Flatwater World Cup #2 - Szeged Hungary

The Hungarian canoe-kayak website for World Cup is usually really good but this year it's brutal. I don't even know how I found the results. I was so frustrated, I started opening every link and there they were. Apparently Graham is sending results from his Blackberry to Ann and she's forwarding them on through email. I've sent Ann the link via Carrie so hopefully they'll get it out through a canoe-kayak alert. Reports are that conditions are bad - wind & whitecaps are wreaking havoc on some lanes and crews have tipped. Here are results for Day 1 (racing is done for the day so if you don't see a final, we weren't in it);

Friday

A-Final - C1 1000m
1st Attila Vajda (HUN) 03:50.654
2nd Andreas Dittmer (GER) 03:50.750
3rd Bertrand Hemonic (FRA) 03:55.892

Final - C2 1000m 1st Gille Christian & Tomas Wylenzek (GER) 03:31.800
2nd György Kozmann& György Kolonics (HUN) 03:33.528
3rd Andrew Russell & Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny (CAN) 03:33.864
4th Attila Buday & Tamás Buday jr (CAN) 03:34.002

A-Final - Women's K1 1000m

1st Carrie Johnson USA 03:54.022 9 (congrat's Nathan)
2nd Katalin Kovács HUN 03:54.208
3rd Anne Rikala FIN 03:55.270
9th Jill D'Alessio 04:04.252

A-Final - Women's K4 500m

1st GER 01:31.454 C. Leonhardt, C. Wasmut, M. Knebel, K.Wagner-Augustin

2nd HUN01:32.096 T. Paksy, K. Kovács, D. Kozák, G. Szabó
3rd HUN 01:32.642 K. Fazekas, M. Patyi, A. Keresztesi, D. Benedek
5th CAN 01:34.082 T. Tuttle, G. Beauchesne-Sevigny, M. Barre, K. Gauthier

A-Final - Men's K1 1000m 1st Adam Van Koeverden (CAN) 03:27.639
2nd Zoltán Benko (HUN) 03:28.371
3rd Tim Brabants (GBR) 03:28.821

B-Final - Men's K2 1000m 6th Dave Anderson & Chris Pellini

B-Final - Men's K4 1000m 4th R. Dober, S.Jorens, R. Cuthbert & A. Willows

OH COME ON!!
Lindsay Lohan?? Hottest woman in the world?? If by hot you mean deeply disturbed, off-the-rails, slutty crack-whore then okay...but seriously. Jessica Alba - hotter...Sienna Miller, hotter. Maxim magazine has blown any journalistic credibility they might have ... what am I saying, it's Maxim freaking Magazine. Forget I brought it up.

Video from World Cup #1

C1 500m
Mark Oldershaw
bronze

and

K2 500m
Richard Dober
& Andrew Willows
silver

I think I may have had the Perfect Mother's Day weekend. I had a great run and respectable paddle time for the national team testing on Saturday morning. Jackie dropped by the canoe club just as we were finishing up. She brought some of the cookbooks she published. I can't wait to try some of the recipes. They're a fundraiser for the arthritis society. Jackie was supposed to hike Machu Picchu in the fall but won't be able to due to a little bump in...her...err...belly. I believe all key people already know that she's pregnant so hopefully I'm not blowing the surprise for anyone. She looks great in spite of a little morning sickness! Anyway, she has lots of cookbooks left so let her (or me) know if you'd like one - $10.

On Saturday afternoon, Eve and I headed down to the Toronto FC game. There were a couple hundred Chicago fans there who had bussed in to support the Fire so it was especially sweet that TFC won 3 -1!


Ryan and Courtney had to work on Mother's day so they came over Saturday night. We went for an outrigger paddle on the river and then they took me out for dinner and on Sunday I spent some time with my parents.

National Team trials #2 were in Montreal this past weekend. The senior team is away in Europe so results were pretty much as expected. Here's the link if you're interested in times.

Slovakian kayaker Juraj Baca appeared on the Slovak version of "So you think you can dance" called "Let's Dance". I'm not sure what's more disturbing - the bad Norah Jones cover or the fact that she almost strangles him with the sleeves of that hideous dress.
Since 1998, this incredibly attractive man has won multiple golds at Worlds and an Olympic bronze in K-4 in Athens.

Click here for the video

You can see individual results in the last post. Overall rankings for World Cup 1 are as follows;

Country:
1 China - 86 pts
2 Italy - 57
3 Belarus - 56
4 Canada - 52

Athlete - Men's Kayak
1 Adam Van Koeverden - 40 - CAN
2 Tim Brabants - 22 - GBR
3 Anders Gustafson - 22 - SWE
4 Eirik Veraas Larsen - 22 - NOR

Athlete - Canoe
1 Mark Oldershaw - 34 - CAN
2 Nikolay Lipkin - 30 - RUS
3 Hemonic Bertrand - 20 - FRA
4 Wenjung Yang - 16 - CHN
5 Tom Hall - 16 - CAN

Athlete - Women's Kayak
1 Sofia Paldanius - 20 - SWE
2 Hongyan Zhong - 16 - CHN
3 Beata Mikolajczyk - 14 - POL
4 Carrie Johnson - 12 - USA
5 Jennifer Hodson - 10 - RSA
6 Špela Ponomarenko - 8 - SLO
7 Emilie Fournel - 6 - CAN

aaggggghhh....I know some really good news and can't say anything. You know how crazy that makes me but I think everyone will know by the end of the weekend.

Here are final results from the flatwater World Cup # 1 in Zagreb, Croatia. The Canadian team was awesome!

