Saturday afternoon I attended Charlotte's 4th birthday. I can't believe it's been 4 years already!The house was packed. Jackie, Blake and Sydney were there as well as Carrie and Charlie.

It's only 10:30 am but I've already been to the home regatta and the Clarkson Village 200th anniversary street festival.

At the canoe club everyone was lining up to get their MCC 50th anniversary racing singlets. The new design is awesome and they actually ordered a women's style (built-in bra top & cut for hips)! The fabric is really nice and it has a racerback style. Generally we don't think about the fabric at all but the last ones we had were
a scratchy synthetic. This one is much softer. They probably don't dry as fast as the old ones but they are way more comfortable. I stuck around to see some friends, watch a few races and then headed into Clarkson.


I was there super early so even though the street was closed and stands were up not many people were around. You know, I've always thought our community was fairly young so I was surprised that 75% of the people wandering around were 60+.
Maybe it's just that old people know going early means they won't have to line up for free stuff (like Cora's breakfast) because by the time I left there was a steady stream of young families with strollers heading into town.

I'm a little disappointed with the festival. The ones in Port Credit are always good, kind of hip and cool. I was hoping this would be along those lines.
Not the case. There were just too many older women in pioneer costumes and heritage information booths lining the street. There's nothing wrong with that kind of stuff, especially since Clarkson is pretty much defined by two major heritage buildings/museums, but this was definitely the theme. It kind of set the fun switch to "amish", if you know what I mean. I actually saw a blacksmith setting up just as I was heading home. Still it's a good first step - from what I understand it's not easy to get a permit to shut down Lakeshore. If this becomes an annual thing, I'll have to volunteer for a committee.

This is my nephew, Chris Curry. He is an INCREDIBLE guitarist and is making a name for himself in the Winnipeg music scene.

However, this past weekend he was making his mark as a guitar hero. Participants in a charity event, Heroes for Child Find, had to raise funds in order to be entered into a Guitar Hero competition. Chris won, completely blowing my claim that REAL guitarists are terrible at GH. And he's not grandstanding with this behind-the-head move. He was competing against a younger kid and thought this would make it fair (along with the broken finger).

The next level of competition will see him on the big screen at centre field at a Blue Bombers game on July 11th. Hey, halftime at a CFL game is true fame in Canada. Nice kid, great guitarist!

Jess isn't racing sprint canoe anymore but it looks like she'll be equally successful at her latest endeavor. She completed her first sprint triathlon this past weekend in cottage country and finished 5th in her division.

Congratulations Jess!!

WOW. Tom Hall won gold in C1 1000m at the ICF flatwater world cup 2 in Duisburg. We had a regatta at MCC today and it was all anyone could talk about. He had to beat Mark Oldershaw to secure a nomination to the Olympic team but he went to another level, overtaking 3-time olympic champion Andreas Dittmer for the gold in 3:50.109 seconds. Dittmer won silver in 3:51.531 and Vadin Menkov of Uzbekistan bronze in 3:52.649. Mark Oldershaw was fourth in 3:52.699.




Richard Dober and Andrew Willows won gold in the K2 1000m while Adam van Koeverden won a bronze (1000m) and a gold (500m), Mark won bronze in the 500m and Andrew Russell & Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny won bronze in C2.

Awesome results for Team Canada but huge congratulations go to Tom Hall!

Who knew...Chris Walton has written and illustrated a childrens book! Check it and other works here

I can't remember why but awhile back I was trying to explain the show Ab Fab to Jackie and Chrissy. Absolutely Fabulous was a French & Saunders comedy series on the BBC in the 90s. I can't improve on this description provided on answer.com (although one of my favourite characters, Edina's assistant Bubble, is not mentioned);

"a grotesquely self-centered fashion victim chain-smokes, swills champagne, abuses drugs, munches caviar, terrorizes her daughter, and tries in vain to mingle with the beautiful people -- all in the company of her sleek, slutty, boozed-up best friend. Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) (aka Pats and Eddy) are '60s survivors and fashion-world wannabes; Pats works for magazines, while Eddy owns a PR firm whose biggest client is '60s has-been Lulu, of "To Sir With Love" fame. These women live in a cloud of self-delusion about the supposed glamour of their London lifestyle, forever attempting to claw their way past the velvet rope. Pats inhabits the attic of a liquor-store franchise, while Eddy lives in a well-to-do flat thanks to the double alimony from her two ex-husbands, a gay antiques dealer and a recovering alcoholic. When she's not being horrible to her dowdy, unflappable teenaged daughter, Saffron (Julia Sawalha), and her oblivious, tongue-in-cheek mother (June Whitfield), Eddy stages fashion shows, jets off to photo shoots, pays charlatans to put her in touch with her inner child, and tries every weight-loss cure known to man -- except curbing her decadent lifestyle. Thanks to its shrill satire, over-the-top costumes, outrageous excess, and all-around camp appeal, Absolutely Fabulous became a pop-culture phenomenon that spawned two Sesame Street characters, a slew of slang expressions ("Sweetie darling, I'm chanting as we speak"), and even a Pet Shop Boys charity single. The actual theme song, sung by Julie Driscoll and Adrian Edmondson, is a cover of "This Wheel's on Fire," a '60s obscurity written by Bob Dylan and the Band's Rick Danko. "

