The Crap I Do

A change of plans

2011-12-29T18:35:00.000-05:00

While I don't intend to stop writing, I have decided to move in a new direction. I won't be applying to a Master's program at Concordia this year, although not due to poor grades. I got an A in my Milton class and an A- in my South Asian Literature class. I won't be applying because I got a full time job. I'm still going to finish the classes I've already signed up for, including Video Game Theory, and I might still apply for the Master's program next year, but I think this job is going to be much more valuable in the long run. I also think that I can continue writing and be successful at it without the Master's.

I began thinking about not applying for the Master's when I realized I would be competing for entrance with people who are already published. I've also had great feed back on my writing, both creative and academic, which is a confidence boost. My goal for 2012 is to get something published, probably with a small press, but possibly with a magazine.

There is writing in my new job as well, which is with a software company called Telax. It's technical writing and web content, but writing nonetheless.

Till next time.

One-percenters

2011-11-28T16:56:00.001-05:00

I read an article in Forbes explaining how people don't understand all the hard work the one-percenters put in to getting where they are. What I have to say to that begins with this: phooey. First, here's the link to the article.

I don't completely agree with the Occupy movement, although I think it's an excellent step towards a movement that I, and probably many others, can really get behind at some point in the future. I also don't begrudge people working hard and getting rewarded for it, in fact that's what I think out society lacks.

The article mentions an artist who sells a quick sketch of a person. The customer then complains of the high price for a mere five minute's work. Yes that person isn't taking into consideration the 25 years experience the artist has. His five minutes of drawing is worth much more than my five minutes of drawing,it's true. Here's what I can do in five minutes:

But what the author of this article, John Tamny, misses is that no one is saying the one-percenters don't work hard, but we are saying that they don't necessarily work harder than everyone else. Yes Arron Rodgers avoided 'partying' for study, a common theme in the article as if not partying makes you rich, or maybe that partying prevents you from being rich, oh wait I forgot about Paris Hilton, who is rich because she partys.

Does Mr. Tamny really think that some of the guys that worked in the Sudbury mine for thirty years are there because they didn't work hard enough? Because they wasted their youth partying? Or maybe he thinks they're all just stupid. In my opinion those guys work much harder than almost all the one-percent. They're the ones we should be thanking, not the one-percenters. And considering the job they do and the exploitation of Sudbury mine-workers over the decades, they don't get paid nearly enough.

It's this ridiculous idea that the one-percent are somehow above us that people don't like, and Mr. Tamny is only enforcing that fictitious concept. No one, believes that the one-percent should get paid minimum wages. Those of us who want change only want to see some more equality. It is simply not possible for anyone to work hard enough to deserve multiple billions of dollars, a few million, maybe, but not billions.

Mr. Tamny, many people work hard and avoid wasting time and struggle everyday. Should they be thanking the one-percent that own the companies they work for and refuse to pay them adequately for their efforts, or should they just accept that they screwed up somewhere along the line?

Wow, a new post.

2011-10-22T11:30:00.001-04:00

I knew it had been a long time since I had written a blog post here, but July 18th? It seems as though someone must have hacked in a changed the date for some sinister and bizarre reason. It's not that I haven't been writing, I've been doing much of that, although not as much as I should be. Isn't that always the case? It's like exercise that way, or not eating delicious non-healthy foods. So where to begin?

The writing I have been doing is for school and work. School has demanded more reading than writing so far, but the creative writing class has given me a chance to write a fair amount. I think some of what I've written is rather brilliant, but some could be bettered by a cat terd with a pencil stapled to it. In reality, my work is somewhere in between those two, which is where it belongs, for now. The important part is that I'm learning. And next semester we'll be doing a lot more workshopping so I expect that will help my writing enormously.

Work has been consistent, although not as plentiful as I would like, but it's building up. And in case you want to see where I've been spending my blogging time, you can read the Telax blog here.

We lost one of our cats a couple weeks ago. Jedi's owner came to take her back to Toronto, and Jedi has adjusted surprisingly well. I think she may have been thankful to get away from the other cats, and who could blame her?

Well my crap pad is telling me that I've got a whole list of things to do before Kate and I head out to see Contagion and settle in at Station Des Sports for the Leafs/Habs game tonight so I suppose I should wrap it up here. Hopefully I'll be able to post more frequently over the next couple months, but I make no promises. I've got a lot of crap to do.

Creative Writing

2011-07-18T17:20:00.001-04:00

I've decided to pursue a MA in creative writing and things have actually been progressing rather smoothly, partly because I'm not dealing with the University of Toronto anymore. Concordia has been extremely helpful in helping me find my path.

My BA is only a three-year degree, although after a couple conflicting reports I've been informed that a three-year is adequate. The problem is the marks I attained during those three years. Of course as it is in life, I am much more driven to attain the marks I need now. And so I must prove that to be the case.

I've earned As in two courses so far, a grammar course and a creative writing course, but it seems the judgement of acceptance is dependent on English Literature courses. So before I am accepted into any Master's program I must take a handful of English Lit courses. Today I had a meeting with the head of the department and determined which courses would be best suited for me.

I had already been accepted into a creative writing course for the fall, although that mark will not help me very much. I still intend to take it, but I've also added four other courses. Along with the creative writing course I'll be taking a Milton class, in which the only reading is Paradise Lost, and Southeast Asian Literature, both are fall classes. The idea is to show that I can earn As in a diverse range of genres. In the winter session I'll be taking Video Game Theory, looking forward to that one, and English Renaissance Drama. I'll also probably need to add a third winter class, but I have to wait for space to become available in either 17th Century Prose and Poetry or Contemporary Canadian Fiction.

I'll be applying to the Master's program in January. They'll look at my portfolio, which has already gained me entrance into that single creative writing class, and if it's good enough, they'll look at my marks. I'll need to add poetry to my portfolio, that will prove most challenging since my poetry tends to be horrible, and I might need to write a play as well, or at least part of one. If I can achieve As in the fall classes, I should be accepted on the grounds that I also earn As in the winter courses.

I've already purchased some of the books I'll need so I'll have read them by the time class begins, something I would have sneered at thirteen years ago.

Aside from the obvious challenges of course work, some of these classes are scheduled in the morning. That is going to interfere with the potential for work, but I am working a fair amount at home writing for a telecommunications company, and I'm hoping that my French will earn me a job in a bar or weekend work somewhere. I'm also going to try to get money from other sources, mainly research grants, or possibly TA work, although I'm doubtful that I'll earn a TA position, and these sources of income will only become available to me once I'm actually in a Master's program.

The Creative Writing Master's is a two year program, and if I fail to be accepted, I could be accepted into an academic program, also two years but without the writing workshops that accompany my first choice of Master's programs. The thesis for the Creative Writing Master's is a novel or collection of work, which is much preferable to a research paper, which is required for the academic program.

I expect it to be difficult, but if I can get the As I need, I'll be fully confident that I'll do well in the Master's program itself. I've also got to mention that without Kate's support I wouldn't have been able to even get this far.

Well the rain has stopped so I'm going to head outside and begin my preparation for the fall semester by reading Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa.

Summer is hiding around the corner with a baseball bat, watch out!

2011-06-19T13:18:00.000-04:00

Much has happened in the two months since I last added to this blog. My father and I rebuilt our rooftop terrace, I'm two months into full time French class, and the summer is in full swing. Oh yeah and the Boston Bruins won the Cup! I'll be sure to have a post up about that soon on my other blog, wheresthepuck.blogspot.com.

My French is coming along, Kate says it's improved significantly, and I can finally understand what people are saying, most of the time. I'm signed up until September, and I'll probably continue into the fall, depends on my employment situation. Speaking of which, my freelancing is coming along. I have steady writing work with a telecommunications company and photography work for a soccer league. It's not enough to give up on a full time job search, but it might be by the fall. If so, and if not as well, I intend continue my schooling at Concordia.

I'm only two courses away from a French certificate, and I am looking to get into a Master's program. Unfortunately I have a fair amount of work to do before applying for a Master's program. For one, I only have a three year degree plus a handful of courses. I would be very close to the four year degree if all the classes were taken at the same school, but they weren't so there could be much bureaucratic crap to deal with. I'm hoping that just having the equivalent will be enough. The other issue is my GPA from 13 years ago. I've already taken two English courses at Concordia and finished both of them with As, but they weren't English Lit classes, which it seems are the only classes counted when looking to get accepted into a Creative Writing Master's. So I could be looking at a year or two of English Lit classes before I apply for the Master's. Thankfully, I like English Lit classes, and now that I've got some grammar training under my belt (which was always my biggest downfall) I should be able to pull As.

The cats are doing well for the most part. Princess, who has quite a lot of fur, is very lethargic when the mercury rises, and I'm afraid we haven't even come close to the temperatures we're going to see this summer. Go Global Warming! Charbonne has a very unfortunate skin problem. She has a bunch of little scabs and she's missing hair! Good for the heat maybe, but not for the soul. --Do cats have souls? I think they deserve to have them.--The vet said it's probably an allergy, but I've changed everything I could except the condo itself and no luck. At least she doesn't seem bothered by them.

My gym membership ran out, but I got a membership to the local pool (which happens to be where I take French classes too!). It cost 15 bucks for a year, expensive I know but the place is very new and clean so I figure it's worth it. We're back at it in my flag football league as well. I've switched to centre, which means I'm snapping the ball, it's tough but I'm getting it down. We're 2-2 and improving every game. My softball team's record is not quite as good. We're 0-8 or something. I'm one of the two pitchers on the team. We pitch underhand balls and strikes to the other team, very fun. I've only got one strikeout so far, but I also got one strikeout! I was quite surprised, it was a ten-pitch at bat too. It would be better if we won, but still I really like pitching.

Well that's the update for now, I'm off to write a couple case studies for that telecom company I mentioned.

RIP Ee-Grek

2011-04-15T12:12:00.000-04:00

Double-V's brother Ee-Grek died sometime early this morning. I knew it was going to happen last night or today because he wasn't moving much and wouldn't eat or drink on his own. I had him on the remaining pain-killer, so I don't think he felt very much. He had a couple of seizures that must have been strokes which hopefully numbed him that much more.

They were both good pets. The only real damage they caused was to Kate's mom's nightgown, which Kate left a little too close to their cage one night. We were in Sudbury for the weekend, staying at Mary's (Kate's mom) house, and Kate had borrowed one of Mary's nightgowns, a bright red one. She didn't actually sleep in it, but wore it in the evening and dropped it on the floor at bed time. In the morning she put the nightgown on and went cooking in the kitchen with Mary. Eventually, Mary noticed a sizeable hole in the nightgown and asked what had happened to it, suggesting that perhaps the rats had gotten a hold of it somehow. Kate insisted that our beloved rats would never do such a thing, and that Mary must have mice in the house, sneaking around at night chewing holes in clothes left on the floor. The matter was dropped until I woke up and checked in on the rats. The first thing I noticed was a bunch of red material tucked away in a corner of the cage. When I emerged from the bedroom and saw the giant hole in the red nightgown Kate was wearing I mentioned that the rats must have been chewing on it during the night, pointing to the red material in the cage as evidence. Kate apologized for both the destruction of the nightgown and the blaming of the damage on fictitious mice.

We got the pair from the SPCA, the humane society in Quebec basically. They were almost full grown when we got them, and over the two years we had them they fattened up quite a bit, especially Ee-grek, who was more inclined to stay in his cage than investigate the house. Dube was much more adventurous. He would often leave the cage and sneak his way to the cat food bowl on the far side of the kitchen and living room. I would see his running back and forth from the cat's food to behind the couch, where we was storing piles of cat kibble. Once I even found Dube on top of the coffee table. The legs of the table are well under the actual top, making the climb for Dube a treacherous one, but also one that he evidently made. I was quite impressed actually to see him on top of the table, and I spent ten minutes trying to figure out how the hell he got up there. I finally concluded that he must have muscled his way up.

I know some people don't like rats. Many guests have commented on it. The tails are long and scary, people are afraid they'll bite them, and the stigma with rats of course is that they carry disease, but they really are good pets. They train very easily, and while they do tend to pee wherever the please, they almost always poo in a litter if you provide one to them. They also never bite, some can of course if they're wild, but if you get a Fancy Rat (the domesticated breed) they don't bite. Sometimes I gave them soft food, like wet cat food, from the tip of my finger. At first they want to grab it and run, mainly so the other one can't get any of it, but they kind of test if out first and when they realize the only thing to grab is your finger, they stop and just lick off the food. They can cause some mischief, they can grab onto things, and they love to gather material and paper. If you leave an important document out where they can reach it, they will destroy it for you. I don't know if dogs will actually eat your homework, but rats most certainly will.

We're probably not going to get anymore, at least for a while. For one the rats at the SPCA tend to have viruses that lead to pneumonia. The rats are in close proximity, and the virus just spreads through them all. Ee-Grek didn't suffer from pneumonia, but Dube was very often on anti-biotics. Unlike human anti-biotics, rat anti-biotics are expensive and do little to cure the problem. He ended up being rather expensive. Many animals are put down in Montreal, hundreds of cats a month and who knows how many rats and other small creatures, but it's hard to justify the expense, at least right now.

We will miss the rats, but I think they both lived pretty good lives for rats, and both died fairly quickly and with a minimal amount of pain and discomfort, as far as I can tell anyway. I mostly sad that the little guys didn't even get to see one Leaf playoff game in their whole lives.

RIP Double-V

2011-04-14T11:02:00.000-04:00

Double-V, one of our rats, died last weekend. He wasn't moving on Saturday morning, and he didn't move much all day until he finally died around 10pm. I had some pain killers for the rats so he was pretty drugged up for the final few hours. He had been sick most of his life and often on anti-biotics, and two and a half years old for a rat is pretty old.

Ee-Grek is obviously old, but he's doing fairly well. It seems rats become paralyzed in their old age, and Eeg doesn't move very well due to paralyzation in his hind quarters. I also suspect he had a stroke the day after Dube died. He starter having seizures, and he keeled over to one side. I noticed that some of the Gatorade he was drinking was coming out of his mouth, which led me to think he was choking or something. I pumped his chest and he seemed to recover, but a few days later I noticed his right paw is always curled up. I think he had a stroke on his left side and has even less control of his body now. During my research of senior rats, I read that they often have strokes when they're older. I don't know how much time Eeg has left, but I'm making sure he's comfortable and dry. I have to change his bedding often since he just pees where he is and then sits in it.

On to more uplifting news though. I went into my final grammar exam with an 85% average. I expect to get an A- at least, hopefully I can score an A though. The exam was tougher than I expected it to be. I think I got the right answer, but it took me a long time to determine that "via" is a preposition. I got my Camera II mark back and it was an A, straight As in my camera classes with four to go; I've finished six classes so far.

Back to sad news, the Leafs once again missed the playoffs, but at least I can absorb the Habs' playoff run. I suspect they won't do as well as last year unless Price pulls a magic act out of his butt, but the first round Boston/Montreal series should be a greast one to watch.

I start full time French classes in May. I had an evaluation yesterday, and I'm in level three of six. I'm pleased with that, my knowledge of French grammar is what got me into the third level. Hopefully my coversation will quickly catch up. The classes are 20 hours a week so I expect to be quite busy once it starts. Each level is quite a few weeks so if I chose I can take these French classes for quite a long time.

Kate is finally home from her work trip so I must finish up here.

Grammar

2011-03-16T11:42:00.000-04:00

I'm at the half way point of my grammar class, and I've noticed a significant improvement in my writing already. Or perhaps it's best to say that I'm been able to find numberous mistakes in my recent writing that have now been corrected.

It's amazing how easy it is to make minor mistakes. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the English language, but looking back at my writing I've found verb tense errors, comma splices, and a host of other minor problems. Many of these mistakes aren't obvious, and readers, for the most part, would not even notice them, but sometimes of course the errors can cause confusion.

I think my favourite exercise is correcting adjective placements. One we looked at last night for example was this sentence: "When nine years old, my father took me on a camping trip." Most people are just going to make the logical connection and understand what was meant by this sentence, but it actually means that a nine year old person took their kid on a camping trip. Fun stuff indeed.

I know I still have much to learn, but the progress I'm making is surprising and welcome. I'm avergaing about 85% in the class, and I had the top mark on the last assignment. My current assignment consists of rewriting paragraphs to make them consistent and grammatical. It's much tougher than some of the other things we've been doing, but it's also exactly what I want to practice and learn.

I'm also volunteering for Habitant for Humainty as a writer. So far I've only written a press release, but there is talk about a website and a newsletter, which I will be responsible for. I look forward to the challenge and the responsibility.

I also have a new article coming out in the next issue of Pucklife magazine. I posted my first article on my other blog wheresthepuck.blogspot.com, and I will post my most recent article there once the new issue has been released.

So that's the crap I've been doing of late, and I should have another update soon.

A Valentine's Day miracle

2011-02-15T15:06:00.002-05:00

There is a moment in every relationship that sets the stage for either a breakup or the relationship's permanent solidification. This moment can happen at anytime, from a first date to many years into the union. That moment occurred for Kate and me on February 12, 2011.

We were at my friends Gord and Lisa's house when I looked down at my feet and saw that I was wearing socks that didn't match. I knew I was wearing them earlier in the day, but I had thought to change them before I left. I guess I forgot. I commented on my predicament.

"My socks don't match!" I exclaimed.

They were similar in design, but one was clearly black and the other dark blue. We all took a moment to absorb the tremendous shock of the moment. Then my eyes moved to the rest of the party's socks. Gord had matching socks, so did Lisa, Kate did not. Then it dawned on me why I was unable to find the match to either of the socks I was wearing. Kate was wearing both of them. That's right we each had one sock from two matching pairs of socks. The odds of this happening are akin to the odds of the moon suddenly turning a man into some kind of man-bear-pig. I have to assume it was a sign from whichever God you believe in that we are meant to be.

As it was Valentine's Day and Microsoft saw fit to award 7x experience in Gears of War 2, Kate and I saw little of each other during the weekend, although it is true that we did nothing of importance on the 14th itself. We did contemplate the purchase of ice skates, but Play It Again Sports was closed so Kate spent the night working on a school assignment, and I watched "Condemned To Live", a 1930s horror movie. Quite good actually.

To be clear, Kate and I feel that V-Day is a bit of a farce, and that school work is more important so we were both fine with not being over-charged by flower vendors and restaurants yesterday. FYI, the cost of roses drops significantly on the 15th; but, since my cats are likely to destroy them anyway (yes, I mean they'll find yours too and kill them), I tend to avoid their purchase all year round.

Interesting things that have happened in the news recently include a few Leaf trades that will allow the team to continue to be adequate enough to miss the playoffs, but also avoid high draft picks, ensuring that no Stanley Cup will touch any member of the organization with a ten-foot pole. Bautista's arbitration has been postponed in the hopes that he can sign a deal with the Blue Jays without he need of an arbitrator, let's hope they get a deal done. Coca-Cola's secret recipe has been revealed (I didn't know it was a secret). And something is happening in Egypt.

Oh yes and it also turns out there is bacteria on raw chicken, who could have guessed? I suppose I should stop feeding the cats raw chicken skin, but they like it so much.

Tonight in grammar class we learn about parenthesis, dashes, brackets, the proper writing of numbers, and capitals.

I have also made the executive decision to always use the serial --or Oxford-- comma. I do not know if that is the proper use of dashes as that class is still three hours away. Thankfully, I am already well versed in the ways of writing numbers from my many weeks of working as a sports writer so I should be able to concentrate on the difference between parenthesis and dashes.

That's the update. Talk to your later, family and friends, and whoever the person is that reads my blog from India.

Tony Clement fail

2011-02-05T13:18:00.005-05:00

The Federal Court overruled a decision made by Finance Minister, Tony Clement, on Friday. In 2009 Clement overruled a CRTC decision, allowing a new wireless carrier with significant foreign ownership to operate. The CTRC had defined clear rules about how much foreign investment a company can have and still operate in Canada before the wireless spectrum auction of 2008. When those rules were broken, the CRTC stepped in and told the offending company that they wouldn't be allowed to operate with their current ownership structure. In comes Clement to say we need the competition. The company can suddenly operate, and out goes the CRTC's foreign ownership rules.

The other new wireless carriers were of course upset by this decision. They had followed the rules and now one of them was getting away with breaking them. Not any more.

The Federal Courts overruled the minister's decision, something that rarely happens, and the CRTC's original decision is now being enforced. It turns out Mr. Clement wasn't allowed to make that ruling in the first place. He has a law degree, he went to law school anyway, but it seems his actual knowledge of the law, and what's right for Canadians is a bit off. Next he'll be limiting the amount of information that Statistics Canada is able to gather so that he and his cohorts can get away with who knows what. Wait didn't that already happen?

Clement in private?

Of course the battle will continue and who knows what the end result will actually be, but I for one am currently satisfied with the decision the Canadian government has settled upon.

Been awhile I know

2011-01-31T13:44:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted, and I intend to post more often once a month going forward, but like everyone, December is a busy month, and January wasn't much slower.

Christmas was good. We had visitors and we went to Toronto for a few days (mainly for New Year's eve and a hockey game, 2-1 Boston, figures). Upon my return I was greeted with a job at the Concordia bookstore for a couple weeks, that was great and one of the other employees even helped me by asking a prof to let me take a grammar test. I had missed the final day for the test to determine if I could take English 214. My only option was to wait till next term or take 212, but I did not believe that 212 would be very useful for me. So my friend at the bookstore pulled a string and I was allowed to take the placement test. I of course passed that and am currently taking 214, it's hard, but I'm oddly enjoying it. Adverbials, direct and indirect objects, noun phrases and clauses, this week we start on punctuation. I'm actually looking forward to learning all about commas and semi-colon. Hopefully we cover hyphens too. It's pretty weird to be excited about a grammar class I know, but I need an A so I'm glad I'm into it.

I'm also talking Camera II. So far that's been a pretty good class too.

The flag football team is doing well this season. We are 4-0 and one of only two undefeated teams out of 32. We have this weekend off because of the Super Bowl, but we should have little difficulty going 5-0 before four tough games in a row. The playoffs are almost assured which is exciting as we missed the playoffs last season.

I should be watching the Super Bowl on an American feed for the first time in my life, and I'm pretty excited about that.

So yes, a boring update to say the least, but at least it's something. I do intend to spend more time writing this month so hopefully I'll have something interesting to talk about, like how to avoid comma splices.

Another one bites the dust

2010-12-07T15:29:00.000-05:00

At least this time it wasn't a greedy corporation letting me go due to philosophical differences in company and Canadian policy. This time it was a greedy corporation letting me go so they could outsource my job to Pakistan where they're willing to work for significantly less than I am. How people on the far side of the planet are going to accurately cover NFL football and NHL hockey is beyond me. Which would you prefer? A crappy article written in poor English that costs 50 cents, or a piece written in better English by someone who actually knows the rules of the game they're covering for ten times that? If you're looking at the bottom line, like too many people are today, you pick the 50 cents option. The guys reading the articles may not be very impressed, but as long as 1% of them accidentally click on an ad while desperately trying to escape the page they stumbled upon though a Google search, the company that used to employ me will be happy. Yes I lost my job, and yes I probably could have been more to the point about it, but what's the fun in that?

I am pleased with the opportunity I had. I learned much and am glad to have professional writer as something I can now put on my CV. I'm more annoyed at the ridiculousness of farming out North American sports writing to Pakistan. Cricket I would understand, but not hockey and football (American style).

Anyway so I'm back on the hunt. I've got some sports writing prospects, but I think I'm going to take a stab at some fiction writing this winter. There are a number of sties that buy stories, once I polish a couple up I'll try to get some published, we'll see how that goes.

I have some good news, for me anyway, and Kate I suppose, I found a cheap gym so I'm back at it. Once my old membership ran out I didn't renew, it was 800 a year. But I discovered that the Concordia gym is only 60 a semester for students, so I went today and signed up. I definitely felt like I hadn't been in a while, the cardio mainly. I was surprised at how well the weights went for me. That part felt like I was picking up where I left off in July.

The two foster cats were spayed last week. One acted as though nothing had happened, the other, aptly named Princess, was obviously irritated for a couple of days. The Animal Rescue Network (ARN) employee that took her to the vet for us was not Princess' favourite. As the cat was walking up the stairs and I was getting the run down on how the surgery went, we moved over to watch her slow progress towards the bedroom. Princess saw me and stopped, gave me a little hiss, then she saw the ARN worker and a volley of hisses erupted from her, it was actually pretty funny. A couple days later Princess was back to her normal self.

They still make noise all night, but now instead of meowing and moaning it's the sound of Christmas ornaments breaking.

Not much else is new, gonna turn 34 in a couple of days, and football season starts in January. I think I'll be playing defence this season, mostly anyway. I still have to memorize the offence. I think I'll prefer defence. I think I react well, and there are lots of guys on the team that can catch, so I might be of better use on defence. We also got two new offensive players from another team, two of the best players in the league so there's less room on offence anyway lol.

So that's the crap that happened in the last couple weeks. One good thing about being fired is I can stay home for these 72 hour snow storms. The snow on my back deck is literally two and a half feet high.

The cat is 10

2010-11-19T14:17:00.001-05:00

My cat, Brewski, is turning 10 this spring. I know he has a lot of life left, my last two cats made it to 18 and 19, but still he's getting old. He's older than me in that cat year to human year ratio thingy. I'll have to start thinking of his retirement. I'll have to hire other cats to chase bugs for him and poo on the side of the kitty litter instead of right inside it. I would hire another cat to splash toilet water out of the toilet and onto the seat, but then I'd just have two cats doing that.

I didn't realize just how big he was until we started fostering young cats. They are much smaller than Brew is. I think he's just big boned, but Kate disagrees. Not that she is complaining, when we first got the rats she couldn't wait till they were big and fat. Now we have to keep cutting the holes in their boxes bigger and bigger so they can fit inside. They only live 2-3 years, why not give them as much food as they want. I couldn't imagine having a pet on a diet.

I recently found the original form that came with Brewski while looking for last year's tax stuff, I haven't done my 2009 taxes yet, but I'm working on it. The form, which also revealed Brew's true age of 10 (I thought he was seven), said the cat wasn't to have milk or fish. The milk I understand, if they drink too much of that they puke and then I've got to clean it up, but no fish? Did all those cartoons of yesteryear lie to us? It's especially funny that literally three days before I found the form we fed him six whole raw fish. He was the only one of four cats that showed any interest in them oddly enough.

Kate fried the fish whole in oil and we ate them with spicy mayo. They were pretty good for whole fish. I was skeptical at first, I've never eaten fish eyes and fish brain and whole fish skeletons before, but I barely tasted the grey matter at all so it worked out pretty well. Plus it was two bucks for 30 little fish or something. Much cheaper than the organic beef we buy. I guess anything fried in oil is pretty good.

CBC Fail

2010-11-17T12:29:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one a little pissed off with all the William and Kate crap going on? I understand that following the Royal family is similar to following professional sports. The people involved provide very little service to the world while taking very large amounts of money in return. It's like selling your old beat up shoes for 5 million bucks, it's not considered stealing, but maybe it should be.

I'm not annoyed that people are interested in the marriage, people can decide to be entertained by whatever they want. What I'm annoyed about is that it's considered huge international news. The National opened with a 15 minute segment on the pair, and then went back to it later in the show. What piece of news took second billing to this farce of a marriage? The deaths of five Canadians in an explosion in Mexico.

People watch The National to be informed, but what they learn is that princesses who have no real political power are the most important people in the world. No wonder most people have this desire to horde as much money as possible while people across the world are starving and dying in wars, they grow up watching rich people get married, or play polo instead of learning about what's actually happening on this planet.

I don't care about the Royal family, I want to know what the hell North Korea is doing, or what shenanigans the conservative party is up to, not who may be invited to a wedding that will cost enough to feed half of Africa.

Is it just me that thinks we have our priorities totally back asswards?

The National went on last night to explain how a family is looking for a lost son in Vancouver. They had concerns that the police weren't investigating all the leads. Mansbridge says the police claim to be investigating every lead as they cut to a quote of a cop making a statement. The statement, I kid you not, was this:

"Six [count them, six] physics AND the police have been in contact with the family." End of statement. WTF

I had to watch if five times before I believed it. Now one of two things is going on here. One: the police actually use physics to investigate disappearances, and possibly rely heavily on them, or Two: it's a mistake on the CBC's part, the wrong clip or it's taken out of context. After the statement the CBC said nothing to clarify what the police meant, they went on to something completely different.

I have a very tough time believing that the police believe physics are useful tools, well they are tools, I think it's more likely that the CBC screwed up somehow. But what does that mean? It means they put way more effort into talking about a useless wedding than they did about the ineptitude of the police and/or a hunt for a missing person. Sorry Mr. and Mrs. [Johnson] we don't have time to properly expose a police force with their head up their ass that may be at fault for the death of your son, we have to cover a bunch of insanely rich people get married.