Canoe
Final: C1 500m Mark Oldershaw 3rd and Tom Hall 1st in B final
Final: C1 1000m Mark Oldershaw 1st and Tom Hall 2nd
Final: C1 200m Mark Oldershaw 1st in B final
Final: C2 500m Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny & Andrew Russell were 4th and Richard Dalton & Dmitri Joukovski were 7th
Final: C2 1000m Richard Dalton & Dmitri Joukovski 2nd & Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny & Andrew Russell were 4th
Final: C2 200m Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny & Andrew Russell were 4th

Men's Kayak
Final: K1 500m Adam was 1st
Final: K1 1000m Adam was 1st and Angus Mortimer 1st in B final
Final: K1 200m Adam 6th and Mark de Jonge 8th
Final: K2 500m Richard Dober & Andrew Willows 2nd
Final: K2 200m Richard Dober & Andrew Willows 3rd
Final: K4 1000m Richard Dober, Steve Jorens, Ryan Cuthbert & Andrew Willows 9th
Final: K4 200m Richard Dober, Steve Jorens, Ryan Cuthbert & Andrew Willows 6th

Women's Kayak - semi-finals
Final: K1 500m Emilie Fournel was 7th
Final: K1 1000m Emilie 3rd
Final: K1 200m Emilie 4th
Final: K2 500m Marie Christine Schmidt & Kia Byers were 8th
Final: K4 500m Mylanie Barre, Genevieve Beauchesne-Sevigny, Tory Tuttle & Jill D'Alessio 8th
Final: K4 1000m same crew 6th
Final: K4 200m same crew 7th

Chrissy! This one's for you...

World Cup #1 starts in Zagreb, Croatia in a couple of days. The draw is available here on the competition website.

Yesterday was the inaugural game of the Toronto FC. It was raining when I woke up but the weather had improved slightly by the time we got to the game. Actually, except for no sun, it was pretty perfect. Cool but not freezing, a little overcast but not raining. I wore a hoody and fleece vest and, of course, the Toronto FC scarf that I'd received in my fan package. Best marketing ever - the scarf has the team logo, Toronto FC in huge letters that run the length and the date of the game - and it was your ticket! You couldn't get into the game without it.

The stadium was filled to capacity. The program states that BMO field holds 20,000 but the announced attendance at the game was +21k (not sure how that works!).

I had gotten my season's tickets online and since BMO field is brand new it wasn't like I could make better-worse comparison. The "Fan" section was sold out in my price range so I opted for the next best thing - seats right in front of the goal. The opposing goaltender would be right in front of us for the last half of the game.

I have to tell you though, the Fan section is where you want to be! Don't get me wrong. The energy throughout the stadium was awesome! Stamping, clapping and singing like you never get at Jays and Raptors games but the superfans, they just had that little bit extra...crazy (or was it beer?). They had the canisters that spewed red & white smoke at the start of the game and red & white confetti at that end, they had the organization-funded cheerleaders - not the jiggly-jumping kind but the loud-guy-with-a-megaphone kind. They also got the taunting from Kansas City players when they scored the only goal in the last 10 minutes of play.

No complaints here though. Toronto FC played a great game and it was everything fans could have asked for short of a win.

Amazing CG about the futility of vanity. This was produced by a student...

So fun - Saturday night Jackie, Blake and Tat hosted the indoor Olympics. Entry into this event was only $20 and proceeds go to sponsor Jackie for the Arthritis Society Joints in Motion trek this August. She's also writing and editing a cookbook which she's selling for $10 - email her if you're interested in purchasing one or two. They'll be ready in time for Mother's Day. Keep in mind that Jackie's a nutritionist - all nutritional information is provided with each recipe.
Anyway, back to the games...we had a random draw for teams. Attila and I were partners, Tat and John, Katie and Peter, Blake and Sarah, Kris and Carrie, Sue and Birdy and Tamas and Eric. Greg came a little later but just for the hang.... ...anyway...
events were run circuit style, 8 minutes at each event;
golf (putting), Headbandz, Catch Phrase, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit and Dance Dance Revolution, plus a rest stage to grab a drink and chow down on the munchables.
It was a lot of fun and there was some pretty heavy competition especially on DDR. to be honest, I can't remember who won - I think it was Tat and John.
It was really fun and I've offered to have another one at my house if Jackie's interested.

three words: Wall....of....Voodoo




oh, and I finally finished that bernardo stalker post.

Whoa!
I just hit the motherload of '80s music. I found two tape cases full of audio cassettes that were the soundtrack to one of the happiest times of my life. Holy drum machine!! Sherry Keen, Fine Young Cannibals, Howard Jones, China Crisis, Thomas Dolby, Haircut 100, Police....aaagghh. I'm on happy overload!

I'm didn't realize it would take so long to write that last post...I'll finish it this weekend. In the meantime, here's a funny video from Will Ferrell & Adam McKay...

