CLICK HERE for fantastic photos of clouds and various other phenomena

I wasn't very good at the whole Christmas thing this year. I didn't get greeting cards out in time (sorry everyone), I forgot one or two thank-you bottles for my coaches and each time I went gift shopping I bought something for myself. However, there were some high points - I put lights on my house and decorated a tree in the basement for the first time in a couple of years. I was able to hook up with almost all of my friends for a meal or drink, had the MCC girls over for a movie night, spent Christmas eve with my Dad and son and had Christmas dinner at my sister's. And everytime I went shopping, I got something for myself.I bought two
beautiful prints for my bedroom. I'd been eyeing them whenever I went into House Warmings in Oakville and decided I might as well just get them. Hanging them has inspired me to finally re-decorate my house. It's still got the same paint and endless wallpaper as when I moved in!
I'm not sure if it's because there are no small children in the family or because my parents are gradually being erased by their respective illnesses but the season doesn't feel like anything special. To be honest, it's a bit of an ordeal and I'm more excited about training camp in March than I am about this holiday. In fact, on Christmas morning, I slept in until 10:30, watched the movie Accepted (not too bad with the guy from the Mac vs PC commercials. Actually, I think he is the male version of Jennifer Aniston and they could make the most boring movie ever if they were cast together) and then rolled back to my dad's to take him and my mom up to dinner at Laurel's. I'm so glad my nieces and their other cousins are there to liven things up. We watched Cars on their big screen and then did a few Elf Yourself creations. I was ready to go home after that - this going to bed at 1:00am and sleeping until 10am is exhausting.
Tara gave me some amazing truffle-ish treats she had made (I can't remember what they're called but so delicious!) and Ryan & Courtney both gave me art they had done themselves - Courtney's was irises done in pastel and Ryan's a pencil sketch of Hawkeye at Sherbourne Lake when we first got him. Ryan did such a good job and it was the perfect gift. I wasn't prepared though and it made me cry. I had Hawkeye for 15 years and he died a couple of weeks ago. Probably not the reaction Ryan was going for but it was my favourite gift in spite of appearances.
Okay, like I said, I'm bad at joy this year - I feel like Dennis Leary - Merry Farking Christmas! I'm sure you can understand why I haven't posted anything besides vids - I am absolutely bored and boring...I'm at work for a couple of days this week and will hopefully have more interesting stories to tell after New Years Eve. And if not? There's a multitude of entertaining stuff on the internet that needs sharing!

This is just so damn funny...I had to post it

Very exciting - my son and his gf Courtney got engaged last weekend! I was standing in line at Massey Hall when he called to tell me, "She said yes!!".

Courtney's from New Brunswick and is going home for the holidays so he did this whole thing with a riddle wrapped in a giftbox with clues leading to other clues around their apartment and ending with a hangman puzzle in his pocket. The puzzle spelled out "Will you marry me?". I am so pleased - Courtney is perfect for Ryan and bonus - I genuinely like her! They are planning on a wedding in 2008 in NB. Courtney has a huge family there as opposed to the 8 of us in Toronto.

When he called me, I was just going into Tafelmusik’s annual performance of Handel's Messiah. The appeal of this Christmas event is that you purchase the musical score and sit in the appropriate section - alto, soprano, tenor etc - to perform the chorus.

The conductor is very entertaining in character as Handel and the two and a half hours flew by. We were very late getting there and had to take seats in the soprano section. You guys KNOW I am not a soprano by any means. Plus my eyes automatically go to the alto line in the score so there were a couple of embarrassing moments where I started to sing a few bars before the sopranos. You have to imagine the scope of this - standing in the middle of 2500 people all belting out the halleluja chorus is...overwhelming and FUN. The Nutcracker is OFF the list of Christmas traditions. I'm definitely going to do this again next year.

Is nothing sacred? Don't watch if you have deep-seated affection for the muppets...

Matty, this one is for you...

And I thought breast implants and liposuction were extreme forms of self-modification...
WADA is hoping to have a definitive test for detecting gene doping before the Beijing Olympics. However, "Even if a test does not become available until after the Olympics, authorities have the power to test samples taken during competition for up to eight years."

So I'd like to know - would an Olympic medal make it worth it to you?

I don't know about you but my tastes change frequently
- music, art, food - I'm talking about the stuff that feeds your wants as opposed to your needs. And I'm rarely vague about what I feel like consuming. I'll eat sushi almost every day for an entire season and then suddenly crave curry for 2 weeks.
Still, I surprised even myself today when, after 2 years of listening to and collecting mostly current artists, I walked into a record store and dropped a couple hundred on old school blues. I CRAVED it.
Memphis Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Nina Simone, Louis Jordan, Ella Fitzgerald. I couldn't wait to get home to listen to it - even on my crummy cd player. I was like one of those chocoholics with a tub of double chocolate brownie fudge haagen dazs or something. And it's not a mood thing. I don't listen to the blues when I'm sad anyway. I was just missing something. In fact the song that just came on sums it up - Lost my Boogie (Memphis Slim). So - Sunday poker players be prepared, we'll be listening to the blues. And don't complain if I'm smoking a cigar and drinking shots of bourbon. Gypsy's getting back her boogie.

Yesterday was the Chilly Willy. I couldn't fit it into my day but the guys came over for poker last night so I heard some of the results. Duke won the 10k followed by Adam, Kyle then Mehak. And some guy (non-paddler) did the 21km in 1:08 !!? I think the weather was the best the Chilly's ever had - sunny and about 6 degrees with a bit of a headwind on the way back.
As for poker, we only played two games and Duke won both...I'm getting really tired of being in the final two all the time and not winning. I really need to work on my bluffing. I also think we need to switch the times - we often start at 4 or 5 pm which means no dinner. So last night we ate half a bag of ridiculously salty pretzels before deciding that pizza was in order. Happens every Sunday - junk food overload.
Watched American History X after that - I'd forgotten what a powerful movie it is. And Edward Norton - so good. I had to change the channel at the point where he stomps on the kid's head though. I blame the pretzels and skunky Calsberg (or does it always taste that way? I've got to stop drinking the stuff left over from parties).

