, I have been playing pretty well lately.
IN other news.... I should probably start Christmas shopping.
what a week... wowee.
Monday, November 29, 2004 01:17 a.m.
These things happened, in somewhat chronological order:
I had Monday and Tuesday off
I bought some lights for shooting video
I got business cards (and they are awesome)
I talked to Chris Roberts for a while, which was a refreshing bit of contact with an good friend
My opponents forfeited on Tuesday (by not showing up) and we played a 2 on 2 game instead, we won (record this year 11-11)
I had two nights of awful sleep
I had my Sunbeam video shoot on Wednesday morning
It went amazingly well, forcing me to realize a) how much I like this kind of work b) that university was actually useful and c) I need to advertise.
I worked 3-11 for the rest of the week
I edited the Sunbeam video when I had time
I worked this weekend too
I played virtual golf with Josh
Sean and Natalie came over and brought nachos
Leigh finished her paper, and fought off some sort of disease this week
After sitting around for most of the weekend, all hell broke loose at CBC and I had to put out about 10 fires in an hour... which continued a few more hours to my on-call duty this evening.
I finished editing the main draft
The Patriots won... again
back to the ol' stomping ground
Monday, November 22, 2004 10:59 p.m.
I was in Schenectady, NY on the weekend, which is right next door to where I used to live as a youngster. From the age of 8 to the age of 16, I lived in Latham, NY and curled in Schenectady. So, I went down with my dad to curl with and against some of our old friends.
We were 2-2, which puts my record on the year at 10-11. I really don't like being under .500, but what can you do? Hopefully that changes this week.
In other news, I scored the video gig I've been chasing for the past few weeks. It will pay a fair bit, but also give me my first official client for Countdown Productions... which I think is more exciting. I pick up my business cards tomorrow!
Elsewhere, things are okay. I'm watching the Patriots on Monday Night Football, and they're winning... which is a good thing. I'm enjoying a couple days off, and being pretty productive at the same time as getting rested.
It's time to think about what I want for Christmas.
frustration station
Wednesday, November 17, 2004 08:49 a.m.
Well, we've lost a few games lately. So now I'm 8-9 this year. The weekend was a disaster, I played HORRIBLY. And last night was closer, except the team wasn't really there for me in the end... it was a painful loss. So it's getting more and more frustrating, but at the same time it's just curling. And also at the same time, I think I've actually been playing pretty well lately, with the exception of Saturday. I feel pretty good out there, I just haven't been winning.
It occured to me last night, however, that I enjoy just being there. I like being on the ice and being able to forget about everything else for a couple hours. As soon as I'm in a game, I don't really think about what is outside those walls, which is a pleasant little distraction.
I had another meeting with my client hopefuls. We chatted on the phone for a while, I sent them a new quote, I showed them a video sample, and should know fairly shortly if I'm getting the gig. Hopefully, I know before the end of the day, so I can prepare. I'd probably be shooting on Monday and Tuesday.
In other news, the editing machine is running full throttle. I've put together two decent videos and have authored some DVD menus complete with navigability and whatnot. It's pretty fun, but apparently it's become a bit of an obsession.
Work has been pretty crazy this week, but it's Friday for me. I'm going to New York with my dad for the weekend to curl. Hopefully, we can win a few games. I need to get that record up!
Leigh is good, the cat is good, the apartment is fine, the weather is getting colder, the volleyball team is having fun... what else do you want to know?
CLARIFICATION
Friday, November 12, 2004 01:25 p.m.
You might be wondering how my record in curling went from 7-6 to 8-5. Frankly, I don't know how I came up with 7-6 in the first place. In mixed I'm 3-3, In men's I'm 3-1, and in bonspiels I'm 2-1. That adds up to 8-5.
Hopefully that number goes to 11-5 this weekend.
Lest we forget...
Friday, November 12, 2004 01:07 p.m.
Hey folks... yesterday was Rememberance Day, or Veterans Day, depending on which country you're in. I hope everybody did something to remember the sacrifices that people have made in years past for the freedoms we now enjoy, both in Canada and the U.S. There's a great commercial on TV around this time of year about a kid who backpacks across Europe and calls his grandfather from Normandy, where the Canadians landed on D-Day... it's amazing. It makes me want to go to Dieppe, France and see it myself.
So what's going on? I've learned that wedding videos are pretty much the easiest thing in history to edit. I've learned that putting a computer system together capable of editing such a thing can instill one with a remarkable sense of accomplishment. I still havne't figured out the networking yet, it kinda runs on and off.
I curled a couple games this week, and won them both. 2004-2005 CURLING RECORD: 8-5, I think. It's still not up to par, but it's getting better. Big games on Saturday...
I'm still eating roast beef left over from Monday's dinner. I got lots of it. I need to get more sandwich stuff.
Work is outstandingly boring today.
crossing things off, one by one
Sunday, November 7, 2004 01:39 p.m.
Well the Austrians have gone home, the new computer has been purchased, the lawsuit seems to be in a holding pattern, he company is starting to get rolling, the curling is in very full swing, the cat is getting crazier, Leigh is also very busy, and I won a roast yesterday in a curling thing, although we lost our Tuesday game. Curling Record this year: 7-6. Well below standards.
If you want details or more information about any of that stuff, email me or call. I like hearing from you.
lazy saturday
Saturday, October 30, 2004 03:41 p.m.
So, I finally have some "me time."
Randy called last night and asked if we wanted to go with him to see a screening of "The Incredibles" this morning, because he had extra free passes. We had nothing else to do, so we attended and really enjoyed the movie. After doing a bit of shopping with Randy, we came back to the apartment and bummed around. Leigh has to work tonight so she's sleeping, while I waste time on the computer.