When I heard on yesterday's news that Karla Homolka just had a baby, I was reminded of the slim connection I had to her ex-husband and partner in crime, Paul Bernardo.
My initial reaction to the news that Homolka had gotten pregnant and given birth surprised me because I'm generally a "live and let live" kind of person. I was outraged. I am completely offended that this person who kidnapped, sexually assaulted, tortured and then murdered 2 young women and drugged, sexually assaulted and murdered her own sister would have the nerve to HAVE A BABY. And I can't actually define why. It's not because she took away someone elses children. It's not because she denied those girls the opportunity for families. Nor is it because it's completely possible she may torture, sexually assault and ultimately murder her own child. That's the way the world wags, people are strange, shit happens or whatever. My reaction was visceral and defies logical analysis.
Honestly, on the day that Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were arrested I was annoyed by the number of phone calls I received from family and friends. They were almost identical to the last word. "Oh my god! Did you hear? The guy who killed those girls grew up down the street! His family still lives there! We went to HIGH SCHOOL with him!!" I had seen the news so I already knew these details. I also knew that Bernardo was a few years behind me - in grade nine when we were in twelve. What senior ever notices a minor-niner? Why would I try to form an association between us?
My mom's call didn't surprise me because as a stay-at-home housewife she would have semi-justifiable, retroactive concerns about a serial killer living in the neighbourhood. I was disappointed with my brother but gave him the benefit of the doubt since he was only one year ahead of the guy. However, when I asked if he even knew him, the answer was no. By the time my best friend Karen called, I was trying to figure out why people with no involvement try to connect themselves to a tragedy when the people at the centre of it would do anything to have some distance. However Karen reminded me that her younger sister, Vanessa, was the same age as Bernardo.
I had lost touch with Vanessa as we got older so could only recall a painfully shy, reserved blond who believed in Santa Claus until she was twelve and closely resembled Uma Thurman as she got older. I was stunned when Karen told me that Vanessa had just called her and confessed that, at 16 years of age, she had stalked Paul Bernardo for the better part of a year.
I don't think high school has changed much over the years - they still have a Sadie Hawkins dance and the SAC still has fundraisers. It was one of these, the Valentine's fundraiser, that sparked an obsession with Paul Bernardo for Vanessa and her best friend. For $1 dollar, student council members would deliver a rose directly (and anonymously) to a selected student's classroom. Bernardo purchased a dozen roses, 6 for Vanessa and 6 for Christine, and arranged to have them sent to the girls' lockers between classes. This way a much wider audience was aware of the attention they'd received. Also, instead of remaining anonymous he had added a signed card. As Vanessa described it, the girls were still flushed and giggling when Bernardo cruised by their lockers, winked and said, "Looks like somebody loves you." It's a testament to his cool factor that he could get away with something so cheesy.
Okay, so the thing about Bernardo sending roses is that he didn't really know these girls. There were a couple of hundred kids in their year and there was no overlap in their circle of friends. Of course, after he was arrested we debated that it was becasue they were his "type" but Vanessa said they didn't think it was weird at the time. They became fixed on the idea that he must be crazy about one of them. They began to follow him around at night in the family car.
I don't know what they were thinking since this was a '64 Falcon Country Squire. In 1978 this car stood out. There wasn't another like it in Guildwood and everyone knew who owned it. Vanessa and Christine just assumed they were invisible and that what they were doing was a bit of harmless fun. They waited in Vanessa's driveway until they saw his car pull out of his driveway up the street. Apparently he dated a lot of girls outside of school because she said they followed him all over the city - sometimes out to West Rouge, sometimes back towards the Beaches. He'd hang out in donut shops or in the parking lots of burger places and seemed to be a pretty popular guy.
One night they followed him out Kingston Road towards West Rouge. He was by himself so they thought it was strange when he turned into Colonel Danforth Park and headed down the steep winding drive into the woods. Leaving some space so he wouldn't see their lights (yeah right), they followed him, stopping just outside the entrance to the parking lot. They could see his empty car at the far end and were just trying to figure out what he was doing there and where he'd gone when there was a tap on the drivers window. The girls shrieked as Vanessa threw the car in reverse and gunned it back up the hill. In the headlights and dust, they could see Paul Bernardo standing with his arms crossed, grinning after them.
In the adrenaline rush that followed the girls giggled and chattered at how he must have known about them all along, he planned to surprise them, maybe they should have stayed, they could have gotten to know him finally, get in with the in crowd...In retrospect we were all creeped out about what could have happened, what his intentions really were that night but whatever, it was a non-event. Vanessa and Christine stopped following him and went on with their lives. They never stalked anyone again, not because they had learned a lesson so much as they just grew out of some phase.
All those years in between before they learned that, no matter what your intent, there's no such thing as harmless.

Saturday morning - schedule says 20km paddle out to Howard Park Beach.


We did this same paddle last weekend in the worst possible conditions - howling winds and low, low tide. I think I commented on the fact that none of the commercial or pleasure boats were on the water?
Anyway, this Saturday was calm, beautiful and HOT. Pete had decided to split the trip into 4 legs so that everyone could switch up and try the different boats - OC-6, 4, 2 and single. I had on my bikini and carried a bag of gatorade, water, sunscreen and aspirin (see previous post re: jello shooters). I started out steering the 6 which is quite easy if you have someone who knows what they're doing teach you (thanks Peter!). I need to qualify that "easy" - 4 or 5 years ago at a db training camp, we had some Oc-6s to try out. They asked me to steer in a race - no one knew how to steer them so all I did was rudder and draw. It was exhausting! In reality, steering OC-4s and OC-6s just requires you to jam the blade in at the side of the boat and use the top hand to make subtle adjustments to blade angle. Okay, anyone who grew up sailing or steering crew boats is thinking, "Yeah? And what's your point?" but this kind of stuff is new to me. Point is, compared to that first time in OC-6, this was way less taxing, incredibly efficient and ummm...logical. The OC-4 is touchier and breaks away quickly if you oversteer. I've always had respect for those who race in the big water but this took it to a new level, especially for the steersperson.
Anyway, the trip was relatively uneventful. I ended up steering the OC-6 for 2 of the legs because Coach Del was a no-show for the workout. Something to do with Mucho Grande flu. We had some concern when we arrived at Howard Park because one of the OC-2s, Clem and Gail (a non-swimmer wearing a life-jacket), was nowhere to be seen. Rich paddled back in a single and found them making slow progress in the shallow water between the channel and Howard Park. They had hulied just where we entered the Gulf of Mexico and while walking the boat across a sandbar, Gail cut her foot badly on a shell. They had very little rest before we decided it was time to head home.
The trip back was more difficult. The beautiful weather had brought everyone out and the weekend traffic was unbelievable. The wash from those big boats and sea-doos was challenging to say the least. The OC-4 and a couple of singles hulied and we were all happy when, 4 hours after starting out, we got back to the bayou.
I grabbed a quick nap after breakfast at Danny K's and then headed back to the bayou where we unrigged and loaded the boats. I kept my C-1 out so I could keep paddling until we left but otherwise, all 34 boats were on the trailer by the end of the afternoon.

Afterward, we cleaned up and got ready to hit the town. We had tickets to see the Senators play the Lightning in Tampa Bay. St. Pete Times Forum was packed and Tampa has great fans. Even when they were down 7-2 they kept cheering for their team!
Everyone was leaving the next morning so it was a great way to finish the training camp.

Ha ha...this is perfect, I miss home and I'm up the road from Dunedin...(give it a few minutes to load).

The bayou is pretty active this week. I sat and watched 4 manatees rolling around for about an hour this morning while I talked on my cell phone (I might actually be a voyeur if that was some hard core manatee lovin'). Later in the afternoon, 3 dolphins swam with us for a few kilometres out to the Gulf. They were right in the middle of all the boats, disappearing for a few seconds and then leaping up from under someone's ama. They startled a few people this way but it made the paddle a lot less like work.
The weather has gotten really hot but I hear it's fantastic at home too. I've actually been here long enough that I'm looking forward to heading home next week. I'm tired of eating restaurant food and living in my training clothes and bathing suit.