None of these youtube clips really do it justice so rent the dvds if you get a chance. I remember hearing that Jennifer Saunders friendship with a particular fashion-editor ended because Edina was so obviously (to the fasion industry) based on her life. I wish I could remember her name.

National Team Trials II
Welland June 7 & 8 2008
(photos are from Padtrac)

Summary: Top 3 Senior division A-finals

Senior Men K-1 1000m (A-Final) 07/06/2008 02:30:00
1 Corey HAMILTON 4 3:54.045 + 0:00.000
2 Ryan COCHRANE 9 3:55.261 + 0:01.216
3 Wesley HAMMER 5 3:57.087 + 0:03.042

Senior Men C-1 1000m (A-Final) 07/06/2008 02:44:00
1 Richard DALTON 6 4:19.259 + 0:00.000
2 Paul BRYANT 7 4:22.357 + 0:03.098
3 Jamie ANDISON 5 4:24.539 + 0:05.280
Open Women C-1 1000m (Final) 07/06/2008 02:58:00
1 Mallorie NICHOLSON 5 5:15.642 + 0:00.000
2 Laurence VINCENT-LAPOINTE 2 5:36.824 + 0:21.182
3 Jessi TEMPLE 6 5:40.550 + 0:24.908

Senior Men K-1 500m (A-Final) 08/06/2008 01:30:00
1 Jeremy BORDELEAU 7 1:51.332 + 0:00.000
2 Ryan COCHRANE 5 1:51.512 + 0:00.180
3 Michael SCHAUS 9 1:52.354 + 0:01.022

Senior Men C-1 500m (A-Final) 08/06/2008 01:40:00
1 Richard DALTON 5 1:59.921 + 0:00.000
2 Cory RUBLEE 6 2:01.333 + 0:01.412
3 Jamie ANDISON 7 2:02.105 + 0:02.184

Dustin shot his boat and got his hips stuck

Good racing D-Shaw!

Open Women C-1 500m (Final) 08/06/2008 01:50:00
1 Mallorie NICHOLSON 5 2:32.494 + 0:00.000
2 Gillian FEDECHKO 6 2:43.358 + 0:10.864
3 Laurence VINCENT-LAPOINTE 2 2:44.746 + 0:12.252

Senior Women K-1 500m (A-Final) 07/06/2008 03:10:00
1 Una LOUNDER 6 2:03.177 + 0:00.000
2 Victoria TUTTLE 5 2:04.143 + 0:00.966
3 Emily RAYMOND 7 2:04.841 + 0:01.664

This weekend was a good reminder that there are things you think are part of your life forever but giving them up doesn't necessarily make you unhappy.

Since the early 90s I've been a dog owner and a paddler. Both states require a lot of committment and sacrifice that you don't notice at the time because the payback is so high. My last dog died over a year ago at 17 and I have to say, I'm not missing the company as much as I thought I would. That's probably because I'm also not missing the pet hair everywhere, mud tracked through the house, missing out on every after-work gettogether because I have to rush home to walk and feed the dog, not to mention trying to find dog-sitters for when I travelled. And as much as I love racing, taking this year off was the best decision I've made in a long time. I still paddle twice a day but on my own schedule. And instead of sitting at a regatta course every weekend of the summer, I'm getting together with family and friends to do something fun!



After paddling yesterday morning, Chrissy and I headed over to Jackie's. As soon as Sydney woke up from her nap we took her on a tour of Woofstock...yes, a street festival totally dedicated to dogs. I think we saw every possible breed of dog. And dogs that clearly weren't um, considered dogs. There were dogs in strollers, dogs in tutus and leather jackets, dogs being carried in specially-designed handbags and doggy-bjorns.


I'm not going to lie, we were really just there for the gelato. As much as I'm not interested in getting another dog, each time I saw a particular breed I ran through the pros/cons of each (out loud, unfortunately for the girls) and was thinking, "Would I get one of those for my next dog?" I guess that means there's one down the road somewhere just as I'll probably be sitting at a regatta course someday soon getting sunburnt, rained on and loving it! For the time being though, this is working for me!

Check it out - direct from Szeged, Hungary - video of the ICF Worlds finals from yesterday. It's worth sitting through the first bit of dialogue. First up Adam van Koeverden wins Gold in the 1000m. WOW, he's so efficient he makes it look easy. And then...LOOK at TOM HALL GO...so exciting...