The Austrians are in Brantford curling, which is great for them, and better for me. It's not that I don't like them, because I do, it's more that I like not having to worry about them every day. They gave me a very nice gift in appreciation of my efforts... who knew there was such a thing as Austrian rum?!
Curling was a romp on Thursday, and we were on the good side of it this time. 10-2 after 6 ends. CURLING 2004-2005: 4-3 Wow... that should be better.
So yeah, that's about it for now. Life gets a LITTLE quieter for the next little while. There will be a few days of curling here and there, but no more clinics, no more Austrians, trips to Sudbury, league set-ups, etc. Just the eventual launch of Countdown Productions.
My world has turned upside down...
Thursday, October 28, 2004 06:18 a.m.
The Red Sox won. They came back from 3-0 against the Yankees, and went on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series. Coming back to win a series after losing the first 3 games HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN BASEBALL. Going on to SWEEP the winningest team in the league is a little ridiculous. I don't know of anybody who is old enough to remember the last time the Sox won. 1918 was the year, and 86 have passed since then. Haley's Comet is more regular.
Until yesterday, sports fans learned that the Red Sox couldn't do it. They could manufacture brilliant seasons, only to be the victims of horribly painful collapses. They were taught that Boston sports fans, although passionate about all sports (in which they've won several championships), were masochists when it came to baseball. They'd bleed... red... for this team, and finally that passion, commitment, and season ticket money has repaid them with a championship.
So congrats people of Boston, and congrats Red Sox. Enjoy it while you can. The next one may be a ways off.
In other news, I'm exhausted. It's just been one of those weeks. Getting up at 5 am will do that to you everytime. the curling record stands at 3-3, after another Tuesday loss. I have another game tonight.
In the meantime, the Austrians are having a good time. They went to Niagara Falls yesterday, and I haven't heard from them since. I hope they made it back okay, they've got a game today at 1:00.
In other news, Countdown Productions may be kicked into high gear shortly. I have a meeting with a prospective client, which will give me a chance to wear my new suit jacket. Monday, I'll have a meeting, and a little shopping spree.
as dave matthews once said, "so much to say..."
Monday, October 25, 2004 04:24 a.m.
Of course, when Dave Matthews sang it, he said it over and over times. I figured there was no need for an excessively long title, especially at this point in the morning.
So let's start with Sudbury. Apparently we missed the best parts... That's what we were told during our last afternoon, as we had lunch with all the people from the CBC Sudbury bureau.
Funny moment #1: For some reason, I left out the best part of our my first night in town. As I met up with Greg on the first night, he told me a funny story about how he had asked a guy at CBC about a good bar to go to, and this guy's immediate response was "You looking for strippers?" We weren't, and had a good laugh about it.
Later on, as we waited in the hotel lobby for a taxi cab, we asked the guy at the front desk about a good bar to go to. His immediate response was "You guys looking for strippers?" Odd, we thought. We get in the cab, and ask the cab driver "What's a good bar to go to?" and he replies "You fellas looking for strippers?" Three times, in the course of about 2 hours. It was a pretty acurate depiction of the state of the town... if the OHL team is out of town, your entertainment options are limited.
Funny moment #2: This one is only funny because it embodies how badly the town is arranged. I understand the building options are limited due to the large rock formations both above and below ground, but I still say the urban planner was hammered as he designed this place. For example, Thursday afternoon was very pleasant. I was done work around 6:30 and in no hurry to get back to the hotel, so I decided to walk. I knew roughly where I was going, and I knew that it wasn't too far, so I headed out in the direction I needed to go. As I neared the hotel, the road dipped below an overpass, and on top of the bridge was a road and some train tracks. The side-walk disappeared under the bridge, so I figured I'd have to go up one side and down the other to avoid the risk of serious car-related maming. So I walk up the ramp to the top of the overpass. First of all, there was no road down the other side. Next, there was no way to GET to the other side between the train tracks and the giant fence in the way, and thirdly, there seemed to be no way at all to get around it all. So I chose a direction, and walked a bit. I knew there had to be a way to get by somehow. Eventually I found a ramp, which led to a tunnel, which led to the other side... FREEDOM!!! Except that in the process of walking up the street for 50 yards, I'd managed to put myself on the other side of a river that didn't exist on the other side of the bridge. And again, there was no obvious way to get across. After going about a mile out of my way, the road finally bent and met up with the one I was on back on the other side of the overpass, and I eventually made it back to the hotel.
Funny moment #3: Thursday night, we went to Montana's for dinner. As Greg ordered the worst-cooked steak I've ever seen and we continued comiserating about the bizarre layout of the city, two very rough looking young-men came in. They were probably about 20-25 years old, dressed in thug-wear. They had the necessary cheap jewelry and mean faces that gave me the impression that we really wouldn't want to mix it up with them. And considering all we were doing was bashing the town, we pretty much thought that we were about to get punched in the collective face. So anyway, they walk in and sit at the bar... and order a pair of STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKES. Talk about one of the funniest things you've ever seen. And of course every time I looked over towards them, I'd laugh, they'd look up, and I'd fear for my face. Luckily, a third guy showed up and ordered a beer, so a LITTLE bit of toughness was restored.
Anyway, we got the hell out of Sudbury. After about an hour of driving south, we went over a bridge with a really pretty calm river below it, lined by woods on either side. And for the first time in three days, I had seen something that actually made me think I'd like to go back.
I got in around 9pm, as Leigh was heading out with her friends. I was thinking about joining them, but it turns out that sitting around and doing nothing, then going to sleep was a better option.