You are missing some elfin fun if you're not visiting Victims of Photoshop (link at right) although I suspect that just about everyone with email will receive this link at some point today...

Where's my damn flying car???

From New Scientist Magazine;

Brilliant Minds Forecast the Next 50 Years

What will be the biggest breakthrough of the next 50 years? As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations we asked over 70 of the world's most brilliant scientists for their ideas.
In coming decades will we: discover that we are not alone in the universe? Unravel the physiological basis for consciousness? Routinely have false memories implanted in our minds? Begin to evolve in new directions? And will physicists finally hit upon a universal theory of everything? In fact, if the revelations of the last 50 years are anything to go on - the internet and the human genome for example - we probably have not even thought up the exciting advances that lay ahead of us.

Alexander Vilenkin forecasts the future
Cosmic strings, relics of the hot, high-energy early universe,

might well be discovered, allowing us to directly test superstring theory

So yesterday was Shro's Grey Cup party. It was a really good time. All the usual suspects were there plus a few extras - all under 3 ft tall. It's still kind of weird being at a paddler party where there are children running around but they're cool because they're paddler babies.
Anyway, our usual poker group was there. I didn't bother getting in on the first game - too many people - so I watched Borat on Derek's big tv. Oh, we also watched some football. Eve won the first $10 bucks in the pool, next was Duke for $30 and Connor won the big pool - can't remember but I think it was $100 or something. Kyle won the first poker game which means he's broken the run of bad luck. BTW, if any of these guys owes you money better give them a call!
Amy and Shro had put out tons of food...appetizers, some really excellent chili (in two temperatures) and later, jalapeno poppers. Oh yeah, and endless popcorn to go with the endless second poker game.
Speaking of which, I did pretty well - pot was a couple hundred - I was in the final two. But honestly, how can you concentrate when your opponent (Shro) is doing a Borat impersonation. He started every sentence with "Gypsy..." as in, "Gypsy, who is this woman you have shrunk? I will look through your treasures, gypsy. Is this understood? " and "Gypsy, I tire of this game. Let us finish so I can go to PG." After about 20 minutes of this, I couldn't even pay attention to the action. I went all-in a couple of times hoping for a quick out but kept winning back chips. Argh. It was the fall classic all over again. I don't think I got home until after midnight and, even though I set my alarm, did not get up for boxing on Monday morning. In fact I'm bagged right now.

Is it just me or is Leon Washington flipping a double bird on this Topps sports card? I just checked ebay there are 11 of this particular card on the block. A plain jane version has a current bid of $55 but the one at left (gold and autographed) is up for $750. It'll be interesting to see what it gets.


click image to see that, yes, he is in fact flipping us off...

Woo hoo! Simpsons movie trailer

Huh. I guess I'm going to the St. Andrews Ball at the Royal York instead of Agribition in Regina. You know what this means....a new dress! Checking Go Fug Yourself daily so I know what NOT to wear but have confidence I'm already halfway okay since I refuse to wear plaid (or is that tartan?).

This cartoon has been stuck up in our foyer since the rock-throwing incident. It was done by a master paddler at one of the east coast clubs but is now up on the Nelo website...

Two reviews


Spoon & Fork restaurant in Clarkson - amazing! five stars







Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - five stars - my face still hurts from laughing.

A follow-up to my post about internet safety:
Two of my nieces go to BSS, a private girls school in Toronto. Their headmistress, who sounds like a true luddite, only recently became aware of the very active BSS community on Facebook. The girls, on the other hand, were suddenly made aware of the policy manual they each received with their school laptops, especially the part that says the school owns all data stored and reserves the right to monitor any activity taking place on said laptops. The I.T. staff, or as my sister called them, "the fat, sweaty, gross I.T. guys" (keeping in mind this is what I do for a living) had been monitoring the girls' activities and felt they needed to bring it to the head's attention. Parents were then invited in to view photos of and postings about the girls drinking, doing drugs, making out with boys and other very personal information. Isn't this worse than reading your child's journal or diary? My sister said the line-up of prominent Torontonians was out the door. Strangely, they were mostly concerned about the fact that some of the girls had created and joined a Facebook group about one particular girl where they said mean things about her. This is an example of technology raising bullying to the next level but I still think they're missing the bigger picture.
Anyway, the whole episode created a huge flap in the BSS hen house and the girls all blame the headmistress. Too bad because she taught them a really important life lesson about privacy, the public domain and always reading the small print.

The world was very busy this weekend...

Local
Happy Birthday to my Dad - he turned 80 this year

International
Saddam Hussein sentenced to death by hanging
...how long before the video is posted to youtube.com?

Sports
New York City Marathon -Brazilian Marilson Gomes dos Santos wins in 2:09:58, Jelena Prokopcuka won the women's in 2:25:05, Lance Armstrong finishes in 2:59:36 and says, "without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done."

Science
An international team of researchers determines that overfishing could take seafood off the menu by 2048. Guys, this is serious. The ecosystem will collapse.

Technology
100 Million Sites on the Web (although this news was outdated by the time this was posted)

Entertainment
Neil Patrick Harris tells People Magazine, "(I) am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest." Is this even news? Whatever, he was great in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

Fashion
Imelda Marcos, notorious shoe hog and widow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, will be launching "The Imelda Collection" of fashion jewelry and accessories on Nov. 18 . Apparently this was prompted by her grandson, Martin "Borgy" Manotoc. She recalls, "One day my grandson came to me and said, `Mama Meldy, I would like to use your collection to tell the world the real Imelda and the spirit of my grandma,'" she told reporters. "It's only beauty that can feed the spirit."
The Marcoses have been accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth and were driven out of the presidential palace by a military-backed, nonviolent uprising in 1986. The government has recovered about $1.6 billion in cash and assets from the Marcoses and their associates, including Swiss bank deposits now worth about $680 million. Mama Meldy's spirit was some kind of hungry and beauty wasn't what was feeding it...

