I'm always playing catch-up these days. And it's too bad because the day to day is the whole point of a journal.

So the summer has officially started, the weather was fantastic for our home regatta and db festival. Love the home regatta because it's a chance to catch up with everyone after a long winter. Plus, the distance is limited so races are a low-stress 180m or so. No one gets freaked out about this event. Well, no one but the starter apparently.

From all reports, she was an absolute cow - you probably know her, name rhymes with Dandy Hell, did db in the past and mom of a girl who used to kayak at our club. If you've figured out who it is, I know you're shaking your head thinking, "That figures. Why did they let her become an official?"

All of us accept bitchiness from a starter if conditions suck and the regatta's running way behind schedule but there was none of that on this day. In fact I think they were a few minutes ahead. But for whatever reason, many paddlers found themselves watching their race start without them - either as they paddled to the line or just as they turned to line up.
I was talking to a friend the next day - kayaker - and she told me that as she paddled up to the line in a K-4 with 3 midgets, she yelled, "we're coming, we were waiting for one of the kids to finish their last race." and Dandy Hell snarled back, "You're too late" and started the race. My (very vocal) friend who insists they were actually on time, yelled, "What are you doing? Do you think this is the fucking Olympics?" She cursed under her breath all the way back to the dock with the silent, quivering midgets. As they were getting out of the boat, she heard "Would the head coach of (rhymes with) Quest Mouge please report to the judge's station." over the speaker system.

They just gave them a warning but you can't help but marvel at how adults (especially a couple of alpha-females) can really mess up a good time for kids.

Other than that, it was a great regatta. The sun shone all day. I left early to go to see Jenn but you can see photos from the early part of the day here.
(sorry for all the pseudonyms, just don't want to expose my blog to random googlers)

The db festival was actually more fun and laid-back. I rode my bike over later in the day and wandered around socializing and taking photos.

I love this line from the Metronews Halifax article about Adam's injured ankle,

"Although van Koeverden won’t be available for the trials, Lake Banook will be crawling with Olympians on Saturday and Sunday..."

get the lowdown on what happened from the man himself at http://www.vankayak.com/

Michael Jackson in a coma in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering from cardiac arrest.

"Pop star Michael Jackson is in a coma after being rushed by ambulance to a Los Angeles-area hospital Thursday afternoon after suffering from cardiac arrest, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.
Capt. Steve Ruda, an official with the Los Angeles Fire Department, told the Times that Jackson was not breathing when paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m.
The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper."

So, obviously when I posted that he was already dead. It was so shocking at first and then I thought, "What, did you think he'd live forever?" Really though, it's because we're the same age. And don't judge, I bet every one of you knows a celebrity who has the same zodiac sign or birth year as you. I'm about the same age as Madonna adn Michael Jackson. Imagine aspiring (or expiring) to those benchmarks!
Anyway, tonight at practice there were only 5 paddlers from Unbwogable so we decided to go to the bar. They figured the other paddlers didn't show up because;

A: in mourning for MJ
B: random thunderstorms across the GTA (but strangely, blue sky at Sunnyside)
C: they just couldn't be bothered. The 5 are convinced it's the end of Unbwogable.

We had a couple of drinks at Sunnyside, then I headed over to Marisha's (very, very late) and we immediately booted over to Hollywood on Queensway for Cori's "gatehouse" fundraiser. I bought the first round by way of apology.

Every year when school ends, there's a massive party at the end of my street in Rattray Marsh. It's held in this big clearing the kids call "The Cathedral". Generally, I don't hear any noise from the party, I just know it's happening because of the increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic on my dead-end street as soon as it gets dark. The police just busted up this year's bash and there are hundreds of teenagers crowding up my street. It's like a concert just let out!

Can't wait! Sam Roberts is playing at the waterfront festival. I'm just going to grab a burrito for dinner and stay at the club after my paddle. Also playing this weekend are 54-40 and Bruce Cockburn.
I have to go to Toronto Island this weekend (coaching a crew) but should be home by around noon on Saturday. Lots of time to wander around Port Credit and enjoy one of our biggest parties of the summer!