I'm not sick of Danny K.'s breakfast though! Danny K.'s Alley Cafe is a staple of the Tarpon Springs Training Camp. The tables are spread around an indoor alleyway the runs between Tarpon Avenue and the next street. I could live on their "almost famous" omelettes and endless coffee. And the servers are the same year after year which makes it feel like home. It's kind of like Helen's South.
The mayor of tarpon Springs came to our afternoon practice for a photo op. She jumped in the motor boat with Peter and they shot her with the outriggers all piled in around them. She said if she'd known we would be paddling, she'd have worn her spandex and come with us. Nice sentiment but I'm sceptical that a 50-something female politician would allow herself to be photographed in spandex! Anyway, I'm not sure when it'll be in the paper but Carl Vogel (our host when we're down there) will let us know.
Friday, the three dolphins were waiting in the channel for us. They didn't stick with us for very long this time - we were doing long pieces so maybe they got bored.
It's friday night and you know what that means - Mucho Grandes at the Mexican! The mariachi singer has loosened up a bit (probably because of his encounter with a particular db paddler from the week before) and he paid a lot of attention to the ladies at our table (did I mention the group this week was 90% women? I don't think Matt's too upset about that.) Joanne was up dancing - she's really good which is not surprising since she's a dance instructor- and we were all up on the floor by the end of the bowl, I mean night.
Afterward, we headed over to Shades where we consumed ridiculous quantities of jello shooters (new rule - I'm not ingesting anything purple after 11:00pm) and people took turns testing their strength at the punching bag. You know I'm not into those macho displays so I ended up chatting with the drummer from the band. One of the paddlers insisted we had to go to some lounge called the Zone. It sounded kind of cougar-ish so as the group walked ahead, a couple of us ducked down a side street to see what was going on at the Lime 'N Coconut. It was dead so we followed the music down the street and across Alt 19 to Bally Hoo's. It was awesome! They had a huge deck with a live band so we grabbed a couple of beers and started ripping it up on the dance floor...After just a couple of songs, the band said, "Thanks everybody, that's it for tonight. Take care getting home". Crap. We finally got to the Zone where we found just the one lone paddler sitting at the bar by herself. We looked around for the others but they were no-shows so we left. Everyone was back at the hotel, lounging on the balcony. Perfect wind-up to the night. It sounded like my roommate was lining up a little rendevous and a discussion of possible room conifgurations was going on. In the end, everyone ended up sleeping in their own beds. I woke up around 5:30am - ugh - fully dressed, under the covers with the tv remote in my hand and contact lenses glued to my eyes. The smell of the popcorn I'd burnt a few hours earlier lingered in our room. I downed some water, aspirin, crawled back into bed and was ready for our 20Km paddle at 8:00am.
more later, I'm exhausted...

Okay, I know I'm all over the map but I'll fill in the gaps eventually. Today was our afternoon off so Del, Jess and I headed to Caladesi Island. We keep hearing about this place ranked as the top natural beach in the united states. It was pretty nice! We drove to Honeymoon Island (the beach we went to on monday - also verra nice) and caught the ferry - $9.00. This isn't at all like the Toronto Island Ferry, it's a pontoon boat which actually holds a deceptively large number of people. The water is turquoise and shallow - surrounded by mangrove islands. The beach is also a state park and nature preserve. The sand was amazing, fine and white. From where we lay, it looked like we could walk across the bay to Honeymoon Beach, it was so shallow. We're hoping that next year, we can put in a workout that entails paddling to Caladesi for the day. After a couple of hours, we decided to head home. One thing I wanted to mention - when you buy your ticket, you're given a return time. We arrived at 1:00 and were advised that we had to leave on the 5:30 ferry. However you are able to return earlier if there's room on the boat.
Since it's midweek wednesday - we were able to jump on the 3:30 ferry. On the return trip we saw 3 bottlenose dolphins and our boat driver Capt. Ron stopped so we could watch them playing in the surf. He had warned us that the boat's motor was unreliable and kept cutting out on him and we had a dramatic demonstration of this just as we were cruising into the dock. Without an engine, Capt. Ron couldn't steer or reverse and we heard him yell "Hold on!" just seconds before we crashed into the dock piling. One chubby lady (representative of the female american population in this area) was tossed to the deck and it sounded like she was working up quite the court case as we disembarked. It was a great afternoon trip and although we decided we'd be happy just going to Honeymoon Beach in the future, it was a great experience and were happy to have done it. We stopped at Panera's for a latte and to pick up some dinner. Happy hour had already started by the time we got home - Pete and Del were heading out for a bit of tennis (with the aid of some Crown Royal). A nice relaxing day. I'm starting to get used to this!

Happy birthday to Louise and Mia!

Last night we had a party at a place we just call "The Mexican". It has another name but we can never remember what it is. They serve, yeah that's right, mexican food. The real reason we go there is for the Mucho Grande - a one litre margarita served in a giant glass. However, since our group was about 20 people, they brought us a Mucho MUCHO Grande - margarita in a massive punch bowl. We served everyone at our table (and several others at neighbouring tables) but still hadn't made a dent in it. A few glasses of that and everyone was up dancing to the mariachi singer. He seemed a little surprised.
After that (it was still disgustingly early) we headed to Lime 'n Coconut. This is the closest I've ever come to Jimmy Buffet's Florida. We had some of their fantastic sangria and then I started the long walk home. Cabs are basically non-existent here - Pete claims that the Greeks who settled this community didn't want the Athens cab mafia here and banned them forever. I'm not sure if that's true but whatever it is, there aren't any around. I stuck to Alt 19 because it's fairly well lit and busy but still, some creepy guy on a bicycle followed me. I stopped at Walgreens and wandered around for a bit hoping it was just a coincidence that we were going the same way but a few minutes after I left, a glance over my shoulder showed he was still there, hunched over the handlebars, paddling himself along with his feet. At least now I had a water bottle in a bag - a makeshift blackjack. He rode ahead of me and I could see him stopped by some bushes on an unlit stretch of the sidewalk. When I crossed the road, he road back a ways and then started to come up behind me. I crossed again and then again as he followed. By then I was at the service centre and the hospital which are both really busy. The next time I looked he was peddling up a sidestreet.
Even with the long walk, I was still home before midnight. I fell asleep and didn't even wake up when the bathroom window smashed while Peter was trying to close it at 4:00am. It had gotten really windy in the night. I also slept through some paddler knocking at the door around 6:30am. We were paddling at 8:00am so I'm glad I was oblivious to everything. As I mentioned, it had gotten really windy in the night. Our plan for the morning paddle was approximately 20kms to Howard Park an off-shore beach. Conditions were the WORST. Brutal wind and the
tide was against us but the group was determined to go. We put together crews for an OC-6, 4, 2 and OC-1. Jess paddled one of the Hukis but turned back when we got to the Gulf. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow. I just want to say that if you're ever staying in community where there are commercial fishermen and you're thinking of going out on the water, you should take note when they stay tied up to the dock...