A few of us were talking about internet safety the other day - specifically bulletin boards like MySpace & Facebook, chat rooms and blogs. Really, they're a creepers dream and a parent's nightmare. One guy, a father of 2 young girls, says ignorance is bliss since he's basically unaware of what's available to kids and how often they're sharing personal information and photographs with strangers simply by posting it in the public domain.
Then I started thinking was it any different when we were teenagers? Does anyone remember those party lines? There were a couple of summers while I was in high school where you could dial 41091 - can't believe I remember the number - and you were connected to a no-limits party line. When we first became aware of it there weren't many people using it. You could talk with guys, give them your phone number, make contact one to one, then arrange to meet somewhere. By the end of the summer people were basically yelling their numbers over the hundreds of other voices, then hanging up and waiting for the phone to ring. I guess technology has options for every generation. My best friend met a few guys this way and she'd arrange to meet them at the subway station or whatever. Her mom always went with her (that's how you know she had the cool parents and could tell them anything. Plus, they kept their weed in a big jar labelled oregano - thought we didn't know about that eh, Mrs. G.?). My mom on the other hand would have had a fit if she thought I went on the party line. I actually only met up with one of the guys in person but spoke to lots who ended up calling my number. "Yeah mom, it's just some guy from school" generally worked.
Anyway, the biggest difference now is the fact that kids are putting up photos and personal contact information and not always using the available security measures to hide it from the nasties. Fortunately, the nasties sometimes identify themselves for us. Take the case of this guy who, on realizing he didn't have a photo to post to his newly created MySpace site, attached his mugshot from the sex offenders registry. He was subsequently arrested for not registering his MySpace account with authorities.

Louise & Jonathan sent these cute photos of Mia - what a doll!

Weird day. One lap around the neighbourhood convinced me that maybe I should stay inside. It kind of unfolded like a music video so I guess I could use it as inspiration to write a song.
I drove down to the harbour to walk the dog and had to detour because the police had a crime scene marked off - the whole block on Lakeshore from Mississauga Rd. to John St.. Then there' s the extreme weather conditions to add to a charged atmosphere. It's so windy in Port Credit right now there's flying debris everywhere. Walking along the pier was awesome and made my eyes tear up with the force of the wind. I just checked the Port Credit Weather station (link at right) and it's 40 km/hour with gusts up to 100 - a straight tailwind down the river!! Guys, I could break 1:40 in a time control today (and I'd go out and do it if I thought I could actually get my boat up to the 500m).
Anyway, after I left there I drove up Clarkson Rd to Bruno's and around Truscott I see a guy standing on the side of the road. He's wearing the combat uniform of an american soldier circa WW II complete with rifle and camouflage face paint. If he'd been walking I'd have thought he was on his way to a Hallowe'en party but no, he was just standing there.
In Bruno's, I bought some breakfast sausages and the butcher boy was very strange - he insisted on wrapping each sausage separately. WW II dude was still standing at the side of the road as I drove back down Clarkson 15 minutes later and as I was turning the corner at Lakeshore, paramedics were bringing someone out of the Pump and Patio on a stretcher. I got to the next traffic light which was red. As it turned to green it immediately turned red again. A few seconds later it blinked off completely. Thankfully I was almost home where I knew I'd be looking at a power failure (=crashed computer). I can't tell you how happy I was when my computer booted up normally. I really need to back up those thousands of photos on my hard drive!
Since that worked, I thought I'd take a shot at rebooting my day. I went to the F.I. for a run, swim and hot tub then headed over to Carrie and Attila's for football and poker. There were five of us and although I didn't win, I was final two against Attila. So, my theory seems to have worked - when things get weird, go for a run.

I'm glad I kept my subscription to the outrigger newsgroup all these years, otherwise I wouldn't have seen these photos posted by Pacific Paddler Magazine (I'm too lazy to go through the event gallery). A nice shot of (front to back) Tamas jr, Peter, J.R., Derek, Larry and Aaron.
In the second shot, Boog's in one and then Kyle - looks like Kyle was quick on the water changes. There are a few more shots if you're interested - click on the link above and move the left side slider down about halfway.
Seeing these reminds me again of what an accomplishment this was - you guys are amazing!

Another album I haven't listened to in decades is on my cd player right now ; Joni Mitchell ~~ Ladies of the Canyon.
I just had to run outside like a crazy person and rake my leaves to the curb. I forgot the Mississauga Leaf Sucker was coming along this week (see, if it was Toronto I'd make a joke about Belinda and Tie) and I heard it going by. I made it though. I hope they don't mind a little dog poop in with the leaves.
What else what else? It's that training grey area right now where we never know which workout we'll be doing. Everything depends on the weather conditions so if I know it's too cold to paddle, I might sleep in. Yesterday was a case in point and I'm glad I missed the 6:00am lactic acid circuit which apparently turned into a daisychain vomit-fest. I've told those midget boys not to eat so much for breakfast. I hope they've learned their lesson though because starting next week, no more slacking!

Real Beauty campaign from Dove....

Dominique is asking for everyone to think good thoughts for Mathieu. She writes, "Wednesday evening, before you go to bed, pray, wish on a star, rub a Buddha, kiss your brand new baby girl or cross your fingers and send some positive vibes over to Mathieu. I want him to feel supported and loved, and this is all I can do from here."

I'm addicted to Entourage.

or maybe it's just Adrian what's-his-name.