Danielle was out in the coach boat tonight and when the bantam K-4 tipped, she couldn't get there fast enough because the motorboat was filling up with water. They pulled it out onto the trailer where you could see that someone had punched a hole in the side, near the back. Kyle pointed out that it looks like an ice pick or awl and I have to agree. They'd taken shots all along the side of the boat - only punctured it through in one spot though. Maybe it's the same person who trashed my boat last year!? I'd love it if they figured out who that was.

blog-neglect.
Here's a quick overview of the past weekend (with photos pilfered from other people).

Jenn was home for a super-quick visit and wedding spa/tea/lounge party. I didn't realize how much I've missed her until I heard her voice! Why did we ever let her leave Toronto? I actually encouraged her! I think they should just skip Deline and move back to Toronto. At least I'll be in Halifax to see her and Trent get married!
(I'm hiding in the back of this pic because I was heading to the soccer game and had already changed out of my party clothes, into jeans and TFC t-shirt. It offended my sense of photo-symmetry - until I saw this. It's like the crazy lady next door stuck her face in at the last minute).


A new puppy has taken on the job of training Larry. Meet Finley: 14 weeks and very laid back by all reports. I'm envious but not enough to go out and get a dog.

Louise and Jonathon are returning to America. They'll be here for a visit during July. In these photos, they're taking a break from packing...remind me why you're leaving Repulse Bay? I know this is right outside your front door!

I've secured my tickets for the Real Madrid game here in Toronto in August.

Excellent.

Step one of plan to seduce Cristiano Rinaldo initiated.

Thanks for the comments and support from my last post. I know you completely understand what it's about.

I'm trying out all kinds of new things. Nothing has really clicked the way paddling did but it's an interesting social experiment. There's an unexpected negative side to being single past a certain age. I love the tennis and salsa lessons but there comes a time when it's difficult to progress without a regular partner. Rock climbing is also on the agenda but once I get past the initial instruction, I can't just show up at Rattlesnake Point with my gear and a warm smile... that would have worked 15 years ago but not anymore.

Okay, now I'm just making excuses. There are all kinds of groups looking for people to join them on excursions - rock-climbing, cycling, running, adventure racing. The irony is, I'm too busy at the moment to take up anything new. That'll all change in the next month as my language & dance classes plus one of my coaching commitments end.

Urgh...in terms of motivation and self-regard, I've hit, if not the bottom, the shelf before the bottom. The garden is all weedy, the garage and basement are stacked with furniture waiting to be put on Craigslist, car needs service, the showers in 2 bathrooms spray water everywhere because I never get around to replacing the washers, piles of laundry to fold... The doctor called, my last set of tests showed 'something' but I have put off making an appointment to run the tests again. okay, obviously those are all symptoms and not the real issue.
Anyway, tonight I have the flu so after an indifferent paddle, I skipped my Spanish class. I put on some sweats from 2001 (that barely fit anymore) and was pulling a Homer in front of the tv when I remembered that my car has been threatening to throw a rod for the past 1000km. If I don't put some oil in it, you're going to see me standing on the side of the highway with black smoke pouring out of the engine.
I pulled on a hoody, my black Canada one from 2004. Yep, I've resorted to wearing old, oversized sports clothes. And worse, it was black on black. The dreaded (almost) matching sweatsuit. Might as well just book my ride to Casino Rama now. I pulled my greasy hair into a ponytail and drove to the PetroCan in Clarkson. Tugging the hood up over my head, I pumped some gas before grabbing 3 quarts of 10w-30 from the rack. I tossed in a Reeses Peanut butter cup as I cashed out. What the hell? How is that going to help?
When I got home, I tried to figure out where the self-sabotage is coming from. The only conclusion is that my life has stagnated. I've got lots going on but at the end of the day it's just treading water. It's like I just left this room that was my life of training and racing and everything that entails and now I'm standing in the corridor - do I go forward, or back into that room. Neither option is completely heinous but I've become far too comfortable in the hallway... decision time... re-decorate or find a new room.

World Cup 3
200m & 500m finals

The K1 500m results haven't been posted so someone must be disputing them. They've even taken down the start list so I can't see who was in lane 4. They've forgotten to take down the finish line photo thogh and I can see why lane 4 might dispute this - it's really close. If you click on this for the bigger image, it still looks like Adam took silver though.

postscript note: Adam claimed silver




One report indicates that strong headwinds added about 10 seconds to everyone's times (which I haven't takent the time to post here - maybe later).

