Swingtown
"You can't swing a cat in Zealand without hittin' a Brewer."www.dooryard.caFor any of you that have never seen this website I implore you to go check it out. Gold! Pure Gold!
rightoutaver \rite-'owt-ah-ver\ adj - Drunk. "
Garnet n' Aubrey musta' drunk a whole flat at the Legion - they was rightoutaver."
Try not to laugh...
Si
Fever
The Olympics always seem to go by in a hurry but this one even moreso. Maybe it's because time flies when you are having fun. Sure the hockey team stunk up the joint in monumental fashion, but besides that we really showed up. The COC set the goal at 25 going in so if the NHLers had have showed up we would have met that. And we did finish in third which was the alternate goal. We established ourselves as a major winter sport force after our finishing was in question after Salt Lake and, moreso, Nagano. This really puts us in a good spot heading into Vancouver. It's a long way away but I know I want to be there...
We have put more money into amateur sports and it seems to be paying off. There has been much debate about paying our medallists performance bonuses. I think the government should pay them all equally going in and Canada's corporate sector should buck up and offer the medallists endorsements as a bonus. That or the we could have some kind of inverse pay off whereby the NHLer's donate a portion of their salaries to our medal winners if they shit the bed again.
I vividly remember the collective pride at the end of the Olympics in 2002. That year the hockey team was one of the major reasons. I think there is a similar collective pride now but this time it is despite the hockey team. Gretz is still Gold though...I think it was Quinn sandbagging for better Leafs ratings...damn Leafs...who paints a maple leaf blue?
Thank You Cindy Klassen
I would....
For Those About To Rock
....We Salute You.
This beauty was officially adopted as our provincial flag on this day in 1965. I have always loved it...I can remember having seemingly rational arguments with other athletes at the Canada Games arguing that it was clearly the coolest flag. I stand by that...
We are a proud province; represented by the Lion (or in the case of those anonymous commenting Miramichiers, the cowardly lion). And the Galleon is an homage to our nearly extinct shipbuilding heritage. New Brunswick's old growth and know-how made us the producers of the best ships in the Age of Sail. No shit! You know there was a time when our timber resources made us as rich as Alberta's oil resources make it now. It was our tax dollars that allowed settlement of the West. I'm just sayin...
Anyways, that's your history lesson...and to you ex-pats; don't forget where you came from!
If I ever get a tattoo that boat sure would look good...maybe with Daffy Duck as Captain.
Newbie
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
This pretty much sums up my study habits. Sitting; staring at my notes, textbook, or (more commonly) into outer space. Waiting; for the knowledge to flow to me (usually attempted by laying my head on the page and believing in osmosis). Wishing; for questions about football and a good mark.
I wrote the mid-term for my Deviance course last night. Alas, professor Wiz didn't ask any questions about Fredericton High School's 1991 football campaign. So it was up to the wishing....
Speaking of which; some years ago someone told me that if you find an eyelash you should pick it up with your finger, close your eyes and blow it off. If it is gone when you open your eyes your wish will come true; if not you are out of luck. So while cramming before my mid-term I looked down on my page and noticed an eyelash on my notes. I picked it up with my finger, closed my eyes and blew. I opened my eyes an I saw that it was gone. I also saw that the young co-ed sitting across from me was looking at me like I was absolutely insane. Did it work? I don't know yet, I think I did fine on the exam but that's not what I wished for anyway. That's more of a one headlight wish....
Wish me luck!
Washy
I Left My Heart In San Francisco
When I used to travel playing rugby I would get frustrated at being in an exotic locale or a great city of the world and spending all of my time at a practice field or a hotel room. I would usually get to see just enough of the city to know whether I would want to come back or not. I went to San Fransisco once before in '97(the Haight - Ashbury photo is mine)and had just enough time there to realize that I should make it back. Well I've been back now and know just enough more to know that I have to make it back. The first three days of this trip were spent at meetings and dinners followed by one afternoon to see the city. Don't get me wrong, the meetings were useful and I had a lot of fun with my coworkers (our room was dubbed
Club 348), I just wish I took more advantage of being there.