We played in a volleyball tournament on Saturday which was fun, even though we're horrible. We were playing in the recreational division, but I spent a while watching the competetive side, and wiping up my drool as I saw people so high over the net, they were blocking with their face. These were the same people who would float and then drill the ball straight down... some of the girls were doing it too. I really enjoy watching good volleyball. And I really enjoy playing awful volleyball, even though I could probably hold my own on the competetive teams... ahh well, I'm so good my team voted me MVP which meant I won a load of cash and prizes... and by cash and prizes, I mean shampoo.
Later on, I met up with the famed "Austrians" for the first time. They had just arrived and we got them checked in to their hotel, and met with Leigh, Sean & Nat for some dinner. After that, we hung out at our place for a bit, before going out to Milwaukee's for the evening.
Sunday, I did very little. Leigh joined me. We slept in until the early afternoon. We shopped for some groceries, and watched some football. When we couldn't find the Patriots game on TV, we caught the end of "Sleepless in Seattle" on TBS. Leigh went to work, and I went to the curling club to hang out with the Austrians for a bit. They're itching to get on the ice, and it turned out the ice we had planned for today (Monday) is now unavailable... so I'm trying to find somewhere else.
Meanwhile, I had to be at work for 4am today... so here I am. Hanging out in the Toronto newsroom doing the samething I was doing in Sudbury, making sure that there are no major problems with the new technology. So far, so good. The only complication will come later when I have to fill out the time card, billing travel costs, overtime, and turnaround, meanwhile billing them to different departments based on .... yeah, you don't care. I don't either really, but this will be the only thing that makes going to Sudbury worthwhile!
Red Sox up 2-0 in the World Series...could this be it? Patriots win 21st straight game. Boston must be going crazy.
Tune in Sudbury... beeeoooooop
Thursday, October 21, 2004 06:54 p.m.
Tuesday night we lost our game. We probably should have won it, but whatever, nobody was really on fire, and they played well. I don't think I lost any sleep over it. The only thing that occasionally causes me to lose sleep is the cat, and even he's been better lately. He's learned that sleepy time is not time to claw at the big people.
So I went to work at Wednesday morning thinking I was in for a typical day of exciting System Administrating and training. And it was for a while, until my boss asked to go to Sudbury for a couple days... and that I was to leave as soon as possible. So later that day, I said goodbye to Leigh and Capo and headed to the airport. It was very last minute but it's a bit of extra cash, and the chance to see and exciting part of the world.
Which brings me to... SUDBURY. And boy, am I here!! It's very... there... or HERE, I should say. I got of the little plane and walked across the runway (always fun to get that celebrity private jet feeling), and Greg met me in his Thunderbird convertible (rental). I checked in to the Sudbury Holiday Inn, and we headed out to find a place to eat, drink, and watch the Red Sox play the Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS. After a somewhat disturbing cab ride, we ended up at Don Cherry's restaurant where we ate, drank, and watched Game 7 of the ALCS.
Which brings me to Game 7 of the ALCS. I can't believe the Red Sox won. Even though they had a huge lead late in the game, I was expecting a brilliant and glorious collapse as only the Sox can deliver. History was made. It was great.
Back to Sudbury... work went well today. There are things to do but it is generally less stressful than some of the other shows I've seen trying to switch to the new system (why I'm here). The town becomes more pathetic with every passing minute... more to follow. Hungry like crazy.
all the leaves are brown...
Tuesday, October 19, 2004 10:39 a.m.
It has become quite obvious in the past few days that autumn in upon us. The air is crisper, the breeze is cooler, and there's a smell of ... I don't know what it is... but I love it. It just smells like fall. Maybe it's all the dying plants. Mix that with the fireplace at one of the nearby restaurants and I become euphoric as I walk up the sidewalk towards King St. I don't know what it is. I really like the first few weeks of fall... then it just gets old.
Lots going on, but when does that ever change. So here we go, just for kicks, in list form.
-I worked on Saturday and Sunday night at the Score.
-I ran a curling clinic on Saturday, which went well.
-There seems to be no end to the Red Sox methods of instilling false hope among their fans, only to fail miserably in the last hours. That being said, they're playing some very exciting games and making a good series out of it. I hope they win, I just don't think they're going to.
-We're meeting with a lawyer on Friday to sort out our little legal problem.
-Austrians arrive on Saturday.
-I'm playing volleyball on Saturday
-I curl tonight.
don't you be talking about my mama!
Friday... like that matters
Friday, October 15, 2004 11:08 a.m.
So Dennis and I have written up statements and are getting ready to find a lawyer, so we can avoid a costly... cost. We're planning to meet with a guy next week, but I'll probably have to make a few more calls before that. Everytime I think about it, I get a little more stressed.
In other news... my new Thursday team won our first league game. It was a slow start, but we played better than last week, and pulled out the win.
2004-2005 CURLING: 3-1
I'm looking forward to tonight, because I have nothing to do. I'm going to sit at home and watch TV.
look girl, i am a LAWYER....
Thursday, October 14, 2004 05:26 p.m.
So... this is why my day has been pretty miserable.
Last night, on my way to volleyball, my dad calls me and tells me that a lawyer called him and said that I, along with my two former roommates, owe our old apartment building about $4300. Although we moved out 6 months ago (after giving the proper notice) they're trying to get us to pay three months rent we don't owe.
So I've had some stressful conversations with my dad, with my roommate, with their lawyer, and have been trying to get all my details together and get all the facts straight. All I know is that I dont owe them the money, but if I can't prove that in the next two weeks, they're going to do screw up my credit rating... which is quite bothersome.
So I'm kinda freaking out about this, and of course I don't have a ton of money to go and hire a lawyer either, so Dennis and I are in a bit of a state.