I love the CBC, but last night's National was National Enquirer worthy, and it was crap.

Michael Vick

2010-11-16T14:27:00.000-05:00

I was assigned NFL football at work a couple weeks ago and so far I've noticed the same guy coming up favorably in the news section of NFL.com. Michael Vick has slowly worked his way back into the limelight of the NFL. I write quite a few articles everyday, but I find myself returning to Vick over and over. Today was no exception after one of the best quarterback performances of the past 10 years.

I didn't see much of the game as I was in my photoshop class learning how to recreate the X-men cover. Photoshop people love the sci-fi stuff. I went to NFL.com on the break and saw it was 7-0 only a few seconds into the game, so I watch the highlight and saw Vick launch an 88-yard pass for a touchdown. I checked again later in the class and it was 35-0. Wow.

Normally I wouldn't write about sports on my blog, unless it's the Maple Leafs, or the CFL maybe, but I have to note how impressed I am with Vick's comeback, and it's my job these days so how can I not write about it, oh wait...

Now I'm sure these guys have people telling them exactly how to behave if they want people to like them, but it seems many ignore that advice. Not Vick, either that or he's actually a good guy. If you've forgotten, he went to jail for running a dog fighting ring.

I don't disagree with the league and the state punishing him for his actions, but I do question why Vick was vilified while other NFLers that play with guns or drugs get a slap on the wrist.

He came back last year and patiently sat on the bench while McNabb played all the Eagles games. This year he was second string behind Kevin Kolb. Kolb got hurt and Vick became the starter and hasn't looked back. Vick is going to win MVP, mark my words.

Speaking of the CFL, Montreal plays Toronto on Sunday at Olympic Stadium in the Eastern Conference Finals. Can't wait.

Also congrats to Russia for winning the FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship. Volleyball is a very boring sport to cover, but tournaments are long and drawn out so at least there's some math involved to determine pool winners in the complicated system they've developed. I'm series, the math is the best part.

I've got only two classes left in my Concordia classes for this semester, tonight we go take pictures for Wedding and Portrait in a church, and next week I have a final Photoshop class. I expect to take Camera II and Product photography in January, and then Photojournalism and Sports Photography in the spring.

Also Brewski will be ten this spring.

Sports writing continues and a www.joedeclara.com update

2010-11-02T16:12:00.002-04:00

Same old at the office, although now that the baseball season has ended there is much less to write about. The FIVB Women's World Volleyball Championships did start last on October 29th Japan though. Canada has already been eliminated so don't get excited.

The good news on the writing front is that the article I wrote for Pucklife magazine was accepted, and it should be published in the November issue. I will give another update on that when it's actually published. I will also facebook it for facers.

I've not exactly quit on my coverage of the Alouettes, although I haven't written on them since the ninth game of the season, and now they're nearing the end of the regular season. I do intend to try and get to the Eastern Conference Semi-final, and I should have plenty of time to cover the final regular season game, as well as add a playoff opinion article before their first playoff game. I will also update that on http://www.joedeclara.com/.

You'll see new photography posts on joedeclara.com as well. I finished my fashion photography class so I've added some of the pictures I used in my assignments. For the instudio shoot, a classmate brought a friend, and I used Kate in my final assignment. My photoshop skills are coming along, although they can certainly use some practice. I removed a few trees from behind Kate's head in one of the pictures, thankfully it was a blurry part of the picture.

That's about all I've got, the animals are well, the house is abnormally clean, and I'm all alone this weekend with Kate hading down to visit her friend in Washington DC. That means there will be a poker game on Saturday night.

Update complete.

October update

2010-10-26T14:21:00.001-04:00

I've started two new photography classes, Photoshop II and Wedding and Portrait. Both classes are interesting so far, and once I'm done them I'll only have five more classes till I get my photography diploma.

I was also assigned baseball at work, which is a much better sport than greyhound racing, although the greyhound articles are pretty easy to write. With the playoffs on, and the Jays in the news lately it's been a lot of fun writing at work. I don't know what will happen when the World Series is over, hopefully I get hockey or football, but I'll probably get squash, or rowing.

After my post last time about Sudbury and my car being booted, I got an email from the CEO of Sudbury's Green Party, which was a nice surprise.

A couple weeks later we were in Ottawa for the Spoken Word festival and the poetry slam finals. Kate and I were both disappointed with the poetry, although the Montreal team was good. It seemed every poem was about God, or how bad wars or, or other horrific things. It was the end of the competition so much of the artist's best work had already been used, but still. I'm not a huge fan of the poetry that centres around violence, or the evil of man, I'd rather read an essay about those things than hear a three minute piece of art on it.

I am writing for an online magazine called Pucklife (at pucklife.ca), so far I haven't actually written anything, but I did interview Ben Maxwell, a second round draft pick from the Montreal Canadiens who is playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs (their AHL affiliate). The issue with my article is scheduled to come out sometime in November, and I still need to polish it and get it approved, although I don't really think it would be rejected.
I've only read one issue of the magazine so far, but I thought the writing was pretty good, the ideas and voice of the magazine specifically. It was relaxed, but not ridiculous like some sports magazines.

I'm rather shocked that Rob Ford got elected in Toronto. Here's a guy that was caught being physically aggressive with a high school football player when he was a coach, he got into a drunken argument with a couple at a Leaf game, and he was charged with refusing to give a breathalyzer test while driving. People usually do that when they're drunk. He's also insulted, the Chinese, the gay community, and he thinks bikes shouldn't be allowed in Toronto? What's next? No pedestrians? Anyway I'm sure Ford would fall over dead if he ever set foot in Montreal because of all the bike lanes and acceptance of other people, so I'm glad I'm here and he's there.

Our cat supply is down to four after the kitten was sent to another foster home. I would have rather returned an adult cat than the cute little kitten, but what can you do. One thing we can do is never sleep again as the mother of the kitten roams the house at night with incessant meowing and the other foster cat climbs on our bare skin with her claws out. Occasionally two cats will meet on the bed and a fight will ensue, or something will crash somewhere in the house. Generally it's pretty fun times at Cat Paradise.

Compounding the sleep issue is the coffee issue at work. I donated four bucks to the coffee fund, then I bought an 11 dollar tin, went to the bank to take that four out and whatever anyone else had put in only to find the money gone, except for a couple bucks in quarters and a boatload of nickles and pennies. It took two weeks for everyone to drink my coffee and not one looney has been put into the jar. Today I brought in my jar of instant coffee, that's my new coffee system, so far it's working pretty well.

So that's the crap I've done lately, most of it anyway. I had Thanksmas with my family, but since you are all 80% of this blog's readers I didn't think it pertinent to write about it since you were all there. I am enjoying my Montreal Canadiens set, it included a bucket, four glasses, a bottle opened, and some coasters. The bottle opener had a poor design that only Kate could use so we got rid of that. The bucket has become a tool used to clean up cat pee from the front hall, and one of the glasses helps me get the kitty litter from the bag to the litter. The other three glasses are among our best pint glasses now so it's a nice even split of how the pieces were used. The coasters will probably be broken out at the next poker game. Kate also loves her cooking pot.

That's all for now. Go Leafs Go.

Sudbury: yeah

2010-10-05T16:10:00.003-04:00

We got back from Sudbury late Sunday night. We drove up Thursday night to prepare for a conference that Kate's dad was giving. Kate and I did the food prep and the prep for the hall that the dinner was in. We supplied lunch on Saturday and Sunday as well, bagged lunches.

It was quite busy for us. It's remarkable how much work goes into cooking for 35 people. I barely even dealt with food and I was busy all weekend. My tasks included picking up items, carving pumpkins, delivering goods, setting up tables and chairs, cutting vegetables, putting together bagged lunches, and of course a lot of barbecuing.

Unfortunately one of our two barbeque's refused to raise it's temperature above 200 degrees, which made the cooking of 80 pieces of chicken and four ceder plank salmons quite difficult. But we managed to get get through it and over all the food was considered a success, although there was much stress involved.

One achievement that I think is particularly notable was that despite the hard work, long days, short sleeps, and a great deal of pain on my part from cuts and burns to my hands, we were quite chipper for the entire weekend. Except for one atrocity, and I am not exaggerating with my use of the word atrocity. We arrived in Sudbury at 2:30 am, Friday morning we headed out to get coffee and pick up a couple items. We parked in a TD bank parking lot, didn't use the TD bank, spent 20 min doing out thing and came back to a boot on our rental car.

Now I know Sudbury isn't having the best of times, Brazilians own their mine and they live in perpetual snow and many of it's inhabitants have a very limited education, but there is no doubt in my mind that they targeted our Quebec plates with the hopes of taking advantage of us. It cost 100 dollars to have the boot removed. Yes we parked on private property, but I don't put anyone who comes onto my property in handcuffs and force them to pay me 100 dollars to release them. We had no choice but to pay the stupid money.

There is something to be said about common decency, and the attitude of both the people who put the boot on the car and the people who answered the number posted if you wish to dispute the charge did little to help me accept the extravagant charge. They act as though we're committing some heinous crime. First of all, charge us something reasonable like 20 dollars and I would have slapped my own wrist for them, but 100 dollars and a Fuck You attitude really annoyed me. The people who booted the car were extremely unhelpful in explaining what had happened, and they insisted that it had nothing to do with the bank itself. The police, yes we involved them after the fact, told us that had we complained to the bank we may have gotten off without paying. So the booters, lied to us about the bank, probably knowing that there was a chance we could not have to pay.

I see it everyday at work. I work beside telemarketers who become angry that the people they're cold calling don't want to buy the product. They call them stupid, or ignorant, not to their face, but after they get off the phone with them. They are so gung-ho to be on board with the company that they completely disregard what the company is doing. They're part of the team so who cares if they're selling crap, they have to pretend it's not crap otherwise what do they do for a living? That's right: they sell crap. These booters are doing the same thing, they act as though they're the ones getting rich off people like me, even though they probably make minimum wage.

I've worked in environments like that before. The employees are so desperate to not be working for a immoral company that they just refuse to accept that the company they work for can do anything wrong.

Kate called the number on the 'ticket' to see if we could get our money back. The guy who answered claimed to be the General Manager. Kate asked why they charge 100 dollars, his response was they charged less than any other company in Canada (like that's easy for us to confirm). She asked again where the number comes from, he said the supreme court of Canada said they could do what they do. Not exactly an appropriate answer to the question but fine. Kate asked which case it was, he said it wasn't the supreme court, it was the court of appeals. She asked again which case, he said we should so our own homework, by now he's very agitated even though it's been about a 2 min phone call. Of course we have no intention of looking through thousands of case files for a file that may or may not exist, and the cops had already said that despite numerous complaints the company was legitimate.

Go Capatalism, if I can take money from you without stealing, it's not only my right, but my duty to do so.

So that's my rant about Sudbury, oh yeah later that day someone did a classic parking spot steal, I waited as a car pulled out and another car pushed it's way in front at the last minute. Great town that Sudbury, can't wait to visit again!

At least Kate made the General Manager of whatever the hell that 'company' was called, yell at her for essentially no reason. That almost made up for the 100 dollars. And we did not let it damper our spirits. Oh yeah, the conference was on Globalization and the Work Force or something like that. We were there to cater a conference that supports the workers of Sudbury, they very same people that screwed us six hours after arriving, and again in the Costco parking lot.

So that's the crap we had to deal with this weekend, the parking thing was crap, not the conference, that was a pretty decent experience, although next time we'll need more staff. I'm still exhausted from the work and the long drives that bookended the trip.

Cats, cats, cats.

2010-09-23T16:56:00.000-04:00

We have way too many cats. I still like playing with them, most of them, but we have too many. The spare room has become a cat condo, and I can't go anywhere in the house without one of them at my feet, or climbing up my leg, or rubbing thier head on my face. They're lucky they're cute.

The bathroom is no safe haven. Everytime I try to close the door to lock myself in, one of the cats is quck enough to slip in behind me. Even leaving the house is difficult with two of the cats literally putting thier bodies at risk to get out into the hallway. They try to squeeze out when the door is open two inches, I thought they had whiskers to know what they can and can't fit though. So we have to delicately open the door, let the cats out, then try to round them up in an organized fashion.

At least they're funny and provide significant amusement. Unlike Concordia who simply won't accept that I lived in Montreal from August '09 to October '09. A letter from my landlord saying I lived there wasn't enough because, aside from the fact that he's probably lying, he doesn't own the house anymore. Why does that even matter?

Of course it's my fault for not insisting upon a lease for that time I suppose. We were doing him a favour. He wanted to sell, the new owner would probably want to live in the place himself, so we stayed without a lease until a new owner was found. Serves us right says Concordia.

I shouldn't complain, I've proving I've lived in Montreal for the past two years so that I can get half off the cost of my classes, which is a cool concept, but man is it frustrating to deal with the buraucracy. It was easier to get my health card, which is enough proof for Concordia, but it won't come in the mail for another three weeks. Hopefully Concordia can wait till then.

Work is going well. With Delhi screwing up the Commonweath Games so badly I have much to write about. The Als are still going strong too. Maybe I can create a sport for the cats and kill to birds with one stone. I'll call it UFC (Ultimate Fighting Cats). Just like the real UFC it would be boring, boring, boring, then bam three seconds of excitment as the cats wake up and walk to the food bowl, then boring, boring, boring. At least that's the way it was the last time I watched an Ultimate Fighting Challenge fight, granted it was in 1993, and I do not intend to watch another one if I can help it.

Oh yeah and one of the new cats insists on using the bathtub as a kitty litter if we forget to close the door. So that's the crap I've been dealing with for the last couple weeks. Litterally.

Foster Cats and Sports Coverage

2010-09-04T12:44:00.002-04:00

The writing gig is going well. As I learn about greyhound racing and track and field meets and athletes it gets easier to write about them. The greyhound race recaps come quick, the track and field articles less so because of the fact checking and name spelling, but I know I am improving my writing. Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll be moving on to hockey too. The track and field season is over this weekend, other than the Commonwealth Games, and hockey season is just beginning.

I've also kept up my Alouettes coverage for digitaljournal.com although as the season progresses I find myself fighting for a spot on the sidelines. There are more and more photographers every game it seems, and they're reviewing my access. If I do get pulled from the sidelines I am still hoping to attend games as just a writer.

It's been fantastic practice getting shots from the sidelines. I can't wait for my sports photography class, but that won't be till next year. This year I'm taking fashion photography, wedding and portrait photography, and photoshop 2. Fashion starts next week and the other two in October. Then I'll be looking to take Camera 2 and Sports photography.

Our foster cat situation has become interesting. We briefly had a cat named Tom that somehow broke it's leg. Not only did he break his leg, but he broke it in two spots and needed serious surgery to fix it. I spent a week going from vet to vet trying to figure out the best solution, money being an issue as well. I was actually ready to adopt the cat since he's so incredibly friendly, but the woman who rescued the cat in the first place decide to adopt him instead.

While Tom was still with us we took in a kitten that had some issues from the various pounds she was in. Her fur was gone from half her back, she had mites in her ears and very smelly diarrhea. The mites are almost got, her poos are normal, but still smelly, and her fur is growing back after two weeks with us. She's also in heat and very loud, all night, every night.

We also took in a mother and her six week old kitten, the first was a few months old. This little kitten is tiny, and scared of humans. Hopefully in the next couple weeks she'll adjust and we can find her a home. I don't really want five cats in the house, but when the other option is to 'gas them' as the people we meet put it, well I guess I just have a soft spot for the creatures. Even though I've sustained multiple holes in my skin from them.

I'll try to put up some pictures of these kittens and cats on my website, www.joedeclara.com, but in the meantime you can enjoy my recent football snaps. All of my Alouettes articles are linked to there too and you can always find them on www.digitaljournal.com, but my greyhound articles are sold to other websites, and don't contain my name so it's harder to find them.

The fall will be busy but I'll try to post all the crap I get around to doing.

New Job!

2010-08-19T17:42:00.002-04:00

So I got a new job. After being unemployed for nine months and less than a month after my EI kicked in I got a job. It pays poorly enough that I can keep collecting some of the EI though so it's not all bad. I do have to be at work for 8:30 which is pretty early but I get to leave at 2:30 which is pretty good, and the office is right beside one of my gyms, the one I like the best. So all in all I'm quite pleased with the situation.

The job itself is a sports writing job for a content agency. That in itself is pretty great, even though I was assigned greyhound racing and European Athletics (Track and Field). I actually enjoyed writing about Athletics today, although I was told there's more money in the greyhound racing so I'll have to concentrate on that moving forward. There is much to learn. The biggest problem with writing about greyhound racing is figuring out what the big races are. There is no Wikipedia entry outlining the big races, or the big players in greyhound racing. It's very wide spread and there is no central source of information. The information I do find is on betting websites and it can be difficult to piece together something that's useful and has enough information to fill my quota. I do look forward to the challenge, this morning alone I made great strides in my athletics knowledge, hopefully tomorrow I can make similar strides in my greyhound racing knowledge. I did learn a fair amount this afternoon actually but I believe there is much more to learn about greyhound racing than athletics.

I'm still covering the Alouettes and plan on expanding that was well to cover more than just the games. I may try to add a pregame article the day before the games and I would like to spotlight some players. As the playoff approach I'd like to come up with some other ideas as well. We'll see how busy my day job keeps me.

I'm heading off to the Alouettes game tonight against Winnipeg. I have to get up pretty early in the morning to get to work and I have to get the article out tonight before bed since I have to work all day tomorrow so I may not have the time I'd like to have after the game to interview the players but I'll do my best. Either way I probably wouldn't actually ask any questions anyway but it's still fun to hang out while other people ask questions.

Sunday we go white water rafting. I wonder who's going to win the Irish Greyhound Derby, the finals aren't till Sept 11th but the third round goes this Saturday.

Anyway that's the crap I've been up to. Be sure to check out www.joedeclara.com for the Als game pictures and links to my Alouettes articles, among other things.

Digitaljournal.com

2010-08-07T12:50:00.002-04:00

So far I've written five articles on the Alouetttes. The latest one can be read here. It's been a lot of fun and recently I managed to get media accreditation to the games through digitaljournal.com. That means a number of things. For one I get to go to the games and stand on the sidelines with my camera. That's right now I'm one of those guys that has to dodge players that are being tackled out of bounds, it's happened once so far and on the replay I saw myself on the Montréal jumbotron. Such fun. It also means that after the game I get to wander around the field and take part in the player interviews.

So far I've been to two games. After the first one I didn't really know what to expect so being that I was pretty ecstatic that I was there in the first place, I just left. Last night I was a bit more adventurous and asked around where the players do interviews, it was on the other side of the field. The photographers generally stay on one side of the field, the other side houses the players. So I wandered out, took a few snaps of things, Chip Cox got the player of the game award so I took his picture and listened in on his interview. The Saskatchewan head coach came out of the dressing room and said some things. Then Calvillo (Montréal's all star quarterback) came out and I saw people leave the Sask head coach so I followed suit. I actually decided to film Calvillo myself with my camera, mainly so I could hear what he said later for my article, but it was loud. You can still hear him, but the background noise is louder. Now I need to buy a mic.

It's pretty funny on the sidelines. Everyone has these huge lenses, CBC, RDS, TSN, the Alouettes photographer, National Post etc..., and here I am with my semi-pro, stock telephoto lens. The other photographers have poles, (unipods?) to help them because their camera and lens weighs so much, I just use my arms, granted my left arm was quite sore by the 4th last night. I may be the only writer among the photographers so I don't mind, I use what I have to the best of my ability. You can see some of my better pics on my website www.joedeclara.com.

Hopefully after covering the Als this season I'll have some fodder to use to maybe get an actual paying job as a sports writer. In the meantime I'm plotting a way to get media accreditation for the Canadiens, I think it will be much harder than getting it for the Als but how can I not try?

In other life adventures we are slowly getting settled at home. The bedroom furniture has been organized, clothes are next. Then I've got some summer work to do on the back shed and maybe some drywalling, I'll have to question my brother-in-law about that before I begin anything.

We have a new foster cat named Tom (renamed to Huckleberry). He's the most affectionate cat I've ever seen, he's still a bit scared of us but he's always coming out of hiding to get pet and once you start petting him he won't let you stop. Brewski seems fine with him, Jedi hisses Huck just lays down when she does and she wanders off. She'll probably end up getting along with him better than she does with Brew.

I'm almost done my creative writing class. I have a final assignment due Thursday which is about half done. I've only gotten one mark back so far but it was an A-.

So that's about it. I made business cards so once I hand some out I'll be updating www.joedeclara.com more often. I'll also be putting up pics from all the Als games after every home game, and maybe a Toronto game.

Nelson, British Columbia

2010-07-21T17:26:00.003-04:00

So we're in Nelson BC, one major reason I've not been posting as much as I used to. Another reason is that I'm taking a creative writing class which requires much writing and I'm covering the Montreal Alouettes for an online media outlet called digitaljournal.com. So I have been writing just not here. We're just lazing away our Wednesday afternoon in the mountains and Kate managed to get us an Internet connection through her iPhone so I figured I'd read up on the Maple Leafs and post a blog entry.
Another house issue has come up, during a big storm I left the windows open to try and cool the condo down. The place certainly cooled down from 34 degrees to about 25 but also about two cups of water came in the house before I could get some towels down. The water quickly found a tiny crack in the wood, something that probably should have been repaired years ago, and eventually came out the ceiling above our dining room table one drop at a time. The damage is minimal: the paint is ruined, the table is totally fine, and the drywall is slightly soft. I also noticed previous damage though while trying to reduce the damage my leak was causing. So I'm going to pull the drywall down and see what's going on in the ceiling. Hopefully there will be nothing significant wrong, I can quickly replace the damaged drywall, repaint and put some wood filler in the cracks under the window upstairs and re-stain. Easier said than done I'm sure.
Our westerly vacation has been fun so far. We flew into Calgary, skipped the stampede and drove to Red Deer where we stayed for one night. Drove to Edmonton the next day for a quick lunch with Kate's sister and moved on to Jasper. Jasper is a great little town but we only stayed for a day and made the nine hour drive to Nelson on Friday.
The cabin we're in is old but nice, the water is freaking cold but the town is great and we've been having a lot of fun just hanging out with a tonne of mountains around us and lots of wildlife. We've seen: what I think are Ospreys, catch a few fish from the lake, an otter or something like an otter, a family of ducks, an elk and a dog. Tomorrow we go hiking in the Kootenays and while we're supposed to take bear spray I'm going to take my new machete instead. Just kidding I could never kill a bear, I'll just wrestle with it until it gives up and flees.
Somehow Kate us a pretty nice car. We were supposed to have a Ford Focus but instead we got a Nissan Altima. I don't know much about cars being the money sucking demon machines that they are but this thing is nice inside and it's got a fake manual gear shifter in it. I guess it's for people who don't know how to drive standard but like to pretend they do. I don't really use the feature but it looks pretty cool.
I've had a chance to do some work on the cabin. I burned some excess crap that was laying around, dug out part of the back of the cabin, bought a machete and cleared a path on the property to make a compost and I raked the beach. Then I skipped about a hundred stones.
Well I better go get some more crap done the beach is sunny and and I've got to find some worms to go fishing tonight.

Home Ownership Continues to Test

2010-07-07T10:57:00.003-04:00

I would like to start by complaining about this heat but I should start this entry with things that occurred before this heat wave, but holy crap it's hot. The animals lay on the floor all day long and even chocolate can't stir them.

So we definitely are enjoying our new place, it's fun, I've enjoyed the work I've done on it and we're getting close to being settled in, just need a new desk and someplace to put our numerous garbage bags full of clothes.

We have hit a few money holes along the way though. The fridge has extremely poor light and it wobbled quite a bit. The previous owner had wedged a piece of paper under one corner of the fridge to righten it but I got rid of that and just extended the rarely used, in perfect condition leg instead. So now the fridge is straight but it still provides crappy light inside it and it generates a fair amount of heat, the edge of the door is more than warm so I assume this thing is crappy and an energy guzzler. It's also small. The dishwasher sucks too but I think all dishwashers may suck to some degree.

The doors were our biggest problem so far. Keeping in tune with the idea that jamming something like folder up cardboard or a stick into things that don't work the way you want them to, the previous owner liked jamming blocks of wood into the door frame to keep the doors open. We of course didn't know better ourselves and continued the ritual until one of the doors fell off the hinge. I should say broke off the hinge. These doors are European, whatever that means, and they open in two ways, like a door, and just the top can pop open for air flow. They're also supposed to be maintained every few years. Since 1988 they've been maintained, or adjusted, once, by us, two days ago.

So one door broke off, it's now fixed and properly adjusted. Another door needs the same work, we'll get that done later, and the third door has also now been properly adjusted. The third door had a broken seal and the windows was dirty and had water between the panes of glass so while doing the adjustment one of the panes shattered. The glass went everywhere. We managed to get most of the glass cleaned up and Kate has been picking up the tiny pieces we missed with her feet. She usually manages to find one a day and then we use the tweezers to get it out and in the garbage. We'll get new glass instaled probably before the winter.

Then the heat came, I actually like it, I feel comfortable and I can wear fewer clothes around the house, it's great. My concern is the animals, specifically the rats, they do not like this heat and I saw Brewski pant for the first time ever yesterday. So last night we turned on the A/C. We already had two fans blowing the air around the condo, now we have three. I've had the A/C on since 6:00 last night and the temperature in here right now is 28. I guess it's doing something but the animals are still lethargic and I'm sweating while sitting still. The unit is blowing cool air, sortof, it's probably just too small for this condo.

In other news school is going well, I got an A- in Camera 1 and I'm half way through Photoshop 1. I got a great student deal on Creative Suite 5 so now I have Photoshop at home and I do enjoy playing with it. I'm also taking a creative writing class which I'm enjoying and will surly enjoy more once we finish poetry and move on to the short story.

So that's the crap I've been up to this month.

It's Been One Week

2010-06-23T14:12:00.002-04:00

It's been a week plus a day since we got keys but half that time I was in Toronto volunteering on a tiny film project for a friend. I took a bunch of pictures that they should be to use on their website. The film was a hot to of how their operation works. No pay, and it cost me a few hundred for the car rental and gas but it was worth it.

Once I got back it was straight to work on the new place. First I had to kick out the old tenant. He's older and has a condition I forget the name of and could find a place to stay so I let him stay in the new place while I was away. Of course then he wanted another week but I put my foot down and got him out. Since then I've been painting and varnishing. Actually friends of ours did all the painting for us. It was only two walls and they're darn good at it so Kate and I worked on other things, varnishing and cleaning mainly. Thanks Gord and Lisa.

The varnishing has gone decently. Kate suggested I get a belt sander after I finished one set of stairs and it worked quite well on the main set once I bought one so I may go back and do the first set later. Not now though, I've had enough stair sanding for a while. I do have a coffee table that I've abused over the last couple years. I was going to throw it away but now I think I'll strip it and re-stain it since I know what I 'm doing.

Right now I'm waiting for the second coat on the main stairs to dry so I can apply a third coat, and I'm waiting for the second round of soccer games on the day. Germany is playing Ghana and the winner goes to the round of 16, maybe the loser depending on the other game.

The place is coming along well. We got an awesome new BBQ that we've used 3 times in 4 days, tonight I must part from my beloved though and go back to my old crappy Rona BBQ.Or Maybe Kate can use the oven.

We have no chairs in the new place yet but I do have my computer, that's how I watch the World Cup games. I have to sit on the floor yo use it but things could be worse. it's cool in the condo with the windows open which is nice, it means I don't have to run the old A/C unit.

We begin to move all our belongings this weekend, I am very much looking forward to getting out of the old place and into the new.

Next up is a new deck on our rooftop terrace.

Buying A House

2010-06-11T08:58:00.002-04:00

So we're buying a house today. It's a bit anti-climatic since we don't actually get to go in it till the 15th. It's some strange Quebec thing (there are many) which allows the seller to get all the money a few days before the buyers get the keys and access to the house. This way they can pay the bank since it takes time to process or something, why don't the banks don't have some system in place for this? It's not been explained well and it's a bit disturbing to me but the notary (another Quebec quirk that you need to pay over a thousand dollars for a notary to do a few things) confirms it's normal so I guess I'm just going to have to trust that it is. It's been described to me as if the seller is renting from us for a few days, they just don't pay for that time. I tell you there are somethings in this province that just don't jive.