The Toronto Star has an article about the incident with Tamas on Saturday (thanks Shari!). There'll be something in the Mississauga News later this week and on the network news this evening. The CBC and Global were both down at the club filming as T.J. paddled back and forth under the trestle.
It's great to have the media interest in this but here's the thing - the guys win medals at Worlds and get zero coverage. Rock in the face? Media superstar!

We had our awards banquet on Friday night. A lot of people were missing due to school commitments but it was still pretty packed. The highlight of the night for me was when Dave Paskar, Jeff Patterson, Steve Miller And Andrew Drake (absent) announced they had donated a new trophy - the "Uncle Lou Muto Spirit Award" (archives March 24, 2006). It was especially fitting that Dustin Shaw was the first recipient of this award. Nicely done, guys!
Saturday night was the 2nd annual Fall Classic Poker Tournament. There were approximately 30 players. We set up two tables and then the top 5 from each formed the championship table. My game has been non-existent the last few times we've played so I didn't have high expectations. However, I made it to the championship table and ended up 7th overall. A Russell was the big winner and I think Stringer and Duke were up there as well.
Carrie, Jackie and Dominique came by on their way out to dinner. I was supposed to join them but ended up doing well in a side game we had going. Conor and I were the final two and were still pushing chips back and forth at 3:30am. We decided to split the pot as it didn't look like anything decisive would happen too soon. It was a good time and I came out of the night with some cash in my pocket. Attila did an excellent job of organizing the event and I'm looking-forward to the Boxing Day extravaganza! photos to come.

Just when you're having a good day some jerk has to go and ruin it...
It's been a pretty good weekend around the club so far, enjoying the last nice weeks of fall paddling, awards banquet last night (more on that later) and Attila's Annual Fall Classic Poker Tournament this afternoon. A bunch of paddlers are in town for that and the national team guys took advantage of the Russells A & B being here to put a few C2s together with the addition of Duke and Dustin.
We were removing the docks after practice this morning and stopped to watch the 3 C2s go by and all of sudden Tamas and Attila turned and paddled into the dock. Tomi's face was covered in blood and when we looked across the river, Tamas Sr. had jumped out of the motorboat and was sprinting east along the railway tracks. Two kids had heaved a rock at the C2, hitting Tomi in the face. He has a deep gash under his left eye. Everyone at the club tried to chase these kids down, parents jumped into their cars, Peter and Darryl took the motorboat across and the entire high performance group took off running but they disappeared into the apartments over by the hockey arena. I was outside talking to Attila when Tamas came out to the car. Attila's taking him to the hospital. He's dizzy and his face is swollen, you can tell the gash is really deep but it looks like it missed his eye. He's still good looking though.

Exciting innovations in the Dutch club scene. Recently, the 'Sustainable Dance Club' was unveiled in Rotterdam at an event called The Critical Mass. The concept, developed by Enviu – innovators in sustainability - and Döll - studio for the art of building - utilizes energy-generating dance floors (see the video), toilets flushed with rainwater, walls that change color in response to temperature fluctuations, and a rooftop garden where clubbers can enjoy organic beer. Enviu and Döll believe the idea can not only lessen the environmental impact of an activity that's traditionally an energy hog, but also build awareness. I wish I had the cash to invest in bringing it here to the 'saug. That building where Madhouse used to be would be perfect. Don't you think Enviu would be a great name for a club? I want to steal it!

Don't hate me ladies - I broke the pact and bought skinny jeans. I wish they'd stop calling them that - it's misleading. It used to just mean the opposite of your "fat jeans" and you could only fit into them after ingesting some parasite with your sushi or when you just started dating someone new or after a bad bout of the flu. Actually, I think this cut was called cigarette the last time around (1980-what?) and stovepipe before that - referring to the fact the leg is a straight tube of denim. I kind of prefer those. Anyway, whatever. The whole reason I got them is because my new Steve Madden Demolish boots look dumb with my Mavi boot cuts.

Am I becoming a label-dropper? I think I might 'cause there were a few labels dropped just then. I'm sorry, I have a headache. I need to go shopping.

If you ever need some inspiration, volunteer to hand out water at a marathon. I got an email from Jane Roos looking for volunteers for their Toronto Marathon water station. Jane heads the Canadian Athletes Now Fund (formerly "See You In..." - see Feb. 6 2006 in the archives) which has supported most of the canoe-kayak team at some point. I've been saying I'd help out at some event for a while and felt it was time to actually do something. I put a note about it on Facebook and Richard Steinhardt said he'd be there too.
No lie, when my alarm went off at 6:30am I was shaking my head as in "what was I thinking?" but when we got down there - it was so much fun! CANF's water station was at the Hilton at University and Richmond. It was the last one for the each of the distances; 5k, half and full marathon. The 40km mark. You can imagine what the marathoners were like by the time they got to us. It was awesome. Jane had a DJ blasting techno so people really perked up when they got to us. Richard was a superstar and never once complained about the early wake-up call or the 6 hours he put in out in the wind and cold.
There were issues at the beginning, the water had been delivered but we didn't have tables or Gatorade or cups. And when they did deliver the cups, we only got about 3,000. There were approximately 7,000 runners so we ended up scrounging coffee cups from the Second Cup. Eventually a bike marshall came by with another box of gatorade cups and by the time the last runner went by we had only a handful left... Jane kept us going with croissants and hot chocolate throughout but there wasn't a lot of time for breaks between mixing gatorade, pouring, setting them up and handing out cups. The best job was definitely being out on the road with the runners, handing out the liquids. They were all so pumped.
Even though I basically stood in one place all day I felt like I had done a workout. Watching other people run 42km is strangely energizing (but not in a way that made me want to actually run the 42km)!
The fund runs a ton of events so if you're interested in being involved some time just let me know!