K1 200m
5th Richard Dober

W K1 200m
3rd Karen Furneaux

K2 200m
3rd Andrew Willows & Richard Dober

C2 200m
4th Paul Bryant & Pierre-luc Laliberte

K4 200m
7th Lyall, Connor, Shaun & Corey
8th Brady, Rhys, Angus & Chris

W K4 200m
3rd Kristin, Mylanie, Genny & Emilie
4th Trisa, Jillian, Una & Kia

C4 200m
3rd Gab, Andrew, Mark & Mark

C1 500m
1st Attila Vajda
6th Mark

C2 500m
2nd Gab & Andrew

W K4 500m
2nd Kristin, Genny, Emilie & Kia

A Finals

Women's K4 500m
Silver Kristen, Genny, Emilie & Kia

K1 1000m
1st SWE Anders
2nd AUS Ken
3rd ITA Max
4th CAN Adam

C1 1000m
1st HUN Attila
2nd UZB Vadim
3rd ROM Florin
4th CAN Mark
5th CAN Tom

C2 1000m
9th CAN Andrew & Gab

World cup # 3 Szeged, Hungary
Adam was sick earlier in this series and is now having some issues with his ribs.


In the heats, Adam was 1st (1000m, 500m) , Angus 1st (500m), Karen 1st (200m) & 5th (500m), Mark 4th (1000m) & 3rd (500m), Tom Hall 3rd (1000m) & 4th (500m) and, look at that, Duke was 3rd (1000m) & 5th (500m).

K1 200m Shaun 4th (heat 1)
Richard 3rd (heat 2)

K2 1000m Conor and Lyall 4th

K2 200m Andrew & Richard 1st

K4 1000m Rhys, Chris, Angus & Brady 3rd

K4 200m Brady, Rhys, Angus & Chris 5th (heat 1)
Lyall, Connor, Shaun & Corey 4th (heat 2)

K1 200m Una 6th
K1 500m Emilie 4th

K2 Tory & Trista 4th

K2 (200m) Tory & Emily 5th

K4 500m, both boats (Mylanie, Jill, Una and Emily) (heat 1)
(Kristin, Genny, Emilie & Kia) were 4th (heat 2)

C2 200m Paul and Pierre-Luc

World cup # 2 in Poznan, Poland

Adam won silver in the 500m and bronze in the 1000
Mark won silver in the 1000m

Mark and Gabriel were 1 & 2 in the C-1 5,000-metre race on Sunday

1st CAN Oldershaw 21:4.06
2nd CAN Beauchesne-Sevigny 21:07.94
3rd ROM Sergiu Cracium 21:30.07.

''I was happy to have Gabriel with me because we've been training partners almost all year,'' Oldershaw said. ''Everything went as planned. We got ahead together quickly and we were able to ride each other's wash and save energy. We had both been in races earlier in the day so that was important for us.''

''It was nice to come back from a messy 500-metre race (on Saturday).''
''My focus has been mainly on the 1,000 because it's early in the season and my speed isn't quite there yet. I got off to a great start and felt comfortable right up until the finish.''

I started dance classes last night - salsa to start. It's fun! This part is good because you don't need a partner. Since I don't have a guy, I'd have to pair up with a stranger or worse, a woman.
I'm not comfortable touching people, so that would make me very tense for dancing. I guess I'll have to do it at some point if I plan on going any further. The whole two women pairing up at dance class is a sad image, spinsters at holiday camps like the one in Dirty Dancing, the headgear girls dancing in Sixteen Candles. I'd prefer Long Duc Dong over that!

The class is a fair size - about 14 people - and there's only one couple. The rest are singles - pairs of girlfriends and random single guys. The instructor is pretty funny and pretty pregnant.

It's interesting, the women are fairly quick at picking up the steps but the guys are brutal. Seriously, it sounds mean but I give them full credit for signing up because this is so clearly a challenge for them. We only did a basic step last night - rock forward, tap right, rock back, tap left. Then we mixed it up by step left, tap together, step right, tap together. Trust me when I say it's as basic as it gets.


I think it's because women do step classes, aerobics, those kinds of workouts that help us with body-brain coordination. The guys were all over the map. And once she turned on the music? They lost it!
Anyway, totally fun - I wish I'd started up with these last winter when I wasn't doing anything at all. Right now I'm going downtown for the classes - right at Yonge and Bloor - but I think come the fall, I'll look for a studio closer to home.