So we don't get the keys till the 15th. On the 15th Kate has an exam and I go to Toronto for 4 days. If I don't sound excited about buying a house I guess by now you can tell why. I'm half expecting some other Quebec rule to pop up and tell me that I have to pay some kind of welcome to the province tax, oh wait I already know about that tax, it's called the Bienvenue tax and it's 3,000 or something. Reminds me of the convenience charge banks charge to use their bank machines. I got two words for some of this crap: assholes.

Anyway I'm sure the excitement will worm it's way in eventually, probably after some packing is done or the painting is done or the re-varnishing of half the new place is done. I'm very sure once we've moved in a level of contentment will fall upon me and really it's not been a stressful process, at least not as stressful as I suspect it can be. There's been a bit of a language barrier, bilingual doesn't mean I know what the hell you're talking about, especially when technical things come up. I'm sure that will become much worse once I get my french to a point where I converse in it with francophones.

So I'm off this afternoon to give all my money to some guy and promise a bank I've never heard of an additional quarter million dollars over 35 years. On the plus side the interest rate is astounding and I do look forward to renovating the new place although I don't know how we'll afford that after all these additional fees, notary, bienvenue tax, convenience fees...

Yay home ownership!

Quirk Classics, Awesome.

2010-06-08T09:10:00.004-04:00

I've always liked reading novels. Of course over the years I've tended to enjoy books on the fantastical side of things, horror novels, apocalypse novels, books with violence in them. Same with movies, I prefer horror movies to all other movies. But I don't just watch or read these books for the violence, I like the stories too. I like the character development and how the characters interact. I'm the guy that is always trying to figure out what's going on. It took me about half of The Sixth Sense to know what was happening. I like the flow of the story and I'm disappointed when I see what appears to be obvious holes which is you can imaging is a common disappointment in horror movies and books.

I went to the University of Toronto and studied English. I of course had read some 'literature' books at that point, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fifth Business and a bunch of Shakespeare for example. It was University that I really began enjoying better written books, Hawthorne and Lovecraft were my favorites, of course the problem with them is they can be rather boring. Still, I enjoyed the style of writing, the intelligence behind it, even if they're describing some boring person trying to have a relationship with some other boring person and the most exciting part of the story is when there is a brief misunderstanding between them and one storms off in a huff.

After university I went back to fill in some gaps, you know the books you've heard of, that everyone seems to have read but you haven't. Cather in the Rye comes to mind, a book that should be read by teenagers by the way. So I read both types of books now and I'm rarely significantly impressed with any single novel.

One of the books I've never gotten around to reading is Anna Karenina. It's been touted as the greatest novel ever read, it's also huge and I know it would have me sleeping 15 hours a day if I tried to read it so I've never owned a copy. I guess a couple years ago it had a resurgence because suddenly I saw it all over the place, new editions, people on the subway reading it, and I mean I've seen over ten people with it on the subway in Toronto. So it along with many other books were on my to read list in the doubtful section, until now.

There is a publisher called Quirk Books and they've come up with a freaking awesome idea. I was in a book store around Christmas looking for gifts and books for me to read (I can spend hours deciding which book I want to read, I'm quite particular these days) when I noticed a book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Now if you know me you know I love zombies, they've my favorite monster and there is a good reason for that but that discussion is for another day. I've not read any Jane Austen although her books are also on my list under the category of doubtful. Who wants to read about some stuffy rich 18th century girls whose only concern is what to wear to the next ball and how much money the men who are courting them are worth. The writing style is fantastic but the story is incredibly boring, unless of course something like zombies could be added. So of course I bought the book and read it in a few days.

I've wikipediaed the Austen novel and I've spoken to a couple people who have read it and my best determination is that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is just like Pride and Prejudice except with Zombies. The writing style is the type I like and it's got Zombies, it's by far one of the best books I've ever read.

You can imagine my excitement when I found Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, another fantastic book. Then a couple weeks ago I found a new version of the best novel ever written, Android Karenina. This version is much more up my alley than the original and it didn't sacrifice the great writing style of Leo Tolstoy. I feel like I'm still reading a classic but I'm much more thoroughly entertained. The only problem is that I read them too quickly, as is the case with all great books.

Android Karenina is actually the android of Anna Karenina who is still the main player in the book. Anna still has a human husband and still has an affair with a human but all these humans also have androids, it's a rich person thing. So it's the same story, same characters, but now there are androids involved too. They don't interfere of change the course of the novel in anyway, they simply add colour. Levin still lives out in the country as in the original but now he owns a groznium mine. Groznium is a metal discovered that allows for people in the Android Karenina world to build fantastic things like androids. In Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters the main characters travel to an underwater dome instead of London England. In Android Karenina Kitty travels to space instead of a health spa abroad.

I love these books and can't wait to see what else Quirk Books publishes. The content is fun and entertaining and I'm still looking up a word in the dictionary every few pages as I read.

joedeclara.com Update

2010-06-01T14:02:00.002-04:00

While biking along the canal here in Montreal looking for things to take pictures of for my most recent class assignment I noticed a fire atop the Five Roses factory. So of course I took some pictures of that. Then I decided to get closer and I took a couple more pictures. Then after some deliberation I decided to go right to the factory. I didn't know how to get there but every couple of minutes a firetruck would rush past me so I just followed the convoy. The fire was small and put out by the time I got there but I got some great pictures of the firemen. I posted some of the pics I took on my photo blog www.joedeclara.com.

I also got some great pics of a dragonfly in the backyard here. I took a video of it eating some other poor bug too. Now that I'm learning the ins and outs of the camera, as well as a few tricks of the trade from class I'm really beginning to see what the camera can do. And Photoshop for that matter, what a great program. I know I'm supposed to properly expose all my pictures, or under or over expose them should I specifically choose to do that for effect but Photoshop can also be a life saver. It can change the exposure of any picture you take if the camera is set properly, which mine is now. So I don't really need to worry about under or over exposing any pictures although I intend to try to get the shot I want without relying on Photoshop. Of course there are other things you can do to improve pictures that the camera can't do.

I only have the exam and a final assignment left in my camera class. I'm not sure what my final topic is going to be yet but after the dragonfly shot I'm thinking about taking pictures of insects. There are a tonne of bumblebees out back and I've been trying to get a good stop motion of one but it's pretty hard. The wings beat fast and the bees fly so erratically it's hard to get them in focus. I've got two weeks to get that shot so hopefully there will be some sunny days to make the attempts.

By the way I'm picking Chicago to win the cup, not because they're up 2-0 but because I hate Philadelphia and Chicago deserves it, they've had some bad management over the years and it's good to see an original six team back on track, now we need another original six team to get back on track. Ahem, Toronto.

On the house front it turns out we get possession on the 11th not the 15th. It was a screwup on some one's part because I picked the 15th as the date and everyone agreed, now there is confusion. I'm not comfortable with the change, nor do I like paying the four extra days but it will work out for the better as Kate has an exam on the 15th. This way we can both enjoy our first home purchase on the closing date together instead of her cramming and writing an exam.

I had another photo shoot for Distributel. I took pictures of all the departments. I did it for free, at least I wasn't paid with money, I did get some valuable experience though. I've also got an oppourtunity to be involved in a CBC film shoot in Whitby in June. I'm not sure of all the details yet but they hardly matter. An oppourtunity to learn from professionals and get some experience is all I need, yes this is also unpaid.

School Update

2010-05-19T18:29:00.002-04:00

I realized that I've gone a bit away from the intention of this blog which is to be an update on the crap I do in day to day life. Of course writing about my daily routine would be rather boring so I'm sure that's a pretty major reason I've deviated but I also suppose that from time to time I should return that that original concept.

Today I signed up for a couple new classes. Since I started this blog I've taken 3 French classes at Concordia and I'm currently in the middle of a photography class. I decided to postpone the remaining 2 classes in my French certificate, until I learn French ironically enough. Come September I intend to take full time French classes through the government who are gracious enough to be paying me to not work. They also like it when people learn French so not only will they pay me to not work, if I take French classes they won't even expect me to look for work. That's a pretty sweet deal I think. They also told me that because I'm such a superstar at being unemployed that they're going to give me 66 weeks of pay instead of the usual 52. Actually it's because I worked for long enough without collecting to get that 14 week bonus. Hopefully I won't be collecting anywhere near 52 let alone 66 but it's nice to know I have the option.

The photography class is going very well. I'm enjoying it as well as learning some great stuff. I have a final project due in a few weeks that I'll post on my other site www.joedeclara.com. The class is going so well I've decided to get a diploma in photography. It doesn't look like it will take me long and the courses are geared towards making money at photography. One of the 9 classes is Wedding Photography. Concordia wants their graduates to be employed! So today I signed up for Photoshop 1. Last Monday my Camera 1 class studied Photoshop, it was amazing what it can do. If you over or underexpose a picture it will fix it, it can remove moles and blemishes, it can even remove hydro poles and wires from in front of a church. I figure it's a good next step since I'll probably make a number of mistakes as a rookie photographer.

I've also signed up for a creative writing class although it's only an intro. The one I really want I have to submit a portfolio to and be accepted and the class is full till next September so the intro will be enough for now.

Kate tells me she needs my computer. I'll have to give it to her since I've delayed the purchase of a new machine for her until the Lenovo L Series comes to Canada. The machine is made from recycled office water bottle and recycled office furniture. Cool stuff.

From Hockey To Baseball

2010-05-19T09:42:00.002-04:00

I'm not going to say the Habs are out of their series with the Flyers yet but being down 2-0 is certainly a hill to climb. I've not only seen many a team come back from 2-0 deficits but seen many teams lose two at home and still come back on the road. Montreal has two games at home next and while many players have stated that sometimes getting on the road and away from the home fans takes some of the pressure off that's not the case with this team. At least it shouldn't be.

The Canadiens have been a pleasant surprise so far in these playoffs and if they do lose to the Flyers I would still call this season a great success. So because the team has surprised many, including their fans I don't care what the fans actually say, they should be welcomed home as if they're up 2-0 in the series. Let's see how the Flyers react to a hostile home crowd.

Regardless, (did you know irregardless is officially a word even though it makes no logical sense?) if the Habs win or lose this series, when they do finally get knocked out of win the Cup there's another Canadian team that's doing some great things. The Toronto Blue Jays.

Every year in Canada the start of the baseball season is ignored for the NHL playoffs. It's fine it's natural but for the Jays it's not the greatest thing in the world. Here is a team that plays in the toughest division in baseball. They can put up great numbers and still find themselves behind the likes of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. This year they also have the Tamps Bay Rays to contend with. To put it in perspective the Jays are the fifth best team in the entire Major League. That's fifth out of thirty teams but guess what place they are in the division. Third. There are only four teams with better records and two of them are in the Jays division and one of them is not Boston who I would expect to get better as the year goes on and who has had the Jays number all year so far.

So people ignore the Jays for hockey. Hockey finally ends and the Jays are nowhere near first despite their 7 games above .500 record, that's what it is now anyway. I'm not saying we should ignore the Habs, not at all, but I think this Jays team may be one to keep an eye on. They may just parallel the Habs this season. I don't mean make a run for the World Series. In baseball late season runs for the last playoff spots are the same as the first couple rounds of NHL playoffs and the Jays could very well be contending for a spot come late August.

They also have a young core and it looks like they are only going to get better over the next couple of years. They're a team to watch and don't let the standings fool you. MLB has dropped the ball on allowing rich teams to stack their roster putting the Jays in a annual difficult situation facing off against rich teams all season. Still they are playing fantastic baseball and I don't expect it to end anytime soon so when the ice melts either for good or ill there is another Canadian team to keep your eye. The best part is that when the Jays are finished their season long show it will be time for a brand new NHL season.

I think the Habs (or perhaps our Olympic athletes did it) may be kicking off a great decade for Canadian sports teams, if you care about that sort of thing.

3rd Round

2010-05-17T13:21:00.003-04:00

So let's see what's my record so far? I'm 7-5 going 3-1 in the second round. Not bad. Not as good as Philly and Montreal this year. Two extraordinary playoff runs. Which is funny considering it's the top two teams on the other side. Unfortunately I suspect the best series are happening right now, or have already happened. Chicago vs San Jose should be great, same with Montreal vs Philly. What's the final going to be though? A top ranked team vs a bottom ranked team. Yes I know the bottom ranked teams in the east have been knocking the top ranked teams off left right and centre but history does not favour the underdog in the finals. Remember the Minnesota North Stars riding Jim Carey to the finals to get decimated by Pittsburgh? Or Carolina vs Detroit, or Edmonton just a few years ago? Top teams do not go down easily after winning 3 rounds, they often go down in the first or second round though.

Of course on the flip side to that we're seeing a whole bunch crap we've never seen before, well that many of us haven't anyway. Philadelphia was the first team in 35 years to come back from a 3-0 series deficit and only the third team to ever do it. Montreal has knocked off the best team in the regular season coming back from 3-1 (that's only happened 25 times or something as well), then they beat the defending champs. Now it's the 7th ranked team vs the 8th ranked team in the conference finals, first time ever that's happened, granted the playoff format has only allowed the possibility in recent years.

We missed an entire season a few years ago while the NHL and the NHLPA duked it out over implementing a salary cap among other things. Since then the rules have been different allowing for the more skilled players to do more skilled things without worrying about getting hooked and pulled at from opposing players. Some players who used to score at a good pace had no place in the new NHL, they were too slow or unable to play solid defense without relying on hooking and holding. It was a quasi-reset for many teams. They had to deal with the salary cap and they had to deal with signed players that made a lot of money and suddenly weren't worth it.

Some teams prevailed better than others, I might site the Leafs as one of the worst teams in dealing with the changes. The then General Manager John Ferguson Jr signed a decrepit Ed Belfour to a long term expensive deal before the cap was in place. Maybe he was hoping it would be grandfathered in? Nope. Anyway some teams made bad decisions and some good ones. The teams that made bad decisions haven't seen the playoffs in 5 years but at the same time the teams that made good decisions aren't winning three cups in a row.

Teams have brief windows now it seems to have a collection of great players. Pittsburgh and Detroit went to two straight finals against each other, each winning one, another crazy playoff fact in my mind. The salary cap has evened the playing field considerably and opened the playoffs to allow the lower ranked teams to have success. Teams like Washington win many games in the regular season because the have guys who score lots of goals. When they get into the playoffs they need goals, goaltending, grinders, great defensemen and a coach that can exploit the other teams weakness and adjust when their own weaknesses are being exploited. Long gone are the days of putting Mario and Jagr on the same team and watching them win back to back cups with the help of an entire assortment of other super stars. Look at the early 80s Edmonton Oiler lineup. My guess is that team in this day and age could triple the salary cap. You just can't buy a championship anymore.

If you can't buy it then you need to not only build a great team with players like, shot blockers that get a million a year, but the team has to play well when it counts. I think we're going to see more and more upsets, different teams in the final four year after year. Sure some teams will make it back to back but there won't be anymore of the Islanders and Oilers winning every cup for 50 years straight.

The final four now is San Jose (never won the cup), Chicago (the longest cup winless drought in the league I believe) Philly (hasn't won since teams were built based on the Charleston Chiefs) and Montreal (hasn't won since 93). Who's it going to be next year? Toronto, St. Louis, Phoenix and Atlanta? That's my bold prediction for next year's final four.

I know I'm a game in already but I'm a busy man these days. I had much football to play yesterday (we lost and I was tackled in the endzone with no call on an easy touchdown catch) and Saturday I was at the Atwater Market for most of the day and then back home to cook the food we bought at the Atwater Market in the second half of the day. Pay no attention to the fact that I'm going to pick the teams that won yesterday.

Montreal (8) vs Philadelphia (7)
Tough call really. On paper both teams should be long gone from the playoffs but watching them play you wonder who can beat them. Obviously someone has to win. Personally I think that Philly coming back from a 3-0 deficit has given them the confidence they need to beat anyone. Montreal has been relying on great golatending and timely goals. Halak can certainly pull a Roy, he's proved it in the first two series, but he can also pull a Felix Potvin. If Halak can finish this series with a .950 save percentage then the Habs will win. If not, Philly. Philly in 6.

Chicago (2) vs San Jose (1)
I've been cheering for Chicago the whole way in these playoffs. They've got a great young team that got some good experience last year. I also like San Jose though although I like their players much less specifically Heatley. Chicago as a city has had some rough sporting decades of late. The Cubs haven't won since before Edison was born and while the White Sox did win recently it was the first time in 80 years or something. The Bulls were great for a while, a while ago, and the Bears haven't won a Super Bowl in a long time either. So I want Chicago to win, plus I always thought it was cool that the Blackhawks had a black blue line in their old stadium, that was cool. Really any team can win the series, San Jose with a full line from Canada's gold medal winning tea,, or Chicago with a great core of young players and from what I saw of game one some pretty awesome goaltending. Chicago in 7.

How Is It Even Possible?

2010-05-13T12:08:00.002-04:00

That the Habs beat both Washington and Pittsburgh. If the next round is against Boston I think the city may blow up. I thought 'no way can they beat Washington, it's gonna be like last year, four and out'. Instead they showed up and with the help of some of the best goaltending I've ever seen, stole it from Washington in seven games. I was at game 6, I sat behind Halak for two periods, it was insane. He's not Hasek diving here and there with super heroics, he's always in the right position and he doesn't give up too many rebounds. The rebounds that do pop out are often cleared by the defense quickly. It's very solid goaltending.

I was equally sure that Pittsburgh would beat them but nope same thing. I've watched the Leafs go this far in the playoffs four times. Not always against such odds but close in the early nineties. There are always guys that drag the rest of the team with them, goaltenders are often big for that. Montreal has all of the new skaters they got in the off season playing some of their best hockey, Cammalleri at the top of that list. "Their goalie can't withstand fire power of that magnitude!" Sorry that was a bit Star Wars geeky but it just fits so well. This guy has 12 goals in the playoffs this season, in the second round no less, know who the last guy to score 12 in the playoffs for Montreal was? Guy Lafleur, yep, heard it on the radio just a couple hours ago.

So what's it like for a Leaf fan to be stuck in the middle of all this? It's difficult. My favorite times in Toronto, at least the times I felt the most in touch with the city was when sports teams did well. I remember working the night shift at the Beer Store warehouse and the entire floor would stop work for three hours and watch the hockey game. I remember the Jays getting runs while we were stuck in traffic on the 401 and the horns going crazy. There are fewer times better to be in a city than when a popular sports team is doing well. Even the girls are into it. Kate for the first time ever, cares about sports. Which leads me into one of the parts that sucks for a Leaf fan stuck in the middle of all this. My girlfriend is turning into a Habs fan.

Yep, which isn't bad really I don't think she's going to be buying jerseys and decorating the bathroom with les bleu, blanc, et rouge but I hope that when the Leafs do well she's as excited. The thing is we probably won't be living in Toronto when it happens. We may not even be in a place that cares about hockey at all. So how can she get excited when it's only me that cares watching it on my laptop? Even I won't be as excited because I won't be in the city to feed of the energy. But I'm in Montreal right now though for one of the craziest playoff runs ever and I can feed off that energy. In fact the first round was a lot of fun, I expected them to lose so it was easy to be involved, especially when they were playing competitively and I still expected them to lose. Then in the second round I figured lightening can't strike twice so it was easy to get involved again. Now they're in the semi finals and they may play Boston! A huge old rivalry.

So what do I do? I can't actually cheer for the Habs but am I going to cheer for Boston? No freaking way and everyone is excited around me for the Habs. Plus I'm loving the city right now, minus the after series violence. Even riding my bike past a construction crew, I could hear the laughs. They wouldn't be laughing if Pittsburgh had won last night. It puts the whole city in a good mood, except for the people that get looted after every series.

It's tough being a Leaf fan in Montreal right now but I'm going to have fun with it nonetheless. Hopefully I won't accidentally cough up a cheer when they get scored on in a crowded bar.

A New Home

2010-05-13T11:53:00.002-04:00

Tatoo has a new home. A couple came by last night to see him and talk with us along with a representative from the Animal Rescue Network. They're cat people I'm sure Tatoo will be as happy there as he was here, minus Brewski, but the thinking is that he may become more affectionate towards humans if there are no other cats around.

It was surprisingly sad to see him go. We've only had him for a couple months and he was more work than the other two combined but still it was hard to let him go. I actually had to get hi min his cat box this morning. There were too many people in the house for him to come out. I tried to get him last night but he managed to cut my palm with his back foot, not attacking me but trying to run away. The gym today was terrible, the weights sat right on the cut and the sweat didn't make it feel very good either. Yes I'm still going to the gym, consistently too. It's actually surprising that it stops being a chore and something that you look forward to eventually. Didn't think that would ever happen.

So this morning I managed to get him out of the bedroom and shut all the doors so he had no place to hide. I followed him around trying to get into a position where I could grab him. Eventually the little guy just gave up and stopped for me to pick him up. He didn't fight or anything.

Kate took some video with her iPhone and put it on youtube. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyYyvTTPJMI

So that's the crap I had to do today.

Lost And Found

2010-05-12T13:04:00.003-04:00

So we lost Tatoo the cat. It was all my fault, I left the window open. We have a few, more like a 80, stray cats in our back alley. So of course we decided to feed them, who wouldn't? So I put a bowl out for them and forgot to shut the window. A couple hours later I decided to find the cat because people were coming to see him but, no cat. I looked everywhere until I noticed the window was open.

The girls who live downstairs said they had seen him but there are a lot of cats and many of them grey. I hunted the alley and all the adjoining alleys shaking cat treats in my hand. We had quite a following at some points but no Tatoo.

The next step was to leave the windows open overnight and hope he came back. This was all of course after I called the Animal Rescue Network to tell them they couldn't come see the cat because he was gone, that was a fun conversation.

I felt both bad and good about the cat. Bad because these people wanted to adopt him and now maybe they can't. Plus I was responsible for him and the Animal Rescue people probably don't like me now. But I also kinda felt good for Tatoo. He isn't really a people cat and there are many strays out in the alley, I got to thinking he would probably like being an alley cat. The bad outweighed the good though and I was bent on getting him back.

First I made a lost cat poster and put them in people's mailboxes as well as the main convenience store window. I got three calls from those posters. The first was from a little girl that only spoke French, the conversation went something like this.

Little Girl-I found your number on the poster for the lost cat.

Me-You found the cat?

Little Girl-No

Me-You've seen the cat?

Little Girl-No

Me (long pause) The cat on the poster?

Little Girl-Yes

Me-You found him?

Little Girl-No

I actually have Kate on the other phone and she can hear what I'm saying and she says my French is fine, there must be some other confusion, have the little girl call her. Good plan right?

Me-Can you call my girlfriend who speaks French?

Little Girl-I have the poster of the lost cat.

Me-You found the cat?

Little Girl-No

Me-Can you call my girlfriend who speaks French?

Little Girl (silence)

Then I realize I have her number on the phone, caller ID.

Me-I'm going to have my girl friend call you ok?

Little Girl-I found the lost cat poster and called the number.

Kate tells me she's going to hang up and I can text her the number so I say goodbye to Kate.

Little Girl-Ok bye!

And she hangs up. Kate calls her and has a similar conversation, she called the number on the lost cat poster, not because she had the cat, or had seen the cat but because there was a number to call I guess? Trés bizzare.

The next call is from a woman across the alley who thinks Tatoo is in her backyard. I rush over to find 6 cats in her backyard, the most I've ever had on my porch is 3 and two of them were humping. None of the cats are Tatoo but one looks like him.

I get home, a few minutes later the third call comes in, guy down the alley thinks he sees the cat. I rush down while on the phone and see the same cat that the woman across the alley phoned about, that darn cat.

For two nights we slept with the windows open and the bedroom door barricaded shut listening to the remaining cats clawing at the door. The first morning I come out and the toy basket has been dumped over, the food in the cat's secondary bowl is empty and there are food bits all over the floor near it. Whichever alley cat spent the night in our apartment was a very messy one.

On the second morning Kate asks me when I think Tatoo will be back and I tell her I'm concerned he's not going to come back. She gets up to take her shower and I hear, "Tatoo is back!" Sure enough he's sitting on one of the dining room chairs so we close the windows before anyone can get out or in and we're back to normal.

The people looking to take him home are coming back tonight, hopefully I can manage to keep him in the apartment till then.

Round 2 Playoff Predictions

2010-05-01T12:32:00.003-04:00

First a quick update on Tatoo the cat. I've been in Kingston building a greenhouse all week so I didn't have a chance to call the Animal Rescue people but it turns out I didn't have to. They called me and said they had a prospective taker for Tatoo. They're coming on Tuesday, I will grill them with questions and post the outcome.

So the first round was about as crazy as it gets and I went 4-4, better than most professionals I would guess, respectable at least although I was sure that I was going to do better. The three top seeds won in the east including the Habs historic come from behind win against the Washington Capitals. No 8th seed team playing the top seed of the conference has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit. The Boston upset was less surprising although I am a bit surprised at how many goals they scored. I was very surprised to see Jersey fall but mostly because it was in 5 games. The other one I lost was the Detroit/Phoenix series and it was close, until game 7 anyway.

The second round may be just as surprising but I doubt it. I'll start in the east again.

Pittsburgh (4) vs Montréal (8)
Montréal beating Washington was pretty impressive but now they're playing a team just as good with boatloads of playoff experience. I'm afraid I'll have to say Pittsburgh in 6.

Boston (6) vs Philadelphia (7)
I flipped a coin for this one since I'm 50/50 anyway, it turned up Philadelphia in 6.

Onto the West.

San Jose (1) vs Detroit (5)
This is a pretty interesting match up. We have the most successful playoff franchise in recent history against one of the biggest playoff flops. I'm going to so against history however and call San Jose in 6.

Chicago (2) vs Vancouver (3)
This series will be fun. There's bad blood between two very good hockey teams. I can't wait and I think it could go either way so I'm going to pick the team I'm cheering for in this series. Chicago in 7.

They're late they're quick but I've got breakfast waiting so that's it for now.

Updates on greenhouse building coming soon.

The Story Of Tatoo The Cat

2010-04-23T09:04:00.006-04:00

I believe we're coming to the end of our time with Tatoo the cat. He's getting close to a year old although compared to Brewski he still looks like he's closer to a month or two, of course that doesn't stop the little guy from tackling Brew when his back is turned. It's difficult to tell how Brew feels about Tatoo. Sometimes when I hear his growl I look over and sure enough Tatoo has tackled him and they're wrestling in the ground, back feet with claws out swinging at each other. Other times I look over and they literally have their arms around each other and Brewski is licking Tatoo's head, growling the whole time.

When we first got Tatoo he hid under the bed, he was terrified of all humans, although somewhat friendly with the cats. Over these few months he's slowly become trusting of us and he loves the other cats, especially Brewski. Even this morning we made another breakthrough. Usually it's tough to pet him. If he only sees my hand then he likes to be pet, he likes to chew on my fingers, but if he notices the rest of me he flees in terror. Bed is often a good place to pet the cat as the bulk of my body is hidden. Usually however if I try to pet his head or get my own head too close he'll run off the bed. This morning I sat right up and he let me pet his head for a couple minutes before getting scared, at which point I stopped petting him so he wouldn't run off the bed.

I believe he's ready to go to a new permanent home, or more I think there may be a family ready to take on the cat he is now. Of course there are a few things that Tatoo is going to need, patient owners probably without small children but only because I doubt he'll even let children touch him and a family with kids should get an animal that they can touch. He's also going to need another cat since he identifies very well with other cats and I think he'll be lonely without another cat since he may not ever become fully trusting of humans. One big positive is that he is extremely gentle with his claws, I have no fear of him actually hurting me when he's clawing at my hand, maybe the odd little nick here or there but he doesn't pull them right out when we're playing. I also don't notice him attacking furniture. About the only thing he does destroy is toilet paper rolls and that he will do in abundance if you give him the chance. He's quick about it too. turn your back for just a minute with a roll near him and you'll have a good ten minute clean up on your hands.

Unfortunately we may very well be the ideal owners for him ourselves and I believe the SPCA expects many foster people to simply adopt the pet they're fostering. Our goal wasn't to obtain another animal, it was to help animals that need help adjusting, learning to trust people, or just a place to stay for a month or two and there are other animals that need help. I don't think many people would have wanted Tatoo at the time we got him but I think there are many that would now, at least I hope so. If the situation is even that Tatoo would be put down we could never give him up but I don't relish the idea of having three cats.

So I'm going to go back to the SPCA next week and tell them that if they can find another family that wants Tatoo based on my suggestions then that's great and we can take on another problem animal. If they can't then we'll keep Tatoo and we won't be able to foster any more animals.

I would much rather help animals like the Tatoo was when we first got him than accumulate a herd of cats but I'm at the mercy of the SPCA and their experience here so we'll just have to wing it from here.

