We almost made it. We almost made it through November without a snowflake falling. It would have been quite something; I was born in a blizzard so I tend to think of November as a regularly snowy month. And this year we almost made it. But this morning I woke up and noticed that the light coming from outside seemed that little bit brighter and sure enough it was from a light dusting we got overnight. We actually got snow in the cold last couple weeks of October before we enjoyed the latest and, therefore, nicest Indian Summer I can remember throughout (nearly all of) November.
The snow is mostly gone now but it's a pretty good reminder of what's to come. The Farmer's Almanac is guessing that this winter will continue the trend of the last couple and we should see copious amounts of snow. I am now ready; bring it on!
In related news, Dad clearly is not ready for the snow so he booked off last week for a month in Hawaii visiting Alice. Because he likes to edit my writing (wink, wink) he checks the blog and in response to last week's Stella post he bought some beer, hopefully sang that song, and sent this picture:Classic!
The Olympic torch arrived in town on Wednesday and I took in the celebration of its arrival at Officer's Square. There was a great crowd and a great atmosphere; tons of flag waving kids being whipped into a frenzy loud music and, I'm guessing, free cotton candy. Between the MCs ranting* local performers entertained until the main attraction arrived. It had come from the Northside where my good friend Alison Brooks carried it into the school where he is principal at St. Mary's. From there swung past my place, across the Bill Thorpe walking bridge, down Queen st., and finally half a block down St.Anne's Point dr. where Marianne Limpert brought it down a path lined deep with loudly cheering fans to the temporary stage in the middle of square. There she lit a cauldron said a few words and passed it over to the politicians, at which point the people knew the good part was over. So we waited in line to get a photo:Sophie either got shy or decided a picture with the Torch wasn't worth selling out to Coke for. It was a decidely commercial evening but these things cost money so some of it can be excused - although the MC urging the crowd to chant "RBC, RBC, RBC!" was a bit too much. That's not what I took away though; that moment was singing O Canada in a huge crowd with the Olympic flame. And that was the fire it lit for me. Amazingly, Canada has never won a gold medal in an Olympics in Canada - not in Montreal and not in Calgary. I need to be in Vancouver, in a crowd of Canadians, singing O Canada when a Canadian gets to put a medal around their neck. That I gotta see. After we left the party we went for a beer and ran into a couple hundred torch roadies at Dolan's. They, like me, had Thursday off and, like me, were taking advantage of it. I introduced myself to a few of them and paraded a crew of them over to watch some reggae. They loved it. They were a good crew and if that is even some small taste of the times to be had at their final destination, I want to be there.
Since my youth in french immersion here in NB one of my favourite little lanquage games is to try and instantly translate a song while singing it. This morning in the shower, for example, I tried to translate Imagine as I sang it - vous peux m'appellez un reveur, mais je suis pas tout seul - you get the idea. It has also led to some classic butchering such as when Wheat tried to translate MC Hammer - Voici comment on roll on roll. The reason I was thinking about these translations this week is because this new Stella commercial has stumped me trying to translate it back from French.
I still have no idea what she is saying beyong - peu pas resister. And it's true, I can't resist; no commercial I have seen this year has made me want to buy that product like this one has. So tonight, with a day off tomorrow, I am going to enjoy me some Stella and probably hum this song.
I joked around in Friday's post about North having lived a very good life thus far. Thankfully we share many of the same friends and after the weekend I just had I think it important to be serious for a moment and reflect on the fact that life has indeed been good to me so far as well. I had a great night celebrating Scorpia on Friday at North's with some great friends and Saturday I had a great family night at Aunt Margie's. It was a great weekend and, most importantly, I got two (2) chocalate cakes with boiled icing including the all-time gold standard from Mom. What else could a man want?
Thanks to everyone for a great weekend and for making me a pretty damn lucky guy.
Serendipity - a pleasant coincidence. A few weeks ago North, being the nice guy that he is, presented me with a couple of LPs for my vinyl collection as an early birthday present. One of the albums was But Seriously, Folks by Joe Walsh. I never heard any of the songs on the album except for Life's Been Good To Me but, as luck would have it, that's all I need for this segue.
Today at lunch we were, conincidentally, listening to the radio when the DJ announced today's musical birthdays and named Joe Walsh (and, by chance, Duane Allman). I'm not sure if North knows this but he shares a birthday with Joe Walsh. Naturally they played the hit:
That one is for you pal. Forget those other losers, your friends with me, so life has been pretty good to you.
Pace out. update - North started writing his blog again. Check it out!
Every now and again I like to prove to myself that I am not a particlarly superstitious person. So in an effort to prove that jinxes don't exist I am going to talk about the good weather we've been having without a bit of concern about jinxing it.
On the 24th of October I played in the coldest rugby game I may have ever played in and it seemed as though winter was coming early. The next week, although it wasn't beautiful, things had warmed up. The following week and since we have had only a couple days of rain and, above average temperatures, and several absolutely stunning fall days. It has been the nicest November I can remember. Typically by the end of November it's been cold, the ground is brown and darkness has set in that I am begging for the snow to fall to brighten things up. I'm sure that feeling will come, particularly as the Christmas music kicks into gear, but until then I will be enjoying the weather.