In other news, apparently I graduated university because of a clerical error, according to a certain source. Considering I passed all my classes on the first try, had the proper schedule, and had my transcript audited in 4th year just to be sure, I find it hard to believe. I'm not thrilled about the rumour that I might not have a legitimate degree... but hey, I have a job and he doesn't. Just another annoying thing today.
I curl tonight. I hope I win. I'm pretty distracted though.
Winning Streak
Wednesday, October 13, 2004 10:59 a.m.
So... I was in the Mait-rix (Maitland) for Sunday and Monday. We did our usual deep-fried turkey, and all I can say is that it was deep-fried-perfection. Mmmm... you'll never have a nicer piece turkey than one which has just come out of a pot of boiling oil. Happy Thanksgiving.
I golfed with my mom on Monday. We played nine holes at a nice little place in Brockville. The weather was cloudy, but actually a pretty nice day for golf. I got my one par, hit a few really nice shots, and a bunch of bad ones. It was nice though. After a steak for dinner, I drove back to Kingston, picked up Leigh and Capo, and got stuck in traffic all the way back to Toronto.
I missed some things. I have to rewind a little. On Saturday before this little trip, I tried to reserve a car to rent for Sunday. Of course, being a holiday weekend, all the places were pretty much booked solid. Literally every Hertz car in the GTA was spoken for. Finally, I got a reservation with National, which was conviniently located at Union Station.
Sunday morning arrives, and Leigh and I get all packed to head out. The plan was to pick up the car at 10:00, stop at the apartment to pick up luggage, the cat, and Leigh. I arrive at the rental place at 10:02 and there's a line out the door. So I wait, and wait, and wait, and about 45 minutes later I reach the front of the line, only to be told that I won't get a car for about an hour. So instead of 10:00, our departure is now looking like closer to noon. Gee Brian, you don't have much luck with rental cars, do you? No... not at all.)
Apparently what happened was that National started the day with a load of reservations and a full parking lot. They were trying to keep the parking lot full as the reservations went out by driving cars out from the airport location. Of course, everybody came at the same time, so once the parking lot was empty, cars would only show up a few at a time, then the guys would have to go back to the airport and get more. It wasn't a big deal except for the dinners we were both heading to, but we had a coffee and a muffin, and killed the hour pretty easily.
I went back to Union, got the car, went back to the apartment, loaded up the appropriate things, hit EVERY green light on the way out of the city, no traffic on the DVP or 401, and made it to Kingston in very good time. The cat ended up spending most of the trip asleep on my lap because he was whining a lot in his little travel cage. After a very brief stop in Kingston, I turned on AC/DC's Back in Black CD *The Best Driving CD Ever in My Humble Opinion*, and made way for the Mait-rix, again, in pretty good time.
So late Monday night, Leigh and I got back and watched "Mean Girls" which was pretty funny. Tina Fey and Lindsay Lohan.... oooooweeee!! Anyway, that was nice. I went to work on Tuesday, got back into the swing of things, and think I got a lot accomplished. We're busier these days, which is nice.
And then there was Tuesday Night Curling. You may recall that I'm running the Tuesday Night Mixed League, or at least I'm supposed to be. Right up until Tuesday morning, various other parties (who shall remain nameless but shall forever be in my BAD books) were trying to add more teams, to complicate a draw which I had already revised 4 times. And when he couldn't reach me (being out of town for Thanksgiving) he went over my head to the club manager, who ended up again doing all the work I had already done, although differently because there were two more teams. ARRRRRGH.... frustration station.
So anyway, the league got underway with 24 teams in 4 divisions. Most teams showed up without too much consequence, a couple players were absent here and there, and the 7:00 draw went off without a hitch. Our team played pretty well, (I played really well actually), and we won.
For the 9:00 draw, however, a certain guy claims he didn't get a call from me to tell him he was on a team. And while I think I left a message for him, I'm starting to believe it was at a wrong number, and the voice sounded similar enough that I didn't notice. Either way, he showed up, but had a sprained ankle and was unable to play anyway. Soooo... his team was light a player, and it seemed to be my fault somehow, so I ended up playing another game, with and against people I had never met. And we won...
2004-2005 CURLING RECORD: 2-1
So now, I'm back at work, obviously getting a lot done. Volleyball tonight, curling tomorrow, nothing on friday night, and back-to-back Score shifts on Saturday and Sunday. Also on Saturday is a curling clinic that I'm running. Good times.
Countdown Productions continues to pick up steam, and I'm looking to make my next major purchase pretty shortly. A new editing computer is going to be built within the next few weeks, if I can only find the time.
and i hate those bigger taller people... you mean, regular people?... yeah, i hate regular people
2004 CURLING: 0-1
Friday, October 8, 2004 09:47 p.m.
We had our first game last night... and we blew it. We didn't play very well, but managed to stay with it, until we had a shot for the win in an extra end. It was thrown well, was looking good, then SNAPPED... curled too much, and we missed the shot. Because I was in the house at the time, calling the line was my job. It was somewhere between a surprise and a blown call, but probably some of both.
Anyway, the season is officially underway.
I've been working some nights at CBC this week (traded Wednesday and Thursday to curl and play volleyball), and have been able to get a lot done with Countdown Productions and also with the Tuesday night league I'm running. I'm keeping busy, as usual, and home for minutes at a time when I can say hello to the cat, and talk to Leigh for a bit. She's at work a lot too, so I think the cat sees more of us than we see of eachother.
I'm going to Maitland this weekend for some family time. I'll probably see the grandparents and have some turkey. Should be a good time. Stay tuned for the official launch of the Countdown Productions Website. It's mostly done, but I need to get a couple more things rolling before that gets released to the public.