Either way I will be happy, we saved Tatoo from a put down list which he was on because he needed someone to be patient with him and provide a stable environment for him to gain confidence on his own schedule. I like the animal and I don't mind keeping him, again three cats is a bit much but we'll live, but there are many other animals that can be saved. Families don't go into the SPCA and take the scared kitten, they want the playful one for their kids, or themselves. It's just life I suppose and a kid should have a kitten that he/she can play with but it still breaks my heart to think that little kittens and puppies are being put down because some jerk has taught them in their first few months of life to be fearful of humans and now no one wants to adopt them. With violent animals it pains me less, it still sucks since it's usually not the animals fault, but they are violent and there are so many that need help you have to draw the line somewhere. The animals that are gentle but scared deserve a second chance but I wonder how many actually get one.

Rat Dinner

2010-04-22T14:51:00.007-04:00

I attempted a staged shot with the rats this morning. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to for a couple of reasons. The light in my apartment is not the best so I need to slow my shutter speed. Once the shutter speed is low the camera has to stay still, no problem, however the subject has to stay still and if you've ever owned a rat you'll know they never stay still. Even when they're sleeping they're climbing the cage or running in the little wheel that we don't have but would possibly one day like to. Ok I'm lying about what they do in thier sleep but they really are figity when they're awake.

In this shot I had a cat as well and while they're a little easier to work with that the rats they're still not the best as staying still. Anyway here's a couple of the best. I'm going to create a new post on http://www.joedeclara.com/ with some rat photographs but I don't think these are good enough and now the sun is gone behind a bunch of giant nimbus clouds so I'll make another attempt in the future. That doesn't mean I can't post them on here of course.

Note Tatoo licking his chops, I just wish it was in better focus.

Yes this is the sort of crap I do during the day these days while everyone else is working.

Habs In Tough And Les Station Des Sports Sucks

2010-04-20T15:37:00.007-04:00

When the Habs were up 4-1 going into the third period against Washinton last Saturday night I had only two thoughts in my head. Where the hell is my food? and Wow the Habs could beat the best regular season team in the league in the first round.

We went to Les Station Des Sports near the old Forum. It was packed for the game so they suggested we go down the street to a karaoke bar which was owner by the same guy. This point is important because Les Station Des Sports sells 4 quart pitches for 17 bucks. It's a great deal. We managed to find room, ordered a giant pitcher between four of us and took a look at the menu. Standard stuff, I ordered a cheese burger mid way through the first. It was 2-0 Habs by then and I was texting Kate that I was in shock that the Habs were off to such a great start. On top of leading the series 1-0 and the game 2-0 they ran Jose Theodore out of the game. Here's a guy who won the Hart trophy for the Habs, now they're scoring goals on him like he's a lacrosse goalie defending a soccer net.

The pitcher goes down fairly quickly and we order a second midway through the second period. I think the score was 3-1 but I was deeply engrossed in conversation and barely paying attention to the game figuring the Habs have got it all wrapped up. When it was 2-1 I was slightly concerned but then it was 3-1, then 4-1. The game was no longer tops on my mind. The beer was doing it's work and my stomach was growling.

Finally before the end of the second period a bunch of food comes from the main bar, same owners, one kitchen. It makes sense, it's fine the kitchen is two doors down, it's just a hamburger, no problems. The food sits on the counter for 15 minutes so the staff can take inventory. Remember this place is called Les Station Des Sports, they also own the Cock and Bull. At least that place has an appropriate name. Finally all the food has been distributed, unfortunately it turns out none of it was for us.

Second intermission I've completely forgotten about the game and I'm slowly getting angry that we've got no food and super giant pitchers of beer to drink. I would have stuck to bottles if I knew they were only going to pretend to feed us.

Third starts and shortly into the period the food finally comes. It sits on the counter for 20 minutes while the staff inventory it. I should note that it's a 4 dollar hamburger so I have little to complain about but still. Finally the very last of this second round of food comes to us. Worst hamburger ever and I've eaten many a horrible high school cafeteria hamburger. This thing was burnt all over and drier than sand. I'm literally choking it down and chugging what must be my fifth pint from these stupid giant pitchers.

It's only after I've finally finished this terrible terrible cold as hell burnt piece of crap that I notice the score is 5-4. The Habs must have had the same burger at intermission. Between discussing the worst food we've all ever had, the fries and poutine were both cold too, and watching the game I'm left debating which is worse for the city of Montreal: a Washington comeback or the fact that this horrible place exists.

5-5 OT. The food is not sitting well.

6-5 Washington I mange to keep the food down but only because I hadn't eaten in 45 hours thanks to Les Station Des Sports. (I write it out a lot so Google picks it up and maybe I can save someone else's Sunday morning.)

I know it's a bad sign. I don't stagger very often but after helping finish 8 quarts of beer on essentially no food I'm a bit tipsy. The next day I'm not feeling good. Probably similar to how the Habs felt that morning. The good news is that I will recover from the hangover, never go back to that bar or it's affiliates again and I'll be good as new by Monday (which is true it really happened). The bad news is that the Habs are not going to win this series. Game 2 was the biggest game 2 I've ever seen. The Habs went from almost taking the first two games from Washington in Washington to letting them come back from a huge deficit in the third period. I think I actually saw Halak hand the confidence of the team to Ovechkin after the game.
Maybe they can recover back in Montreal. Maybe they won't think about how they squandered a 4-1 lead and blew an oppourtunity to put the Caps in a really bad spot down 2-0 with two games in Montreal ahead. But I doubt it.

Sure enough I check the score last night while in my camera class 4-0 Washington, 5-1 final. Washington is done being the pushovers they were for the first 5 periods plus an OT of the series.

I doubt Montreal is going to win another game but it's going to be closer than a 4-1 final looks. If Montreal had kept the lead in game 2 I'm sure they would have won a game at home and gone back to Washington 3-1. Even if it was 2-2 after 4 games they'd still be battling and people would be saying it's any one's series. Maybe it still is any one's series, Ovechkin or Semin, take your pick.

And whatever you do never ever go to Les Station Des Sports near the Forum is you want to eat anything that's not late, cold and tastes like a road apple.

The Ball Is Rolling

2010-04-16T10:49:00.004-04:00

I don't have a job yet but I did spend 4 hours at Emploi Quebec the other day. Boy that's gotta be a tough job. I walk in and take a number, 16 they're serving 15, and as I wait I hear someone yelling in French. At first I ignore it thinking it was someone just saying something from across the room, like you have a nice day too, but in French so of course I didn't catch it. Then the source comes into view and it some guy storming towards the door. His body language tells me enough, he's hunched over a bit so that it looks like his head is creating all the forward momentum and dragging his body along for the ride. Then I hear another French word but this one I understand 'Tabernacle' (note the pronunciation of that word is different than it's spelling), then he says it a couple more times and slams his palms into the door forcing it wide open. I watch him storm across the street without looking for oncoming cars. Welcome to Emploi Quebec, the unemployment office for you anglos that live in Ontario.

So when it's my turn I tell the guy my story and he gives me a form to fill out to start my file but since they close for lunch from 12-1 and it's 11:45 I'll have to hand it back in at 1. That's fine for me I'm hungry and I know the area fairly well from playing softball in a park near the office.

Lunch goes well, I return to the office at 1:10 and there's a 15 person line up. Where the hell did all these people come from?

So I sit down to wait and surf the web on my phone, no service. How can I not have service? They must have built this building out of lead. So fine I sit and watch the people. Beside me is an older lady with three kids about her and a woman I suspect is the kids mother. The older woman, probably the mother of the mother, is in charge. She barks orders to the kids, who don't listen, while the actual mother of the kids sits and says nothing. One kid doesn't listen to her at all and he runs around playing with things. Finally the older woman grabs him and ties him into a kids stroller and he starts wailing. Great now I'm getting a headache. Finally after a couple more examples of bad parenting they get their stuff down and they leave.

Next to sit beside me is a giant fat man. He breathes noisily and mutters under his breathe. The person currently at the only open counter is taking a long time. I hear the fat man say things like "This is a joke", "Come on", What the F", and he's getting louder and louder I guess ramping up to a volume that the clerk can hear him and feel bad for him, or something. Finally it's the fat man's turn and he walks up to the counter throws a brown envelope at the clerk and immediately walks into the bathroom. Now that was unexpected. Eventually he exits the bathroom and walks out of the building. Not sure what happened there.

Emploi Quebec is not a fun place to hang out.

So when I finally get my turn I'm told that Service Canada still hasn't transferred my file to them but I can still discuss some of the services I can take advantage of. There's a starting a small business plan, there's full time French classes, and best of all they have a book with hundreds of production houses and post production houses. So I gather the information and I decide with my assigned agent that it is probably a good plan to work the summer and take the full time French in September. The main point being that there's more work in the summer. So yesterday I settled into calling current productions in pre-production and while I don't have a job yet I have a full understanding of the steps I need to take to get into the union and I have three sources of production contacts and I've applied to a number of summer productions. Hopefully within a few weeks I'll actually have a contract for a show. It turns out you can't really volunteer here, you can find jobs that don't pay you on Craig's list but if you want the set time required to get into the union you have to work. I'm fine with that, I'd rather work than volunteer.

Of course I still have the problem of not understanding French and it's going to annoy the hell out of any Key Grip that works primarily in French. There are going to be a million new words to learn, I had to learn them all in English a couple years back but I barely even remember them now.

Challenges await.

Oh yeah and I've got a new website. Little has been done on it to date but eventually I'll have some photographs up and further down the road I hope to have some videos. For now it's pretty basic but it's got a pretty catchy url.

www.joedeclara.com

1st Round Playoff Predictions

2010-04-14T15:51:00.002-04:00

Why not. Everyone gets to make predictions and since I get more and more interested in the playoffs each year the Leafs miss them by now I figured I probably know the other 29 teams better than I've ever known them. Plus no matter how bad I do I'm sure I'll be able to find a 'professional' with a worse record than me.

We'll start with the East since I know that conference better than I know the West:

EAST

(1) Washington vs (8) Montreal
One benefit to living in Montreal is getting to once again be in a city that enjoys playoff hockey. Unfortunately I haven't lived here long enough to see Montreal actually win a playoff game but they have played four of them since I moved. I don't think I'm going to see them make the second round this year but I do think they'll win a game, maybe even two, this year.
The Capitals finished the season with the most points, they have the most exciting player in the NHL, they have a good core of players behind Ovechkin and a strong defense. The only weakness they may have is in goaltending where former Hart winner and Montreal Canadien Jose Theodore has been named the starter. So the weakest point of the team is filled by a player who might have some real incentive to beat Montreal. It's a tought draw for Montreal and while Washington may not win the East due to goaltending, they'll win this series.
Washington in 5

(2) New Jersey vs (7) Philadelphia
The Devils are the NHL's perennial playoff team although they haven't made it past the first round in three years. Brodeur was passed over for Luongo during the Olympics and even though he'll be 38 next month his numbers this year were right on par with his usual numbers including 77 games played. Unless he falters unexpectedly the Devils will be able to play and win with thier defensive style. Don't forget they picked up Kovalchuk who had 41 goals this season.
Philadelphia squeaked into the playoffs with a shootout win over the Rangers. Had the Flyers lost that game they'd have finished in 9th and the Rangers would have been 8th. That's a pretty high note to enter the playoffs on but that may just mean it's going to hurt more when they hit the brick wall in the Devils net.
New Jersey in 6

(3) Buffalo vs (6) Boston
Boston's off season will probably be more successful than their playoffs after locking the number two pick in the entry draft this year. They lost Kessel to the Leafs and Savard to injury, they're going to lose this series too. Defensively they're not too bad a team but they struggle mightily at times on offense and now they have face Ryan Miller in net for the Sabers.
The only team to score fewer goals than the Bruins this year was St. Louis and Miller has a GAA of 2.22, nuff said.
Buffalo in 5

(4) Pittsburgh vs (5) Ottawa
2009 Stanley Cup, 2010 Olympic goal (OT winner to boot), is there anything left for Crosby to do? Win back to back Cups like his friend and mentor Mario Lemieux is one thing he could do. Strong supporting cast and the experience from last year is going to help Crosby and the Penguins go far, probably.
Ottawa is a solid team this year after missing the playoffs last year with a stronger defense and more reliable goaltending. The loss of Kovalev may make the difference, with him I might call this one a coin flip but without him...
Pittsburgh in 7

WEST

(1) San Jose vs (8) Colorado
Most people expected Colorado to battle for the top pick in draft this year but they managed to play solid early and end up in 8th spot. San Jose has been good for a long time but have yet to cause much damage in the playoffs. If they don't win this series something major will have to happen.
How can Colorado win? Well they were 2-2 against San Jose in the regular season and Craig Anderson won 38 games this year. Matt Duchene has an 'upper body injury' but should play. Perhaps a brutal upset in the making but I doubt it.
San Jose in 4

(2) Chicago vs (7) Nashville
Chicago should also go far this year with the likes of Towes, Kane, and Campbell among others but let's not rush them into the second round just yet. Nashville managed 100 points this season and they're not going to go away quietly. I guess we'll have to say they're going to go away noisily.
Chicago in 6

(3) Vancouver vs (6) Los Angeles
The Sedins are good, very good. Luongo is good, very good. Kessler is good, very good. The Canucks are a good team. The Kings are a very young team with a lot of promise but the Canucks were a young team with lots of promise a few years ago, now they're good, very good.
Canucks in 6

(4) Phoenix vs (5) Detroit
I realize that I've only picked favorites so far but this time I'm going to go against the popular opinion. I also know that Phoenix is ranked above Detroit so if I pick them I'm still picking the favorite but everyone expects Detroit to win this series.
Phoenix is on a big rush, the team is setting records for regular season wins and points and it looks like Jerry Reinsdorf has saved the team. They're going to be hungry to win against a veteran team.
Phoenix in 7

I would have put more time into my Western predictions but the games start tonight and I'm late for a pub meeting. Also no time for spell check.

Yay playoffs!

Mon Troisieme Cours de Français Est Fini

2010-04-08T09:29:00.004-04:00

There's no exam this time, just a bunch of tests. I actually have one final class but I've written all my tests and I have a camera class that night so I'm about as officially done as I can get. I need 60s to get my certificate and for the first two classes that was a given. Those profs spoke in English, I could understand the grammar rules. This class has not be so accommodating. I did receive an 83% on my oral presentation but my oral comprehension test mark was only 56%. I was actually hoping I didn't fail that test so the 56% was actually decent. Anyway I'm sure to get 60% after calculating what marks I do know and if the prof goes easy on my lack of participation I may still get into the 70s range.

It's nice to have one less responsibility, especially one that's this important. Somehow being obligated to play softball isn't as stressful as going to class, and the language lab and doing homework, studying for tests, etc... Now all I have to do is work on getting a job lol.

My portfolio is beginning to grow, the Distributel flyers were made and with little to do this summer except some conversation french class and work on working for money I should be able to grow it further. I see a lot of patio pictures in my future. I guess there's still that camera class and I want to take some editing software lessons although I'm still not sure which ones to take. Hopefully I'll find that out as I start calling post-production houses for jobs. I guess the summer will still be pretty busy.

Still it will not be without some fun. We're going to try and head back out to BC this year and we're going to hit New York City. I've not been to NYC before so it should be fun. There are also quite a places in Quebec to go camping, Kate has not been camping before and I've not been in something like 15 years so I really look forward to that.

On a more disconcerting note I've noticed the new cat Tatoo keeping too close of an eye on my rats. I've even seen just a wisp of that little ass shake they do before they're about to pounce on something. The rats are pretty big and they live up high but Tatoo can still jump the gap. I'm fairly certain the rats can take care of themselves. Should Tatoo decide to jump to the rat ledge here's what I suspect will happen.
1) The rats will immediately notice the cat
2) The rats will immediately assumed the cat is bringing them food
3) The rats will run to Tatoo as quick as their tiny little legs will carry them and start sniffing him looking for the food he has surely brought for them.
4) Tatoo will suddenly have two rats milling about his legs and he'll quickly leave the area
5) The rats will be disappointed that Tatoo left without dropping of his food parcel.

So I'm not to worried. The related picture insists on staying at the top of the page. Now you know why it's there anyway.

I haven't chosen a domain name for it yet but stay turned for my new web page, the Joe DeClara photography webpage.

April

2010-04-05T08:52:00.002-04:00

Is it me or is it hot in here? It was like a summer day on Saturday and it's April. I saw a snow pile as big as a motorcycle in 27 degree heat. I had to open all the windows in the apartment to cool down. Then of course today it goes back to more April like temperatures and overnight the open window made the floor feel like ice, even the cats are rushing to get off of it and up onto chairs and beds. I guess they're always running around crazily like that and they're going to have a new place to run around crazily in soon it seems.

We had a home inspection on the house we put an offer into and the place seems to have nothing wrong with it, nothing major anyway. So now we wait till June 15th and the place is ours. We've got the apartment till July 1st, the day everyone in the city moves, so we'll use those two weeks to do a few things to the new place. The main thing we want to get done in that time is some re-varnishing of wooden stairs and railings and probably some painting.

In French news I got 83% on my oral presentation but only 66% on my writing test. I thought I would do well on the writing test but there was an oral comprehension portion of it that threw me off. Then I had an oral comprehension test that I haven't got back yet but I think I did very poorly on it. Wednesday I have a grammar test and after that I'm done. I need 60% in all classes to qualify for the certificate which I will undoubtedly achieve, I am hoping for something in the 70 range actually and if I study up for this grammar test I could easily get that. After this class I'm going to switch to something else for the summer.

I've heard from three seperate sources that the government of Quebec will pay $1,000 a month to people who take French full time. It could be perfect, I need to work on my French with practice and conversation, I don't have a job, I like getting paid $1,000 anytime and I live in Quebec! Anyway once this extended government holiday is over I'll get a meeting to see if I qualify. What do you do for a living Joe? I learn French for the Nation of Quebec.

I also attended my first Camera class which was great. I missed much of it due to one of those French tests but the part I was there for was pretty interesting and all we learned was the history of cameras and how to care for your camera. Next I think we're getting into the light spectrum, it will be interesting to see how he teaches the light section of the class. Surely he's not going to get too scientific but knowing some cool stuff about light myself will make that lecture pretty interesting.

Foster cat is getting better and better, I've pet him a couple times. He doesn't climb on you or even come near people much but he sure likes Brewski. Follows him around, tries to cuddle up with him. The only time he comes near me is when he wants to chew on my toe or claw at my hand.

Last week was a write off for many things, Kate and I had the stomach flu. It was terrible having it at the same time. Kate got it about 3 hours before me so she had time to get into a routine before I became useless to her. I also didn't have it nearly as bad as Kate but Sunday night was still a night that I think we'll both remember for a long time. The nausea didn't leave me till Friday.

On that note I'm off to eat breakfast and start a productive day. Today I need to update my CV with the recent work I've done and find some post-production studios to send it to. As well as do the laundry, study, dishes and meet Kate for beer after work. The life of the unemployed is always hectic and busy.

House Buying

2010-03-23T10:07:00.002-04:00

We found a place we liked a lot. It's got a lot of light, the second floor is the bedroom with a railing and no walls so it's wide open. The spare room/office in the back has a closed door. It's got two bathrooms and lots of nice new hardwood. We put an offer in and accepted the counter offer. Now assuming the mortgage goes through fine and the house passes the inspection, we're in.

We'll be moving in June, we've given ourselves a couple weeks over lap so we can sand and varnish the wood stairs and railings. We don't want to be living in it with varnish fumes all over.

The place is at Amerst and St. Catherine, right near downtown and near our first place in the city. Instead of being just west of Parc Lafontaine we're just south. We're at the part of St. Catherine that gets shut down all summer so the patios can spill out onto the street, wicked.

There's also about everything else we can ask for walking distance including a grocery store and my gym. There are Irish pubs, sports bars, fine restaurants as well as less than fine restaurants. We're an underground walk from a Metro that links three different lines too. It's quite ideal.

In French news I've got four tests in a row starting Wednesday. Once those four classes are done I'll be finished the 3rd of 5 classes towards my French certificate. I'm going to take the summer off from Concordia but I'm going to find out what my options are from Emploi Quebec. A number of people have told me about getting paid to take French full time so we'll see if I qualify for that. It will be really good for me since these Concordia classes are fairly advanced. There's no practice speaking in French, it's all about rules, some quite difficult. So I think that with some basic classes I'll prosper. The government French classes are less about advanced rules and more about being able to comunicate with people so there will be lots of practice. I won't learn any grammar I don't already know but as it is I don't understand much of what my Concordia prof says making the rules hard to understand and learn. He's not using vocabulary I don't know, I just don't have an ear for the language yet. That's why these government offered classes will really help. It will be slower and more intent on you being able to communicate, not intent on driving grammar rules into your head. If I can get paid for it then it's going to be a good summer. I also assume they'll be cool allowing me to leave for a couple weeks to work since the point of the organization is to help people get jobs.

So that's the crap I've been up to these last few days.

Back From The Hammer

2010-03-23T09:43:00.004-04:00

As Sam Gamgee would say "Well, I'm back." The trip to Hamilton was supposed to be more profitable than it was but I can't complain too much. I arrived Tuesday morning after an overnight bus from Montreal to Toronto and then a GO bus from Toronto to Hamilton. I was supposed to volunteer on the camera crew Tuesday till Friday. The Director of Photohgraphy not only agreed to let me volunteet but I think he was looking forward to the help but we had to double check that I could go with the co-producer. That's when things got crappy. He was worried about insurance, what if I got hurt? I don't know how much of a deal that really is, especially since I've volunteered on grip teams on shows with this same co-producer. I guess he didn't know those times. So after many phone calls that dragged over to Wednesday I ended up buyhing my own insurance for 25 bucks a month. However by the time that was done Eric had worked out three paid days for me in the PA department. I want to know it all so I figured I'll do that now and maybe I can use my insurance the next time I head down. It takes 3 weeks for it to kick in anyway. So I got three paid days doing PA work.

What is PA work you may ask, well as soon as I got there on Thursday afternoon, my shift was 2pm to 2 am, I was asked to drive to Toronto to pick up dailies (edited clips from the previous day). So in traffic I went there and back, as soon as I got back I was asked to pick up the executive producer and drive her to the airport, again traffic made it long and we were in a rush to get her there in time, a feat I acomplished. The exec producer asked me what I wanted to do and I told her about my desire to work a camera and how I couldn't this time. She told me next time I come back I could be her personal guest on set, and she said I could hang out in the cutting room with the editors too. I think in the film industry these kinds of things are thrown around easily but after my French is done I'm going to try and take her up on it, hopefully she'll remember me.

The rest of the time I worked a photocopier, making call sheets and prep schedules along with a host of other documents I have a vague understanding of. I read three scripts while waiting for tasks. Yes there is not much for a PA to do when the office is empty, Eric and I had the night shifts Friday and Saturday, 7pm to 7am both days. Although on Friday I made another trip to Toronto between 1 and 4 so that day I guess I put in 15 hours. It's all good though I'm not there to worry about my rights as a worker, I want to learn and show that I'm a team person, all that crap.

So people liked me although I met few people form set, I reocognized a few people form previous jobs although I don't know if they remembered me. Hopefully they saw a familer face and jsut thought I was one of the crew.

The office we worked in was an old elementary school with a very strange layout and ceilings of different heights all through the place. The paint was peeling, it was creepy to say the least. It was one of the sets for the movie Silent Hill, one of the rooms had gels still on the flourescent lights, made for an eerie glow to the room.

So I think I've just now finally got my sleep schedule back on track. It was a good trip in the long run, next time hopefully it will be even better. Upon my return home little had changed. I was missed but everything important was taken care of in my abscence, I have many extra duties now that I'm unemployeed.

The foster cat Tatoo has taken a turn for the better, he is much more agressive in attacking us. Yesterday he sliced a finger and put a deep hole in another to go with the usual feet attacks. Often in the mornings he comes on the bed, he'll lay on our legs, attack our feet. Usually if we move to pet him he runs away but this morning he allowed both Kate and I to pet and rub him so that's a really good sign.

You'll have to wait till my next blog post to find out the really big news but since I'm going to post it right away and the order of the blog is latest first, you'll have probably read it already.

Toronto Maple Leafs Phil Kessel Trade

2010-03-12T09:40:00.004-05:00

I know usually I write about the crap I do but today I thought I'd write about something that has been the talk of Leaf Nation for some time now. As you know I'm a Leaf fan living in Montréal so I don't get to discuss the Leafs very often. If I do find a hockey fan they usually either know little about the Leafs and don't have much of an opinion or they just don't like them and only want to talk about the Habs. So for this season I've been reading article after article about the Phil Kessel trade and having brief discussions via email about it. Last night I met up with a former co-worker who is a Leaf fan so of course we spoke at length of the Kessel trade. Then this morning I read and article written my Steve Simmons trashing the trade. I figured since I don't get to discuss the topic too often I would just outline my opinion here as I don't agree with the majority that the trade was a poor one and let me explain why.

First let's all agree that Phil Kessel is a very young player(22) and that he's going to be a great goal scorer for us. He had 36 goals last year and 23 for us so far this year with 16 to go. Let's also not forget the fact the he missed training camp and the first 11 games due to an injury. Commonly people agree that missing training camp puts a player behind the eight ball so to speak so had Kessel not missed camp and played in those 11 games let's say he would at least already be over 30 goals. He's going to be a consistent goal scorer for us there is no doubt about that.

Now I'm not saying that we didn't pay a huge price for Kessel but for a young guy like him you have to pay a huge price or not get him. So we gave up 2 first round picks and a 2nd. Burke said he expected this team to play for a playoff spot so what he thought he was giving away was a mid round 1st and next year who knows maybe an even lower pick. Instead he's probably going to give them a high 1st and next year maybe a mid round 1st. I thought the team would be better too but they're not. Right now they've won two straight and got points in their last 4, if they can continue that the Bruins will probably not get a top five pick. But let's say they do. There's a lottery so even if the Leafs finish 3rd last or 2nd last the Bruins may not get a top two pick and if they don't get a top two pick they will not be getting a player near Kessel's quality and next year ideally the Leafs will improve and the Bruins won't get a top two pick then either. So let's admit it's possible the Bruins will get 3 potentially sound players that don't come close to Kessel's skill level, in which case the Leafs win the trade hands down. Not let's say they get Taylor Hall, the player expected to go first overall, they get him but probably only two potentially solid players with the other two picks. Picks I may add that won't be solid players for a few years. Hall of course may produce right away. If the Bruins get Hall we've lost the trade for sure but what are the odds even at this point that they'll get Hall? Less than 50% easily.

Now let's look at what else Burke has done, this will give us an idea of why he was willing to give up 2 first rounders. He's signed a number of college players and traded a couple guys looking for big contracts for young players. Now all of a sudden we have, Bozak, Hanson, Stalberg, Caputi, Gustavsson plus a bunch of other young guys that were already on the team. We're a team that could be good soon. If these guys work out, we sign a vet or two maybe trade Kaberle for another young player, we could be looking at a playoff team next year and in 2 or 3 years we could be watching a contender. That at least is what Burke's plan is and personally I like it.

Many teams build contenders from the draft sure. People say Pittsburgh, Malkin and Crosby. Hall is not Crosby for one but whatever, I agree building from the draft has been proven successful but it's not the only way to win a cup. Burke wants to win now so he goes and he signs all this young guys. If we wait for this year's first round pick and next year's first round pick to develop we're looking at 5 years from now until we contend and there's no guarantee that these first round picks are going to be good picks or good players, it's a crap shoot that we have to wait 4-5 years to see the outcome. Kessel is good now and he will be for awhile. We didn't just pay to get Kessel we paid to turn a 4-5 year wait to a 2-3 year wait. We'll have lost the trade in player for player value but the extra that we gave is payment to make a 5 year plan a 3 year plan, worth it.

Let's say we didn't make the trade and we don't get a top five pick. Now we have a guy that will take a few years to develop and no Kessel. Is that better than what we have now? There is also the possibility that we get into Chicago type salary cap trouble in which we have all these great guys that want big contracts at the same time, let's not forget who owns the Leafs. Granted that's a good problem to have as Darryl put it, but it's also a good problem for other teams to have when we're looking to acquire such players. This team is not going to make a cup run with the young guys listed above and Kessel, it's going to be them plus at least one or two other big names. Burke is going to continue to sign young free agents to replace draft picks and some of them are going to turn out to be solid players just like some drafts picks are going to turn out to be solid players.

I like the direction Burke is taking this team in and I don't mind giving up the draft picks, at least not yet. Let's wait to see where we finish and what else Burke does to make next year's team better. Then we can really know if we won or lost this trade but at the least consider that Kessel is a proven 1st rounder, Hall and others are not. People in Ottawa were pretty excited about Daigle and the Leafs have a long list of horrid first round players themselves.