The weather was nice for the days we had meetings and our free day, surprise!, was rainy. We tried to get to Alcatraz for a tour but they were sold out by the time we looked into it. With no other plans we decided to take the 5 cent tour of the city, which now costs 21$. It was a two hour tour of town in an old city trolley converted to tour bus. Very touristy but an incredibly effective way to get a look around with little time. I'm very glad we did it. We made it to the Palace of the Arts, the Golden Gate, the Presidio, the Coit Tower, and OJ Simpson's high school(which is also Joe Dimaggio's). The tour wound through some incredible neighbourhoods; some which are built on land that was created by the debris from the 1906 Earthquake (Marina District) to some built clinging to hills that define the city (Pacific Heights). They say that San Fransico has some of the most expensive property in the U.S. and we were shown some houses that oozed opulence. On the flipside of things (and this wasn't mentioned on the tour), San Fran has a big homeless problem. Panhandlers were rampant and my personal favourite was an old friend:
The "Bushman" of San Francisco sits on the edge of the sidewalk hiding behind his bush, when you walk by he pops out and yells at you; if you flinch you are expected to pay up. When I was there in '97 we saw him doing his thing and stopped for a few minutes to watch the startled reactions of the unsuspecting tourists. Hilarious! Then we had to walk past him to get where we were going. Even though we knew exactly where he was and what he was doing, when he pulled his stunt on us, we all jumped. Simply put, when a large homeless man jumps out from behind a bush yelling, you jump. We paid up...I'm glad to see he's still at it.
After our tour we decided to grab a bite before heading to the airport. San Francisco is renowned as a culinary center of North America; we went to Hooter's. I can hear my chef friends groaning. The wings were good, but in all honesty I prefer breasts...
Our trip home was a similar to our trip down. Our flight was delayed leaving San Fran, which meant we missed our flight to Freddy in the morning and couldn't get on another until Saturday night. So we got to Toronto and immediately checked in to a hotel and slept all day (Sorry TO folks!). Finally made it home at midnight last night to -25 degree weather. And no snow...welcome home!
I have good memories of San Francisco; met and re-met some great people in what feels to me like one of the great cities of the world. Hopefully some pictures to follow...
Back to work and (welcome) back to Canadian Olympic coverage.
Bushman
Touch Of Grey
Must be getting early, clocks are running late; Paint my love a morning sky, it’s all cold; Dawn is breaking everywhere, light a candle, curse the glare; Draw the curtains I don’t care, but it’s all right; I will get by, I will get by, I will get by, I will survive.I see you’ve got your list out, say your piece and kiss off; Guess I get the gist of it, but it’s all right; Oh well anyway, sorry that you feel that way; Every silver linings got a touch of greySo I am on a free trip to San Fransisco...that's the Silver Lining. The Touch of Grey is the fact that because a business trip's primary focus is business I have yet to see any of this city except for the lovely ballrooms of the Hyatt Regency. I haven't even seen the Golden Gate yet, let alone been the Blue Oyster. The night is young though.
The business part of the trip has actually been pretty good. It is nice to put faces to names and voices and be reminded that there are good people everywhere. Good people that can't dance, but good people nevertheless. They sure can drink free booze though...
We had a guest inspirational speaker end the conference; Dan Clark, who is one of the authors behind the
Chicken Soup for the Soul series. He was a truly professional speaker. Topical, funny, and truly engaging, which is saying something at the end of three days of business meetings. The one thing I liked best though is that he stood up in front of roomful of business people and ridiculed the use of corporate buzzwords (paradigm shift, biz fit, ramping up, talking to, and this year's sales-based winner; divide and conquer). The best question I've heard in a long time; "What if the answer is still in the box?" So very true...
I tried to tell him a joke after his speech but I didn't think the crowd milling around him would enjoy it.
She can't wrestle...hehehe.
Anyways, one morning left and then (hopefully) a chance to see the city.