Saw Wicked at the Canon Theatre tonight. Fun. We had dinner at the Beerbistro on King beforehand. Interesting menu, well prepared and a great atmosphere. I want to go back sometime when we're not rushing off to a show.
Wicked is the prequel to the Wizard of Oz, filling in details of the relationship between Elpheba (wicked witch of the west) and Glinda (the good..ah never mind..you know who I mean) and events leading up to the whole flying monkeys, ruby slippers, brains, heart, courage debacle ... Basically, they're roommates in university and become friends. I enjoyed both the book and the show. The book is more philosophical and political, focusing on Elpheba. The stage production is tied to Oz and Glinda is the central character. The actress who plays Glinda seems to be channeling Reese Witherspoon circa Legally Blonde which actually kind of adds to the role. She's adorabley annoying, if you know what I mean.
I was a little distracted because I'm supposed to be racing in the Fairport outrigger race tomorrow and have to be in Pickering at 7:30am to rig the boat... I had checked the weather network this afternoon and they were predicting 35km/hour winds off the lake. During quiet parts of the show I was making checklists in my head of what gear I wanted to pack when I got home.
I wasn't going to check my email before bed because I always get caught up in damn Facebook but I'm glad I did. Wai Nui had cancelled our entry at the last minute due to the forecast. Too bad. I was really looking forward to this race...It's only 12 km and I haven't raced outrigger in a few years. Plus we had a good crew and were going up against a good womens crew out of Fairport - Karen L., Sheila K. and a couple of dragon boat girls. It would have been really fun. On the plus side, it's now 1:03 am and I don't have to get up in 4 hours! However, we're still going to paddle out of Oakville at 9:00 so I think I'll go to bed.

Meh. as soon as I've checked damn

SNOW!!
WTF? I was wearing shorts and a tank top 3 days ago!!
Today, I went for a run at lunch (in shorts) and it was really windy but when I came out of the office at 4:00 it was dead calm. Always a bad sign. As I got onto the QEW the wind really picked up and as I passed Hurontario I was in a full-scale blizzard! Crazy. The temperature on the car thermometer dropped one whole degree in less than a minute.
At the club we were given the option of paddling or body weights. We all picked body weights but ugh...start of the season. We only did level 4 but it took forever and seemed so tough. In a few weeks we'll probably be doing level 9 and fondly reminiscing about the day we only had to do 140 reps of everything...
After a quick trip home to let Hawkeye out, I headed downtown for my flexibility class at the circus school (or Clown College as Paul Coulson and Kyle Smith like to call it). Still loving it!!

Jenn is back from her birthday trip to Deline. If you're a romantic, go over to CIGAR and read about her ordeal with the Hollywood ending. This story is definitely going in the screenplay (except it'll be West Palm Beach instead of Norman Wells). I thought stuff like this only happened to Pete and Sarah!

You read it here first - Andrew Ridgeley has agreed to a WHAM! reunion this Christmas. With that in mind, I've attached everyone's favourite karaoke tune ...and babe it's true, you put the boom boom into my heart.

PS: watch the video and then please explain to me why everyone was SO surprised when George Michael came out of the closet!?

Okay no lie, this was the best Thanksgiving I've had - ever. Our family dinners are a nightmare of awkwardness so it was a relief that no formal dinner was planned this weekend. Instead, my sister arranged for my dad to have turkey with my mom at the nursing home on Monday and my son, his girlfriend and I told dad we'd take him out for dinner on Sunday. We had already decided we wanted to go to the zoo but he said he didn't want to go. However, when we picked him up on Sunday morning we just pretended that he had agreed to come with us and he went along with it. (Dad lesson #1: it may take years but you eventually learn how to handle them.) We intended to bust my mom out of the nursing home but she was completely out of it so we decided to visit again later.
Anyway, after some issues with decrepit wheelchairs at the zoo (hint: they keep the good ones locked up in the back) we hit the trails. It was great! The weather was beautiful and every animal was out and in plain view. I haven't been there in years but I put myself through school by driving a school bus. In the good weather I was there about 5 times a week and not once in those hundreds of visits did I ever see as many animals as I did this weekend. And bonus - there are a number of babies right now - two tigers,
a zebra, giraffe, orangutans & monkeys - you can watch the tigers on the tiger cam but they were definitely more fun (and close-up) in person.
My dad didn't say much while we were there. I thought maybe he was bored but really, he hasn't been able to put a full sentence together since he underwent chemo last year. It killed the cancer (hooray!) but had some other, negative side effects. He can only speak in monosyllables, says yes when he means no and can't taste or smell anything (a definite plus around the elephant & rhino enclosures!). Anyway, when we were getting into the car to leave he said, "You know, I've never been to this zoo before." Considering the effort it took for him to get the words out, I took that as a thank you. Afterwards we went to his favourite Chinese restaurant, Paul Wong's on Hwy 2 and had an amazing Szechuan-style thanksgiving dinner. Awesome.

Huge congratulations to the guys competing in the 54th annual Moloka'i Hoe. They finished 12th out of 101 crews with a time of 5 hours 17 minutes. The winners, a Tahitian crew, set a new record for this 41 mile open ocean event - 4 hours 46 minutes. Reports are that flat water conditions contributed to faster times for the Tahitian crews and worked against the Hawaiians who are better at surfing waves. The guys from Missy say that "flat" is a relative term - what they call flat in Hawaii is not what we would call flat at home.
Click here for complete results . Go to Y2KANU.com - to see 3 photos of the crew (pics 105-107). They took on a local guy to steer when Stringer had to drop out.

Happy Birthday Jenn! Hope you had an amazing time in Whistler! Do you know, my Dad has been to Deline. He thought I was kidding when I said I knew two people who would be there, one to live and one to visit.
Have a great time!