The youth movement is still on, which many fans have been begging for, we're just not taking the slow draft route for it. Stalberg had two goals last night, Caputi two assists, Bozak and Kessel scored the other two goals. Get used to hearing those names.

In this case you're up to date on the crap I think.

First Pro Photo Shoot

2010-03-11T10:26:00.004-05:00

I don't have much time to write since I have an entire day planned of going to the Gym, the movies and the language lab but I wanted to get an update out there since some good stuff has happened.

Kate got me a job shooting photos of the actors they're filming for some new commercials. I went to the shoot and when they were finished filming I took some photos. I was a bit nervous since it was my first job and I wouldn't get a chance to redo them if I screwed them up. I don't think they were perfect but they were good enough because the feed back I got was that they were of great quality and the ad agency was pleased with them. They're going to be used on various marketing materials. I learned a lot taking these pictures. I needed ten photos for each actor of which there were 8 so I took a couple hundred pics (gotta love digital) and selected the best 80 or so. I learned that the flash is garbage and if you can get away with not using it then awesome. Unfortunately unless you have great lighting you really do need the flash.

Basically it was a paid learning experience and I don't know if there's anything better than getting paid to learn, except maybe for getting paid more to learn. So now I'm technically a professional as I head of to Hamilton to volunteer my time on the camera crew of a werewolf movie. Man I can't wait. When they're filming there are not many people that get to be in the room, the director, the actors and the camera crew (along with a miscellaneous group of others). Oddly enough last night I saw parts of one of the movies I worked on Wide Awake. It was quite fun to see the scene's that I helped create. There was one scene where Eric had this shiny board and they were filming a scene of two guys in a car. Eric's job was to bounce the light off the actors faces once in a while to fake passing cars. I saw that scene and saw the light bouncing off their faces, awesome.

In other news I had my french oral presentation last night. I did it on Jacques Mesrine a gangster from the 60s and 70s. A few people commented on how interesting it was and I didn't stutter out my words like I used to doing stupid oral presentations so hopefully I got a good mark on it. At the very least I'm glad it's over, so as a reward I'm going to see The Crazies this afternoon. It's not in 3D, which is freakin awesome by the way, but I don't think I can see Alice without Kate since there are few movies we agree upon but I think the 3D movies are going to be some that we can agree upon until they become more common. I look forward to Clash of the Titans in 3D as well, I just wish we didn't have to wear those stupid glasses.

Oh yeah and I signed up for a Camera class at Concordia. It's for photographs not film but I may be able to make more money taking pictures then making films to start. I've already got more work on Saturday helping Kate's company Distributel and I was asked about doing some head shots. I suspect there is a lot of work for an amateur photographer with a kick ass camera.

So now you're updated on the crap I've done.

Tuesday Updates

2010-03-02T10:31:00.003-05:00

The good news is that I have a new movie idea, not that the first one is finished yet but its probably good to have multiple projects. It's all practice. The bad news is I got 61% on my last French test. It was a grammar test and I didn't do bad in one particular area but rather all of them. I did do well in the Passe Compose vs Imparfait section but there is little else good to take from the test.

Next week I have an oral presentation. I've decided to use Jacques Mesrine as my subject. We can speak on anything French and of course I want it to be interesting so I picked a gangster, not to be confused with a gangsta. When first told of my topic Kate asked me why I would do my presentation on a French rapper, knowing I'm not a huge fan of rap. But no I informed her he's not a gansta but rather a gangster, the kind with guns that steal and kill people that get in their way or don't show them enough respect, wait now I'm confused. Mesrine was a bank robber, committing crimes in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He even came to Montreal for a bit where he also robbed banks, evidently sometimes two in a day, that's ambition.

So this Mesrine character should be interesting and it gives me the oppourtunity to explore some interesting French words. Part of the assignment is to have 5 vocabulary words for the class. So one of my words is 'braquer' which can mean either to hold someone up at knife/gun point or to turn a steering wheel. If it's reflexive 'se braquer' it means to refuse to listen to a point in a conversation. Of course this is all just my roommate Ludo's definitions so I still have to do the research to make sure I have the meanings exact.

After my 61% I'm determined to do well on this oral exam. I've not a fan of public speaking, at least not on topics I'm uncomfortable with or in a language I don't know so it will not be pleasant for me but hopefully if I prepare well enough I'll be able to pull a good mark out. And thankfully I got that good mark on the reading comprehension test, I wish all our tests were reading comprehension.

My volunteering time has been postponed again, filming was set back a week making the first week of filming the same week as my oral exam, which is Wednesday even. So now I'll be out in Hamilton for the week after, including St. Patty's Day. I understand that Eric will be rapping that night so that should be pretty freaking fun. I will of course bring my camera and record the session, maybe we'll even have time to film a few other things but we'll see. One of my problems, if you can call it a problem, is that I have football Saturday nights. I would like to have a weekend in Hamilton to shoot some stuff but I'm going to have to head back to Montreal every Saturday and since filming is Monday to Friday it leaves little time to do anything else. The hours of course being long. I want to play next season but I don't want it to interfere with work and I don't want to let the guys down by making the team and then not playing. I have a few weeks to see how it plays out but my renewed football career may be coming to an end.

That's a pretty full update on all the crap I've done so I'm off to write my French oral and make some fried noodles with tofu. I know it doesn't beat chicken but meat that wasn't treated like it had no nervous system or desire for clean air is expensive and tofu just tastes like whatever you put on it so whatever.

Some Cat Pics

2010-02-23T11:14:00.010-05:00

Figured out a neat trick taking pictures with manual focus. The camera will identify items when they become in focus. It's easy to be off by a little bit so as I'm adjusting the focus the camera will pin point items in focus so I wait till the item I want to be in focus lights up and I snap the pic. To the right you can see Brewski looking down upon his minions, or perhaps he's lamenting the loss of his favorite position on the bed. Difficult to tell, cats aren't the most communicative animal in the world. To the left is a picture of Tatoo, 8 months old give or take, he's getting big and he's developing a love of clawing me.

Camera Volunteering

2010-02-22T09:54:00.003-05:00

My close friend and door stopper to the film industry has signed on to work with a company for four movies. I don't know all the details but I do know the first flick is a werewolf movie, awesome. So of course I told him I want to volunteer some of my time expecting to be doing some sort of grunt work because well that's what you do. You start with the lifting of heavy objects till they ask you to do something more complicated. You volunteer till they decide they want you around more often. In my previous experiences volunteering they've always ended up paying me. Not that they signed me on to the crew but after volunteering a couple days they suddenly need a daily so instead of going to the pool of potential dailies they asked me to work. Now that's a non-union show and I'm not in any union yet so I'm not sure how things will go, I don't even know if this is a union show at all but I'm hoping if they like me something can happen. I've taken the required course for the Nabet union, I just need a few more hours on set experience and I can be a permittee.

So of course I want to work near a camera, that's what I've decided to get into, but I also don't expect anyone to let me near a half a million dollar machine. So I get the word from Eric that his brother is working in the art department. Perfect. I need to know how to set up shots and really doing any job is a step, art dept is a good step. I'm all set to head out there the first week of March. This weekend I get a call from Eric, it seems he's asked the Director of Photography (a big important position) if they can use help in the camera department. It turns out they want to have two camera crews going at the same time so they do want volunteers! I'm sure I'll still be doing heavy lifting and running errands that have little to do with camera work but I'm ready for that. I'll bust my balls for four, twelve hour days in exchange for learning a little and adding that time to my total hours on set, it's the way it goes and I'm excited. I did not expect to be anywhere near the camera team at this early stage of my career.

My secret hope is that after this week of volunteering, and perhaps another week or two later, that someone may offer me a real job. It's four movies so this crew should be together for a while so it's within the realm of possibility. Of course there is the union to worry about, the filming will have to be going well (not going over budget) and the people with the power will have to like me but the stars could align and the one thing I have power over, people liking me, has gone very well in the past. Opportunity is knocking.

I also have a cat update. We are fostering a cat named Tatoo. He's a good looking cat but he's terrified of humans. He loves Brewski and always wants to play with him but he runs away from all humans. He'll run so fast and hard that he'll often slip on the hardwood and slam into doors and walls in his desperate attempts to escape us, even though all we're doing is walking past him to the bathroom. He has slowly been getting more and more confident and less and less scared of us and this morning we had a break through. For the past week or so he's been attacking our feet in bed, not ideal for us but a good sign nonetheless. Yesterday he was even on the bed with Kate while she took a nap. Today he came up on the bed while I was trying to squeeze in one more hour of sleep and started pawing at my hand. I was actually sleeping and I awoke to gentle pawing at my hand. I knew it was him right away, poor Brewski had his claws removed years ago and Jedi would never paw at my hand. So I let him paw at me and eventually he started licking my fingers and chewing on them, much the same way Brew likes to chew on fingers. Excellent news thought I so I let him paw and attack my hand for a half hour or so. I've got a few scratches on my hand but he's still a kitten and that's what kittens like to do. Plus I've got to get this cat straightened out or we may end up keeping him and I don't want that. If he's terrified of all humans he won't get adopted and I can't let him live in the SPCA or bounce from foster home to foster home. And he's totally in love with Brewski so even if he never comes around to humans he needs some kind of contact and Brew is it for the moment.

That's all the crap I have to say for now.

Something More Positive

2010-02-16T10:54:00.003-05:00

In more positive news I got an 88% on the first French test of my third French course. I wrote the second one yesterday and I am not expecting similar results but I'm sure I won't get too terrible a mark.

After having a terrible time with our Internet connection dropping since we switched to DSL a quick call to Distributel by Kate solved the problem in minutes. Shockingly fast to me. I'm not used to such good service from an ISP/phone company. Every time I called Rogers I set aside an hour to deal with them. Good job Distributel, and Kate who made the call.

I found a new gym and a trainer, sort of. My roommate has access to a gym in his friend's building and his other friend is a personal trainer so now on Monday's we all go to this gym. I still go to my own gym on other days of the week but it's nice to have other people around that you know when you're working out, especially if one knows all sorts of stuff and you can ask questions. Throw in a pool, hot tub and a sauna and Monday mornings are getting pretty good.

The Curling starts in an hour so I better get some stuff done before then so that's enough of the crap I've done for now.

Olympic Advertising

2010-02-16T10:27:00.003-05:00

I don't think I've even been more interested in an Olympics than I am in this one and now I have mixed feelings about it. This article started my displeasure: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/31/vancouver-winter-olympics-police.

It seems that in order to get the Olympics in Vancouver they claimed it would cost about 660 million and they would make about 10 billion, seems laughable to me but whatever I've never been someone with economic insight. Now they say it's going to cost 6 billion, that's a big difference, how does anyone make that kind of mistake? By hey it's forgivable, doesn't the Olympics put every city into massive debt, maybe only in Canada where we here in Montreal paid off the '76 games a few months ago. That's literally my life time, so far anyway.

This is what really burns me. The sponsors are dominating everything, American companies that are using Canadian soil and Canadians to peddle their wares. We're currently in a Capitalist state so that's fine too but these companies, that now have Vancouver by the balls due to the massive difference in estimated and actual costs, are using that power to do some pretty evil things.

Here's a quote from the Post “Do not have Pepsi or Dairy Queen sponsor your event,” read guidelines sent to VPL branch heads and supervisory staff last fall. “Coke and McDonald’s are the Olympic sponsors. If you are planning a kids’ event and approaching sponsors, approach McDonald’s and not another well-known fast-food outlet.”Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/01/13/adrian-macnair-with-glowing-hearts-olympics-kills-the-arts.aspx#ixzz0fiIyTCO0

A kid's event? McDonalds? How is this even remotely possible when every time I turn on CNN I see some news clip about how fat and lazy American children are, and I'm sure Canadians are not far behind. If I send my kid to a library, yes a library, public funded, wholesome, etc... I do not want them being fed McDonalds, how about something even remotely healthy like iron filings instead!

These poor athletes who get paid nothing while billionaires sit back and and do nothing while collecting their second billion dollars are also advertising for McDonalds. You spend your whole life training for one day, how much debt do these people have. If they don't win gold do they go get a minimum wage job? Where do they get thier education? Of course they'll take a few hundred thousand to say they eat McDonalds, they almost have to! But does anyone really think that Olympians eat McDonalds? I don't, Kate doesn't, most people I know probably don't but you know who I bet does think they eat McDonalds, the children of Canada. Think they're going to have a full understanding of what food they should and should not be eating, no way in hell. We have allergies that didn't exist 50 years ago, every one of us seems to suffer from some issue, lactose intolerance, gluten allergies, the list is almost endless. I don't think we're just now identifying these conditions, I think they're new. I think places like McDonalds and the slaughterhouses that feed chickens steroids and their own ground up parents and siblings exclusively are the cause of many of these ailments. The worst part is we know, we know what is happening but still we allow our children to be lied to and sent down a destructive path all so that some of the richest people in the world can have a few more million.

Oh yeah, they're also telling some of the citizens of Vancouver to leave the city during the games or stay indoors to accommodate the 300,000 tourists. They're also told some small businesses in certain areas of the city to close up shop for the duration of the games. Only the big companies are allowed to make money of these games.

Boo.

Canada plays Norway at 7:30 tonight, I'm excited

It Begins...

2010-02-13T09:43:00.002-05:00

So the Olympic opening ceremonies were pretty fun to watch. They didn't go perfectly but that seems to be the motif for the games this year. First the death of a luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili went off the track and hit a pole. It's terribly sad, the kid was 21 and was relatively new to the sport. TSN showed the accident last night, perhaps the second most horrific thing I've ever seen. The video begged two questions, why is TSN showing it and why are those steel polls right there are the fastest turn on the fastest course ever made? Two other people had already been injured on that track. It's a sad start the the games.

Back to the ceremonies, I love that Gretzky was the guy to light the torch. The actual ceremony was great, the floor screen, the mountains and clouds, it looked great to me. The performances were hit and miss. The song Nelly Furtado and Adams sang was crappy and many francophones have one word to say about the francophone singer Garou, 'who'? NBC didn't show the song, deciding that no one wanted to hear French. I'm beginning to understand why the French get so pissed off. John Furlong, the Chair of the Vancouver Organizing Committee delivered some opening remarks. His French was possibly the worst I've ever heard. He only had two of three things to say in French, get a language coach you dumb a-hole! It only takes a minute to learn how to pronounce a few words properly. It embarrassed me as an anglophone.

Then of course the fourth arm of the torch thingy didn't go up. Technical malfunction I guess, it happens but some poor sap will lose their awesome Olympic gig over it.

k.d. lang sounded incredible and McLachlan always sounds good too. Then to my great surprise Shane Koyczan read his poem We Are More. It was a surprise because I actually know the guy and I didn't know he was going to be preforming. Actually he's Kate's friend from the poetry circuit but I figure once I've been out drinking with someone they're my friend too, and there's a slight chance he would recognize me if he saw me. It's a good poem and I'm pleased that they included him and the piece, it should be great for slam poetry in Vancouver and across Canada.

In other news, I did not win the 30 million in the Quebec loto last night.

So good luck to all our Canadian athletes, I will unfortunately miss the first hockey game, Canada/Slovakia today, I have a football game at 8. And of course they won 51-6 last week, the game I missed because I was in Quebec. If we lose today then I suppose we know where the team's weak link is. Just kidding, I'm a solid player, and if you don't believe me here's a link to my stats. http://www.flagplusfootball.com/player.php?league_id=1&division_id=6&season_id=W10&competition_id=&member_id=1684&group=receiving
And not one dropped pass.

Computer, Camera, Cell.

2010-02-10T16:30:00.007-05:00

My new desktop is pretty sleek. For those who know and/or care it's an Intel Core i7 2.8Ghz with 4GB orf RAM and Windows 7 x64. Of course now I have the problem of having a machine that's too good, too fast. It seems that all the editing software I download isn't compatible with the x64 version of Windows 7. The software I need only runs on x32 which as you may expect is a slower version. The software does exist for x64, it's the crack that doesn't and after spending a boatload on this PC and a new Canon camera I'm loathe to put another 2 grand down on software. If I was making money using the software then sure I would pay but since it will be who knows how long till I make any money again I can't spend the money. The hunt is on for software I can use on this machine.

The camera is working out well, I brought it to Quebec and got some pretty good shots. I also got a couple of videos but nothing too exciting. And speaking of electronic devices I got a data plan from Rogers so I'm back online with my Blackberry and the best part is there was no contract! It was a shock to me too but I guess with some of these new little players coming onto the scene Rogers is becoming softer in some of their own stances. It works for me, my old contact expires in a few months even though it's actually someoneelse's contract. I won't go into those contract details on this blog since some people take great offense to what I write on my blog, sad but true. So when this other person's contract expires this summer I'll be free and I'll have a kick ass data plan. Thanks Rogers!

I do have an idea, and half a script, for my first video project. I'm not going to mention what it is in case I change my mind half way through, or find it's too difficult to pull off but I do intend to get a bunch of the work done on it this weekend. It's a pretty simple idea so it shouldn't be too difficult to pull off.

I had my first French test for this semester Monday, the next one is next Monday. The one I took was much simpler than I expected, I think the next one is going to be quite difficult. The first was reading comprehension, not too difficult, the next is grammar, much harder.

That's about all the crap I have to share for today, I've got to go to class and give an oral presentation that's worth zero marks, won't that be fun.

Quebec City and the Super Bowl

2010-02-08T09:21:00.004-05:00

Got back from a weekend in Quebec City yesterday. We went for Carnival and to meet Bon Homme. We saw Carnival and had some fun there. We walked around in the freezing cold for a few hours. We had travel booze to keep us warm although I don't know how good of a job it did.

Quebec City is a pretty nice town, old buildings, pretty nice. I took lots of pictures with my new camera, a couple videos too. When I have more time I'll go through them and post the best ones somewhere. Unfortunately today I have no time, I don't even have time to write this blog. I've got lab work to do this morning, then an afternoon on conversation French class followed by a 6pm class at Concordia with a comprehension test. So any free time I have today should go towards studying.

The Super Bowl was great, great game, glad to see the Saints pull it out. I'm also glad The Who payed at halftime, not quite once they what were but good enough still to make me smile and sing along.

So I have a long day of French ahead of me and I better get started. Those words don't translate themselves.

Been A While

2010-01-28T09:48:00.003-05:00

French class is going well I think. We've had no tests yet but the class is entirely in French now and I'm expected to follow along. I missed 3 of the first 4 classes and when I returned it was difficult for me to follow but now we're another 4 classes in and I can follow along fairly well. I often will hear the words now but not catch the meaning of them. Either I'll miss one key word or not know a verb but often it's also that the string of words means something other than what I would expect them to mean. For example 'mal au coeur', translated it means sick heart or ill heart, something along those lines. So what would you expect that to mean? Maybe broken hearted or something right? Nope, it means you want to throw up from eating too much sugar or something. Why not say 'mal au estomac'? Dunno, it's just one of those language things. When you're learning a new language you have no idea when these idioms are coming. Or there are some verbs that can be used it a lot of different ways like 'mettre' to put as I learned it but means a hell of a lot more than that. If you google translate mettre you'll find 19 dictionary results.

Now we're debating putting me in an intensive conversation French course for 2 weeks. Since I have no job and finding one is proving difficult in this french climate I may have to ramp up my language learning. I can write it fairly effectively as this point if I'm not expected to win awards for my prose but speaking it and hearing it are different matters. This intensive conversation course may be the spring board I need to be able to communicate in French consistently.

I've decided to try my hand at film making for a living. I've been on sets in the past and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the job itself. I did grip and electric work a couple years ago but now I want to get into something a little more challenging so I've decided to get into camera work and video editing. Of course while I learn those trades I hope to gain employment working as a grip or coffee boy or something. The film industry is pretty good at encouraging new comers, film makers will often take on volunteers and help you learn the craft.

We bought a new camera, one that they film the show Trauma with. I'm going to make a portfolio with it while I volunteer my time and hopefully work part time. I've also got to wait 5 more months until I'm allowed to join the editors union, you have to live in Quebec for 18 months. It seems though that once I'm in the union jobs will be pretty easy to find. Let's hope anyway.

I'll probably post anything I make on a blog but it may take a while. I've got to film whatever I want to make then learn the editing software and do the edits. Intensive French will slow that down too although I intend to bring the camera and film the city on lunch breaks which of course are stupidly an hour. What the hell can I accomplish in one hour, I need to eat that's 15 min unless I make it longer. I can't skip eating either. So maybe I can rush a visit to the gym in but not if I want to do any cardio. Why not make the lunch a half hour and let us out a bit earlier. Every time I take all day classes it's the same thing. The teacher will often suggest we come back from lunch early and quit early, they want to get the hell out too, but you know there's always some asshole who wants the full hour.

I scored my first touchdown in football. It was my third game, we're 1-2 after two one point losses. I've caught a ball in each game for a total of 36 yards, my touchdown catch was a 5 yard square in route on the goal line. I'm very glad I didn't drift out of the endzone as I had to do a bit of a dive to catch it. It's a lot of fun the football. It kinda sucks that we have late games on Saturday night, 11pm for example, but everyday is like a Saturday to me these days.

Also Assassin's Creed 2 is awesome.

Stiches

2010-01-09T10:52:00.004-05:00

These mouth stitches are annoying. They hang from the roof of my mouth like stalactites and I'm absent-mindedly trying to push them out with my tongue as if they were a free floating cat hair that got sucked in by accident. Often I will only realize what I'm doing when I poke my tongue at the wound too hard and it hurts a bit. At least it's not the graft area itself I've been poking at with my tongue.

Every once in a while a piece of the stitches will come off and get stuck somewhere in the back of my throat, that's the worst. You can feel it back there but there's nothing to be done except swallow and chug whatever I happen to be drinking. The front of my gums, the left side only thankfully because I seem to automatically eat everything on my right side, looks like a miniature war zone, or a full size flea war zone, not that fleas war, perhaps we should follow the fleas example, do they suck blood from our pets?, maybe we shouldn't follow their example. It hurts less than it did a couple days ago and I'm going to play football on Sunday regardless of what it looks like. I'll have to be wary of that side of my face and protect it, that basically means don't let the ball slip through my hands and hit me in the face.

Somehow my lips are numb on that side. I'm going to assume that the feeling will come back once things have healed up a bit and I have a follow up appointment on the 20something so I'm not worried but it's weird to have numb lips, if I say more than one or two sentences in a row I begin to sound like Sylvester Stallone.

I got Kate 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' but Julia Child for Christmas. Turns out she really wanted it. I just wandered into the book store to get some ideas and there's this picture of Meryl Streep and I think that's the Julia Child movie we watched recently, well Kate watched and I did something else occasionally paying attention. So I'm looking through the book and I note the price so I look at some other books but none of them seemed to be half as good as the Julia Child book so I go back to it. During the second round of indecision I see that there's a section on how to cut things properly, even a diagram of how to properly hold the knife. So now the book is going to be useful for both of us, it's hard to live with a real cook and not want to learn some stuff yourself, plus I like cutting things with a knife, maybe it's a guy thing. The price still forces me to do another loop around the cooking book table at whatever store I was in. If the Child book was the only one there I wouldn't have balked at the price, maybe it's baulked?, neither word appears to be spelt wrong. There were so many to choose from but of course the most expensive one turned out to be the best one, the kicker was that the book was originally published in 1970, I figured it had to be good and worth the price. I think I was right, Kate loves it and it's a nice hard cover with little fleur de lis all over it. Of course it won't take look to have oil spilled on it and flour and bacon rubbed into the binding. I actually prefer a book that's beat up, cook books need to have things spilt on them. If you go to some one's library I'm willing to bet the best books are the ones that have the most damage done to them.

From Texas To Hamilton

2010-01-06T10:16:00.003-05:00

Texas was good and bad, visiting my parents for the first time in their southern winter home and meeting their friends was the good, the bad was the weather. The weather was a great improvement over the weather in Montreal but 12 degrees and a light rain does not make for hanging out by the pool. It is fine for visiting Mexico however which we did a number of times.
The food was another good thing, lots of Mexican and obscure Texas/Mexico snacks like a corn on the cob smothered in mayo some red stuff and shredder cheese, that one was actually pretty gross but walking down the street washing it down with a salted Corona made up for it's grossness, and the garbage can I found helped a bit as well.

I picked up some nice Tequila, although it doesn't have a worm in i,t as well as a few classic Mexican items like a blanket and a nacho dish, at least I think that's what it is. There was a shootout at the Mexican pub with the mechanical bull the previous month so we couldn't try the bucking bronco out although I'm sure I could have put my 8 seconds in. The other pub my parents usually go to was randomly closed every time we went too so we tried a couple of new places. They all love putting salt around the neck of Coronas. I know adding salt to an alcoholic beverage is not a great idea, especially not when you drink 6 of them, but it tastes pretty damn good.

Yesterday I had gum surgery. They take a piece of gum from the roof of your mouth and then stick it under the gum line that's receding and then they stitch it all up. It was a very smooth procedure they numb up the area before they use the needle to numb it up for the surgery so I didn't really feel much pain. There were a couple stitches that went in a bit outside of the numbed area and the metro ride home was unpleasant but the pain is negligible today and I've not even taken anything for it. The toughest part will be ensuring that the new gum heals, minor damage done to it in the next few days could prove costly. I can eat just fine but I have to chew on the right side of my mouth and I should probably avoid getting punched on the left side of my face as well.

I've got a final football practice tonight before the season starts Sunday. I am confident I'll be good to play on Sunday but tonight I may have to sit on the sidelines. We'll see how much healing I can get done in the next 9 hours.

All the animals were alive upon our return although we were a bit concerned. Not that we don't trust Ludo but the rats are getting more adventurous and they may decide they can make the jump from their shelf to the table one of these days and as much as I trust the cats with the rats when I'm around I don't know how they would react to a rat lose on the floor boards for three days.

Next week I visit Hamilton to see my good friend Eric who was my roommate for about a year in Toronto. I'm going to try out the double decker overnightaven't decided the dates just yet.

Unemployment does have it's advantages, I can travel, I watch a lot of movies, the house is cleaner than it's ever been. This trip is hopefully going to have as much business in it as fun, I'm hoping to break into the same vocation as Eric and being unemployed, in this case, is a pretty good first step.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas to anyone I missed, which was most people, but fear not some gifts/cards have yet to be mailed. I'll get to it though!

More crap to come...

2nd French Mark Is In.

2009-12-28T16:34:00.003-05:00

I wasn't sure what my mark was going to be after the exam. I figured I needed an A on the exam to pull my mark up to a B+ and I hoped that I could get a B final if I got a B on the exam. Of course there are so many other factors it's hard to know that kind of thing for certain. For example I don't know if the teach is going to give me full marks in homework, I did 90% of the homework, is she strict, did she accept my excuses, or maybe I actually submitted more homework than anyone else and she gives those marks away on a scale. Then there are other areas of the course that I can apply to the same questions to, lab work and class participation for example. So to cut to the chase I thought I might be in the B range on the exam which would put my mark up in the air. I checked yesterday and it was a B!

So now I have a B+ and a B, again since this is a language course the mean means 76-79 and the B+ means 8--84, or something similar. They bump the grade letter down since they consider language to be easier than other subjects I suppose. Having a degree in Philosophy and English and a couple technical certificates I do not agree. In any case I am very pleased with the B. I want a B or B+ average and it looks like I'm on my way to getting that.

I was going to write more on other subjects but of course money makes our most important decisions for us so I'll restict my comments to saying that I would like to congratulate Distributel for receiving an A+ rating at the Better Business Bureau.

Final Exam Course 2 Tomorrow

2009-12-11T11:55:00.006-05:00

So I should be studying but I've 21 hours till the exam and figure I've got some time to waste.

I suppose the CRTC is a bit perturbed this morning. Tony Clement ruled against them, pushing the CRTC one step closer to non-existence. I know there's a clause in the Telecommunications Act for the veto but monkey see monkey do. How long till ABC owns our beloved CBC? I doubt that will happen but I do see the CRTC being eliminated. I've had a handful of people ask me to sign a petition to disband it, since the conservative government is backing the destruction of the CRTC I guess there's no point not signing it now. Such a disappointment, I really hope the changes proposed actually happen, based on my personal experience I suspect Canadians are not going to be as happy as they expect to be. Let me illustrate my point, let's say there are two major sellers of cola, Pepsi and Coke, one can of each costs one dollar. Let's say to create competition between the two we allow companies to make and sell other types of cola, now we have RC and PC, both of which are cheaper, both of which taste like shit BTW. Did Coke and Pepsi drop their price to .75 cents a can? I don't know because I stopped drinking coke when I found out the acid was burning my stomach. Anyway good luck to Canada, the future (as it always is) is filled with uncertainty, I hope we all get what we deserve.