Today was John Cerutti's funeral, which I wish I could have gone to. Making the trip to New York just wasn't going to happen though.
whirlwind wedding weekend
Monday, October 4, 2004 12:38 p.m.
So it all started on Wednesday, when I was at work, and still had 100 things to do. At lunch, I tried to pack as well as I could, after work I ran a few errands, including getting a new golf bag, and then managed to meet Leigh and another volleyball teammate so we could head up to do that.
Volleyball was pretty rough, but as usual, we had fun. We had a lot of people, which means that there were always a lot of people waiting to get rotated in, which means that our most "skilled" players weren't always in the game. We took one game out of the three though, and I dove around a bit making exciting plays. The ankle is holding up.
So as soon as volleyball was over, Leigh and I took a cab back to our place, so I could grab my giant luggage bag, my empty camera case, and golf clubs, and head out for Union Station. It's only a 5 minute walk, but in retrospect, a taxi might have been smarter.
Regardless, I made it to the train on time. I got settled in on one of the nice new VIA sleeper trains, with the bigger comfy seats. Then it went really really slow, and made every single stop along the way, then parked on the track for an hour and a half just for kicks... it took forever. Like 6 hours. I got to Maitland at 5:50 am. In comparison, the train I took back yesterday was less than 3 hours.
So I sleep for about an hour, then get up and get back in the car, where I chat with mom and dad most of the way down to New York. In retrospect, some sleep in the car probably would have been helpful, but I decided against it at the time. I also had some naps on the train which was the only reason I was even awake anyway.
After bypassing a major accident on the highway, we showed up at the golf course my parents were meeting their friends at (The Edison Club) and because it was raining, they decided not to golf, but instead have a "Beer and Wine Tour" which conviniently enough started at the club bar, and which conviniently enough I was allowed to participate in. So that went on for a while, until Bryan Fink called and said he was in town.
I was dropped at their hotel room, and enjoyed pizza and drinks with the Fink clan, before getting dropped off outside a locked house by the bride-to-be, Chrissy. So Bry came and let me in to his Uncle Rick's house, then we decided to find a place to hang out for the rest of the night, which turned out to be Gipetto's... which must be Italian for "a little bar, which lacks in charm but makes up for it with an abundance of skeevy clientelle." We had one drink and left.
We golfed at Stadium Golf Course on Friday. It was a great day for it, and I was reminded that I am not yet a good golfer. Regardless, we had a great time, then I spent the afternoon with dad, before heading back to Rick's to watch the baseball game (Jays beat the Yankees), then we headed to Eric's (the groom) house to play video games, have some drinks, and watch funny scenes on TV.
The wedding was the next morning. So Rick and I got up and went to the bar to grab some sandwiches. And while they were being made, we watched a bit of football and had a drink. We got the subs, booked it back to his place, and got changed in record time so we were all quite early to the church.
The wedding was beautiful. Eric and Chrissy both looked amazing, happy to be there, and very in love. The church looked like something out of a royal wedding with very extravagant arches domes, and statues. Everybody looked good, and I tried to capture what I could on my new video camera (which Bry had finally been able to deliver).
From there, I had a mid-day lunch with Mom and Dad, we did a bit of shopping, and killed some time before the reception which was just as extravagant as the church. The champange, the meal, the decorations, the lights, the whole thing looked fantastic. It was great to see John, Pam, Caitlin, Maureen, Bry, Bri, and a whole bunch of other curling peeps. The Finks did a wonderful job of hosting, and you couldn't have asked for a nicer reception... or wedding.
I stayed out a little too late with Bry, and some of the wedding party, but was able to answer the bell for the ride home. This time I slept. I took the train back to Toronto, and unpacked, and played with the cat, watched some of the video I shot, and unwinded... unwound? unwounded?
The only disappointment from the whole weekend came at the end. I learned that John Cerutti, a guy who I've talked about on this site a few times, and a guy I consider a friend, died suddenly on Sunday morning. He was a pitcher for the Blue Jays, a broadcaster for Sportsnet, and a great guy to be around. Keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.
where do i begin, in a world that constantly changes
Friday, September 24, 2004 04:11 p.m.
Remember all those posts a while back, when all I would write was something like "Not much going on, went to work, came home. Doing the same tomorrow." Well those days are gone... so much to say, I'll probably forget half of it.
Now, in no particular order: THINGS I FEEL I NEED TO SHARE!!
My ankle is still a little bruised and somewhat tender. I'm walking on it and would say it's about 83% functional right now. Straight up-and-down weight is okay, but the side to side stuff is a little painful still. Not too painful though...
Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Dan. I got him some blue balls. Three actually. I got him three blue balls. I kid you not.
I played volleyball on Wednesday in our league. We're now officially called the "Smashing Bumpkins" and we're 1-1 so far. I wouldn't say we're a stellar volleyball team, but as is the custom with most of the teams I'm on, we have fun. We're getting t-shirts done. I'm excited.
We got a cat. Well actually, it's Leigh's cat. But considering I had to drive her out to Milton, to this really weird guy's farmhouse in the boonies (he had every tacky lawn gnome, wood figurine cut-out, flamingo, old lady benging over in the garden type thing that you could imagine in his yard, not to mention about 50 cuckoo clocks inside his zoo... err, living room), and the fact that this little fella is going to live in our apartment, I can safely say WE. His name is Caponius Rutherford Wenkebach, or Capo for short. I'll put up a picture soon.