Okay, there seems to be some conspiracy to get me playing guitar again. I haven't picked it up in at least a year and the kids at the club have been ripping into me about slacking. They're all incredibly talented and we're hoping to get the winter jam sessions going at the canoe club again.
So Kyle Smith is giving me crap one afternoon and a day later I get a little reminder by seeing my axe on Joan Armatrading's website. The next day, I'm home sick and watching dvds to take my mind off how beautiful the weather is outside. I picked up a Ryan Reynolds movie, Just Friends. In this one, Chris Klein is a guitar playing... umm... player and he has this crazy collection of guitars - all Ovations. See what I mean? It wouldn't mean anything if they were Gibsons or Fenders but they're not...so, alright already, I'm working on it...

urgh. I'm hella sick. Rachel & Chrissy, I don't think it was the Mexican water, there's some evil virus going around...possibly fatal. Send flowers...

click here to see Tomi and Attila's C2 - 1000m final at Worlds. Second boat from the bottom of the screen. They barely show anyone but the Hungarians anyway.

I recently rediscovered a favourite musician from the '70s - Joan Armatrading. Great voice and style. India Irie kind of reminds me of her but Joan's voice is more muscular, slightly less elegant. Fantastic writer/performer though. It took me an hour to get home from my appointment downtown - one solid hour on the Gardner/QEW on Saturday afternoon in the rain and I didn't stress (much) because I was listing to J.A. So a crazy coincidence is, I just went to her website to create the link above and in the photo she has the exact same guitar as me. Anyway, that doesn't mean anything it was just one of those weird things. Check her out if you get the chance. Definitely some of her stuff is dated but for the most part her style has stood the test of time. You can listen to one of my favourites here, "Love and Affection. Be sure to let it play out. The intro is a little too pop love-songie for me but the rhythm and mood changes as it goes along. One thing I realized in listening to this cut again - Michael Bolton really killed clarinet appreciation for the world
If you see Eve this week be sure to say "Happy Birthday"! A few of us surprised her at their apartment on Friday. She thought she had planned a party for herself on Saturday but Katy had already set things up. Chrissy baked a cake and we had Liz Loek's signature snack - red pepper jelly with cheddar cheese. It was great to get together with a few of our friends and to meet some of Eve's non-paddling friends. It was especially nice to see Jackie and Blake and Chrissy, just home from winning a boat-load of gold medals at Pan Ams!
As mentioned, I spent Saturday afternoon downtown - spa day and some shopping on Bloor Street. I bought lots of stuff in Capezio - Steve Madden CFM leather boots and brown suede pumps as well as these really fun Sam Edelman pumps (but in black). Seriously, I don't have the bank account for this kind of extravagance all of the time but I'm suddenly very happy again and if occasional retail therapy supports that then I'm good with it! Anyway, the sales clerk must have been so excited about the commission she was getting, she sent me home with one Steve Madden pump, right foot size 8 and another right foot size 6 - display shoe. Argh! No problem though. I called and they're shipping a brand new pair to Sherway for me.
Good luck to Kyle and the guys; Tamas, Peter, Larry, Boog and Shro - they're on their way to Hawaii for the 41 mile, open ocean Molokai Hoe , October 8th.

Fall training is great for so many reasons. Last night Eve and I were doing the workout - 4x (3,1,3,1)1R - and as we turned at the thousand, Eve pointed out a deer on shore. And two steps behind was the fawn.
We sat appreciating the scene for a moment then the beep went and so did we.

The acrobatics class on Saturday was even more fun than Thursday's! The skill level of the participants, mostly acrobats and gymnasts, is higher but there are 5 of us who are beginners. We all warm up and stretch together but on top of the usual splits and bridges (backbends), the acrobatics class is working on basic floor moves: tumbling, hand stands, cartwheels, that type of thing. And the weird thing is, although I haven't done one since I was 13, I can still do a decent cartwheel! After watching me do a few, the instructor told me to move up to the advanced group but I quickly set her straight. One cartwheel does not an acrobat make.
Suddenly training is all fresh to me again! And in typical serendipitous fashion, the world seems to confirm the decision to pursue new challenges even while working on the old. I receive (and recommend) Barrie Shepley's Personal Best newsletter every Monday morning and today it contained the following item (btw, to my knowledge this is the first time Barrie's quoted scientology guru L. Ron Hubbard so don't hold it against him.) ;

HOW TO KEEP COMPETITIVE
The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? If you were to be consulted, what would you recommend? As soon as you reach your goals, such as finding a wonderful mate, starting a successful company, paying off your debts or whatever, you might lose your passion. You don't need to work so hard so you relax. You experience the same problem as lottery winners who waste their money, wealthy heirs who never grow up and bored homemakers who get addicted to prescription drugs. Like the Japanese fish problem, the best solution is simple. It was observed by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1950's. "Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment." The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a good problem. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged. Therefore, instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Instead, reorganize. Find more determination, more knowledge and more help. If you have met your goals, set some bigger goals. Once you meet your personal or family needs, move onto goals for your group, the society, even mankind. Don't create success and lie in it. You have resources, skills and abilities to make a difference. So, put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

So, the shark is in the tank. Regardless of whether I master any of these skills, the benefits are obvious; I'm doing better in C1, enjoying running again and seeing new applications for our swim, weight and spin workouts. I'm setting all kinds of new goals for myself and am actually looking forward to dry-land training this winter.
Barrie coaches a number of accomplished athletes, not the least of which is Simon Whitfield. His site http://www.personalbest.ca/ is an invaluable resource to both coaches and athletes of all disciplines.

After wasting many $$ on perfumes that never suited me once I left the store, I've finally found one I like a lot ...

I was over the drip-painting thing about 2 minutes after I posted it.

Last night was my first workout at the Toronto School of Circus Arts . No, I'm not going to be a clown so you can stop making jokes about my little bike. Think Cirque du Soleil. Actually, think Cirque Sublime, the Toronto-based version of Soleil, which trains out of this facility. Our instructor, Laura, is one of the performers.
Facing another winter of yoga and Pilates workouts, I decided to augment them with the flexibility and acrobatics courses offered here. It's a fun environment what with the flying trapeze, silks, trampolines and other paraphernalia. I can't wait until I'm semi-competent and able to try all of the equipment. At the moment, I'm just working on my splits and back bends. There were about 10 people in the group last night of various ages and backgrounds. Most are dancers or gymnasts (read: young & ridiculously flexible) and it would have been intimidating if I hadn't already had the ego beaten out of me by a pink Hody and the Credit River.