Down to 20 hours 50 min till exam time. It is actually fun to learn French, almost everyone is positive about it. It's also frustrating and difficult sometimes but when you catch a phrase you've never understood before it's quite a nice feeling. Just yesterday Kate said 'Si comme tu veux' and I marvelled that I understood it. I remember hearing the phrase from her before but yesterday I was able to translate it. It's a simple phrase I know (it means 'if you want') but it's hard to hear the specific words. It may not be a difficult sentence with difficult words but when all you hear is simmmm naaaa wahhhhh it's hard to know what the hell is going on. So when I heard each word clear from Kate it made me realize that I am making progress. Sometimes it's not quite as uplifting, for months I thought people were saying 'Super grave' to each other and I'm thinking it can't be grave (like grave in English) it must be some other word so one day I asked Ludo, what the hell is super grave. He of course didn't know what I was talking about so I described the context to him from earlier in the day. It's 'Ce n'est pas grave' ('it's not grave' or basically 'everything is cool', 'don't worry about it') he said. People don't pronounce the ne! I remember from my first class in the summer my prof suggesting that the ne in negative sentences will eventually not exist as the language evolves so I know why people say it like that but again it's hard to hear it. It could just as easily been something completely different.

So hearing French is hard, I'm also a very slow speaker. I have to plan everything out before I say it which makes for some challenges. I've been told I have a pretty good accent, especially for someone know to the language. I'm sure it wouldn't take people long to decipher my true nature [insert evil laugh here] but when I do plan out the sentence I guess I don't sound too anglo. When I first arrived I would attempt French and people would tell me they speak English, often poorly but most anglos speak it poorly as well (myself included I'm sure). So we would communicate in broken English. Now I say things to people and respond is long French sentences and I have to interrupt them to tell them I don't understand. People get so apologetic it's funny but it's great! I want people to speak to me in French, not English although I know they want to practice English too. I like seeing how much I can understand and if it's not an important item I'll just nod whilst picking up one in three words.

Kate had one wisdom tooth out yesterday and it was a bit stressful. She was supposed to have two out but this one was near the nerve and ending up taking so much time and energy that they decide to leave the other one. It's in no immediate danger of causing damage to the rest of her teeth. Today she is in bed, working though and while she is swollen it's only one corner of her mouth so I think it's better than it could be. When I had all four out I couldn't eat anything for a week and even then it hurt like a sonofabitch. I would wake up with blood all over my pillow and the drugs made me unconscious for the first three whole days. Kate isn't bleeding I can understand most of what she's saying and she's up and working so I'm pleased with that.

So I've got a lot of crappy studying to do and I better make Kate some soup, down 20 hours 35 min but I've got a system and I know a couple of the things on the test. Like congegate some verb in every tense. We've learned 7 and some verbs like avoir and etre do not like to follow the general rules I like to call them the rebel verbs, faire is in there too but aller is a bit of a poser and tends to hang out by itself. And then there are a few other odd balls like pouvoir and savoir, or some have tiny little rules like appeler, sometimes there are two ls sometimes one, or sometimes the accents change. Il faut que j'etudie maintenent, a bientot.

Going Ons

2009-12-07T09:22:00.004-05:00

Not too much new too write about. I've found new gym locations downtown and now that my cough is better I'm going back to the gym after a couple weeks off. The new gym, right on St. Catherine, is small but it was empty in the morning last week so that works for me. I also went to a gym near Kate's work, which was bigger but further away, and it's right beside a food court full of suits so I'll probably stick to the St. Catherine's gym.

I'm actually the same weight now as when I started but I like to think I'm adding muscle while I lose fat, and I've never been concerned with my weight anyway. Kate has also started driving us down a food path that avoid meat. We still eat meat of course but we try to restrict the frequency of our meat ingestion. It's mainly for health reasons, I know we don't need to eat meat every day if we replace the protein and as long as we're not cutting it out completely we shouldn't need to worry to much about things like iron intake although we still do to a small degree. It also gives Kate an opportunity to try out difficult dishes, it's hard to make something taste good without that delicious substance call animal fat but of course Kate is very successful.

As much as the decision to cut back on our meat intake is for health reasons I must admit that I often feel bad about the treatment of animals in the food production sector. I think some of the things that people say are exaggerated. It's a proven tactic to convince people of things; exaggerate the hell out of it. Still there is some truth in it as well. Some of the points made I think either don't really matter or are just untrue but there is no denying that there are a lot of people on the planet to feed, a lot of money to make doing it and as always the lowest end of the totem pole gets the worst of it, in this case the animals. It's also expensive to buy humanly treated meat, many places don't even sell it too, but if you're not eating it every day the price is moot. I don't mean to preach either and when I go down to Texas this month I intend to consume large amounts of meat. It's just surprisingly easy to cut meat back in your diet. We eat it maybe 2-3 times a week from 7 times a week and I barely noticed. Of course it helps to have a young Julia Childs cooking for you. I think Kate is like the MacGyver of cooking, if MacGyver had a sidekick that ran out and got all the missing parts of whatever it is that he was making out of a paper clip and cigarette butt that week, that of course is my job.

I'm reading a great book, it combines my two favorite genre's of book: 18th century fiction, although I'm more partial to Poe, Hawthorne, Irving rather than Jane Austen, and zombies. The book is called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It's basically Pride and Prejudice but with the added factor of zombies, quite funny, quite entertaining. I hear there is also Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters which I will look for. The book is written in the style I enjoy reading but instead of boring topics, like marriage and gentlemanly conduct, this book covers such topics as marriage to zombies, and gentlemanly conduct in regards to the dispatching of zombies. I love that everyone else loves zombies now as much as I always have. The early Romero movies are one among those memories that I cannot remember not having, like I don't remember the first time I ate chocolate, I also don't remember the first time I watched Night of the Living Dead. I guess that's some insight into the reasons behind my constant desire to protect my brain from the teeth of those around me.

I joined a flag football team. My shoulder seems to be completely healed after a suspected rotator cuff injury. I'm not the Quarterback so I shouldn't be aggravating it if it isn't completely healed. The season starts in January. I went to a practice last week to sort of try out for the team. They want to make sure you don't suck and that you're not a jerk so I guess I was a shoe in but of course I was still a bit nervous. The only other guy I know on the team, the guy who hooked me up with the team, Mitch, wasn't at the practice so it was me and a bunch of people I don't know. At the end while I was considering the QB said he'd like it if I played so it was an easy decision. I don't know what position I'll play, probably a receiver but maybe defense, I'm fine with any position of course, and from what I hear there may be a couple games we have to play ironman, both sides of the ball. It should be good exercise and maybe I can score a couple touchdowns this season. I played 3years of football and 4 years of rugby in high school. I never started in football and I started maybe half the games in rugby. I never had the joy of scoring a touchdown playing football, once I was talked inside the 5 on a 40 yard deep pass, but never in the endzone. I have no idea how many trys I scored in Rugby over the years, somewhere between 15-20 I suspect including 3 in one game once and twice in a 7 aside game. Anyway I'm hoping to make up for some lost scoring in this league. People take it pretty seriously so it should be good. I'm pretty excited to play actually, I never though I would be memorizing plays again.

Well I best get to my French, I have an oral on Tuesday and my final on Saturday.

Habitat For Humanity

2009-12-03T10:16:00.005-05:00

So I've been twice so far. They have a couple PCs which I've worked on a bit and I'll do more on when I get a blank CD. The rest of the time I'm testing electronic devices, finding out what's broken, labeling it all or pricing things. There are pickups on Tuesday which I'll be able to help out with when this semestre is over. Eventually I hope to try and fix things too, I have no doubt that I'll be able to do pretty much what I want when I'm there.

It's a bit strange, I guess with all volunteer outfits there is a great mix of people. At Habitat there are quite an assortment of characters. I think a few of them, at least one, are there for community service. Not because they did serious things I suspect, the one guy I talked to said it was for traffic tickets. It's really laid back and I come and go as I please so it's pretty good. The time goes by pretty quickly. Some of the guys don't do much and want to talk, which is fine, I don't mind meeting new people. The rest of the time I just find something to do, there's always something.

I got my oral mid-term result finally and despite some negativity about what I had written for it I managed to get an 85%. Now I have another oral on Tuesday and the final exam the Saturday after that. They're really cramming it in there to end the semestre.

Written Test

2009-11-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

I haven't got my oral results back, although I am quite sure that I did well on that. I wasn't so sure about my last written test. I had somehow managed to miss an entire section of the chapter when I was studying and I had trouble with a couple other sections. The saving grace was that I thought I did very well on the parts I had prepared for. I thought the mark may be as low as 65ish but it turns out I got a 74 and the teacher actually said to me that it was a good mark. I just thanked her so I'm not sure if she meant it was good compared to other marks or if she saw my holes and considered that I had done well despite them. Either way random encouragement from a teacher is great.

Now I have a quiz on Thursday, it seems there's always some test pending and I only have one class. Others have commented that they have multiple midterms and tests or long papers shortly after the midterms finish, so I suppose I shouldn't complain about a quiz.

A friend of ours from France is living with us and I've impressed him with my ability to understand his conversations. That's encouraging too, that I can actually hear the words is impressive to me considering I knew next to nothing 6 months ago. I can't quite converse, mainly because my thought process is too slow but I'm slowly noticing phrases that I don't bother translating to English in my head so with three classes to go after this one I'm feeling good about my ability to pick up French by the end of next year.

There's a Re-Store 100 meters from our house so I've decided to volunteer there. They need office workers and store workers at the Re-Store, which is also the Montreal office, and they need builders on the weekends. I haven't got a schedule or discussed where they want me but I'm glad to have a chance to learn a bit about building and the various aspects of it. I already know a fair amount from work, friends, and various home projects so hopefully I'll be an asset for them.

The new house is coming along and we had our first get together this weekend past. We had a poker tournament. I don't think I've played poker in two years, it was more fun than I remember it being. Possibly that's because I won 60 bucks.

So that's some of the crap I've done of late, and here's some of the crap I had to hear today:

Q: What do the Raptors, Argos, and Leafs all have in common?
A: None of them can play hockey.

and

Q: Why won't the NHL let Hamilton have a hockey team?
A: Because then Toronto would want one too.

It's hard living behind enemy lines.

Oral Exam Over

2009-11-11T09:16:00.002-05:00

Well that may have been the easiest exam I've ever taken in my life although I'll wait to see the results before I get too excited. Last semester the oral exams were one on one with the prof. She would ask questions and I would stumble through answers. This time I had to record a story of the past in the lab. We all went as a class and each had a desk. We weren't allowed to bring anything we had written in but I memorized my piece. So the first thing I did when I got in the lab was write out my entire oral. I missed two small parts but they were both only information pieces the gutted sentences still made grammatical sense. I also flipped two sentences but of course that won't matter. So I think I did extremely well except how can it have been that easy?

Maybe my classmates slacked off and didn't memorize anything or prepare in a significant way. I know one guy forgot to do any prep. I feel like I got near perfect although I'm sure there were some tiny errors. I'm more concerned that she'll say the oral was too easy so the next one is back to the one on one which I suck at. Anyway we'll see. I also saw her marking my written exam from last week but she wouldn't give me any hints on how I did so I'll have to wait till Thursday.

Well that's about it, my abs hurt from the gym yesterday and the cats are doing well, rats too.

Askipedia And Other Stories

2009-11-04T10:25:00.002-05:00

Years ago I started a company with my friend Chris called Askipedia. We had a website that makes money still and we had some fun with it. Then we decided to get serious and start an SMS service which didn't take off quite as well as we had hoped. After running out of money we put it on the back burner. The original website kept on trucking but we weren't really maintaining it. Now we're rekindling the old flame.

Kate has been more than fantastic getting some of the business aspects together that I sorely lack the ability to do, maybe the desire but it amounts to the same thing. Her initiative has made me excited about getting the site moving in a forward direction again.

The site will stay basically the same but we're going to be pushing for people to sign up to be question answers, we still have plenty of people asking. We'll be starting with a contest, details to follow, and we'll be adding a couple items to the web page. Hopefully we'll get the ball rolling and the questions being asked and answered at a regular pace without too much work from us. Then we can invest our time to other improvements to the site.

Askipedia is another topic I will be adding to this blog so check back for more crap about the company and what we're doing with the web site.

Some other notable pieces of information.

I had my third test in french last night, I think I got perfect or close to perfect in some sections and close to zero in other sections. Hopefully it will average out high. I bombed one of the oral sections but I think I actually got perfect on the other oral section. I think it's a good sign that I can at least some of the time listen to people speak in French and understand what's going on. If you ever need someone to translate directions for you, I'm your man.

I have a new workout at the gym but have been quite busy so I've not been going as often as I should. We were in Mississauga/Hamilton this past weekend for a wedding and with renting Halloween costumes for it and then being in a new place that needs work the Gym has been low on the priority list but I am still going. I have noticed a different although I'm not paying too much attention to that, I'm in it for the looks and the strength to beat people up, not the health.

We had Thanksmas this past weekend. We were there for the wedding so it was a good time. Uncle Morris and Aunt Irene were in town for the wedding so they stuck around for it all. It's always good to see them. Hopefully we'll be able to make a trip out west again soon and head down to California to see them. One trip at a time though, it's Texas for us next month.

Doran would not do well in my current apartment. He's got this sick sound system that will pretty much destroy everything you love if you turn it past 16 and he likes to play it on 18. He gets the odd complaint, although they are consistently coming in. I have a standard tv with no extra sound stuff, just the plain old tv speakers. Two days ago Ludo and I are playing Gears of War at a loud volume but we could talk to each other without raising out voices. It was also 6 in the evening. We're playing and I can hear this constant pounding, the guy above us is always making noise so I ignore it as long as I can. Finally I'm sick of it so I pause the game, the pounding stops. This guy is pounding fro us to turn the game down? It's 6pm, it's not really that loud and he's the noisiest person I've ever lived under. I can tell we're not going to get along. He even looks like a doofus. The guy below us seems fine though. He told us that we didn't actually have a parking spot like the landlord said. Turns out he tells everyone in the building there are three spots, one for each apartment, when in fact there are only 2. There are a lot of jerks in the world and it seems like I am their fluorescent light.

Settling In

2009-10-29T09:48:00.004-04:00

Well a large portion of our stuff has been put away. Of course we have limited space for our clothes so currently we're using the mountain system. If you haven't used the mountain system I suggest you give it a try at least once. It's really simple. Clean a spot on the floor and pile up all your clean laundry. As you use the clothes create another pile (preferably with a barrier so the two piles don't get mixed) for the dirty laundry. It's much easier to find things as you can see most of your clothes collection at first glance.

Actually I've been without a dresser for about a year. The crappy Ikea device I was using literally fell apart, you really do get what you pay for. We had a number of in closet shelves so we put all our clean clothes there. Now of course we don't have those shelves and I don't have a dresser so we're using the mountain system until we find a better solution. Other than that much has been put away or shoved into a closet for storage.

As you probably know I have two cats right now. One is playful, fun, agile, named after beer and quite the funny character hissing and growling at inappropriate times or humping his sweater and meowing during important conference calls. The other is oddly uncoordinated and quick to anger. The new cat, Jedi, was getting used to the old place, she liked being picked up in the bathroom and she often got excited and clawed at one of our carpets. She had stopped being violent and I hadn't heard her hiss in quite awhile. Moving is quite disruptive for cats and while Brewski usually gets scared and submissive and then once in the new place explorative and happy Jedi gets violent and angry on both ends of the move. When she moved in she stayed in her carrier for a day, then the room the carrier was placed for another day until she finally slowly came out to see her new home. Then a couple weeks later we had to endure a 2 week bout of crazy cat, many people were lunged at and some even cut. This from a normally totally uncoordinated cat, seems she has the coordination when she needs is. This time we expected something similar and in the early goings we had it. Once Jedi was in her carrier she began hissing and trying to slash us from her cage. Poor Ludo almost got hit a couple of times in the truck on the way to the new place.

Jedi continued her normal behaviour at the new place hissing up a storm as I delicately placed her in one of the rooms and shut the door. Shortly after I had setup food and water and a litter so I opened her door and she growled a lot. Later I came to check on her and she was not only out of her cage but searching the room and when she saw me open the door she tried to get out. Not the behaviour we witnessed when she moved in with us. Eventually when the help left I let her out to explore the apartment. She was mildly violent, hissing at us if we tried to pass her, but her sight is weak and it's understandable, giant shapes flying over top of her freaks her out. So each time I had to pass her I got down to her level and let her smell my finger (which was usually clean). Kate's mom was a bit too quick with her I think and got a slash on her leg so we weren't sure what to expect moving forward. Jedi was better than last time but still injuring our guests.

The second day she was totally normal and has been since. She's even sleeping on the same bed as Brewski. So psycho cat has turned into normal cat and we're quite pleased with that, especially since we may very well be moving again in a few short months.

The gym is going well for me, I get out about twice a week so I'll keep the membership. I haven't lost any weight but my back fat is greatly reduced so I presume I'm adding muscle while losing fat.

French is also going well, I can slowly see myself getting it. There are so many little rules and slang and then remembering verbs and how to conjugate them it can often be overwhelming but occasionally I get things right without thinking, they just seem right. Similar to knowing that you say an apple not a apple. You know the rule but it also just seems right one way and not the other. I think some of the french rules are coming to me like that. By the end of next year I hope to be capable of communicating in french sufficiently enough to speak it on a day to day basis. Then we start looking at all the French speaking countries we can spend some time in. Vietnam might be a good one, we can live like kings there!

Speaking of kings I'm going to a Halloween wedding this year. Kate has decided to be Marie Antoinette so I am going as Marie Antoinette's husband, King Louis XVI. Louis XVI was said to be a bit of a lousy king so I'm not sure if I'll be him or Louis XIV, who was a much better king. Perhaps I'll just claim to be the 'King of France' and have some of the young maidens feed me grapes and red wine all night. Either way our costumes are pretty good I think, wigs and everything. The shame is we may need DDs for the wedding and what's the good of being a king at a wedding if I can't drink. If I recall history class correctly I believe the main duty of a king was to keep the wine stocks low, it was a key method for keeping the unemployment rate down.

More to come next week.

Loose Ends

2009-10-22T10:05:00.002-04:00

So we won the championship in our second baseball season. I think we get crappy t-shirts or something. I was 34-35 going into the final and hit 0-5 in the final game, boo. I played in a football tourney last Saturday and while the team lost all 3 games we played, I scored 2 of our 3 touchdowns. So I can end the sports season on a high note at least. Hopefully I'll be able to get into a football league in January, we will see.

After getting 66 on my first french test of the course I got 76 on my second one. I forgot how hard university is, they actually expect you to learn, in fact they pretty much expect you to learn a lot on your own. They like to throw brand new words on the exam and then ask what it means, so it's not just the language I'm learning but my ability to reason and deduce is also being tested, hardly fair I've got 10 years more wear on my brain than everyone else in the class. The prof makes jokes about her age and how we don't remember things that she grew up with, like Knight Rider and racist Looney Toons episodes. Granted she still older than me and I don't remember the Montreal Expo, but I do remember the 80s! Some of the kids in my class were born in the 90s I think. At least I blend in, looking young like I do. I may get the odd pimple but I have all my hair and I get IDed at least once a month, in Quebec! The drinking age is 18 and I still get IDed! I love it, I get people apologizing to me and they look all embarrassed, it's great. The problem is soon people are going to just assume I have a fake ID.

Speaking of IDs I just remembered I still have to get my Quebec Drivers License so I better make an appointment for that. There's always more crap to do.

Moving Day

2009-10-22T09:47:00.002-04:00

Moving day is almost upon us, it's this Saturday. We found a place near Place Saint-Henri Metro. The place itself is nice. Second floor (which sucks for moving in) and very similar to our current place in some ways. If you've seen where we live now the kitchen and dining room are really one big room. We spend a lot of time in it. In fact we spend almost all our time there unless it's Sunday and football is on or I'm playing Xbox, then it's just Kate in the kitchen/dining room and me in the living room. Even the rats live in the dining room. The new place is similar in that it also has a kitchen/dining room, in fact the new place is probably going to be better in the long run. Too bad we hope to only live there for 8 months.

The kitchen/dining room stands to be better because there are more windows. We lose a dishwasher but the one we had sucked anyway. So the trade off is light for a dishwasher, an easy trade in my mind since we only put glasses and plates in the dishwasher and I'm already scrubbing pots and pans every day so what's a couple more cups and utensils. The extra light means the plants will do better, including herbs that Kate likes to use, and of course we need the sunlight as much as the plants do. Plus there's lots of cool wood which I'm hoping makes the place feel more cozy.

The bedroom is huge so we may put the television in there but that has obvious drawbacks. Then we have two other closed rooms, both pretty small. One is fine for a spare bedroom and the other can be storage and a room for the animals, or we can cram the tv into it. We'll decide when we get all our crap inside.

The biggest drawback to the place is that it's not in the Plateau. There are no nice restaurants, no cools bars, no shopping, no giant parks, no bike paths and strange sculptures, at least not that I've found, I will continue that hunt of course. It does have some stuff though, a post office, a pet store, the metro is just as close as the current place, it's got three sad looking bars near us but at least the closest one also seems to be the best, we've got an IGA that's not too far but far enough to not carry home two cases of beer and a bag of cat litter, and we are right beside a small park. Oh yeah and the neighbour's cat just had kittens. So there are some good things of the area but different things. One thing to note is that we'll probably save money by not going out as much, did I mention the beer was 1.50 a pint at one of the bars?

The landlord seems like a good guy and the bathroom is in good condition, the floors are all nice hardwood. Really the place would go for 2,000 a month in Toronto, we've got it for less than 1,000. It's funny we spend 900 to 1,000 in rent each month here and we're considered big spenders. Other than logistical concerns we really have our pick of any place in the city while we're renting.

The plan is to pick up the house hunt when the snow recedes and people can inspect the roof of a potential purchase. Our lease is till July 01, just like everybody else in Montreal. We hope to find a place by then.

So that's not really the crap I wanted to be doing this fall but it's the crap I am doing.

Trying To Buy A House

2009-10-07T12:36:00.003-04:00

Is freaking annoying. The first place we put an offer in turned out to be a potential money pit. The seller didn't tell us about a huge oil leak which is something the neighbours could sue us for. Then we found a place the bank owned and put an offer in but they countered with a ridiculous counter. We're now putting in a counter offer and the bank's agent is going to tell them to take it but you never know. So it's been difficult and that difficulty has been compounded by us having to vacate our current abode by the end of the month. We're looking at a two week closing date, makes it very difficult. We may end up in a temporary rental unit, which will not be ideal so we're really hoping on this place.

In other segments of my crap, the gym is working out fairly well. I've been a few times and I have a humours id card of me now. The only thing the TVs show in English is CNN so that's not the best but yesterday there was an exhibition women's hockey game so that worked out, ha ha worked out.

I got a horrible 66% on my first french test this semester but I noted that many of the people around me had similar success so at least it's not just me. That's also a sign that I am probably going to be able to pull that mark up. Also a good 10% was lost to stupid mistakes that I should have known. Conjugating a verb improperly, it's je dis, not je dit, crap like that. In fact some of my mistakes are made commonly by French people. Anyway I have another test next week so I aim to improve.

Things are freaking busy, I missed our second last softball game last week because we were supposed to look at houses, that didn't happen but Kate was missing it anyway to go to a poetry slam so I didn't rush to the game for a last minute arrival, I went to the poetry slam instead. It was pretty good. The slams have judging to determine a winner.The judges are just audience members. They are also stupid. Not all of them but some of them. I'm not the greatest judge of poetry but I know what entertains me and I did take a poetry class or two in university. These judges were all over the map, one particular judge would gave scores like 2.7 out of 10. Now even if the poem is that bad this is an environment that pushes for a lot of support. This guy was basically just being a jerk. Then the same guy would give an 8 out of 10 for something that sounded like a 8 year old's attempt at a rap song. Anyway the person who won was one of the best and all they won were cheese curds so it didn't matter much anyway but this clown still annoyed me. We also made a couple friends, sort of, at the place and got info for another poetry event so over all it was a good night. Next Monday we'll have our last softball game so we won't miss that.

So that's some of the crap I've been doing, hopefully there will be more to note soon.

Joined A Gym

2009-09-24T12:00:00.003-04:00

When I started this blog I had a few things in mind. I was going to write this blog, take French, exercise and I felt that I was going to lose one of them. It was the exercise of course. Who wants to spend summer running and swimming when you can spent it on patios drinking beer? Not me. So I decided to join a Gym. I have some free time during the day and I work right near a chain gym and can go on weekends to one on the island. I think once I pay and can exercise without worrying about the elements I'll be more encouraged.

Yesterday I took a fitness test, I scored excellent in everything except core strength and regular strength. I did a ton of push ups but that measures endurance, sit ups were another story of course it's not my fault though, it's the belly's fault.

Today I go back to get a program. I don't think I'll be getting a significant workout today, just instruction on the machines and such so I'll probably go back tomorrow. Anyway I've got a 37 day trial so hopefully I can stick to it as I have with this blog and French.

Housing update, we found a place we like that needs a lot of cosmetic work, we're going to put an offer in tonight. It's bank owned so we're hoping to get it cheap! If we do get the place I expect to be extremely busy between work, housing repair, the gym, french, writing and then living to enjoy the fruits of my labour.

That's a lot of crap to do and now I'm off to do my French homework before the Gym.

Exciting Softball?

2009-09-22T09:25:00.003-04:00

Yep it was an exciting game of softball last night. We played the top team in the league. First we got of to a rocky start losing 9-1 going into the bottom of the second, where we were to hit. We slowly crawled back and managed to pull within 3 runs, 9-6, with just one inning to go. I made my first out of the season, I was 21-21 or something but with two runners on and two outs in the fifth I couldn't pull it together and I flew out to centre, but that wasn't the last inning.

In the last inning we pulled within one run, I was on first and it's 9-8, again 2 outs. Kate was hitting and she knocked a ground ball to short. I was of course running as fast as I could and I'm pretty fast. Kate's no slow poke but but I guess the guy playing short didn't really want to risk a longish throw so he pitched the ball to the second baseman who was covering second. I was actually shocked they were going for me at second I was so close to the bag. So being that I'm allowed to and the game was literally on the line, I slid into second. Sliding is something that I've never been allowed to do in softball but this league allows it on second and third. Sure enough I slide into second and crash into the fielder, who I didn't realize was a girl until the play was over, and they dropped the ball. I felt a little bad. I didn't exactly hurt the girl but surely she was worse for wear after the collision. What can I do, it's the last inning we're down by one run with two out, I'm allowed to slide so I did, and I saved the game. The next three batters hit safely and we won the game 12-11.

I cut my leg up on the slide but it wasn't nearly as painful as the four balls I had to throw back into the infield in the first. I have bursitis or tendinitis in my right shoulder, stupid rotator cuffs, I've always disliked cuffs.

The mood was unfortunately a bit solemn after my awesome play, I guess people didn't want to celebrate the win under hard knock circumstances? I don't know, all I know was I made the play of the game, it was the TSN turning point for sure.

I rewarded myself by chugging a teammate's beer when he went out for a smoke.

In other news, house hunting is still going slow, tomorrow we'll have a line up of houses. The rats, the cats, and Kate are all doing well and we are officially out of our place on Napoleon on the 31st of October. It's going to be an interesting, and probably stressful few weeks ahead. Yay!

Trudging Through It All

2009-09-15T10:24:00.002-04:00

The house hurting is going poorly. There's always something wrong, foundation, bricks, closing date, location, asshole real estate agents (couple of those). It's becoming frustrating as we are officially out of our current place Oct 31st. We're in Toronto this weekend so time is quickly becoming our enemy. Add on French classes twice a week and all the packing we need to do and it's going to be a rough October if we don't find a place soon. So good luck to us!

Speaking of French class, have you ever been in a class with one of those jerks that always talks to the teacher, as if he's the only guy in class. The same guy who makes 'suggestions' on how to better teach the class. I was in shock and if it were high school the guy would have got a spitball to the back of his head when he suggested we memorize all the words in the lexicon before reading the content. Memorize the words out of context? What a painfully dull and ineffective way to learn something. This is the same guy who spoke for the class when asked if we wanted to take a break. He gets right in there and says no break because he has a train to catch, like I give a shit about his train. No one said anything at all. I don't want a break that's why I didn't say anything but there must be smokers in the class. If I still smoked we'd have a break for sure, if only to annoy this one ass. The class itself is huge and the room we're in is small, I was 5 min late last week and I had to sit on a metal chair from the hall with no desk to lean on, and I had to stare at the ass's balding head all class, of course he sits in the front room. The jerk answers every question before she picks him, there are participation marks and he's looking to steal all of them. I just want him to shut up, he'll tell stories and stuff in class! SHUT UP and stop wasting out time you idiot. All right rant over although I'm sure I'll have more, I'll only been in 2 classes with this jerk so far. When the stress of moving gets to me I may have to say something.