I was up at the hospital again this morning. This is the first time Dad hasn't been sleeping when I've been there. I would normally just type "Dad was awake" but it's not really like that. His eyes are mostly open but there's no focus or recognition or response to my voice. He did respond to a cup of juice being put up to his lips but wouldn't open his mouth for some food - a spoonful of yogurt.
The doctor says he has two bacterial infections and indicates that his organs are shutting down. He has a collapsed lung, his skin breakdown is continuous anywhere there's an ulcer (several places) and, since they believe he's in almost continuous pain, are providing some relief from that. The doctor at one point suggested we stop providing him with food to allow him to "give up the ghost" but we declined on that for the most obvious reasons; we have no interest in starving our parent to death and also because taste seems to be the only sense left to him. Two weeks was the timeframe given last Wednesday. We've been hearing these sorts of proclamations for the past 3 or 4 years but this time, I think they may be right.

I was able to move a bookcase to the basement, the stacking shelves with glass covers, and start filling it up with books and my antique camera collection. I might finally be starting to get a handle on the overflow of furniture in my house. My problem is I'm too sentimental. I have boxes of old photos, my grandmother's rocking chair, assorted antique dressers and mirrors, not to mention my own furniture discarded and relegated to the garage in favour of newer stuff. Anyway, I hope some day to get over these attachments (why do I keep buying books and why do I have to keep every book ever read?), put it all up on Craig's list and make a fortune!

I cut the grass in the backyard. Okay, I say I cut the grass but it was mostly dandelions and wild rhubarb. anyway, from the second floor it looks like a nicely manicured lawn and that's the best I can expect for now.

I'm so glad I have my outrigger. It's a beautiful sunny day out there, just 15 degrees but that's nice for a paddle. I headed down to the club and ran into Eric Sziraki who was just putting his boat on the car. He's been visiting from his new home in Brisbane for the past month. Actually, I recognized the boat first as Kris' old one before realizing the guy using it was his brother. We chatted for a bit, their mom is doing pretty well. She recently had a couple of procedures to remove fluid from her lungs but things sounded very positive.

So happy I was able to fix my Garmin! It just stopped working one day for no apparent reason. I thought the battery was dead (dead-dead) but I've only had it for a year so did a quick search of the Garmin site and found a way to soft boot the unit and reconfigure the software. The first three times it worked fine as long as it was connected to the USB port but failed if I disconnected it. It just wouldn't power on. I decided to power it on while connected to the usb before I left the house so I could at least do the workout.

Fortunately, Chris A. showed up for practice or I wouldn't have gotten into the club. The lake was a little rough but mostly from boat traffic - I'd forgotten how many people get out on the lake on weekends! I stayed out for an hour and then headed back into the dock. I really didn't want to come in but frankly, I was just bored. I'd done a workout and didn't feel like just paddling around the river. My Garmin seems to be working fine now after doing a full recharge and workout.

Now I'm going to get a glass of wine and an apple and finish reading Russell Brand's autobiography. (I've a bit of a crush.)

Yesterday we got our new scarves for the TFC Lakeside Loyals. JP and Jeff had ordered them from a supplier in Poland and they were worth waiting for... don't you agree? (that's JP in the photo).

I met up with the guys at Clarkson station and we joined Toby & Brandon on the train. It started pouring rain as we walked from Exhibition to the Brazen Head but it had cleared up considerably by the time we walked back to the stadium. I met up with Ryan and Jason, a friend from UNB, in the stands.

The TFC online account manager is great - I can email my tickets to anyone before the game so we don't have to arrange to meet somewhere beforehand. I've left tix for people at the will-call before but they have to have photo ID and not everyone brings that to the game.

Anyway, we lost 2-0 to Chicago but as always, we had a good time.

Today, Karen and I had planned on doing OC-2 so I drove out to the Bay. The wind was unbelievable and when I got there told Kev there was no way we were going out. He was all disbelief and wanted to hear what Karen would say when she got back. She'd ridden the bike down to the beach to take a look at the lake. When she came in, she said exactly the same thing so we had to put up with Kevin's ridiculing us for being soft. Lucky for us, we just don't care. Instead, Karen made us a great brunch of french toast and fruit and we enjoyed just hanging around the table talking shit. We had to take another dose of ridicule when Kev saw two db paddlers out in one of the Fairport OC-2s, saying how we might have a chance of beating them - they were clearly inexperienced paddlers and barely moved in the 60km/hr headwind. Even when they turned around and had a tailwind, they were crawling along. It actually didn't seem safe for them to be out there considering the conditions and their inexperience.