Somebody from my highschool tracked me down on Google, to invite me to a 5-year reunion in November. The funny part was that they didn't find this site, or brian.chickonline.com, or anything like that... no no no, they found my name on the Royal Canadian Curling Club site. Not the part I designed, but the part with past league champions. She then emails Bill, the club manager, who passes her note on to me... I'm just glad she didn't think I had anything to do with the first one that comes up... the one about "The State of New Hampshire vs. Brian Chick" which is a court document about a sexual assault case. Luckily for me, I wasn't born yet when the attacks took place, so I have an alibi. So I may be going to Massachusetts again, in November.
I continue to stockpile equipment for Countdown Productions through ebay purchases. The camera has been received by Bryan Fink in Massachusetts, and I'll get it from him next week. I got a nice new case for it from Quebec, and have ordered a microphone from Florida. I'm eyeing another one in California although there might be someone in New York who will sell the same one cheaper. On the same front, I'm working on getting business cards done, and a website set up. It's all very exciting.
Tonight is the open house at the curling club. I'm running a league so I have to be there, I'd probably go anyway. Team Coe is playing this weekend in Galt, and I'll probably make it out there for a game or two... and the Austrians just sent another email with more information on their trip. Sooo lots going on.
Still working two jobs... got a GST rebate cheque today... got a bonus from work today... sleeping when I can... eating a lot of subway...and now, playing with the cat when I have a moment. Coming soon, the weekend roundup, results from Galt, and wedding/golf in New York. Stay tuned.
these cats is broke, i knows 'em, throw 'em out the doors and close 'em
Medic!!!
Friday, September 17, 2004 06:24 a.m.
I'm getting busted up all over the place. I seem to go through spells where my body decides to get all of its serious pain out of the way all at once. So first it was the sore neck/shoulder (cause unknown), followed by the busted ankle (I say "busted" because I don't know if it was a sprain, strain, break, or whatever... I just heard it pop a few times and now it hurts) from last nights soccer game, and this morning in the shower, I managed to get shampoo in my nose and mouth (It was 4:45 am, I'm pretty sure I was still asleep while trying to wash my hair), which hurt and also tasted horribly incredibally bad.
So now, I'm a member of the limping wounded. The ankle is okay, but sore. I can put some weight on it, and I'm sure that it'll be fine within a few days. I hurt it similarly in first year, which I think was worse. My attempt to resurrect my soccer career lasted a pathetic 5 minutes before challenging for the ball which led to the resurrection of my soccer spectating career.
We played our first volleyball game on Wednesday. "The Smashing Bumpkins" took the first game, but lost the next two, but really didn't seem to care becase we had a good time doing it. We'll be playing every Wednesday now, which will go well with the Tuesday and Thursday curling which is about to start up.
These 5am days are killing me. Thank heavens this is the last one for a bit.
5 am came early today too.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 05:23 a.m.
Well I have to say I'm doing better today, than I was at this time yesterday. I've got the god-awful-early shift this week at CBC, which means 5am starts. That's not a problem if you plan for it, but if you're stuck working until 1ish, and can't get to sleep until 3ish, getting up for 5ish isn't really the most pleasant thing in the world.
So that was Sunday/Yesterday. Then I went home and went to bed-ish. After napping for a couple hours, Leigh woke me up and we walked around, eventually hitting the bookstore, where I picked up "All The Presidents Spin" which is about how the Bush administration has gotten away with lies, without flatout lying. It really just looks at the ambiguous language they use and assumptions people make based on that language. Pretty interesting so far.
We barbecued chicken on the rooftop last night, and after a screening of Van Wilder (I still love that movie), I read for a bit and went to bed. Hence, 5 am was not so rough today.
So tonight, there's a super huge hockey game. Canada-Finland, World Cup Final. This will likely be the last meaningful hockey for a long long time. It's sad, but I'm not running the league or the players union, so I can't do anything about that. But go CANADA!!
in the home stretch...
Thursday, September 9, 2004 02:12 p.m.
I'm in the last two hours of a 9-day stretch during which I worked 128 hours, and did not much else. It was fine for most of the time, except in the last day or so, I've started to become increasingly tired. That's fine though, because come 4:00, I'll be able to nap pretty solidly for 3 days.
I was at the Score last night and shared a victory in the World Cup Draft pool. Everybody picks 4 players, and you get points based on how those players do in the game. Canada beat Slovakia 5-0, and two of my players (Sakic & Lecavalier) were quite influential in that score. So anyway, I turned by $2 into $12, which was enough to cover the cost of the amazing burrito I had already eaten that evening. I'm hooked, as are all the people I've seen try one of these magic burritos. For you Toronto people, that's BURRITO BOYZ on Peter, just south of Adelaide.
I'm starting to give myself more and more to do. As it stands this winter, I'll be curling two nights a week, convening one of those leagues, coaching a womens team, arranging a week-long mini-camp for some Austrians coming to Toronto, playing volleyball one night a week, working two jobs, helping run a bonspiel, and running a few websites. So I'll be busy, but that's when I'm most productive. That's what I tell myself at least...
And of course, the production company continues to be a back-burner project. Cameras and equipment seem to cost more than I feel like paying at the moment. I may have to make this a long term project, which was not the original plan. Ah well, I'd rather not be broke.
just another manic monday, woooahhh
Monday, September 6, 2004 10:28 a.m.
The worst is behind me. Through some cruel twist of scheduling fate, and through me trying to be a good guy and help a buddy get a girl, I ended up working a full CBC week (Wednesday to Sunday) AND four shifts at the Score (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) for a grand total of 72 hours of work, in 5 days.
Weekends are pretty slow around CBC, so it's not like I was running around mad for any of it, but I had enough to do. The Score was pretty good this week. It's a lot of fun with the World Cup of Hockey going on. It turns out I could have gone to a couple of the games if I wasn't working... ahh well.