Pace out
Turn on Your Love Light
Happy Valentine's Day!
It's really kind of a happy coincidence that I am in San Fran for Valentine's Day. I haven't minded being single for the last year but this day always highlights my bachelorhood. 'Toxic Bachelor' is the term they use now; I'm not sure what it means but it can't be good. I don't have herpes or anything so I pass if that's the criteria. I used to quote Bel Biv Devoe and call some girls
poison; I hope the worm hasn't turned...again karma's a bitch.
To those of you out there with significant others, or even in those fun first stages of a new relationshisp (pardon the pun; the
feeling-out phase), revel in it, enjoy it. If you think the grass is greaner on this side; well it is. There are leaves on the trees too, but that's just the Northern California climate. If you think you would rather be single then we could probably have a nice chat about the pros and cons. The pros look big today. Fortunately, I love myself lots; figuratively speaking I swear!
No free time in the Baytown today. We are right in the heart of things so even going for a little walk gives you a great feel for the city. Is it sad that the only walk I took was to go to the liquor store? Just so I didn't feel like such a skid a bought a bottle Napa Valley wine...who knew that Hermit's was brewed here. Off to a gala awards dinner now...I wonder if they pronounce gala differently in San Fransisco.
Vanity Smurf
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
The perils of air travel in the Canadian winter. I was supposed to fly out at 5:45am Monday morning but was delayed until 5:50pm Monday night due to a big storm that smashed the Northeast U.S. NYC actually got two feet of snow...I survived Blizzard '06 t-shirts are already selling, guaranteed.
If any of you know my history of air travel shenanigans(the most classic of which was the day I showed up 1 day and 10 minutes late for my flight), the fact that I didn't call ahead to check the flight status should not be a surprise. I showed up at 5 ready to go. They sent us home and I enjoyed a snow day. The flight in the afternoon was non-eventful all the way to San Fran. I do supsect that either I am still growing, or planes are getting smalller because I don't ever remember being so uncomfortable on a plane. Maybe it's just that I am less limber then I used to be, which is weird because I've been practising yoga hard for the past few months; well the breathing part anyways.
So not too much of an issue getting here late. Our 1/2 day delay didn't cause us to miss any of the meetings but it did cut short what little free time we do have. We did miss the initial meet and greet which, for some reason, was a cowboy theme. Insert
Brokeback Mountain joke here.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I hope Jackman doesn't get any cowpoke ideas being away from his wife and all....pray for me.
Pace out
Truckin'
Big week...
I should start but giving a belated shout out to the Big Fella on his birthday this past Thursday. I would have said something earlier but I was too busy taking him out so I could be his wingman. He's happy; the Tommies kicked the crap out of UNB 10-2 on Friday night. Happy Birthday to you Dad!
I am heading stateside in about 4 hours. Going to San Fran for the week for work. The week will be fairly busy with work but we will have some free time to check out the town. I was there a few years ago on a rugby trip but we stayed in Oaktown and only got an afternoon in Frisco. I was hoping that we might be able to see some music when we are down there but I checked the listings and the only band playing is Great Big Sea on Tuesday. I won't be going; I told someone they were playing and they said "I wouldn't watch them if they were playing in my kitchen" - I liked that.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to get by on American-only coverage of the Olympics. Might be in some strife for some hockey games, but hopefully not too bad. Pretty good start; pretty impressive athletes. And we got snow tonight so I might be able to play my winter games after all. Big storm actually, everything is white again. Normy loves it...
I'll try and keep you posted....
Casey
Wicked Come Winter
Oh Snap! As in cold snap.
I blame Normy. Just last week we were talking about
Back Home Weather and he swore that it never gets as cold as it used to. He swears that most of his childhood was spent in -40 degree temps with snowbanks up to his eyeballs. Well he's right about the snow, there is no accumulation here to speak of. And based on this year, he is right about the temp too, January was the warmest Canada has seen since they have kept records. But of course, talking about the shutout jinxes the shutout and Jack Frost snuck a snap in the short side. It isn't even that cold and it's not supposed to last. We have just been spoiled this year, at least in the temperature department. And although he won't admit it, I think we both miss the snow. He misses it because until we get a snowfall he can't back up his claim that snow makes noise when it falls. Maybe only Norwegians can hear snow falling....