Just a quick update - training camp is great, as always! Jackie, I really wish we had talked sooner. It's not the same without you.

This is such a great location and the weather has been phenomenal. Lots of dolphins and manatees in the bayou. And we lucked out. Our motel wanted to free up some rooms so offered us an empty two-bedroom house on the property for the same cost as our rooms. It's so great to have. That all changes next week when we move back to the Tarpon Inn with regular room assignments but right now we're spoiled. There's a beautiful golf course right across the street - makes me want to start golfing again. And we have a pool which is pretty but FREEZING all the time.

We paddled out to the Gulf this morning but didn't have enough time to go out as there's a second group that goes out after us - they need the boats. Lots of people at the camp this year. Liz & Fritz are here as well as Stan and his wife Daniella. Have met some Florida paddlers (always great people) who are interested in coming up to do the Around the Island race. Anyway, time's up at the library.

Meghan was in town last week so Alyson, Meghan, Carrie, Dominique and I got together for dinner in Oakville. Dom and I were the only non-pregnant women in the restaurant. What is going on in Oakville?? Okay, obviously we know what. Anyway, everyone looks fantastic and Carrie had some ultrasound pics with her. I stole this pic from Meghan's Facebook album because we all forgot to bring cameras. See... fantastic!

On Sunday, Marisha and I met up with Jax and

Blake to go pick their tree. Remember? The women's team dedicated a tree to them on the racecourse? So there are a few possibilities and we jsut have to get photos and coordinates to the city so the plaque can be installed! Exciting.

I'll be leaving for Florida momentarily. I don't know how often I'll be updating. I'll be doing it from the library in Tarpon Springs so no photos until I get home.

I love the way nature cleans up after itself. Big blizzard last night...rain and temp of +1 this morning. It wasn't too messy at all by the time I got on the road.
And BONUS... heavy snowfall + rain = clean car

We got an email yesterday reminding employees that they can't smoke on company property; not on the sidewalks surrounding the building, not in the parking lot, not INSIDE their CARS in the parking lot. I'd like to think that if I hadn't quit - wow 30 years ago - I'd have given it up when they banned smoking in public buildings. Hard to say. Just now, when I passed one of our employees smoking in the parking lot of the plaza next door, I got a feeling similar to what I would if I'd seen the same person digging through the trash in a dumpster. So yeah, it's a good bet I'd have been shamed into quitting.

I mentioned the new Lily Allen CD I picked up on the weekend. She's quirky. That's the only word I can think of - quirky and cute and totally fresh. Part Nina Hagen, part Norah Jones, an echo of Fairport Convention. I shouldn't be comparing her to all these other artsist because her style is clearly her own. I see so much future potential!
This cut, Alfie, would fall under the novelty classification and is best described as Snow White meets Dorothy Parker. I'll have to do more research on whether she writes her own stuff but in the meantime... This video sucks - I'd hoped to just post an mp3 but this is the easiest. Maybe turn off your monitor while you listen. Seriously. Oh man this video blows. Scroll up.

I was planning on keeping my fuel consumption low this weekend but by the end of it, I'd filled my tank 3 times. Okay, the final time was so I'd have a full tank this morning but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I was all over the place. I had dinner with friends in West Rouge on Friday night. Kev barbecued some chicken for us - perfectly spiced amd delicious. We were still sitting around the table laughing and talking at midnight... bad call for morning practice but so worth it to see Karen and Kevin for a few uninterrupted hours.
Saturday morning stupidity. Without warming up I tried to bench press 120lbs. I felt something pop as soon as I started to lower the weight so I just let it drop to my chest. Oomph. Good call though. I strained my teres but it would have been way worse if I'd continued to bear the weight. Shitty though - it meant I couldn't do the circuit and I had to skip two classes at circus school.
That afternoon, I headed back downtown to see Johnny O's condo. I really like it. Too much. If I could sell my place and move tonight, I would. Ideally, I'd like a little more space but he's in a really good building, the people seem nice and it's in my old hangout area - Queen West @ Spadina. I'm getting an agent to take me around to various lofts and condos in the area when I get home from Florida. It means a complete mind-shift but I think I'm ready for it. When I bought my house, I still had a son in university who may or may not move home plus two big dogs that needed a yard. Things have changed considerably since then. Johnny and I hung out for a bit, headed up to HMV (got the new Lily Allen and Fallout Boy - love both). We stopped at Sen5es for a drink and a snack - had a minor celebrity sighting just seconds after Johnny had made an unkind crack about the celebrity in question (we didn't know she was sitting just behind us - on the other side of a pillar!).
From Johnny's I went home, packed my overnight bag and headed up to Lake Simcoe for Sabrina's birthday. Her champagne birthday. I've never heard of this tradition before but your champagne birthday is when your age and the day of the month on which it falls are the same. So Sabrina is 27 on February 27th. TONS of food and alcohol. The food did me in - I hit the pillow around 1am but the party continued until 4. I hung out there until 1pm on sunday then headed home. Watched Diner on DVD then slept until the Oscars came on. Thank goodness for frozen pizza! I didn't have to go out to get something to eat!

The power has gone off at work 6 times since I've been here this morning. I wish they'd just send us home. I wonder if there's any correlation between the outages and my severe craving for coffee and peanut butter cookies.

I picked this item up at christmas just because....I don't know why... it's so damned funny (did I say "damned"? Ironic.) Couldn't figure out who to give it to so it just sits on my desk at work. A couple of people were slightly offended until I pointed out that it's probably marketed as a serious item in the southern states. Click to enlarge so you can read the labels. The Jesus statue with the mirror belly is pretty cool but my favourite is the Virtuous Vanilla Lip Balm - SPF 18! Is that enought to keep my lips soft and smooth while I burn for all eternity??!

Ever since I checked out Marisha's new condominium overlooking the lake, I've been rethinking my need for a house in the suburbs. The more I think about it, the crazier it seems. Do I really need 4 bedrooms? 3 bathrooms? A CAR?? The answer is obvious. However, being the slow mover that I am, it'll be at least a couple of years before I make a move. On Saturday, I'm dropping by another friend's new condo at King & Spadina. The penthouse in his building is available for about the same cost as my house. I wish I was more spontaneous...