We had a double headed in baseball last night, we won both games and I hit a home run in the second game. Second dinger of the year. Unfortunately my right knee is a bit swollen and painful after back to back games and I said I could play football on Wednesday, we'll see how that goes, it's only touch of course but that doesn't mean much for my knee. I'm sure it will be fine of course.

Not too much else going on. Between house hunting and school it's been pretty busy. I did manage to watch the football games on Sunday. I went 11-5 to tie for the weekly win, 140 bucks or so. I should have won the whole 280 but a couple fluky Monday night picks lost the full amount for me. At least I'm in first over all, well again tied. Lots of time to extend my lead though.

First Day of Class Round 2

2009-09-08T09:58:00.002-04:00

While the day has not been horrible in any sense but it's been one small mishap after another and it's only 10:00 am.

We were awake early because Kate has to be at work at 8:30 everyday now, boo that, it means I have to be up too. We only had one Club Soda left so we split it and I had to bring a Gingerbeer with my lunch. On the weekend we bought glass containers with plastic lids. We both used one for lunch Kate's blew up in her bag and mine leaked leaving a fine layer of gravy over all the other items in my lunch bag. Minor mishap, could have been worse and got all over my school books.

At the office the only other coffee drinker is on vacation, a cool vacation I might add, he's following the trail of the US army from Normandy down to Paris. So he's not here and the coffee making is up to me, as it was on Friday. I'm not used to people not drinking coffee so I assumed the pot was empty when I brewed a new pot this morning. Of course I was the only coffee drinker on Friday so very little had been removed from the pot. As you may imagine it overflowed and coffee was everywhere. I cleaned it up before anyone else in the office saw.

I brewed a new pot and sure enough when I finally get a fresh coffee back to my desk, I spill part of it. It was again a minor mishap.

Then I go to use the washroom and the toilet is a cavalcade of toilet paper and shit. If you're going to use that much TP why not flush the toilet at halftime? This toilet is stuffed all the freaking time! I had to walk all the way to the mall and use the bathroom there.

I also realized that I've been inadvertently screening my parents who have a new 905 number. I thought they were trying to sell me something, which I get a lot of.

So today is my first day of class and it seems everything is 3 inches to the left, hopefully things straighten out.

Update on the housing front. We've seen a couple places that are good but one needed brick work and the other has some foundation questions. Two areas of repair we are not excited about involving ourselves in, but we are still following up on the foundation place. The owners claim to know nothing about it and we're going to see if a pro can take a look at the foundation, don't know if anyone will do that for free, the roofers didn't mind. Anyway I think that place is a longshot because of the foundation.

Wednesday we go to look at more places.

Real Estate Hell

2009-09-02T09:58:00.004-04:00

So we put an offer in on duplex. It was countered, at the same time another offer for the same place was countered. The other people had looked at the house and put their offer in the next day. Kate and I took a week and did a lot of research on the house and the costs of the various repairs we were aware of. To date the house has had 5 offers including ours and the one that went in at the same time as ours.

The other offers were either too low or they were pulled after the home inspection. So I suspect the other people don't really know what they're getting into but offered more than us. All of this is reasonable in my mind, here's where it gets hairy.

So our agent is pitching our offer. Among his weapons is a list of homes that sold in the area for the same price, roughly, that we were offering. The sellers agent took them out of our agent's hand, said 'Bullshit!' and threw the papers in the garbage. An interesting technique. In the same discussion our agent asked how long they were giving the other people interested to do a home inspection and get financing, something we have a legal right to know, the agent refused to tell us stating 'I can make it 100 days and I don't have to tell you.' Okay, aside from that technically being against the rules I'm actually fine with it. It sucks for the seller because we're going to find another house and when this offer falls through because the buyers are too zealous our offer will be off the table. Oh well I guess that's why the house has been on the market for so long and all these offers are falling through, a mentally unstable agent. Now it gets worse.

We still like the place and we were given a counter offer that had a clause that if the other people didn't buy the house we would get it. We didn't like the price nor would I ever sign an offer without knowing how long the other people had to get the inspection and financing done, am I a moron? This agent must think so. So we send back our own counter proposal. This is the part that angers me, it seems he didn't even bother showing his client our second offer, that is illegal, or against real estate code or whatever. But what can we do? We've given up on the house and are filing an official complaint, hopefully the guy gets fired but we really have nothing left to gain from this endeavour.

We have already gained very valuable insight, we're well prepared to access the potential costs of another home and we are well aware of how nasty people in this business can be, although I'm assured this was a unique situation. I don't think Kate is on the same page yet but I am fully prepared to play hardball on the next house. People get real estate agents to do their dirty work and I'm not letting my kind hearted nature be taken advantage of. I am beginning to understand very well the common phrase 'It's not personal, it's just business' translated that means, 'I want to screw you but I feel bad so I'm going to lie to myself about how it's not my fault'. It's funny we accept that in the business world, but when some kid says he has a gun because society makes him we don't give a rat's ass.

Speaking of rats, ours are doing well. They seem more confident that we intend no harm, DoubleV actually leapt (is leapt a word? blogspot says no but I'm leaving it in anyway) onto me yesterday and climbed up to my shoulder. Of course upon finding no food up there he returned to the table he was on. The cats seem to be getting along better too, Brewski is calming down and hissing much less. A few days alone with Jedi seems to have softened him up a bit. He's not all the way there yet but it's promising.

I start classes again on Sept 8th and we lost our first softball game of the fall season 12-11. I hit a home run in my first at bat, my second of the year I think. I actually went 3 for 3 Monday with 2 RBIs.

Last weekend we were up at Scott's in Kingston where I helped him build a fence. It was quite enjoyable work actually, even when it rained on us. I look forward to a time when I have many such projects, hopefully soon in Montreal although it's been a rocky road so far.

So that's pretty much the crap I've done over the past week or so.

Weekend at Loon Lake

2009-08-25T09:46:00.002-04:00

It was an extended weekend I suppose with a wedding thrown in there on Saturday. The wedding was a fine example of a wedding. It was in a Catholic church but there was no mass and they moved it along at a steady pace so no complaints. Kate and I were also invited to a brunch since we were out of towners. Of course we knew no one so we sat at a table for ten by ourselves until one other misfit joined us. The other misfit whose name I forget worked for a Junior hockey team so the conversation was good for one of us. Kate was not impressed.

Most of the time we spent in Thunder Bay, or at the cottage on Loon Lake. We flew in with Porter on Wednesday and back home Monday. Thunder Bay is interesting in a boring kind of way but Kate and I found a great place called Ruby Moon, which had wireless Internet, food and beer and was near a comic book store. While Kate busied herself with free lance work I read a football magazine and browsed the comics at the comic book store.

The cottage also has a sauna so we were in there a few times. It's not like a hot tub. You can sit in a hot tub for twenty minutes and then roll in the snow for a couple minutes without feeling the slightest bit cold. You can also sit in a hot tub for an hour without passing out due to heat stroke. The sauna has other qualities, for one it's very hot and for two you cool down about ten seconds after you leave the room. Our bright idea to jump in the lake after the sauna was not as fun as I expected it to be. Instead it felt like we we jumping into liquid ice.

The rest of the time was spend cooking or cleaning or reading a book by the fire or on the porch. It rained for a couple days. The day the tornadoes hit southern Ontario we had some pretty hefty winds. The rattling of everything kept us up most of the night and the fact that the upstairs rooms aren't sealed made it especially cold. Almost as if the wind, which I believe broke the sound barrier on three separate occasions that night, was basically blowing on us all night. Cold and loud and creepy, I rather enjoyed it actually, especially after finding a couple Lovecraft books to read.

Now we are back in Montreal and spending our time learning about natural gas, and oil furnaces and other expensive house things. The roofers gave us an estimate that was much lower than we expected on the place we are currently considering but the 45 year oil furnace counters that pretty effectively. We still want it and will hopefully be putting an offer in tomorrow. Our only time pressure is government tax breaks so we have very little pressure to buy, still I hope to get this place at the price we want it at. I guess that's every one's story.

B+

2009-08-25T09:11:00.003-04:00

I failed in my quest for an A but it's only the first of a number of classes so I have plenty of time to get that GPA up. There are a few reasons I missed the grade I was hoping for and I still intend to speak with my prof so all is not lost yet. Here are the main reasons I missed the mark:

1) Concordia has been under the McGill shadow for quite some time, in order to glamorize themselves they have adopted their own 'Concordia' grade structure. A B+ (the mark I received) is a score between 80-85%. For the first 32 years of my life 80% meant A, Concordia is a trend setter in separating the awesome from the awesome minus 1. I must also note that I am loathe to speak negatively of Concordia after dealing with the University of Terror, I mean Toronto. Perhaps the single most frustrating institution on the planet, except for a certain wannabe phone company.

2) I missed 3 classes at the end of the semester, in which difficult things were learned by many, but not so much me.

3) There was a very large section on reading comprehension that dealt with tax law in France. I would be hard pressed to comprehend it if it was English, let alone French.

4) I possibly suck at exams.

I also found out that the marks I get in these classes won't be as impressive to universities as I originally thought so it's not as big a deal anyway. I was however quite disappointed in myself nonetheless. Next time I'll study French tax law before the exam.

Next class starts on the 8th of September.

First Class in the Books

2009-08-17T10:06:00.002-04:00

I wrote my final exam for my first of 5 French classes on Saturday morning. An odd time for a final exam, I guess they figure if we're taking summer classes we're losers and have nothing to do on Friday night anyway. In my case they were right.

I suspect that I did not do extremely well on the exam for a couple of reasons. First I felt horrible, I don't know if it was some bad crab meat (it smelled fishy) or what but my stomach was not in good shape. We went out for an early breakfast so I would be ready to write the exam and I did eat almost as much as I usually would but I was in a great deal of discomfort. The nervousness of having to write an exam was probably part of it but I still feel a bit off today. I ate some of those disgusting pepto bismal tabs and by the time I got to the school and met a couple of the guys from class my stomach had settled considerably.

As is usually the case I studied a whole bunch of stuff that wasn't on the test at all, the harder stuff, so I'm sure I made a few minor mistakes, which of course will add up. I know I forgot to make the verb etre agree in gender and number when doing the passe compose. I didn't even think about it until I was half a kilometer away from the exam room, a dumb mistake.

There was also a reading comprehension area. Now normally I do well at this part of a test, the reading I find easier than most other areas, I think many people would agree. For some evil reason they picked a topic that would have half gone over my head if it were written in English! It was about why the youth of France have more incentives to purchase homes. They get tax breaks and some other stuff that I didn't understand because it was a) written in French and b) about tax crap. How incredibly irritating, who knows maybe I aced that part. Basically I copied what I thought was relevant from the text as my answers. BTW did you know that 52% of private wealth in France is property?

We have our final softball game tonight, the 3rd place match. We were the victims of a last inning comeback last week. As disappointing as that game was to lose it was possibly the best game of the year. I didn't do anything spectacular but over all the game was close and fun. I hope tonight is the same, maybe with a bit less pressure. We have decided to sign up for next season though so the softball will continue into September! Let the real Fall Classic begin.

We saw a duplex that we like and I think we're going to put an offer in on it. We're up in Thunder Bay Wednesday to Monday of this week so we won't make any decisions until we return but I think we are going to try. They may not like our offer of course but it will be the first time we've made an offer so regardless of us getting this particular place it's a bit exciting for us.

Following in the footsteps of my sister we would move into the smaller of the two apartments and renovate it while we lived in it and rent our the other floor which needs much less work. The upstairs (where we would live) has been half gutted and not put back together. They tried to turn the living and dining rooms into one giant room so they took walls down but they didn't clean up the mess so now there's exposed wood beams and wires hanging around. The roof needs to be redone and since the floor is a bit of an open concept now (or will be after we clean it up) we're thinking about a skylight. So we think we can improve the place significantly, we just have to make sure we can make our money back plus more on it. I'll of course post more on the place when we take further steps towards acquiring it.

Wednesday we fly to Thunder Bay, there's a wedding on Saturday and Kate's family owns a cottage up there so most of the trip will be hanging out at the cottage. I was there once before when we drove to BC we stopped in for a night. It's an interesting place, lots of dead animals on the walls and the second floor was an add on so it's dimensions are a bit off, kinda creepy actually but I like it.

I'm sure I'll have fun meeting Kate's family, to date I have meet very few of them.

Rats!

2009-08-12T10:05:00.002-04:00

To many of your chagrin Kate and I have two new pets, Doublev and I Grec. The names are the French pronunciations of the letters W and Y. I get that two Vs make a W but what the hell is I Grec? We got the pair from the SPCA, like the humane society in Ontario. It was quite a mess in there, animals everywhere, confusion, most of the people were volunteers I think. We managed to barge our way in and take a couple of rats, although I was yelled at for touching a kitten on the way, how can you not when it's rubbing up against the cage it's in meowing?

We got a cage the next day, the first night they stayed in Jedi's cat carrier. The first night they were in the bedroom but they make a lot of noise so now they stay elsewhere although we haven't really found a permanent home for them.

Brewski is adjusting to the rats much better than Jedi. He is curious and a little scared of them but has shown no hostility towards them at all. Jedi is her usual oblivious self. We took her to the vet last week, turns out she has cataracts. I've been saying for weeks her sight is poor, but there is little we can do. I'm sure her aggression comes from a fear that is derived from not seeing what's happening around her. Maybe her sense of smell is a bit weak too, who knows. She was only in attack cat mode for an hour or so after the vet so that's good. I do not look forward to moving her to a new place.

We have found a place that we like enough to see a second time but we want to investigate other areas of the city so I'm not sure if we'll actually be serious about this first place. It does have a lot of wood inside the house that could be stained to look pretty good. There are a few other things we can do to the place and the tenant pays 800 a month in rent so it seems not too bad. We looked at 2 other places when we first saw the place we like, they had obvious flaws, one had a backyard with a view of the Tralier Park Boys meet Chernobyl. The fat bald man being helped through a window by his 8 year old bald fat son was the deciding moment for me. That was the first thing I saw when I stepped into the backyard, the neighbours house being broken into by it's owners, a normal thing right? Then he comes back out the window and sits on the porch. his wife comes out the door with a drink. I think the guy forgot his smokes in the house or something so rather than go around he had his kid push him through the window. We passed on that house.

I've got my French exam Saturday morning at 9, gonna have to step up the studying, today I've got some lab work to do so that will help. Then tomorrow and Friday will be memorization and practice. Oh and it turns out that some of the things I'm learning, the hard things, aren't actually used in speech by many people, probably because it's too hard to get it right. C'est la vie.

I Screwed Up the Passe Compose

2009-08-05T09:48:00.002-04:00

But I think it will be ok. More important is that I actually understood the questions I was being asked. The marks are of course important and I've set a goal of 85% (an A at Concordia). I want to have good marks here to demonstrate to this or other universities in the future that I am capable of getting As. My current undergrad is sadly devoid of that particular letter. Just one class left and the final exam, which is on a Saturday morning boo, although that Saturday night will be fun.

We caught and killed a fish up at the cottage last week. It was a small mouth bass, not very big but bug enough to work with and Kate wanted to experience the process. The killing isn't very pleasant but we figure we should be able to do it, rather than just have other people do it for us. so we started with a fish, when we own a farm we'll probably have to move up to chickens and others. It will be sad for us but life is often sad. So we killed and cut the fish up and put it on the BBQ and it was quite good actually. Only enough protein for one person maybe but I thought I did a pretty good job of cutting it up, only found one small bone in it.

Killing wasn't the only thing on our minds last week. We also acquired a couple items from my parents that will come in handy. The main acquisition was a chainsaw, while the chainsaw is my horror movie weapon of choice we think it will be better served preforming it's intended use, cutting wood up and the like. Again more of a farm tool.

We spend one afternoon playing with a chipmunk, so trusting those litter things are. You can watch a video of an epic struggle for a peanut here: http://katesversion.blogspot.com/2009/07/friends-chipmunk-peanuts-video-camera.html

That's some more of the crap I did last week, more crap to come later.

Big Oral Exam Today

2009-08-04T15:03:00.004-04:00

I should be studying so I won't post a long post as per usual but I need a break. Things can easily become confused. I thought I had the passe compose down pretty well but then we learned futur proche and suddenly I'm confused. Is it 'je suis alle' or 'je vais alle'? When you only know one of those two it's easy to keep it straight. I suspect my knowledge of french will not be the worst part of the oral exam today. I have a tough time hearing English words sometimes so hearing the French can be very tough. Maybe I should get one of those old school hearing devices, they kind that look like a french horn or the speaker of a gramophone. That might freak my prof out a bit though.

Kate and I were on vacation for the past week and a half or so. Most of which I will have to write about some other time as I really should go back to studying soon. We were in Toronto then Orillia then Sudbury then back to Orillia and back to Toronto and we arrived home yesterday. We left on the 23rd I think.

In Toronto I went into the office for a couple days and saw the guys, then John, Kate and I went up to Orillia. Kate and I actually went on an overnighter to Huntsville where I caught some kind of flu bug for a few hours.

We managed a couple rounds of golf, I golfed my best round ever and Kate enjoys the sport so I think we'll be playing it more.

We also clinched the playoffs in softball last night. I hit a two run double to make it 4-4 and we never looked back going on to win 15-9, they made it close in the 7th. Playoffs start next week. Just checked the website, we finished 3rd so we play the 2nd place team. Yesterday's win not only clinched a spot but put us up to 3rd from 4th. a good move since the 1st place team is undefeated.

I'll dedicate a post later this week to our last days at the cottage since it's up for sale! There's still a chance it will stay in the family though; I bought a lottery ticket for this Friday's draw. Bonne chance pour moi!

The cats, specifically Brewski, were not impressed with our extended absence. Upon returning home we discovered that one of the cats, the one that takes bigger craps, decided to use our kitchen carpet as a litter box. It's of a pretty thick material although it's a stretch to confused it with dirt, maybe if it was shag. Thankfully the carpet is just a throw rug so we can wash it, or possibly burn it. Of course now that we're back the cat refuses to be more than a foot and a half away from one of us. Jedi is doing well and seems to have not noticed that we were gone for so long. She has a vet appointment this week though so I'm sure I'll get my share of her displeasure soon enough. Cats. We are thinking of getting a dog soon, I'm hoping the dog will keep these cats in line although with the hissing twins it may be the other way around.

Back to the books.

Baseball All Over the Place

2009-07-14T09:21:00.003-04:00

My Uncle Tony was down for the weekend. Caught a ride with a couple friends of his, worked out quite well. We went to look at a house for sale Friday night but couldn't see one whole floor so that wasn't very helpful. Then we BBQed some chicken, that was helpful, for my belly.

Saturday we had a softball tournament. I did not expect to do well but we won our first two games! Then we BBQed some hamburgers. I brought my BBQ out to the park, not too difficult to get there but it was a bit of a pain to get together. The grease all over it made it a bit of a challenge. I still have the grime under my finger nails, not really because I cut them but I would if I didn't cut them. These days I have to cut them often because if I don't it's hard to play the guitar. Often I'll find that my left hand has nice neat groomed finger nails and my right hand has claws of death. I don't need to cut the right hand nails to play guitar.

So we were 2-0, the BBQ is going, we got way too much food and a 2 and a half hour break before our first playoff game. We practice a bit, eat, drink, it was fun. Then is started to rain, a lot. The first playoff games made it through but we were playing in the second bout of games of the first round and the rain wasn't stopping so they called it. The make up tourney is next Saturday but we'll be in Perth! Kate was quite pissed, so much that as one of the coordinators was running through the rain she wished her to fall in a puddle.

We did manage to play without rain last night and we won handily. It may have been the first game I ever played where I didn't make at least one out. I did hit a solid ball to the gap with the Sizzler though.

Today I get to study for another French test. I think it's going to be a tough one. Crappy.

French Is Getting Harder

2009-07-09T10:36:00.002-04:00

I only got an 82 on my latest exam although I did lose 4 marks because I misunderstood a question. Still I wouldn't have got all of those 4 marks. Today we learn the dreaded Passe Compose, but on the plus side we get to have pizza at work because it's office picture day. Yay. I mean barf.

I've also got 2 assignments due today, they're not hard or anything it's just that there's 2. Things are really ramping up. I think I'm getting the hang of most of it but speaking in French is still very hard. For one I have to think of each word so I'm the slowest talked ever. Small children get frustrated with me and have kicked me in the shin on three separate occasions. I also have to ask people to repeat themselves a lot. I think that if French speakers spoke French as slowly as they speak English I would understand a lot more. They have to think about English so they speak very slowly but when they flip to French to 'help' me they whip through a sentence blurring the words into one giant word. I probably do that with English much of the time although I do try to make an effort to speak slowly with people I know who are still learning English, these people are far more advanced than I am in French.

I do enjoy learning it, the rules, it's like a puzzle. But that ends on the page. Once a conversation starts it's no longer fun. Maybe I should just carry a tiny tableau around and write everything on it to communicate.

One of the guys at work told me about a French sports radio station so I'm going to start listening to that. There's a couple reasons for this other than that it's a sports radio station. When you're listening to the radio there are names and places and words that aren't French. Kate for example can't follow a hockey game in French because she doesn't know if Komisarek is a French word that she doesn't know or if it's a player. Or she may be confused if they start talking about Le Igloo, do they mean a real igloo or is that another French word she doesn't know. I of course will be able to listen to French sports radio and I'll hear the names of players or teams and be able to concentrate on the French. If I'm listening to CBC and they're talking about politics then I'm totally lost. So that's one good reason to listen to French sports. Another is that if I do start knowing what they're talking about I won't be bored out of my mind, unlike for example: politics, or Oprah like call in shows. How disappointing it would be to listen to a station for a couple months trying to figure out what they're talking about only to finally realize they're talking about how to make a man not want to have fun once he's married. Boo that, sports it is! AM 730 CKAC.

Saturday we have an all day softball tournament. As usual this year when it comes to softball they are calling for thundershowers all day. We're going to get a tarp setup and bring food and beer, I'm going to bring my BBQ. Should be fun, the softball part too should be fun too, I guess.

I gave blood yesterday, I have A positive blood which is the second most common in Canada so they probably need lots of it. Plus it's a good excuse to leave work early.

Yesterday I learned that 'mise au jeu' is French for faceoff.

Canada Day Was um Interesting

2009-07-03T09:14:00.002-04:00

The day itself was a typical day off. We took our bikes out to see if we could find a new patio somewhere. It was a sunny day, good timing after all the rain we've had, including today's thundershower warning and 80% POP. It goes from snow to cold to cold to cold to snow and snow to slightly warmer to cold again, then spring hits and it's cold and snowy and when it finally gets warm it's endless rain. Everything is very green and it is pretty warm, close to 30. I'll be happy when it breaks 30 everyday and it's too hot even for clouds, that's real summer.

So we rode east on Mont Royal, great part of the city if you need a new carpet or dryer so we came back west on Marie-Anne, one street south of Mont Royal. There we found a place with a patio and what looked to be great food although we didn't order any. Our food plans had been made for the day already, BBQ chicken and a salad from our vegetable basket which we were to pick up two hours after we found the patio. So we sat on the patio for those two hours and watched the food other people ordered. We will have to go back to the place but as usual I have no idea what it was called. We come up with our own names for places, that one will be the Canada Day patio.

The night before we saw Stevie Wonder open up the Jazz festival. It was a free concert. They had big screens in various parking lots near that actual stage so there was plenty of room. The only problem was the losers that opened up their umbrellas because three drops of water hit them, the umbrellas of course blocked our view. A couple of more bold people politely asked the few with rain fear to get those f-ing umbrellas down. Then some punks started slam dancing in front of us and another older woman was dancing and moving into us to try to get away from the punks so we left. We saw most of the show and we were ready to leave anyway but why not blame punks for everything. Not punk music punks but jerk kid punks.

Stevie opened by going on and on about Michael Jackson, how everybody was out to get him and we should buy his music not the literature about his life, which is surely going to be full of speculation. I agree with him really. I don't know if Jackson was an evil person, a mentally unbalanced person, or just an unlucky person with false accusations against him. To tell you the truth I don't really care, he was what he was, someone who made possibly the most profound impact on music since Elvis. I'm not a huge fan of his music but I am certainly not a fan of caring about what celebrities do when they're not doing what they are famous for. So I won't buy any literature about the life of Michael Jackson Stevie, I doubt I'll buy any of his music either though. In fact I'll probably do my best to ignore the whole thing. Now I wonder where Mike Komisarek liked to eat in Montreal before he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, anyone know if he's single? Or does he have any quirks I should know about? I'll just read about it on all the hockey blogs I subscribe to.

So back to Canada Day and the interesting celebration in the old port. For one they call it celefete. Fete french for celebration, I think, something like that anyway so celefete is like a play on the two words, the second one I've been able to identify since moving here. The first is a Tim Hortons breakfast ad that says Timatin, matin is french for morning. I actually laughed at that one. So during the Canada Day party, I mean the celefete, they had a wall of water with images that were difficult to see on it. It looked kinda cool but not seeing the images clearly kinda ruined the effect. Later they would spray a mist into the air and shoot lasers through it, other than getting wet from the spray that part was pretty cool.

There were kids everywhere, it's 10 o'clock at night and the kids are everywhere, welcome to Canada! They also had a beer tent that didn't ask for ID and they let you wander anywhere with your beer, welcome to Montreal! I wonder how many drunk underage people were there. After laughing about the beer and the lights and the kids we stop to pay attention to the stage. They're playing You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC, then a girl comes out and sings My Humps to the AC/DC tune. Strange to play one sing and have someone sing another in the first place but My Humps? I'm looking at maybe a couple hundred children as a woman belts out "my humps, my humps, my lovely lady humps" I'm laughing and then a dude comes out and sings the next part of the song "what you gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside your trunk." Now I'm concerned for the youth of our nation. I assume few of them spoke English so they probably didn't hear the lyrics anyway. It was good to see so many people excited for Canada Day though, it certainly wasn't the show that had them going.

We didn't stay long.

Yesterday I had another French test, I think I did well on it. I'll find out next week. I nailed the boot verb part and I conjugated pouvoir and devoir like I was a French rapper. No I don't understand that joke either.

The exercise has all but ceased, other than my chin ups and push ups and Kate's daily bike ride, another other occasional bike ride, and the 15 flights of stairs I walk up everyday. Now we're switching to eating less. We don't eat poorly, no chips or candy or anything, but boy I can eat a lot of cheese and pasta. So we're gonna try and cut back on some of that. Boo. The liquid bread probably don't help either.

We have a visitor this weekend and a poetry event tonight, Kate is not preforming but I'm sure it will be interesting anyway.

Kingston And Two Straight Losses

2009-06-30T09:28:00.004-04:00

Kingston is a pretty nice town. It's old and has some nice shops and patios. We went to a place on Sunday that brewed their own beer, I don't really ask for much more than a micro brew and a patio, maybe some water to look out at once in a while. Kingston has all of that. Surprisingly I had never been there before, Ottawa is next for cites I've never been to. Kingston has some pretty interesting history too including some of a drunk Sir John A MacDonald, although the trolley tour was closed for some reason, lazy I guess.

Our friends Scott and Betty have a place near Kingston, a big nice log cabin. Of course these days a cabin is a house but the walls are log. I was interested in the insulation of the place and Scott said it was good. They have a few more tricks for that than they did a couple hundred years ago I guess. In Nelson we ate dinner in a restaurant that was a log cabin but the insulation there wasn't very good at all. I'm pleased to hear that you can actually live in one and not freeze over the winter. Scott and Betty's place is quite awesome, huge and with beautiful wood everywhere. They have a huge lot too. Not a bad place to settle down, Kingston has government jobs, French schools, land that's not 30 stories high and over priced.

Our friends Kim and Steve who were ironically on their way to Montreal (is it really ironic or just a coincidence, probably the latter). They stopped in for the afternoon, both married couples have children. One is two and one is a couple months shy of two. Both were great kids, well behaved, fun to be around. Of course I get to sleep all night every night so that's easy for me to say. I missed it but it seems the kids in their innocence decided to give each other a big hug. The kids being kids and slightly awkward physically, tripped and crashed into a train set. They were ok, even their pride I'm sure was fully intact, so we can laugh about it. If they do anything kids really can make you laugh, odd comments, physical comedy, fun stuff.

We did not get to build the green house because they are looking to put geothermal heating in and may need to rip up much of the yard to do it. Hopefully they won't have to but either way we're hoping to make a return trip to raise the green house and the car rental for the weekend was only 125 total including gas so there's no problem getting out there.