I LOVE this time-waster from Jay is Games... Produce your own drip-style paintings. Click the mouse to change colours, hit any key to start a new piece... The Jackson Pollock

My friend John sent me this photo of him with his new baby Steven. Subject line read: I ran out of baby formula and only had Coke to spare... I've stuck my photoshop birthday card to John over on my other blog just because.
And Jenn, I haven't forgotten about you. I'm just trying to find a suitable photo to use. I did have what I thought was a great shot of the Spice Girls but it was too small. When I stuck your face on Ginger Spice, well, it really just looked like Ginger Spice. So...still looking. If anyone has ideas or suggestions for what I should do to Jenn, send them over!

Oh thank god. The fuggers are back at Go Fug Yourself and they're taking shots at Tom and Katie. Go take a look at the pic that insipired this dialogue...

TOM: Kate, what do you think of my hair?
KATIE: It's amazing.
TOM: I set the Flowbie to stun. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. No, seriously, I actually just set it to "long." You don't think I look like a boy-bander? I think I look like a boy-bander. A little bit. A little boy-bandy.
KATIE: You look amazing.
TOM: What about my suit? Do you like my suit? Is my suit too movie-premiere-y for a soccer game?
KATIE: Your suit is amazing. Everyone wears Gucci to their child's soccer game. Gucci is amazing.
TOM: Are you being sarcastic?
KATIE: I haven't been sarcastic in 18 months. My head hurts too much.
TOM: Have some vitamins!
KATIE: Uh-huh.
TOM: WHAT'S THAT?
KATIE: Vitamins are amazing. Scientology rocks.

RESULTS FROM THE 2006 PAN AMERICAN CANOE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Final point tally - Overall Standings of 14 nations competing:

Canada - 338
Mexico 235
Brasil: 179
Venezuela: 177

Sr Category:
Canada: 195
Brasil: 151
Mexico: 128
Venezuela: 128

Jr Category
Canada: 143
Mexico: 107
Argentina: 72
Chile: 66

DAY 3
500m results
Mark Oldershaw - Gold in Sr Men's C-1
Angus Mortimer - Gold in Sr Men's K-1
Emilie Fournel - Gold in Women's K-1
Mallorie Nicholson - Gold in Sr Women's C-1
Nicole Haywood - Gold in Jr Women's - C-1
Victoria Bain - Silver in Jr Women's C-1
Andrew Russell & Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny - Silver in Sr Men's C-2
Ryan Cochrane & Chris Pellini - Silver in Sr Men's K-2
Christine Wessman & Gillian Fedechko - Gold in Sr Women's C-2
Victoria Bain & Rachel Marcuson - Gold in Jr Women's C-2
Jillian D'Alessio & Geneviève Beauchesne-Sevigny - Silver in Sr Women'sK-2
R.Hill, R. Cochrane, C. Pellini & D.Therrien - Silver in Sr Men's K-4
E.Fournel, J. D'Alessio, C. T-Bussieres & G. B-Sévigny - Gold in Sr Women's K-4

200m results
Mark Oldershaw - Gold in Sr C-1
Angus Mortimer - 4th in Sr K-1
Malorie Nicholson - Gold in Sr C-1
Nicole Haywood - Gold in Jr C-1
Rachel Marcuson - Silver in Jr C-1
Emilie Fournel - Gold in Sr Women's K-1
Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny & Andrew Russell - Gold in Sr C-2
Ryan Cochrane & Rhys Hill - 4th in Sr Men's K-2
Christine Wessman & Gillian Fedechko - Gold in Sr Women's C-2
Victoria Bain & Rachel Marcuson - Gold in Jr Women's C-2
J. D'Alessio & G.Beauchesne-Sévigny - 4th in Sr Women's K-2
R. Hill, R. Cochrane, C.Pellini & A.Mortimer 4th - in Sr K-4
T.Neilly, K.Bauder, M.P.Langlois & E.Taras - Bronze in Jr Women's K-4

Yeahhhh Chrissy and Rachel (and everyone else)!! Canada is cleaning up at Pan Ams.

Pan American Championships - Day 2
1000m races
Mark Oldershaw - 2nd Sr Men's C-1
Angus Mortimer - 1st Sr Men's K-1
Christine Wessman-1st Sr Women's C-1
Victoria Bain - 1st Jr women's C-1
Nicole Haywood - 2nd Jr Women's C-1
Jillian D'Alessio - 1st Sr Women's K-1




Andrew Russell and Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny - 2nd SrMen's C-2
David Therrien & Chris Pellini - 5th Sr Men's K-2
Mallorie Nicholson & Gillian Fedechko - 1st in Sr Women's C-2
Victoria Bain and Rachel Marcuson - 1st in Jr Women's C-2
Una Lounder & Camille Tessier-Bussière - DQ-ed in Sr Women's K-2

A. Mortimer, R. Hill, R. Cochrane & Chris Pellini - 3rd in Sr Men'sK-4
E. Fournel, C. Tessier-Bussière, G. B-Sévigny & J. D'Alessio - 1st in Sr Women's K-4
T. Neilly, K. Bauder, M. Pier Langlois & E,Taras – 1st Jr Women's K-4 1000


Speaking of cleaning up (ha ha, queen of the lame segue), I'm finally getting around to doing my 'spring' cleaning. That walk-in closet in my bedroom? I can actually walk into it.

For those interested in club stuff, I got the lowdown from a few of the kids who went to the meeting - the board voted 6-2 in support of the head coach's decision. Old coach out, new coach in. And great news for the yakkers, their new coach is Dean O.