ICF Flatwater World Cup - 2008

Canada kicked off the world cup circuit in Szeged this morning and are in great form. Click the image above for one of the best competition websites going. The racing is exciting - some expected results and some surprises. Each race's result is followed by the finish line photo (all can be enlarged by clicking on image).

Here are a few of the finals.

Ugh, it's kind of weird outside. It's been pretty cold and foggy this evening. Now there's thunder and the temp is going up to 31 for the next few days.
Anyway, not that I had anywhere to go but I'm stuck inside watching tv. I tried watching a new series, Swingtown, but it's so bad I turned it off. Basically, Donna and Eric grow up and get married. Seriously, am I wrong?

Another birthday weekend! On Friday evening, my son showed up at my house with bags of groceries. He cooked me a fantastic dinner and it was so nice to just sit at the table and hang out talking. He's had a lot going on recently (broke off his engagement, moved into a new apartment, changed jobs) so it was great to catch up.


On Saturday Clem, Chrissy, Jackie and I went to the TFC Game. We had a blast; ate a ton of junk food, drank stadium beer, got rained on - in other words the perfect gameday experience! I felt pretty gross the next day but that's part of the experience, right? Anyway, times like these just underline how MUCH I miss seeing the girls on a day to day basis. We're all so busy (especially now that none of us are doing db) but we're hoping to plan more fun stuff in the near future.

Rambo's latest video...Another day in Paradise...these scenes will be familiar to anyone who paddles.

Oh wow. Alyson invited me along to Supperworks the other night and I.AM.SOLD!! In about an hour, we each made 12 meals that will feed 2 or more people.
Last night I had to coach for 3 hours down at Sunnyside. When I got home, I threw the Chicken Marrakesh into a pot. Twenty minutes later...HOT GLORIOUS FOOD. Tonight I'm having Lemon-Glazed Sesame shrimp. No more dinners of microwave popcorn for this woman. Everything they promise on their website is true.

This Sunday there's an event called Canoe the Credit - a fundraiser for the Credit Valley Conservation Foundation.

It's unfortunate and ironic that they chose to hold it a week after the river was treated with lampricide. The river is an odd yellowy-green colour (not dissimilar to the logo at left) and there are so many baby carps floating belly up that it's difficult to take a stroke without hitting one. The lampricide is supposed to target lampray larva (on which the carp feed) so we're not sure if the poison is just working it's way up the food chain or if the poison is affecting the environment itself.

A report published after the 2002 application states;
"• Mortality of nontarget organisms was insignificant ...However, stonecats (less than 500), juvenile Chinook salmon (less than 500), and common white suckers (less than 100) were killed in the middle of the treatment area of the Credit River when pH levels unexpectedly decreased to lower than expected levels."

Anyway, if you're interested in paddling one of three distances on the Credit there's info at the club. If I can get a rec canoe, I'll do the long one. I'm curious to see what's north of the golf course!

Check out Larry's CBC Olympic blog

Click here to watch a clip of a 1984 interview with Larry from the CBC archives

Watch Mars Phoenix Lander coverage live here – today around 7:45pm

Stupid F-book.

The other day as I was writing something on my son's wall, I noticed that the number of our "friends in common" wasn't right. It's a single digit number so it kind of jumped out at me.

My 17 year-old niece, Tara, was no longer there but since there's no reason for her to drop me, I figured it was an accident and sent her an email. She added me again without explanation. That's when I realized she had intentionally removed me from her facebook friends. I was baffled but decided that, in some things, just being 17 is explanation enough.

As it turns out, she cut me off because she thought I'd told her mom about some photos she had posted. Here's the deal, my sister and her husband have bought a new house. It's standing empty pending demolition so Tara decided to have a party without telling her parents. Then she posted photos of that party to her FB where my other niece, Melissa, saw them. She showed her mom, who told Tara she knew about the party and described the photos in detail. Even though I never saw the photos, Tara thinks I'm a rat. Sheesh.

Funny that in the brief moment of realizing I'd been dropped as a friend, I felt like such a loser - immediately returning to some playground state. I've dropped a few people on fb - girls associated with the db team I'm no longer on - but never considered they might notice. And now I wonder about people I've blocked. That's even more obvious - especially if your name turns up in a news feed but they can't find you in a search.

Under the circumstances, I had to laugh when I saw this. FB is re-writing our rules of etiquette...

"For the first time in its history, Canada will race in all 12 sprint canoe and kayak races at the Olympic Games. The final three boats qualified for the Beijing Games yesterday at the Pan Am canoe and kayak championships and continental Olympic qualifier. Canada's previous highest number of boats qualified was 10 in 2004."

Full story here