How do you like my new "Chinese Zodiac" clock? I wish I had more time to change the rest of the template to match it.
Actually, the question of how much time I spend on my blog came up the other day when a non-blogging friend checked mine out for the first time. Blogspot makes the initial setup pretty easy with ready-made templates. I've made some additions like the clock - in which case getting it the way I want it, size and position, takes some time but not hours or days. In general, I do most of the posts during my coffee break or at the end of my lunch hour. Video and photo uploads only take a second, especially since I have a HUGE database of photos. Plus, I am the google - youtube queen. So, if you think you'd like to blog, give it a go and let me know if you need help!

Speaking of blog-goddesses...
If, like me, you are disturbed by the current goings-on in the music industry, please visit Go Fug Yourself (link at right) and read the "Well Played Tina Turner" post. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one who falls asleep each night hoping I'll wake up to the realization that Freddy Mercury is not dead - that, in fact, "he's just fine and ready to go on tour again".
Well played, fuggers!

Ladies, I can't stress this enough - if you go out with your girlfriends, no matter how drunk and/or obnoxious they get, no matter how early you have to get up the next day - make sure everyone gets home. The following sounds like an episode of Sex & the City - so much so that I checked Snopes.com to see if it's an urban legend (it's not). And don't try figuring out who it is, none of us know the woman. I know the friend through a friend.
Two thirty-something girlfriends meet after work for a few drinks. One of the ladies gets completely wasted. Her friend (who has to get up early for work the next day) wants to go home and does what any of us would under the circumstances; pushes Drunk Girl into a cab, gives the driver Drunk Girl's address and enough cash to get her home. On the way, Drunk Girl decides she wants just one more drink and directs the cab to a bar within walking distance of her place. She's out of cash though and has to go to an ATM. At the ATM, the man who was (apparently) using it before her says, "That guy over there (points across the street) looks a little shifty. I think he's waiting to roll you for your cash. I recognize you from the neighbourhood and I think it's best if I walk you home. Don't worry, I'll stay about five steps behind and just make sure you get into the house safely."
The last conscious thought Drunk Girl has is, "this is a GREAT idea, what a NICE guy"....
The next morning, the friend who paid for the cab gets a frantic phone call...it's Drunk-now-Hangover Girl who is horrified that she woke up to find the ATM guy in bed beside her. She tells the whole story, as much as she remembers, and her friend tries to make her feel better. "Okay, so you had a one night stand with a guy you met at an ATM. He didn't kill you or rob you so it's not that bad. Could be worse, right?"
It kinda is.
Turns out he's the HOMELESS guy who panhandles at the ATM each day.

By the time she gets off the phone and goes back to her room, her bed is empty. She finds Homeless Guy in a bathtub full of bubbles, surrounded by candles. He's in homeless guy heaven!
Anyway, she says she's gotten to know him and he's not so bad. In fact she lets him store his gear on her front porch. Not quite what's meant by the expression "Charity begins at home" but whatever...

A bunch of us had a weird, six degrees of separation moment last night. After my class, I met Marisha at Bar Wellington . I drive past this place on the corner of Wellington and Portland at least 3 times a week and wanted to check it out. We had been there for about 2 hours when Blake called. He was on his way home from Port Credit so took a detour to meet us. Anyway, we're sitting talking and Marisha says to Blake, "I ran into someone who knows you. Do you remember Jay Prentice?" Blake didn't get a chance to answer. There was a couple who had been sitting beside us for the entire 3 hours and at that point the guy says, "excuse me, I'm Jay Prentice's brother"...so weird! Former Rouge paddlers so everyone's talking at once - "You know Jenn Stanford?! She was your roommate??!! Jonathon Hollins?! Do you remember that girl Jodi??". This guy's poor date was just sort of sitting there, out of things. So the brother (Derek Prentice) asks Blake if he played hockey with Jay and Blake replied, "No but my buddy Greg Secko did". The girlfriend perks up from the end of the bar and says, "Hey, I went to Western with Greg Secko!" It was one of the craziest, small world moments I've ever witnessed. Maybe Bar Wellington is like some Twilight Zone-ish location where everyone who enters is connected in some way. Anyway, if you're in the area, it's worth dropping in.

Olympic medalist Nathan Baggaley has been arrested on drug charges. Police found 762 ecstasy tablets, a quantity of unknown white powder, cannabis and more than $1000 in cash in a car occupied by Baggaley, 31, and NSW surf-ski representative Kane Thomas Battese. He’s already serving a two-year sports sanction imposed by the ICF for taking banned steroids. Now he’s charged with five drug offences, all of which carry maximum 25-year jail terms.
The really shitty thing is, he shares a house with a number of other athletes all of whom are now suspect and being questioned by police. And I’m sure his former girlfriend, world record-breaking swimmer Sophie Edington, will also suffer from the fallout. She ended their two year relationship a week ago but that’s not very long. There'll be lots of questions about her integrity as well.

wow! Paddler babies from coast to coast. I always enjoy getting emails from Meghan (Hersey now Lea) but her most recent - announcing that she and Andrew will be having a baby in early August - was especially nice to receive. That'll be 3 babies born to friends in less than a month - Alyson, Carrie and then Meghan...of course, it's right at the 3 month mark for August dates so maybe there's one out there we haven't heard about yet! I don't know whether I should open an account at Pottery Barn Kids or buy stock in Toys 'r Us...
I will add a photo of Andrew and Meghan together when I get home.