I miss the snow because I would like to be able to emulate my favourite Olympic athletes. Now instead of pretending to be biathlete I am just going to be that nut walking around town shooting targets with a rifle. These games sure did sneak up on us...today is the Opening Ceremonies. To borrow a term from Matt Mays, I'm turbo-excited.
Go Canada!
Don't let me down
Super Bowel Sunday
The big game is usually a bit of a letdown so we didn't get up to much for this one. Had a few boys over at the house and needled Normy about his curious hatred of Ben Roethlisberger (Normy likes everyone!). Strangely, earlier in the week, he had to admit that he would quietly be rooting for the Steelers because he liked Jerome Bettis, and going home to win the Super Bowl in your last game would be cool as hell. The game worked out just about perfectly for Normy. The Steelers won and Bettis retired a champ. Meanwhile, Roethlisberger stunk it up and may have had the lowest QB rating of the winning quarterback in SuperBowl history. Now that the Tom Brady comparaisons can cease and Normy's boy Carson Palmer is secure as the best young quarterback in the game, hopefully Normy will put the voodoo doll away. I'll stick up for the guy; look at the shirt he's wearing!
So the SuperBowl truly is a spectacle but it's kind of sad when the halftime show offered more excitment than the game itself. And truthfully, for all the athletic prowess of the players, Mick Jagger's ageless energy was again the most impressive sight of the evening.
Speaking of athletes...yesterday was also Jonny Wolstenholme's birthday. When the topic ever comes up; without hesitation, I throw Jonny's name out there as the best athlete I have ever known. Not because he is the best skier and surfer I know. Not because he played representative soccer and was as courageous as they come on the rugby field. Not even because he can whip me left-handed on the tennis court. It's because New Year's Day 2000 at 10 am he balanced on a big balloon for what seemed like 1/2 an hour and, at the time, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.
Happy Birthday Jonny, you old fart!
Stuff
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
Memorial services are inherently sad. There is no healthy way to fully mask a sense of true loss, nor should anyone try. It's all part of the grieving process. A big part of that process, though, is to gather, reminisce, and collect, from a loved one's friends and family, a full picture of the life they lead. And so we did for Dick....
We gathered last night at the rugby club and, over stories, songs, and spirits put that picture together. I had known Dick for 20 or so years, nearly as long as I can remember. As I said, I can't picture him without a smile on his face. I just never fully knew what he was smiling about. I learned some more last night. Lots of great stories were told but my favourite one was just a small part of one friend's recollection of Dick's personality. Dick, it turns out, was a big practical joker and years ago when he lived with a couple of buddies he used to tie a cowbell underneath his roommate's bed if his girlfriend was coming over for the weekend. How have I never thought of that; that's gold!
Dick knew where the goodtimes were; he loved spending as much time as he could with his friends and family. I need to do more of that. I have an absolutely incredible family and when I take stock of my friends I truly think I might be one of the luckiest guys in the world. I'm going to shut the computer off now and go spend some time with them. Tear into the weekend...and maybe go buy a cowbell.
"I gotta have more cowbell, baby" -
http://www.ojai.net/swanson/snlshows.htmPace out
The Weight
Heavy times...
If you have the means find The Band's
The Weight and let it play. The song is beautiful and has long been one of my favourites. Musically moving, rich at the bottom end, and full of harmony; a legitimate classic. Having said all that, I have never quite got the lyrics. I love the words and the way they are sung but I have never fully understood the message. I spent some good time today trying to figure it out , without any luck. I've spent alot of time this week trying to figure things out. My uncle Dick Greenwell passed away suddenly over the weekend at 56.