We lost our second straight game in some pretty sloppy conditions last night. The field was full of pools and half the team didn't have cleats so it was a soggy affair. The other team was able to drop some balls in between the infield and outfield. Imagine when you were a kid tossing a ball directly into a puddle in front of your friend, sometimes it was an accident but often you did it to drench them in puddle water. That was last night for us, plus a few wipe outs.

We biked to the game since it didn't start till 9:30. We rode along a waterfront path which was pretty nice, a bit confusing sometimes, multiple paths no indication where to go. Kate knew the way though so it wasn't difficult. The way back was a little tougher. The game ended around 11 and we had about an hour bike ride home, in the dark. Our first mistake was not following the same path we came to the park on. Also we were not in a very good mood. We had just lost handily, we were wet from the field and it had just begun to rain again. Plus I had a particularly bad last inning and Kate had some pretty hard hits sent to her through out the game.

So we ride out and find a path, one we assumed was the same path we took in. Unfortunately we found ourselves heading further away from the city, to the south specifically. We were actually in the midst of the Five Roses factory and the ship yard beside it. Why is there a bike path there at all is my question. I want to take a leisurely bike ride through a bunch of factories, sure I do. There were lights but the solitude and the time made me worried so we turned around and back tracked to another path that seemed to lead us in the right direction. Our mood improved somewhat when we saw the first signs of life again, life that didn't have a spray paint can in one hand.

All in all it was a good bike workout yesterday, for me anyway, for Kate it may have been a bit more of an average workout.

So an eventful few days although that seems to be the status quo out here in Quebec. There's always something going on. Tomorrow is Canada Day and this weekend we have a visitor, as we did last Sunday for one night. Then it's a softball tourney next weekend and then we're off to Perth the weekend after. I'm not complaining!

On To 2nd Semester

2009-06-26T14:26:00.003-04:00

I had my first class back last night and wow was it ever long. I thought the class was about to end about 5 times before finally checking the time and seeing a full half hour left. It wasn't that this class was exceptionally boring I think I was just getting used to not going and the excitement that came with the first class of the semester was absent.

I did get my second test results and oral exam results back. I scored 89/100 on the test and 8/10 on the oral. I expected the 8/10, I didn't think I did particularly well but I'm determined to start speaking more french at home, related French too not just new things. I'm sure Kate will get used to me giving her directions to the local store, the subway (metro) and the bathroom. My professeur also has stated that the second semester is going to be much more difficult than the first. I knew those high marks were too good to last.

We just finished the third chapter and instead of two pages of vocabulary at the back, there are three and chapter 5 is only in French. But my background is improving and although the articles are still difficult I'm beginning to understand that they will always be difficult. Even Kate makes the occasional error. Once I start hearing it a little better I think there will be a bit of a snowball effect. I've also already signed up for my classes in the fall and spring semesters.

I've asked my company Globalive if they can help pay for the classes. I'm told they legally must pay since I'm in Quebec and I legally have to speak french to work here (I'm sure taking classes is enough), but they said no. The argument is that it sets a precedent for people to take language classes, I guess they intend to hire a lot of English speakers in Quebec because that's the only precedence I see. The question now is whether or not to fight it, of course it's me so once I find the actual legislation saying I must speak French and that the company must pay for it, maybe some case law too, I'll be bringing the subject back up. Will it lead to my termination? I doubt it but in this world of uncertain economies and in this company of certain unethical practices, you never know.

Tomorrow we leave for Kingston where we will be helping erect a greenhouse at an old friend's. Can I say old friend yet, am I old enough for that? Hopefully the predicted thundershowers will blow past us, otherwise the greenhouse building may be slow going and unfortunately for us I suspect the roof goes on last.

We went to the parade on Wednesday for St. John Baptiste Day. Lots of blue and white, at first I thought the Leafs won the cup but then I realized if I made that joke out loud I would probably be flogged so pretend I didn't mention it. There were some interesting things, a crew of people on bikes from various years, one dating back to 1817. One guy pulls up to us and says something in french that I don't understand, then he pulls his handle bars off the frame and says something else, then the rest of his bike falls apart. I turn to Kate for a translation and she's wandering away leaving me to deal with the French guy on French day who is either in trouble or trying to make a joke. Either way I feel an English bashing coming on so as he's putting his bike back together I rush away.

Brewski is very excited about his new found skill, hissing and growling. Last night he took it to a whole new level and proved himself to be at least somewhat intelligent. We've taken to allowing the cats into the backyard but this was the cause of Jedi's original freak out so we're rather cautious about it now. As a result Brewski does not have carte blanche when it comes to coming in and out of the house. I don't want to lock him out so when we go to bed so I bring him in. First it's a challenge to get a hold of him, he runs from one shelter to another. When I finally get my hands on him he'll hiss continually until I get him inside the house. When I put him down he'll swipe at my legs and make a woofing sound. After I've moved away from the door he'll sit in front of it, staring at it from less than half a foot away and growl. For an hour he just sat there and growled a long steady, and loud, growl. Jedi will wander by being her usual oblivious self until she gets near Brewski then he'll bat her in the head a couple times before he goes back to the door or Jedi tackles him.

All in all Brew is much less violent now. Instead of 'playing', which includes him wrapping himself around my arm and biting and scratching me, he'll hiss and bat at the ground then run away. Is that a cat thing or did he learn it from Jedi?

Home From Toronto Again

2009-06-22T09:57:00.004-04:00

We're back from yet another trip to Toronto. The Wedding went well, I was hung over for it after a day of drinking on a patio with John and Kim and a couple others. It was a great day, too great, Kate had to buy Gravol to make sure we were at peak performance for the wedding which thankfully wasn't until 5pm.

One of our Friday cohorts gave me his son's shoes. Seems the boy is 16 and wasn't into the dress shoes his father purchased for him. I remember such times very well and since I'm still of that nature a little bit I don't have good shoes. I have conservative shoes but nothing that anyone would actually enjoy looking at. It's odd to think people would enjoy looking at shoes but they do for some reason. So I happily took this pair and wore them to the wedding. I love the concept of passing things along, too often do things sit and rust, or are forgotten or just become smelly when we could give them to someone else. I don't just mean old clothes for the poor, or a can of pumpkin seeds for a food drive. I mean shoes that are perfectly good but you know you won't wear them, or video games that you haven't played in a year, or a microwave that's been replaced with a toaster oven. I was given a bike by a friend, then my dad said I could have his bike which was a little better and what was he going to do with it? So suddenly I had two bikes, people sell them all the time but they both had been given to me so I gave the first bike away myself, to a friend of a friend. I don't expect anything back for giving the guy a bike but then two years later I get a great pair of shoes. I would have got the shoes even if I had sold the bike but this way it feels better.

The wedding was at the Botanical Gardens in Toronto, not the one near Church St but a completely different one I had never heard of up at Lawrence and Leslie. Of course it rained a bit so I think we were forced indoors for the ceremony. We still managed to get outside and check out the gardens a bit during the reception. We even saw a little raccoon but I was too slow on the draw to take a picture of it.

It was good to see the guys again and after a late night we had an early train. We were pretty organized for it, we forgot my toiletries bag but I keep a spare set of all that stuff because I forget it a lot, and we forgot Kate's phone charger. I think we did pretty well. We loaded up on food and club soda, we got to the train boarding area with five minutes to spare. I pull the tickets out hand it to the ticket checker and suddenly it seems one of the tickets is missing. It's about 300 bucks to get a last minute ticket and we had 5 minutes. I frantically searched through my bag where the tickets had been all weekend. Nothing. I blamed the guy on our way out for taking the wrong ticket, extremely unlikely but I had to blame someone other than myself. With time winding down and me turning my thoughts to which bags I would take on the bus and which ones I would send with Kate on the train I suddenly remembered my back pocket. I think Kate was just about to reach her peak panic level when I said 'unless' and pulled the ticket out of my back pocket. The relief was very enjoyable, there are few emotions as satisfying as relief. If someone is going to find out you did something wrong, it's best to just say it right away. Kate I broke your favorite wine glass.

Just kidding about the wine glass. Sunday we met up with Dave who is visiting from Toronto, he put together the poetry gig. Both he and Kate were great as usual. There were two others, one I hadn't seen before, they were both fun to listen to as well. At one point in Kate's set she decided to ask the crowd if they would rather hear a poem about baseball or one that would embarrass me. After a chorus of cheers for the embarrassing poem my meek 'baseball' was met only with laughed and I was forced to endure an embarrassing poem. I've heard it before but usually I'm anonymous, or at least I pretend to be, this time there was no hiding but thankfully I was in the back corner of the room and it was pretty dark. A good night all around, and another late one but we did manage to have our first steamies ever.

Hot dogs (steamies) are all the rage in Montreal. I don't know how often I'll get them but we do live close to a number of hot dog places, yes a number I was surprised too. I has the bacon et formage avec moutard. It was bacontastic. Kate had a couple all dressed which I wasn't as happy with. After seeing friends at the wedding, hearing funny and sad poems and keeping my eyes dry the entire weekend it was three strips of bacon and as much melted cheese that they could squeeze into the dog that finally melted my heart, also there was beer with the hot dog so that didn't help.

Wednesday is St. John Baptiste day. There's a parade and a party at Parc Maisoneuve. We've got the day off so we're going to fully immerse ourselves in Quebec culture. I'm sure we'll have plenty of stories to tell from it.

Toronto Wedding and Sunday Poetry

2009-06-18T10:50:00.010-04:00

We're off to Toronto this weekend for a friend's wedding. Going tonight by train and home early Sunday for a poetry event featuring Kate, among others. I will as usual sit near the back and get red faced during the poems that are about me. Some of which will actually bring a tear to my eye and/or give me goosebumps, a dead give away that I'm the subject. Sometimes I practice my stoic face in the mirror but that's like trying to win a staring contest with the mirror, damn thing always wins. I do like going to the events, Kate is rather talented and often there are at least a couple others of similar quality. The host of this particular event, who happens to be staying in our place while we're in Toronto; bad timing I know, is also fun to hear. It reminds me of the first poetry event I went to.

I of course did not know what to expect, at all. I thought Mike Myers in So I Married An Axe Murdered (he got off lucky) was pretty funny. I dearly hoped I would not have to snap my fingers, which I have seen that from time to time but usually clapping is preferred. Also it was quite early in our relationship, the first non work social event I think. A couple of the poems she read were about other guys, her latest ex specifically. It was still a good poem although I haven't heard it since that day. All the poems Kate read that night were great and she really impressed me. The rest of the poets not so much.

The first guy had published books, I studied poetry, I've even written some, I enjoy it. This guy published a book, it has to be up my alley right? I settle in with a bunch of people I don't know, Kate, and another friend from work. I'm the new guy to be sure, something I'm usually pretty decent with. Of course there is still a bit of awkwardness and I think Kate was a bit surprised I was willing to go at all. I am quite pleased to find out the whole event is in a pub so I have a pint and a chair, really what more could I want. For one thing I could have wanted the first poet to stub his toe and not go on but I didn't know I wanted that until the third or fourth word of his first poem. Were I physic I may have laid a small booby trap. Is it just me or is it really fun to say booby trap? I do not have the ability to see the future though and this guy went on. I wouldn't say it was bad poetry, not to his face anyway, perhaps it had more to offer on the page, I don't know I'm certainly not going to buy his book. For the first ten minutes of his set I basically had one though "What have I done to myself?" Not the 'oh no I cut myself on broken glass' type of thought but the 'oh my God Hell exists and I'm trapped in it, why didn't I let those school children go', kind of thought. Then he started counting to ten. No joke. I'm sure someone somewhere would argue the artistic value of such a poem, the timing of each number, the fact that he counted to ten then back down to one, the simplicity of it or something. In my mind and my one university level poetry class worth of knowledge, it was the worst poem ever. Even worse than the poem the same guy read in which he made a series of sounds, a e i o u, and sometimes even y, or as the French like to call y, egreck. Egreck will be the name of my first child or next pet, whichever comes first by the way.

The second poet certainly had written some nice poetry. It was totally depressing, long, hard to understand when she's saying it and you have zero time to reflect, and it was your typical boring poetry. Not quite as bad as Zorgon poetry, known as the second worst poetry in the universe, second only to the first guy that went on that night I believe. She was depressing and I almost fell asleep. By now I'm really concerned, this is the kind of poetry all these people are here to see, they like it? Do I have to like it? Can I leave? Of course I would never do that but you see why I was concerned.

Kate was third up that night. I think she may have started with the poem I mentioned about her recent ex, a hockey player. I think she was two lines in when I realized that as bad as the others were Kate was neither boring nor over your head artistic, in fact her poems were fantastic. He poems have style and I would certainly consider them art, but not the kind of art that only the artist really understands. Kate's poems are fun, entertaining, they have a social edge. You don't need to spend sixteen hours deciphering them, you can sit back and enjoy them, and everyone who hears them enjoys them. So with great relief I sat back and listened to her set.

I've agreed to go to every event that has come up since, even a couple that Kate has not preformed in. Most of the other poets we hear are similar to Kate, I'm not sure if I've heard anyone better than Kate, but a couple are close or on par. I've not heard anyone as bad as those first two. Now I am confident every time will be fine, it's like once you get bitten by a shark, bees are not really much of a concern. I will note that although many poets have interesting things to say, or funny things, many of them also tend to have this poetry voice. It's the same voice, lots of people have it. This kind of halting type of speech that will pick up speed and turn into a run on sentence ending with a deep breath in, then a punchline of sorts. It's hard to describe but if you ever go to an event you'll notice that there is a common manner of reciting poems. Not everyone does it, Kate doesn't, most of the better poets don't do it although I have heard some really good stuff in that 'poet voice'. I wouldn't call it annoying, I'm sure it's some sort of mechanism to get the poems out, I know I would stumble over the words if I tried reading on stage. So I of course am not complaining about it, but you really can see that the most confident people do not use the 'poet voice', or if they do it's only in bits and pieces. A rookie will often speak exclusively in the 'poet voice'. I don't mean to knock these guys, like I said I couldn't get up there and pour my heart out in the form of a poem, I think I would pass out even if I had to do it. I give a lot of credit to these people that go up, I just think they should lose the 'poet voice', or at least fewer people should use it.

So I do look forward to the Sunday event, although the wedding we are going to is on Saturday and we have an early train. It may be a difficult day on the whole. I would say I'm going to be low key for the wedding but my I'll be seeing a couple of guys that really helped me out a few years ago who I don't get to see as often as I would like these days. When I found myself living alone, for the first time in my life, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I was alone in many ways. I was unsure of how I got to the place I was and I had no idea what I was going to do next, I had to almost completely rebuild my life. I of course had friends still, but I only knew one person downtown and he had a life of his own. I had my neighbour who I saw often but I wasn't even sure what was going to happen with him. Turned out he came across the hall more and more often until I eventually nicknamed him Kramer. I can even remember him slamming into my front door when I locked it one day, I think he was carrying as bowl of something that he spilled and had to go back to refill. Kramer helped me out a lot, he introduced me to a couple of guys living a couple floors above us, Andrew and Eric. Eric ended up living with me for almost a year, with Kramer around about as often as we were and Andrew is the guy getting married on Saturday. Seriously, if it wasn't for these guys and a couple of my longer term friends I don't know where I would be today.

Thanks guys, I know they don't read this blog but really thanks. John, Ian, Andrew, Eric, Chris you have no idea how much I owe you.

Enough sappy crap I do have some interesting news. Kate and I have decided to enter the world of home ownership. Of course we haven't found a place and there is always a chance we won't find one that we like but we feel it's a perfect time to buy. We met with a real estate agent yesterday and we found a mortgage broker. We've done a lot of research and have picked out areas we want to check out. We're in no rush so it may be a long process but we're excited to start our hunt. It doesn't mean we're committing to a longer term in Montreal, although we've never really set a time frame for our adventures in Quebec, we just think it's a good decision considering the current economy. I'll provide any updates or fun stories, I'm sure there will be a few of the latter.

Montreal Means Festival

2009-06-15T10:43:00.003-04:00

Toronto has some cool festivals, Taste of the Danforth, Beerfest (not anymore), a small Jazz Fest, and there are probable a couple others. This weekend, as with every weekend in the summer I think, Montreal had more festivals than Toronto has all summer. It's crazy, they shut down major streets for entire weekends. When we the last time Bloor shut down from Friday morning to Sunday night. Mont Royal was shut down in that time period for Nuit Blanche, not the full Nuit Blanche I think but one of the two off shoots. The other was in the dead of winter, which we attended, we were cold. There is a Nuit Blanche in Toronto too, it goes all night one night and you can travel around the city checking out various artistic works, it's pretty cool, and it's over night. The winter version was over night and buses were free, that was cool. This Nuit Blanche included art painted on the street, Mont Royal. I think it was called Nuit Blanche Sur le (maybe la?) Rue. Patios everywhere, vendors hocking their wares, for the entire weekend. We went three times to check it out amongst our travels to the Fringe festival. That's right there was another city wide major festival at the same time. And from what I hear we better get used to it. The Jazz Fest is coming up, and there are a host of others that I've forgotten about because really I don't need to remember. If I want to go to a festival I'll just step outside and be right in the middle of one, it's unavoidable. There's no reason to plan to go, so there's no reason to remember which festival is going on which weekend.

The Fringe Festival is a performance art festival. We went first to a park to meet a friend and saw a couple (I think they were a couple but perhaps not) preform (sort of) with fire in a park. The girl was pretty good, she had a hula-hoop with sticks that were on fire sticking out of it. It was pretty cool to watch her spin the thing around and jump rope with it. I don't even think she burned herself although it's hard to tell. The dude that played with fire probably should have had more attentive parents. He was ok, some of the stuff he did was decent. I can't really get past one part of his act. He had already screwed up minorly a couple times, once burning his own ass with a stick that had fire on both ends. He's riding it around and the fire is creeping up the stick towards his ass. The crowds re-action of concern tipped him off and he stopped riding the flaming pole. Then, and this part is about as shocking to me as seeing a cat beat a Saint Bernard in a cage match, he flipped the stick in the air, let it bounce and then attempted to kick it back up into his hands. It would have been mildly impressive but the stick was on a huge angle when he kicked it and it went flying towards the crowd. He runs over and picks the stick up, not a big deal I guess although I turned to Kate and said I'm glad I'm not in the first row for this. Then the brainiac figures he would attempt the same stunt, I guess his routine isn't in tune with the music although the girl's seemed to be. So he does the exact same thing and the exact same thing happens, the flaming stick goes shooting off towards the crowd. I started planning what I would do when this jerk lit somebody on fire. First, finish the beer so no one expects me to throw it onto their flaming head, second plan escape routes for when the entire stage catches fire, third find a show that doesn't include fire. No one was burned except the performer and he was successful on his third attempt to kick the flaming stick, but holy crap.

At the same stage area whilst waiting for the show, and we were only there for a show we didn't know what we were going to see, I go up to the beer are for a beer. They're not serving beer. why not? The cops are coming. Did I miss something? Am I at a keg party? Why the hell does an advertised festival, that's rented a park area, need to worry about the cops. Sure enough the cops come, then they leave, in seconds even though many have beers and there's a giant sign that says BEER 4$. so once the cops leave a guy comes around telling everyone the beer tent is open again. Only in Montreal. Oh yeah and there was a half full bottle of Jack Daniels on a bench on the way in, and one the way out. I guess it's for people who don't have enough money to buy a beer.

Next we go see a poet across the street from the park that almost burned down. The guy is from England and has a number of political satire poems, quite funny. He also came out to the crowd before the show and introduced himself to everyone waiting. Kate and I once met a guy once outside of the Hummingbird before seeing the play Misery (awesome BTW). This guy asked us if we just ate at some restaurant we didn't eat at. We said no and he said we had doppelgangers roaming around the city. Then he asked if we had seen Misery before, we said now, he said we'd like it, I said thanks. The he said we need not worry if we're running late, the show won't start without him. I raised an eyebrow and said ok buddy or something although those lines. We found the whole conversation odd. The inside the theatre the guy who saw our doppelgangers steps up on stage, he's the freaking host. I like it when the people running the show stand in line, or are out in the crowd talking to them. I missed some of what the English poet said, the accent, the beer, the lateness of the night all contributed but the parts I did get were entertaining. Don't remember his name though, maybe I never bothered to know it. He's from England I doubt I'll run into him and need to remember his name anyway.

On Wednesday we're going to try and go see Cobra: The Musical. By Cobra I mean GI Joe's enemy. That's right. And it's a musical, I can't wait. Cobra-la la la la la la la la la, that's the actual battle cry for Cobra, it loses something on paper but if you ask me in person I'll give you a live demonstration of it. The GI Joe battle cry is much less interesting, it's 'Go Joes' or something. I personally am a fan but I can understand how others may find a simple 'Go Joe' a bit boring.

A pretty exciting festival laden weekend it was. I also helped my landlord replace a couple boards in our back deck that were rotting away. Then we rearranged the furniture out there and I BBQed salmon. It's too bad I have to interrupt my life 5 times a week to go to work.

Still Sore Lots More

2009-06-10T09:54:00.003-04:00

I guess it's a sign of getting older or something, my legs and entire torso have been achy all week. It seems to get worse everyday! Must be all the weeding at the farm, I don't know.

I had an interesting wait at the bus station. Usually the bus is waiting for me but today I had about a 10 minute wait. Lucky for me another soon to be bus passenger had his iPod on and was serenading the rest of the crowd with his preferred brand of music: gangsta rap. He either wasn't an adept enough rapper to sing all the lyrics or maybe he just didn't know them. He knew all the parts with swear words though, it was these parts of the various songs he had lined up on his iPod that he chose to belt out. My favorite part of the concert was when he repeated the word 'bitches' about 5 or 6 times before closing the song with a 'yeah'. I think many of us would be embarrassed to sing out loud in front of strangers, no matter what the song (other than the nation anthem perhaps). This guy not only sang the swear words of gangsta rap without a care in the world, he even danced a bit. That stiff arm spread finger thing and the slight bounce in the knees dance, you know the one. And on top of that he's just saying the word 'bitches' over and over? I expected the women in the station to slowly start to crowd around the guy before maybe kicking him in the shin or worse. Instead we all kind laughed at him.

I expect the vision you have of the Bus Station Rapper is not quite right. He was tall, about 6 feet, maybe a bit more. He was overweight, enough to notice but not enough to get on Jerry Springer. And he was Chinese. Imagine a fat faced tall Chinese dude with half a moustache dancing and singing gangsta rap in the bus station. Surely a great way to start the day. It's not the first time I've seen this guy. I saw him once before with his iPod waiting for the bus. This first time I saw him his concert was interrupted before I could hear much. In the midst of his first song the Bus Station Rapper noticed the guy beside him also had an iPod. Joy of joys must have been the first thing that popped into the BSR's mind for he exclaimed, "We're iPod brothers!". The second iPod brother of course chose to ignore the BSR who made a couple further comments about how pleased he was they both had iPods before taking the hint. The BSR got on my bus both times I saw him but he was also quiet on the bus, I guess the intimate venue is a bit too much for him. Next time maybe I'll try to get some film of him on my Blackberry, hopefully he doesn't have a Blackberry himself or I might be the next technological device brother in his life.

Another reason I'm sore I suppose is we played softball Monday night. I stunk, mainly because I was sore. I went 2 for 4 but both my hits were weak, a nubber that went 4 feet and a pop up to shallow left centre that manged to drop in. I also hit into an RBI fielders choice (Kate being the preferred out on that play, something she voiced her displeasure about to me). So I ended up with 2 hits, 2 RBI's and I reached base 3 out of 4 times. We won 13-3. I also had only one opportunity to make a catch in left field, which I made. I did make a decent dig on first, but the throw from second wasn't actually in the dirt, just low. It was the end of a double play though, I'm not sure how many double plays I've been a part of, may have been the first, you don't see them in softball too often.

I had my second test yesterday, I suspect I did not reach the 90% area but I guess that will depend on just how the marking gets done. I had to write a whole paragraph, if I lose a mark for each mistake I may not get much on it. Hopefully if I put the odd au in where a du should be she'll go easy on me. My oral exam is next Tuesday.

The neighbours moved out last week and decided to leave a garbage truck full of junk laying up beside my place. They even put their crap on some of the plants I planted. The good news is that I am often outside in the evening, BBQing or just being in the outdoor air. Various real estate agents will come by with prospective buyers. Now I've got the power. I'm still debating about whether or not I play the mentally challenged neighbour, where I make loud noises and swear a lot maybe, or if I should be the jerk. The back yard beside me is completely closed in, no alley access. They have to come through my backyard to get out. I've heard the agents telling people they can go out through my backyard. In real life I'm 50/50 on that, but as the jerk I would be 100% against it. We do have a lock for the door but I don't want to be a jerk to the person who actually moves in, I want to prevent people from moving in thus being a jerk to the owner that dumped all his garbage all over the side of my house and my plants. If the junk is not gone by Friday I'm going to call the real estate agent and strongly suggest they have their client remove the garbage. If they are unconvinced I may refer them to this blog entry, or perhaps I'll suggest that I might want to come out of graffiti retirement. There is a fresh canvas that is the front door of the newly unoccupied residence. Hmmm I wonder what I could write, perhaps 'Welcome, to this wonderful abode.'? Or maybe "I killed the last person who lived here, I'll kill you too!" I love this town but some of the people that live in it are amongst the least considerate people ever.

Till next time.

Weekend Update

2009-06-08T10:20:00.003-04:00

The weekend started off with us biking downtown to see Star Trek. What an awesome flick. Kate is more of a Next Generation fan so she didn't really know all the characters very well but she liked is as much as I. Bridging the generation gap I guess, should I say that about my girlfriend? Anyway great flick, if you're on the fence about seeing it, go see it.

From the movie we went to the Montreal Beer Festival. I used to go to the Toronto Beer Fest all the time. In the first few years is was slow and we tried a number of different beers. We had VIP passes, it was my favorite weekend of the year. As the years went by the festival became more and more popular. At first that was great, there were more beer tents, live music, more food items. Then the punks found out about a festival for beer. In the early days we would try strange new brews and learn about the process used to brew that particular brand. Long into the early afternoon we would learn about Kegs and the history of beer. Any attempt to do that now amongst the jostling of position in the beer line, and the guy pouring the beers frantically trying to accommodate all the people in line without being ripped off by the punks looking to scam a beer, is futile. Plus who cares, many of the beer tents are the same crappy beer you can get anywhere. It literally went from what you may expect a wine tasting affair to be, to a kegger. I don't mind keggers, but it's a beer of a different colour than the beer festival. So in short, punks ruined my favorite day of the year, and it's not just because I'm not a punk anymore, which is arguable. Kids today, I tell you, youth is wasted on the youth. The Montreal Beer Festival is much more civilized, not sure if that's due to the punks being too preoccupied with spray painting everything or if it's too new, but whatever the case the festival was fun. We tried all sorts of strange beers I've never heard of, including a red stout that was great and a couple new blondes, both Kate and I love blondes.

The beer situation in Montreal is far superior than Toronto. The beer is not only cheaper but far better. I'm not saying put the best beer from each province against each other and Quebec will win, I rather think not. What I am saying is that for 20 bucks you can get a lot of a really good beer in Quebec (a 15 pack of Trembly is 16 bucks), in Ontario for 20 bucks you can get a 6 pack of a good beer or a 12 of something that is probably horrible, I'm looking at you Blue, Canadian, Coors Light, etc.... I'm almost exclusively a microbrew guy now, nuts to Molson and Labatt, they're like the Walmart of beer.

So we were going to go up to a friend of Kate's farm this weekend, but he had family obligations. So instead we went back to the organic farm. After a long bike ride out, we spend the first half of the day weeding a sweet garlic patch. Tough work, I scratch my arms up a little but it weren't too bad. Then we learned how to hoe with various hoes in a broccoli patch. We also hunted for some little slug like things that curl up around the base of the plant and eat the leaves at night. I killed one, Kate didn't find any, so I won that battle. Kate stole my Swedish hoe which was wonderful and gave me some stupid stirrup hoe that was much harder to manipulate, if you want to buy a hoe, get a Swedish one. After a grueling bike ride back home we, well I can't remember what we did Saturday night off hand, I didn't study any French that's for sure, need to get on that.

What was supposed to be a relaxing Sunday turned into another long bike ride to a pretty cool market north of us. Lots of plants and vegetables, we carried back as much as we could but we'll need to go back. My legs are very sore and tired today and we have a softball game, the first one we actually will get to play in. If my legs hold me back it's Kate's fault for making me exercise.

I've got another test on Tuesday, so I may miss the final Stanley Cup game but that's not too big a deal, hopefully it will go 7, which will be on Friday. That will be fun.

So that's the update on the Crap I Did last weekend.