One night last week was particularly foggy and the light was really cool. I snapped this picture on the train bridge.Take it away Jimmy:
Thanks to the glory of Facebook I have been able to easily track a long held suspicion. I have always noticed a plethora of birthdays in mid-November right up to (and beyond) my birthday on the 21st. My handy Facebook feed confirms this; I had 4 'friends' with birthdays yesterday, 6 today, 5 over the weekend, 6 again Wednesday, and 14 the 5 days after that. Confirmed, that's a lot of birthdays. At some point I thought about it long enough to wonder why this apparent spike existed. A quick look at a calender revealed the reason: mid-November is 9 months from mid-February and Valentine's Day. Many of us are products of a Hallmark holiday, chocolate, wine and songs like this:
Residents of Fredericton were shocked on Monday to learn that their (and the Provincial) Cenotaph had been damaged by vandals sometime Sunday night. A 6foot cross at one end of the main monument was pushed/pulled down. It would have taken several small people and maybe 1 bear. It would not have been easy. However, no one was caught and no witnesses have come forward. There has been legitimate outrage, much handwringing and even some righteous indignation. The question was asked online - what has happened to Fredericton that this could happen? The answer is that some idiot(s) happened to do something idiotic. Itiots have been doing that forever.
I got up this morning in Devon, walked across the Bill Thorpe Memorial walking brige on a perfect fall day, met Dad and Will at the foot of the bridge to take the short walk to the Cenotaph. As I had hoped, there was a huge turnout. By the time we arrived there wasn't a decent view to be had. At the end of the ceremony we had to walk farther down Queen st. than I remember having to do last year to applaud the parade of veterans, current troops, and cadets. The was an outpouring of support financially as well with money flowing into the legion to help with repairs. I have no doubt that whatever anger our soldiers may have felt has been replaced with pride by the warmth shown them at today's ceremony. It was great to see.
As an aside, last night I went to see a Elliot Brood at the Capitol. There was some good pre-show buzz about these guys and the place was therefore packed. The show was great; very high energy and they were very tight - great harmonies. There were many highlights but this one reminded me of home, the appropriately named 'The Valley Town':
Home sweet home.
This afternoon we played our last rugby game of the year. It was the 2nd Annual Bill Thorpe Memorial game that we play versus UNB. We had a good tough game against the students and enjoyed a beer with them afterwards. It was a great day for rugby and, for that matter, a great day all around. Bill was, and remains, a Fredericton legend. A community-minded indivudual, he would have been humbled to have the game played in his honour, and he would have swelled with pride at the show of support from the residents of Fredericton this morning. I feel much the same way.
20 years ago today the Berlin Wall fell. I watched this on the news at the time and wasn't quite old enough to understand the ramifications. I know, because Peter Mansbridge told me so, that it was a big deal. At the time, though, the biggest concern I had was how we were going to compete in the Olympics against a unified Germany. I did grow up in the Cold War but here in sleepy little Freddy Beach, despite CFB Gagetown being so close, never felt and tangible threat. I'm sure it was different for my parents and anyone who grew up doing nuclear attack exercises in grade school. But for me the only time I was actually concerned about the threat of communists coming to Canada was immediately after seeing Red Dawn for the first time (I can vividly remember, when I was in elementary school at St.Dunstan's mind you, having a nightmare about a Russian bomber, like the one in the movie, bombing Fredericton High School).
Shortly after the wall fell the ramifications spread across Europe and within a few years even Russia was giving up on communism. 20 years on those former communist countries have made the European Union the world's largest economy. A portion of their populations are reaping the rewards of that economy and capitalism. Some of them, though, might look back to the security of socialism/communism with envy, particularly since the global economy tanked.
No matter what, it did let Berliners host a great concert:
Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th birthday this week. I, along with most of North America's kids born after 1969, grew up with Sesame Street. Big Bird, Grover, Oscar, Bert and Ernie were my friends growing up. Snuffleupagus remains one of my favourite words to say, thinking of Guy Smiley always makes me smile, and Count von Count (and this song)taught me to count. But my favourite character, bar none, is, of course, Cookie Monster. If you haven't plowed into a fresh batch/bag of chocolate chip cookies, pretending to be Cookie Monster, you haven't lived.
My friends with kids tell me that Sesame Street is still in their regular rotation with their kids and, not surprisingly, is one of their favourites to watch. How could it not be especially with the odd musical guest. Here is a good list of the top 10. I would have to say this is my favourite:
Teaching the funk; every kid on the show that day is automatically cooler than any of us ever dreamed of being.
Gotta love the Canadian Content too:
Great stuff. Great show. I wish I were four again.
The venues are all built, transportation snafus (surely under)prepared for, and the athlete's village just waiting for its supply of condoms. They estimate that approximately 250,000 athletes, training staff, administrators, diplomats, journalists and even some fans will descend upon the city in February. And while many Vancouverites look to leave, I am looking to be among the throng of visitors.
I desperately want to be in Canada's Olympic city when Canada's Olympics conclude. And for the first 10 days or so I would like to be driving across the country meeting people and catching Olympic fever with them. I'm not sure how feasible it is but I would welcome any and all ideas.
We'll call it the Drive for the Gold. What else do you need beyond a catchy name?
I didn't want to jinx anything last week and post about the Caledonia Cup. Three days after the game I didn't want to post anything until my head was clear enough to post coherently.
As you can see from the picture above, we won it. We got it back after a year's absence. It was an incredible game full full of great plays, big hits, lead changes and an amazing finish. The game matched our season. Some ups and downs, adversity, but we came through in the end. It might be the most satisfying to date. But maybe not...
Regardless, thanks to the glory of the internet, here is a highlight video of the game so you can get a feel for it yourselves:
Classic!
