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.