This afternoon I'm home and lounging around on the couch. I feel like a beluga! Marisha called from the Q and invited me out for a beer but I passed. She had a masters swim meet this weekend and won a bronze (um, I'm a bad friend because I can't remember what it was in - the 50m backstroke maybe?) and some 4ths and 5ths. The oldest swimmer there was 100 and received a standing O during his race. Can you imagine? I could start swim training now and it would 50 years before I'd be racing in his age group! Ugh. I'll put off making a decision on that for now - I've got lots of time and may consider taking it up when I'm in my 80s.

back to the couch...I'm exhausted.

So Peter was out tooling around in his OC-1 yesterday morning when he saw something rather big perched on the trestle. He thought at first it was a pelican (one of those moments where your stored memories conflict with your geographic reality) but didn't have time for closer observation as it launched itself and plummeted straight into the water. He waited for it to surface and when it didn't, headed over to investigate.
When he got to the spot and looked into the water, he saw a head, a human head, just below the surface. He reached down and, grabbing it by the collar, hauled up a boy, unconscious and turning blue. Still holding him by the collar, he paddled to shore where two CN rail workers were scrambling down the bank to meet him.
They said they'd seen they guy behaving suspiciously and were just going to investigate when he disappeared over the side of the trestle. He'd left behind a gym bag filled with booze and a suicide note.
The guy came around quickly on shore but when he realized he was still alive, plugged his nose, closed his eyes tight and held his breath - apparently hoping to complete the suicide by self-suffocation. Comical under the circumstances. This was a better story than the usual paddler/rower finds body in river...

So wrong but still the only reason to watch SNL since the US election ended...(for now this is the only link that's showing this clip in Canada - sorry about the fat guy. You can fast forward to :30)

I have too much to do at home and decided to skip NTT this time. I got a call from someone at the course around 10:45 - make up races from saturday finals finished at 10:30 am and they were finally starting the 500s. I feel for the paddlers, officials and supporters - I hear the conditions haven't improved much.

Check out this ad for World Cup in Hungary.



Meanwhile at World Cup 1 in Račice, Czech Republic...

Adam has launched his 2009 season with a gold. In the K1 1000m, he posted the fastest time at all the splits and won the gold in three minutes 38.492 seconds. Rene Holgten-Poulsen of Denmark was second in 3:39.969 and Anders Gustavsson of Sweden was third in 3:40.355

Results for C1 1000m (keeping in mind all our guys are at NTT);

1st FRA Mathieu Goubel 4:06:159

2nd UZB Vadim Menkov 4:08:003

3rd POL Marcin Grzybowski 4:09:679

K1 500m

1st FRA Sebastien Jouve 1:36:614

2nd SWE Anders Gustavssen 1:37:448

3rd DEN René Holten-Poulsen 1:38:524

C1 500m

1st UZB Vadim Menkov 1:47.420

2nd BLR Dzianis Harazha 1:47.716

3rd LTU Jevgenij Suklin 1:47.836

Oh wow, results for the 5000m?? I am so out of the loop.

K1 5000m

1st BLR Aleh Yurenia 18:09,0

2nd CAN Adam van Koeverden 18:09,2

3rd ITA Maximilian Benassi 18:12,0

C1 5000m

1st POL Marcin Grzybowski 20:57,5

2nd RUS Pavel Petrov 20:58,0

3rd ROU Iosif Chirila 21:30,6

It sounds like conditions at Welland couldn't have been any worse! The wind blew over two porta-potties - no word if there was anyone in them. Afternoon races were cancelled so basically none of the finals have been run. They'll start running them at 7:30am tomorrow but it sounds like paddlers are in for a long day. I'll be checking the weather before I decide on going out there...
I was going to that reunion which was being held in the east end - Westney and Bayly. The weather was ridiculous as I drove across the 401 (although Port Credit was fine with just a little rain).

Good luck to everyone racing at national team trials this weekend. I have a high school reunion tomorrow afternoon but plan on being there for 500s on Sunday. My son and I had my mother's day dinner tonight so I'm good!
I'm hoping you have no rain and no wind.
Get out front, don't get tired