Mixed in with my insane-o-hours are Leigh's twisted hours, so even if I manage to make it home before 2am, she's at work overnight. Although she hasn't done this everyday for a week, the last few days have been like ships passing in the night... except it was usually between 8 and 9 in the morning, and she'd collapse in bed just before I got up.
I still managed to have fun though. Everything wrapped nice and early last night (after a weirdo impromptu dance party in the Score newsroom) and I joined some fellow employees for a beverage at Gabby's, where we met some guys from Calgary who were having a blast, and seemed to like that we were having a blast too, and could talk about hockey. So we had a blast together, and that lasted well into the night.
And now, shock of shocks, I'm back at CBC. And already it has been busier than the whole weekend. I've been trying to call Jerusalem (which is a first for me) with little success. Between the internal phone system, the international number, and the necessity for a long distance access code, I have to dial about 30 numbers before I find out it's busy.
And, it's busy again.
this is funny
Thursday, September 2, 2004 10:56 a.m.
Today I saw the CBC Mail-Bot run into a wall. This made my morning.
For those of you who don't know, CBC has a big robotic cart that follows some invisible track in the floor and delivers mail to all the various corners of the building. It's very old-school. It's a big clunky thing that looks like it was designed in 1986, when in reality it was designed in 1984 (I'm told that made-up facts increase humour level).
It's not uncommon to see this cart drive itself by, beeping obnoxiously to make sure people don't get hit by the massive slow-moving triple-wide mailbox. It even has blinking lights. It's kinda like that senile old man who has been there forever, so nobody wants to hurt his feelings by telling him he should retire and be replaced by something better. It's really quite pathetic actually...
So today, I'm walking down the hallway and I see the Mail-bot turn down a hallway in front of me. As I walk a couple steps past the hallway, I hear a *thud* I stop, take a couple steps back, to see the State of the Art Mailmobile head first in a corner with all the lights blinking and alarms beeping.
I chuckled to myself, and then felt guilty because I was laughing at a senile old robot. Am I crazy?
everybody DOESN'T love raymond...
Monday, August 30, 2004 08:53 p.m.
Okay, so I'm done travelling for a while. After camp, Alberta, New York, and whatnot, I'm looking forward to sitting down and doing nothing... I mean, working, for a while.
New York was fun, besides the weather not cooperating. A lot of driving each way, and during, a horrible golf game, a decent turn with the ponies... I'm just tired. I can't even think out a sentence. Don't mind me. It's been a long day.
Anyway... I'm going to put up some pictures, and I'll leave it at that for now. Peace out!!
Backy McBackerson
Thursday, August 26, 2004 03:52 p.m.
Well well well, here I am... back from my travels, a little older, a little wiser, a little tired, and likely a little heavier.
My voyages started last Sunday, when I woke up nice and early finished packing up my clothes, curling stuff, teaching stuff, and mountain stuff, and walked up to Queen Street. I picked up some batteries, hailed a cab, and made my way to the bus station. I got my ticket to Guelph and dragged my bags across the street for a little McDonald's breakfast before hopping on the bus. While I was at McDonald's though, a funny thing happened. They got somebody's order wrong. That by itself is nothing unusual, but the fact that it resulted in an elderly Scotsman screaming "I WANTED TEA!!! YOU GAVE ME COFFEE!!! YOOUUUUU GAVE ME COFFEE!! I DON'T LIKE COFFEEEE!!! I WANTED TEA!!" was a little odd, and somewhat humourous. It was like the Alexander Keith's guy, but about 20 years older.
So I made it to Guelph eventually, and we had a good week of camp. There was curling, there were games, there were wonderful people to spend the time with, and there were a couple brats in my group... but they made me laugh. Good times, good times. Pictures will be up on the Trillium Curling Camp site soon. Some already are.
From there, I was almost late to the airport, but Jen and Helen made sure I got there on time. Leigh was a little peeved that I was a little behind schedule, but we got on the plane and flew away to a great week in Alberta. It was great to see the family, the extended family, the adorable nephew, and the mountains. We had a blast, we saw Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, and some of Calgary. We spent 5 days there, and just got back last night at 1:30. SkyService was completely acceptable as far as airlines go, arriving on time, serving decent drinks and meals, and even showing a movie (Shrek 2, each way). So don't be afraid to go with them if you ever are presented with that option... The only bad part was that I had a stuffy head, which was hugely painful during all the air pressure changes between the mountains, the airports, the air, then the landing. My ear felt like it was going to explode, and I think it almost did. It's a little better now.
Leigh's brother Chris was in town today, so we went for lunch, then I stopped in at work briefly. I have to go to the Score tonight for my first shift in a while, and will be back at CBC tomorrow.
Maybe more details and more photos will surface over the next few days.
Peace OUT!
what happened to my summer?
Sunday, August 15, 2004 12:56 a.m.
Well, tomorrow starts Trillium Curling Camp 2004 and I must say I'm looking forward to it. I'm exhausted at the moment, after playing 3 softball games today, but I should be able to get some decent sleep before hopping on the bus to Guelph tomorrow.
Our softball tournament didn't start off too well, although I did have my best personal highlight of the season. I made a pretty sweet diving catch in our first game that was the talk of the town (or team) for the rest of the afternoon. If only I could hit the ball where people aren't standing...
So I just wrapped up 99% of my packing, and have to throw the last minute items in tomorrow. What else...
I'm tired, the Olympics have started, I need to pick up AA batteries, Leigh is out with friends, we went to a birthday party last night for Natalie and had some pretty decent BBQ, and... that's about it. Oh, I had a really good Burrito on Friday. Check out Burrito Boyz on Peter St. Wicked Good.
