I just retrieved the 2006 Gold Book (copycat Yellow Pages) from my front lawn. Normally, I just throw it in a drawer but the photo on the front cover caught my eye - a paddler heading for the trestle. It's not the greatest photo but still...it's not a rower!

Toronto's new flatwater regatta course

I paddled on it twice yesterday and would estimate it's roughly 600m in length. Also, it tapers at the western end. When they published the width as 135m, they must have edited out, "at it's widest point". The lake was calm both times I paddled but it will definitely be nice to have this sheltered course at 5:45 in the morning when the waves are slapping the outside wall. It'll be interesting to see what kind of facilities they'll be putting in - Tower? Grandstand? I will try to find out.
I'm posting some photos of other courses for comparison. Don't be fooled by the perspective of the photos - the Toronto course is about 1/5th the size of these. In fact, you'll notice very few similarities between our course and these others.

Here's Malta Lake, the flatwater course in Poznan, Poland...

and Shanghai...

and of course Montreal...

CCA (CKC) has announced the 2006 International Tour Team composed of 27 paddlers. They'll represent Canada in World Cup competition in Poznan, Poland, May 12 – 14, and Duisburg, Germany, May 26-28, 2006.
More information is available at;
http://www.canoekayak.ca/eng_newsarticle.cfm?ID=281


The restaurant we grew to love while racing in Quebec has opened a store in Clarkson. The grand opening was last Monday. I had breakfast there the other day and it was GLORIOUS!

The inspiration for the movie Silent Hill is a real town. Guys, this town in Pennsylvania has had underground mine fires burning beneath it for the past 43 years! Am I the only person who hasn't heard about Centralia? It started when a trash fire was lit in an abandoned mine pit in Centralia in 1962. The fire ignited an exposed vein of coal and spread throughout the mines beneath the borough. All attempts to extinguish this fire have been unsuccessful. In fact, early on the governement drilled holes to check temperatures which actually provided a source of oxygen to the fire. The associated gasses and network of rich coal veins continue to feed the flames.
The story didn’t catch national media attention until Febuary 14, 1981 when the ground collapsed under Todd Domboski. A sinkhole about 4 feet in diameter and 150 feet deep had opened under him. The heat or carbon monoxide would have been sufficient to kill him instantly if he'd fallen right in but he grabbed onto exposed tree roots and was pulled to safety by his cousin.
An engineering study concluded that the fire could burn for another century or more and "could conceivably spread over an area of approximately 3,700 acres."

http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm

Paddler social notes:

Steve Miller and Amelia recently became engaged

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Sarge, Alyson, TB jr and Birdy

Plus I hear there's another tiny, perfect, paddler baby in the works (I rarely see the dad but will post names once I've talked to him)

The Senior men have finally returned from training camp and trials in Georgia. They leave for the World Cup tour May 8th - Poznan and Duisberg. I'm glad I've raced in Poznan - it's easier to picture things when we get the results. I will, of course, be checking out the Duisberg course on Google Earth.

Hommes - Men C-1 1000m 13:50- Course/Race #14 - A-Final

1 Mark Oldershaw 3:54.273

2 Dimitri Joukovski 3:55.781
3 Thomas Hall 3:56.057
4 Kyle Jeffery 3:57.906

Hommes - Men C-1 500m 13:50 - Course/Race #33 - A-Final
1 Mark Oldershaw 2:02.494

2 Thomas HALL 2:04.098

3 Kyle Jeffery 2:04.953

Full results can be found at 2006 National Sprint Team Trials 1

Quote of the day, "Tom Cruise is one spoke behind Michael Jackson on the freak wheel."

seen on http://www.tomcruiseisnuts.com/home.php

This is the craziest amusement park ever. I thought it must be in the southern states but it's in England. And it's not just one - it's a nation-wide chain!

http://www.diggerland.com/visiting/webcam.htm

Pick any "adult goes home for horrendous family dinner" flick and that was my weekend. And, I'd like to point out, without the great wardrobe and hot male actors. I wish I was still a kid and could put soap on the toothbrush of one of my siblings...
...and just so this isn't a completely bitter and wasted post, how about sending me the worst/best way you got back at siblings when you were kids? I'll post the best ones without names...
- two guys have emailed that they snapped off the heads of their sister's Barbie-dolls (c'mon, that's completely unimaginative)
- another stabbed his little brother with pencils and told him he would die of lead poisoning
- one guy ate all his sister's epilepsy medication
- a paddler's mom told me about putting contact cement all over her sister's hand while she was asleep and then tangling it up in her hair. They had to cut it all off.

Proof: kids are mean...creative, but mean...

I gather from A Change is as Good as a Rest that the Sunfish & friends had a great week! The surfing looked like a lot of fun and cold! I was glad to see you changed your flops to booties before you hit the surf (I'm such a mom).

In the past few days, the Eagle Cam has become progressively more difficult to connect to... I guess the link is being forwarded all over and the server can't handle the number of hits. Hopefully they'll get funding to upgrade and keep the birds online.

4 days off - we don't paddle until 8:00am tomorrow...nice! I see a breakfast at Helen's in my future. NUMBER 69, YOUR BREAKFAST IS READY!!!