Favourite new game site - I'm addicted to Clack and White Jigsaw.






Pan Am results so far with 2 more days of racing...

Remember '80s superstar Matt Frewer? I didn't think so. Maybe this will ring a bell...

Inspired by a photo over at CIGAR (okay not quite Change is as Good as a Rest but close), I've created a new blog. Victims of Photoshop. I'm pretty busy this week but check back occasionally. I'll start by posting some old ones that I sent directly to guys without posting on VOC.

Jessie says her exam went okay. Okay?? This is a pretty big deal. Read what the Toronto Star had to say about the UFE .

This is some of the coolest art you will see today. Created using the on-going accumulation of dust on his car, Scott Wade proves that art is everywhere. Click here to see the entire gallery (it's worth it to read his notes on each piece).

Jack White has done a coke commercial - released in Australia, I think. Get used to an Australian theme over the course of the next 12 months.

JESSIE!!!! GOOD LUCK IN YOUR EXAM TOMORROW

(not that you need it - you're a genius!)

Nice results for Marisha;
1st in WC 8
2nd in WA pair
? WB quad - I'm still trying to find results

Southside shuffle was good. We met up at Carrie and Attila's and hung out for awhile (so I could play with Lola) before heading down. I'm not sure but we may have missed some big names at the mainstage - Jeff Healey and David Clayton Thomas. It didn't matter though, we ended up at the Cue which was great. They'd pushed the pool tables over against the wall and set up two stages. One upstairs and one on the main level. Not bad - excellent entertainment for $5.00.

It was Ryan's birthday on the weekend so we got together and then I had to boot it over to Ontario Place for a Db race.

Lots of drama at the canoe club over the head coach's decision not to renew the contract of a particular kayak coach and the attempts of a board member to overturn Coach Coolen's decision with an inflammatory email sent to a small group of parents (read: know nothing about club operations). He accuses Dray of using "terrorist tactics" and implies that this is an "effort by the canoers to scuttle the kayak program" suggesting that Dray would be sued in the business world. postscript - everything was settled at the board meeting where the offended (and offending) coach said he wasn't planning on coming back anyway, so there.

It looks like there'll be a bunch of us heading into Port Credit on Saturday night. Call or email if you're up for it!

Go Marisha!
I'm having a little trouble tracking down all of the results but she's racing at the FISA World Masters 2006 rowing regatta. These are just the heats but overall in women's coxed four they were first and in women's 8 they were second. Will find out when the finals are (and hopefully photos).

So I was walking the dog down at the harbour as usual last night and I looked up to see two really attractive men walking towards me. My pupils dilated and my heart rate jumped - metros in Port Credit? Exciting! Well, briefly. They were walking close together and their body language pretty much told the story. Gay. And not just, you know, the guy from high school who came out of the closet and still lives in his parents' basement gay. Beautifully dressed and coiffed, well-spoken and poised - these guys were dyed in the merino, weekend on Fire Island, townhouse in the East Village, G.A.Y. And as they walked past, the one talking said , "... and I also took the armoire. Well, what was I supposed to do - leave it?! It was my armoire." (I swear I'm not making this up).
Okay, this isn't a rant about "why are all the good ones always taken or gay?" Not at all. I just expected gay guys in Port Credit to have, well, mullets. Or at least ponytails. And say things like, "So, we were partying hard at the Old Stable and Bruce here, he told this joke about some old queen and I laughed so hard beer came out my nose!"
Anyway, all this is to say that things are looking up in P.C.. I mean, this town has a serious identity crisis and if it's going to settle on something, wouldn't it be great for it to be the hip, cool, IN place to live? Hmmm?? Secko, you'd better get ready because I see some extensive renos in your future!

Click here to find out which Canadian city has a problem with dogs getting high (big surprise).

So much stuff going on, I'll post more on Regina when I'm at home and have access to the photos.

"The Scream" and "Madonna", stolen masterpieces by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, were recovered by police last week, two years and nine days after gunmen seized the paintings from an Oslo museum.


Adam, Tamas, Attila and Mark Oldershaw cleaned up in the final World Cup competition in Guangzhou, China.
Click here for complete results. The website could use a little work when it comes to photos. Clicking on the regatta photo album produces some pics of the athletes' residence, tennis and basketball courts.

Anyway, in a nutshell;

Adam won 2 gold in K-1 and jumped into the K-4 to help the guys win 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. For the world cup series he was 1st overall in points.
Budays won 1 silver (1000m) and 1 bronze (500m) in C2 (not sure of overall points for this series)
Mark won 2 bronze in C1 and finished 3rd overall in points.

Mark and Adam are amazing - they flew to Regina from Hungary and raced at CCA before making the trip to Asia. Jet-lag is obviously not an issue when you've got an athlete's resources.

I visited Guangzhou in 1999 when they had just opened a new Olympic stadium. It was all they could talk about. In fact, 650,000 residents voted that it be listed as the city's top scenic landmark. The regatta course is no less impressive.

Coming Soon...

The

REGINA

MONOLOGUES

Mississauga Canoe Club - 2006 National Champions

Our paddlers won multiple medals and set 5 new records but more importantly,

THE BLACK IS BACK!

Junior Men C-4 1000m - John W. Black Trophy

Chris Abbott, Chris Edwards, Matt Abbott, Dana Morgoch

View all of my CCA/CKC photos here

Just a quick post - I'm having a fantastic time in Regina. I've had so much fun catching up with my family in Saskatchewan, I wish I'd planned a separate visit so I could spend more time with them! And I haven't even seen them all yet!
The racing is going really well - our club is currently ahead in points and we've got high hopes for scoring lots more today. In our women's C4 500m race we won the gold and set a new Canadian record in the process. We beat the old one by almost 90 seconds. This morning at breakfast my coach ran up holding out the Regina Leader-Post - our C4 is on the front page of the sports section! Anyway, more racing today.