Point form post.
-Really busy the past week what with upping our workouts in preparation for Florida and more classes at circus school.
-Went on a date on Thursday unfortunately, he turned out to be baggage guy after all. Brought up his ex-wife within the first 8 minutes so I won't be seeing him again.
- On Friday, I went skating with Andrea, Trevor, Mackenna and Alicia at the ice pad on Woodeden. I haven't skated in ages and it was tons of fun - even with my hockey skates and a pitted ice rink.
- Saturdays a full day of training - until 2:00 at least. After that, I went to the F.I. for a flush run and then sorted clothes for Jackie's clothing swap party. It was a fun time, got rid of some clothes, hung out with friends and Jackie raised about $600 for the arthritis foundation. Tammy brought their new little baby, Kyle John. He's 10 days old and a dream child. He slept the entire time except for 10 minutes when he woke up for a snack. Carrie's been so busy with school that I haven't had a chance to see her - she doesn't look pregnant from the back but she's got a baby bump up front.
- I slept until 10:30 on Sunday. Truthfully, I only got out of bed because I wanted coffee and it had to be Timmie Ho's. I spent the afternoon checking out Marisha's new place at Harbourfront - it's fantastic! End unit with an unobstructed view of the lake. I think she'll be really happy there. After that, I headed home for a relaxing night eating pizza while flipping between Entourage (dvd) and the Superbowl.
- There's new energy at the club as people get ready to leave for training camp. I don't go until March but all the boat loading and talk of flying/driving south is making me excited about my own trip! I haven't booked my flight yet but am watching the websites. I may end up driving yet if I don't find a way to get my boat down there!
-I'm still plagued by this sinus infection but I have a doctor's appointment at the end of the week so have hopes of getting rid of it forever!

Okay, I think I know what it is about George Stromboulop...the guy on The Hour. his interview style reminds me of Brian Linehan...without the turtleneck, blazer, munchkin-faced thing he had going. I was addicted to Linehan's interviews in the '70s & '80s. James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio?? He's a rank amateur next to Linehan's exhaustive research and smooth, smug delivery. So many times you would hear an actor respond to some little tidbit Brian had dredged up from the past with, "How on earth do you know that??". He never revealed negative things, only the positive or flattering. And the were usually superstars who had been interviewed millions of times so they appreciated that someone had gone beyond reading their press release.

Last weekend - Marisha's birthday/moving party - so many people there! It was so much fun and I wish I'd had a camera but my lithium batteries have tanked and I'm reluctant to replace them at $75 a shot. I already had to replace 1 battery + the charger after I left mine in a hostel in Budapest and now the camera is basically obsolete. Okay, I'm wiped out from training and circus school (STILL FUN!) and have to get up at 5:15am tomorrow....guhhh.

I'm really liking The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos on CBC. Maybe it's because his style and delivery are uniquely Canadian. I don't know. I just feel like I'm hanging out in his living room when I'm watching it. Great guests and content.

So, a team meeting and retirement party on the weekend. Our coach and drummer both retired. We're all really sad about it but we've had a long time to get used to the idea. Not that that makes it any easier but fortunately they are also my friends so I get to see them socially.
And no surprise, it takes two guys to fill Blake's very stylish Campers. We're really lucky to have two former Olympians as new coaches - Larry and Gavin. Gavin (aka Dr. Hot) was there for the whole meeting and got a chance to see what he's in for as coach of a women's team. When he asked jokingly about whether there would be a team shirt for him, Jess commented "I believe we've determined that a shirt will not be necessary." It's doubtful that men could ever get away with the types of things we say if roles were reversed.
We haven't even been able to come up with anyone who can replace Jackie. I can't imagine that there's anyone who could come close. The role of the drummer is crucial and I'm not even exaggerating a little when I say that Jackie defines it in this sport. Okay, I've just deleted a whole bunch of sentimental stuff about how great Jackie is because it was making me all emotional and so far, I've been able to keep a lid on it.
So.
It was really difficult to come up with an appropriate gift for these two people who have been the heart and soul and backbone and livers and kidneys of the crew (okay maybe not Blake's liver). In the end, we decided that the best gift would be a permanent, living dedication that everyone can see. We're going through the city of Toronto to have a tree dedicated to them. This is a great program - you can choose which kind of tree - Jackie I'll send you the link - write your dedication for the plaque and choose the location . We're getting it planted overlooking the racecourse at Marilyn Bell Park. It'll be great and we'll have another party once it's planted. I will let you know when that is once we know.
How crazy is that someone inspires the phrase "end of an era" when they're barely over 30 yrs old?

If you see this in time, Joss Stone is playing at the Docks tonight - $20. I wish I could go but already have plans. At 16 they were calling her the next Janis Joplin. That's a burden for a young performer but check it out for yourself - should be a good show.

Hooray for socialized medicine and easy access to prescription drugs! I feel a MILLION times better.

Ack.
I've been walking around all day with no idea of how FUGLY I look!! My day started at 4:00am because this stupid sinus infection has escalated to grosscon two. Since I had a dentist's appointment with Harley first thing and I felt like a big bag of poo I didn't bother, oh you know... brushing my hair or washing my face...or even looking in the mirror before I left the house. After the dentist's, I went to the walk-in clinic to get some antibiotics and then straight to the pharmacy where I waited for half an hour for my prescriptions before returning to the doctor's office because I'd left my health card there. As I was leaving, I caught sight of my reflection in the car window...oh my god...it was HIDEOUS! And I had subjected the general public to this for about 3 hours! No wonder Harley had put his face mask on over his eyes and that woman in Shoppers had pulled her little child out of my way...
And appropriately, I've become a hermit. I can't seem to bring myself to leave the house. I'm missing my favourite circus classes - trapeze and acrobatics. I did paddle pool on Wednesday night and it was way harder than it should have been. My heart rate was way up so I decided to skip trapeze and acro. Aside from the appointments this morning, I didn't go to work and spent the afternoon watching Bend it Like Beckham and talking to my son on the phone about whether or not my cell will work on Rogers GSM network.

Oh dear. Adam's on the auction block.
Two things I didn't realize: Adam is six feet tall and Lord Byron is now writing for the Post (I mean really, "brown of hair and eye"??)

Here's an excerpt from an article in yesterdays National Post " Most eligible single in the universe!";

"On the male side of the ledger, the hottest headliner is Oakville's Olympic gold-winning medalist Adam van Koeverden. The snoggable kayaker is brown of hair and eye, and he's 6 feet tall, in case you're wondering. As for why he's still single -- not a bad thing to wonder in these sorts of cases -- it says outright in his profile, "Adam is currently in a serious relationship with his kayak!"

Adam is Canada's own Beckham in the sense that he's put an appealing face on the sport and is a great ambassador for the country. Don't know that there'll be groupies coming out to regattas but, like Beckham, he certainly photographs well without a shirt on (you're on your own for those pics). I'm sure he'll rack up the $$$ at the Diabetes Charity auction at the Yorkville Fitness Club on February 9th.