This is interesting...the Eagle Cam gives you a close-up, LIVE look at a pair of nesting bald eagles on Hornby Island in B.C. This pic is an archived screenshot. When I checked this morning there were 2 eggs in the nest. It'll be a lot more interesting once they've hatched.

http://www.infotecbusinesssystems.com/wildlife/

Congratulations to Marisha (the Dish) Roman! She's been named outstanding Canadian Aboriginal Athlete and winner of the 2005 Tom Longboat Award. She's going to be in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame!
So exciting - and we have a 4 day weekend to celebrate!

Hey, the nicest guy on the planet (and one of the smartest) is building houses! Greg Secko started his business awhile ago but now has a website and monthly e-newsletter. The first issue will be discussing decks and an interior painting technique but he'd appreciate any suggestions for future issues so email him! I've added his site address to the links at right.

I'm hoping Greg can do a makeover on my house as soon as I can afford it - great location but not-so-great house. I've decided it makes more sense to change the structure than move again.

Amy H. had their baby boy sometime around noon. I'm sure he'll be a cutie like his big brother Dylan.

New link to the right...

Happy Birthday Rudderboy

I went to the visitation for Uncle Lou last night and the funeral this afternoon. So many people were there - Lou's entire extended family! Clem, Jessie, Ian, Matty and Drake, the Howes family, the Millers, the Flemings, the Brailesfords, the Drakes, Conor, Doug, Dray, Petro, Steve and Amelia (newly-engaged), Jeff P., Rico, Matt W., Paskar, Sarge, Heidi, Sean.. not to mention the huge number of friends from other areas of his life. It was sad but as the group got bigger, it became more like a family reunion. It was so great to hear how everyone's doing and what they've been up to. Most don't seem to have changed at all - still smart, dynamic, interesting and so funny. Did the Muto's know what an effect Louis had on his friends? At first they seemed overwhelmed (in a good way) that so many of us from the club were there but they must have known how popular he was - even the memorial card said "Uncle Lou'" just below his given names.
I'm not one of those who is comforted by the religious ceremony. They're self-serving and don't particularly reflect the values of the individual but a few of Lou's friends spoke at the graveside and took off the churchy edge with some personal stories. His father was happy that they were able to find a spot for Uncle Lou just a stone's throw from the Credit River.
Drake brought a Missy singlet and his parents kept it with Lou after all the paddlers signed it. Howes drove out to Burlington and got The Black to display at the reception. Ian tried to bargain with Connie Lee to keep it overnight but she was pretty firm that it had to be back tonight. Mississauga doesn't have a great reputation when it comes to taking care of The Black. The C-boaters discussed the possibility of going through each crews' tags and putting frowny-face stickers beside kayakers names but decided against it. I guess everyone has changed a little!

Everyone laughs at my love of Google Earth but what's not to love? I've looked at race courses in other countries before and after competitions and checked out the courses that friends were racing on when I couldn't be there. Not to mention looking at the Tour de France course, seven wonders of the natural and modern world, checking out directions in a new city, etc. etc...
Lately, I discovered this tour that documents the movement of The Hayward Fault in California. It moves about .35 in/yr - half the rate of the San Andreas fault. You can download it here - http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/research/geology/hf_map/GE_helicopter.htm
Tip: (the Play Tour button is F10)
Once you've opened Google Earth and the tour, use the menu at the left to open photos that detail evidence of movement - shifted curbs, streambeds and the separation caused to Berkeley's Memorial Stadium (the red line is the Fault)...I've always wanted to live in California, maybe that's why I find it so fascinating...

Is there any ad campaign worse than the radio spots the City of Vaughan is running right now? That's the one where the guy is telling an exciting story and anytime the reference should be to a sophisticated, fantastic city, he says, "so they end up in the city of Vaughan". When his friend says, "Don't you mean Paris?" he laughs and says, "Oh, right. I get all my great cities mixed up". And the tagline is, "The City of Vaughan - low taxes and high lifestyle"

Are they trying to attract the grow-ops from Durham Region to Vaughan?

Spent the afternoon with the Dish and friend Laura at the One of a Kind show. I got some great stuff but Laura took honours for the most extravagant purchase - a fantastic, large-format painting for her living room by artist Danielle O'Connor Akiyama. I stuck to earrings and a great wool jacket. Anyway, the Dish told me that there's a photo of the Beav and me on the Underground Garage's homepage. I checked it out when I got home and yep, there's the two of us with Trailer Park Boy Julian. It's from my birthday which just happened to coincide with a Puma launch party. God, my arms are huge! But then I looked at the Beav's and, same. Digital cameras...they're like bikini store mirrors - all bendy and distorting - rarely flattering. Ugh, where did I get that horrible shirt? Anyway, here's the one of the Beav and Julian but I'm also providing the link to their site because it's a great bar to check out if you're ever in Toronto... http://www.undergroundgarage.ca/
What else? Paddled a couple more times - the water is already 11 degrees. It was stupid windy yesterday though. One of those swirly, change direction ones that can be so frustrating. We also found out yesterday that the Ontario team trailer rolled on it's way home from training camp. No one was hurt and no word yet on how many boats were damaged but so awful for Connie-Lee and Adam O. who were driving it home to be here for Bert's funeral.
Weird, this post started out about my weekend but seems to be mostly about trailers.

Friends of Lou: Please scroll down to March 24th post for info about arrangements.