Dick was my Dad's sister Margie's husband. He was a warm soul with an easy smile. I don't have a mental picture of Dick without a smile on his face. One can only hope to be thought of that way. He was wonderful husband to Margie, and father to their daughter Emily. After the shock subsides I hope that we, as a family, can help to fill the void that Dick's passing has created. It is a favour being returned, as Margie and Dick have been Dad's lean-to in the dark nights since my stepmother Diane's death nearly 18 months ago now. For me personally, Margie has made me blush more then anyone else. Sometimes for her candid questions to a new girlfriend and more often for her showering of praise. I owe her a thousand warm feelings and hope to pay up.
Dick's sudden death puts everyone's mortality into focus and reminds us that life is short and to live it well. To that end, and to add another chapter to the week that was, little Will turned 19 on Sunday. Hard to believe I know.....
So back to The Band. Diane first introduced me to The Last Waltz cds many years ago. I loved them and still have them now. After she died, on her birthday, the family gathered to remember her and after dinner we sat down and watched The Last Waltz DVD and thought of her. This past Christmas I found the DVD on sale and picked it up for a gift swap that we would be having at Margie and Dick's after Christmas dinner. Will wanted the DVD and he ended up with it. That was the last time I saw Dick; sitting, smiling on the couch with his Emily.
Dick would never pass up a good time and he would not have wanted Will to forego a birthday celebration. As planned, Will and I went to see the Trews play on campus last night. We shared some good laughs over his first (legal) beers and enjoyed some great live music, something that I suspect will be a big part of Will's future, just like his mother. At the end of the show the Trews invited the opener on stage for the encore. The first song they went into for their encore was
The Weight. And they did it justice, a great version. And to be there with Will, singing along, something seemed to have come full circle.
The week had been put much in perspective. For those taken before their time to those just coming into their prime, our time is fleeting. Live everyday like it may be your last but always, always take the time to enjoy the music.
Take a load off Dick....I know your knees are ok where you are now so save a dance for your wife.
"You can't swing a cat in Zealand without hittin' a Brewer."
....We Salute You.
When I used to travel playing rugby I would get frustrated at being in an exotic locale or a great city of the world and spending all of my time at a practice field or a hotel room. I would usually get to see just enough of the city to know whether I would want to come back or not. I went to San Fransisco once before in '97(the Haight - Ashbury photo is mine)and had just enough time there to realize that I should make it back. Well I've been back now and know just enough more to know that I have to make it back. The first three days of this trip were spent at meetings and dinners followed by one afternoon to see the city. Don't get me wrong, the meetings were useful and I had a lot of fun with my coworkers (our room was dubbed Club 348), I just wish I took more advantage of being there.
The "Bushman" of San Francisco sits on the edge of the sidewalk hiding behind his bush, when you walk by he pops out and yells at you; if you flinch you are expected to pay up. When I was there in '97 we saw him doing his thing and stopped for a few minutes to watch the startled reactions of the unsuspecting tourists. Hilarious! Then we had to walk past him to get where we were going. Even though we knew exactly where he was and what he was doing, when he pulled his stunt on us, we all jumped. Simply put, when a large homeless man jumps out from behind a bush yelling, you jump. We paid up...I'm glad to see he's still at it.
Must be getting early, clocks are running late; Paint my love a morning sky, it’s all cold; Dawn is breaking everywhere, light a candle, curse the glare; Draw the curtains I don’t care, but it’s all right; I will get by, I will get by, I will get by, I will survive.
Happy Valentine's Day!
The perils of air travel in the Canadian winter. I was supposed to fly out at 5:45am Monday morning but was delayed until 5:50pm Monday night due to a big storm that smashed the Northeast U.S. NYC actually got two feet of snow...I survived Blizzard '06 t-shirts are already selling, guaranteed.
Big week...
Oh Snap! As in cold snap.
Super Bowel Sunday
Memorial services are inherently sad. There is no healthy way to fully mask a sense of true loss, nor should anyone try. It's all part of the grieving process. A big part of that process, though, is to gather, reminisce, and collect, from a loved one's friends and family, a full picture of the life they lead. And so we did for Dick....
Heavy times...