Hopefully, I can post from Guelph, then Alberta... if not, you'll get the wrap up in a couple weeks.
going away for a while...
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 08:25 a.m.
Well... It's been a few days, and I swear I've been busy, but right now, I couldn't tell you exactly what I've been doing. A lot of it was trying to organize myself well enough, so that going away to Guelph for a week, and going straight to Alberta for another 5 days doesn't kill me. I leave on Sunday, and won't be home for 10 or 11 days.
In the meantime, I'm trying to round together pieces of equipment to start up a little video company. The first camera I won on ebay fell through, so I'm working on a 2nd try, and maybe a 3rd. People tell me that I've got a good idea, and most of them say they know somebody who might be a good contact for me. And I'm excited for that, except I have to get the camera, the editing suite, the lights, etc. and a few decent demo videos made first.... which I'm very excited for. It'll just take a while. I should hammer out a tentative schedule.
I had another meeting with the team I'm coaching last night, and made some decent progress in strategy discussions, season planning, and team building and whatnot. I feel like I'm actually helping them, which is pretty cool for me, and hopefully for them too.
I had some good fun on the weekend. I went out with Score people on Friday night for a birthday bash, and out to the BierMarkt on Saturday. Leigh was out for both, which is rare because she normally has to work one of those nights. It was great to get out a bit though.
That's really about all I have to say, although I feel like I have way more going on. I suppose most of it is in my head. If I'm not DOING something, then I'm thinking about curling, cameras, travel, businesses, strategy, and other stuff. So I may go silent for a couple weeks, but I'm sure I'll be back.
update the list
Thursday, August 5, 2004 06:03 p.m.
1. Finish reading "Life of Pi"
2. Finish reading "The Colour of Magic"
3. Finish reading "The Gospel According to ESPN"
4. Finish reading "Zen Guitar"
5. Finish reading "Appocalypse WOW"
6. Finish learning Flash MX 2004(which involves finishing a book) *
7. Learn Italian
8. Finish Level 2 Workbook for Coaching (Certification)
9. Put together Workbook for Coaching (Pre-Season Planning)
10. Redo my website
* - I refreshed my flash knowledge to the point of realizing that it's really hard to use, finicky to the point of absolute irritation, and that one can do most of the same things using other methods. I consider that completed.
I bought a video camera on ebay, now I'm trying to figure out how to make sure I can get it delivered without getting screwed out of my money. It's on the other side of the world now, so I don't exactly feel comfortable saying here's a load of cash, I'm sure you'll send it to me. So I'm looking into Escrow.com, which is kind of a middle man in these sorts of transactions. I trust the guy, but just want to cover my bases. And it's worth the extra cash, to have that peace of mind.
Leigh's parents were in town yesterday, so we spent the day wandering around. We bought some art for our walls, to go with the framed photos we put up a few days ago. For the piece-de-resistance, I think I'm going to break out the paints and create some art myself. It's fun!! We barbecued on the roof after the wandering... it was good.
Last 5am shift is tomorrow. Can't wait.
check out this hot little number
Wednesday, August 4, 2004 09:08 a.m.
Well the site is reborn...
Now in it's 4th incarnation, the new design is smaller and more stylish than previous ones. Only the text scrolls, eliminating the problem of trying to fill screens and screens worth of background and side filler. So I like that. Pages don't run on and on, they are all neatly packaged in a little box.
I added a lot of content too actually, which was something I had been wanting to do lately. The old site didn't really say a lot about me or what I liked, so I've expanded the realm of what kind of things are on there. Poke around, you might learn something.
I'm still trapped in ebay's iron grip... I may be the proud owner of a video camera as early as tomorrow night. Then I can worry about Step #2, which would be assembling an editing computer. Boy, I really enjoy having a job that pays me money!!
ebay-o-rama
Tuesday, August 3, 2004 07:29 a.m.
It happens every now and then. I look up one thing on ebay, and then spend the next two weeks checking the site every 3 minutes to see if there's anything I want to get, or if the price has changed on anything.
The item I'm looking for these days is a Mini-DV video camera, a Canon GL1, to be exact. It's going to be a little pricey, but I figure I'm young and can treat myself, not to mention that this would enable me to do paying video gigs like weddings and whatnot, because it's a professional quality camera. So with that in mind, I scour ebay, and check FedEx for shipping prices from Spain.
I had to be at work at 5am this morning. Boy, that was fun. I walked down the middle of the street just for fun. There was some pretty crazy lightning happening over the lake, which lit up the sky with brilliant flashes. Kinda satisfying knowing that 99% of the people I know probably didn't see it... kinda irritating because 99% of the people I know were probably still sleeping.
It's about time for someone to show up here, which will enable me to head out for Tim Horton's. If you haven't tried it yet, go for the Strawberry Sensation Muffin... it's so darn good.
New Look... Clean Slate
Monday, August 2, 2004 09:36 p.m.
As you can probably tell, I've taken some steps to redoing my site. The look is very different as is some of the programming, which made the text box a little tough to place. Let me know if anything seems out of place....
All the stuff that used to be here is now archived. You can find all the archives here. If you read them from beginning to end, it works out to about 260 typed pages.
In other news, I worked all weekend, and took a relaxing Monday to do nothing. So far, just the daily part of this page has been updated to the new look. The rest will get an overhaul before too long. I think I'm going to rely on some other windows for certain things. I will also add a bunch of information that I find a little less useful, but that people might find entertaining. So stay tuned for the new look.
Let me know what you think of this. I got nothin else right now!!