Ugh. I am so sick, I've basically been stuck in the house all weekend. I think it's a sinus infection. Besides all the grossness that goes along with this, I've got Penaten cream smeared around my nose. It's dumb looking but completely effective if you don't want your nose to look like you took a cheese grater to it. I told my niece Tara I was going to put a bag over my head before I went outside and she thought that was a good idea. Don't want to scare little children. I will give a million dollars to anyone who brings me raspberry gelatto.
So, the most exciting news so far in 2007 is that Carrie and Attila are going to have a baby. Carrie thinks everyone's heard by now but said I can post the news just in case. Super-baby Buday (c'mon, look at the genetics) is due in July. I'm really pleased for them and the rest of the family! First baby on both sides. Alyson and Dray are also expecting their second - oh and Tammy and Greg should have their second any day now. It's a veritable paddler baby boom. The guys are probably already working out line-ups for the 2021 juvi war canoes.

Weird. I guess this is just the modern equivalent to a sarcophagus. What would your coffin look like? hmmm. I'm going to have to think about this.

"For the Ga tribe in coastal Ghana, funerals are a time of mourning, but also of celebration. The Ga people believe that when their loved ones die, they move on into another life — and the Ga make sure they do so in style. They honor their dead with brightly colored coffins that celebrate the way they lived.

The coffins are designed to represent an aspect of the dead person’s life — such as a car if they were a driver, a fish if their livelihood was the sea — or a sewing machine for a seamstress. They might also symbolize a vice — such as a bottle of beer or a cigarette."

in case you've somehow missed it...Chacaron

Random - I ran into Rob Stott while running in Rattray Marsh this afternoon. His parents live a couple of streets over so I guess they were over for dinner. We were going in opposite directions - he just starting out and me just finishing up - so didn't stop to talk - just yelled Happy New Year as we passed.
After my run, Marisha, Gavin and I ordered chinese and watched some really bad reality tv. Starting with something called "Grease: You're the One that I Want". Ugh. The Apprentice was slightly better but by then Linda had dropped by with her GIANT malamute followed by Sonya and her new puppy, Findlay. He's a "golden-doodle" (I do not like these designer dogs and the silly names they attach to them). I realized that I'm finally immune to puppy-charms. Good thing or I would be running out to get a dog. He was pretty cute though.

I'm not sure what I've been doing but all the shoes I've worn this week are spread out along the front hall, lying on their sides with the soles facing the door. If I stand at the front door, the hall looks like an illustration for some crazy dance ...

Kaylynne is heading for Kenya in the morning. (I stole this pic from her Facebook album - sorry for cropping you out Geoff!) A bunch of us took her out to a restaurant in Streetsville last night - Honey's Beestro - where Marta's working as a server - best server EVER. They have good food by the way but mostly I was glad to see KP before she took off. It was also nice to see two former paddlers - Megan and Krista! Krista's heading to south-east asia with her boyfriend in a couple of weeks - landing in Bangkok and winging it from there until her b.f. starts his job teaching english in Beijing.
After I left the restaurant, I went to Attila's for poker and a puppy fix (Lola, not the boys although I guess it could be true for either case). I finally won a game in spite of my rookie moves and the guys' habit of folding anytime I bet first. At least I broke even for the night. They were watching Jackass Two when I got there. I wasn't planning on renting it but it was really funny. In fact we watched it again after Nacho Libre, Gumball Rally and something else. I got home really early in the morning and didn't make it to practice. When I woke up I called my good friend Susi who lives in Georgina. We have apparently reverted to being teenagers (aka second childhood) and totally pissed off her daughter, Sabrina, who wanted to use the phone. We talked for close to 3 hours. Couldn't tell you what about but we were laughing a lot - probably men.

Tonight I rented Little Miss Sunshine. Great comment on the beauty pageant circuit in the states but also on family dynamics especially in relation to road trips. Reminded me of all the car trips we made across Canada as kids.

Love hurts ... but breaking in a new pair of orthotics for running hurts more.

As mentioned, my holidays were pretty uneventful but one of the fun things was helping Matt surprise his girlfriend, KC, on New Years Eve.
When we had the paddler party at my house, KC told us how she surprised Matt in Halifax for his birthday. KC goes to Lakehead in Thunder Bay and
her parents live in Oakville. Matt is from B.C. but goes to Dalhousie. So anyway, the day after she told us how great it was jumping out of some dorm-mate's closet to surprise him, Matt emails that he's flying to Toronto on December 31st and asks me to find out where KC will be on New Years Eve. The only problem was there were no set plans for New Years. For awhile it looked like it would be at my house just because nothing else was going on. I thought we finally had her pinned down as coming to my place when Pete decided to have a party, THEN I get an invitation from KC for a party at HER house. I told her I'd drop in for a bit and asked if I could bring a friend. At the last second, I added, "He's house trained." So lame. KC took that literally and decided I must be bringing a puppy.
All the usual things went wrong; Matt's ride couldn't make it to the airport, his flight was delayed for an hour in Kelowna but it was so worth it. I picked him up at terminal 1 and drove over to KC's. Matt was leaning against the door jam when she opened the door. I swear she went through 8 distinct emotions; deer-in-the-headlights for a full 45 seconds, then confusion, refusal to believe, getting in close for another look to make sure it wasn't a trick (like what? Dustin in a Matty mask?) and then full out jumping up and down screaming!! That lasted, I'm not kidding, for about 4 minutes. It was awesome! Everyone else was in the basement and came running upstairs. Dustin's reaction was only slightly less enthusiastic when he arrived a few minutes later - and, as we'd all predicted, asked within seconds, "Is Chris here too?".
I headed over to Peter's party after that. It was perfect... low key, small group of friends (I barely noticed I was the only not-a-couple) and I finally got a chance to catch up with friends I don't see nearly enough!

Here's Jack Black's other great movie take-off - Spiderman. The Yoda bit towards the end is pure comic genius.

Lord of the Rings a la Jack Black.

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm kind of lazy today - the effort of going to Timmie Ho's and Chapters was too much so I'm posting stuff that requires very little effort. I'll write about the holidays later, for now it's pure randomness...

David Armand did a mime interpretation of Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn". Simple but pretty funny so he was invited to perform it at the 2006 Secret Policeman's Ball for Amnesty International.