The Slideshow

Last night a few of us got together at Mauri's house to check out some travel pictures. Really it was just an excuse to get together for some eggnog. It was nice to see Mauri's folks again, and Tim and Kir brought little Owen who was tiny/bigger than the last time I saw him. Rounding out the good turnout was Terri, Beaty, Josh, Alli and Matt. We checked out a bunch of photos on the big screen plasma (by the way, the big dog that lived with Lindsay for a while now lives at Mauri's). We went trekking in India with Josh and Mauri, then my Germany shots, then the Hogan's Greenland trip. Everybody but me seems to take phenomenal pictures! It very much made me want to travel again soon. The really crazy thing is we also could have seen Qatar, New Zealand and Africa pictures if other folks had brought pictures of recent trips. Mauri also had a sweet line about not having enough ass to snowboard (there is a reason we call her Chaps) - she's not cut out for snowboarding, no ifs ands or......

Today and yesterday I was at the office writing my P.Ag. test. I put that I would only push homeless people into the river if they were on fire. We'll see.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

I was hanging out with my Mom today. My Dad was working and Jen and John were going to a function with John's family. I had a nice relaxing morning (with a tiny Tartan vs. vacuum cleaner incident), and then headed over to meet my mom. We went walking in the Weaselhead, and then to see a movie. I was over to there place for a delish steak dinner after.

I've actually been home for a while now, and I've been sitting in front of my computer since. Who needs a laptop when they have a catlap?

Thanks to everyone who called or texted today! Muchly appreciated.

The movie we saw today was Sweeney Todd (sorry Alli - there was slim pickings and nothing else that we both wanted to see). It's a Tim Burton-directed dark movie with Johnny Depp and Helena Bohnam Carter. I was a big fan of Corpse Bridge (same same), and in the end I was a big fan of this too. It wasn't exactly a Christmas movie. It was so dark I would call it a horror movie (unlike Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bridge, which are all family movies at heart). If you like scary movies (and musicals), so see Sweeney Todd. Be prepared to make the same face you made when Mercedes slices the Captain's cheek in Pan's Labyrinth (enngghhh!!!). My only critique is that at two hours, Sweeney Todd runs a little long. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Two of the Days of Christmas

Which two, you ask? I'll definitely take the 10 ladies dancing (that's one, isn't it?) and maybe the drummers drumming, that sounds fun.

Okay, the two days were yesterday and today. Yesterday, I went to Blackfalds from dinner with my family friends, the Carnahans (those people who came to the ulti practice in Red Deer). Unfortunately, my sister and her husband couldn't go, because Jen was feeling sick. I was too bad that they couldn't make it, but I did appreciate not getting the "guess what I got you for Christmas? A virus!". I think Harley (2) and Bernice (82) probably appreciated too. Dinner was wonderful and everyone had a great time. Thanks Carnahans! As an aside, the type of ham that Leigh made was called something hilarious - bone in butt end, I think. Wow.

Today was my family's present day (okay, that came out wrong - and tomorrow will be the future day). We had Christmas lunch and did out present exchange, which was nice and lots of fun. Thanks for the presents, all!

Another present that I got for Christmas is Tartan for a week! Here he is asleep in my living room.

Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End Movie Review

Caution: the following blog contains spoilers.

Short on time?
Pirates 3: It's rubbish. Don't bother.

The longer review:

The final instalment (god's let's hope so, at least) of the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy [Blu-ray]
series is not worth it's weight in sea salt. You probably will see if for the same reason that I did. The second movie doesn't have an ending, so I wanted to see the last one for an ending, for closure. My expectations for this movie were actually pretty high. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting anything deep or particularly interesting, but all of the first movie and parts of the second were fun. All I would have needed to give Pirates 3 a good review was some more fun scenes, an ending, Kiera and Orlando to look hot and Johnny to be good and weird. No dice.

The ending is weak, and a bit confusing and disappointing in the X-Files, 11th season kind of way. After waiting thru all of Pirates 2 expecting an end and not getting one, you have to wait nearly 3 hours for the ending of 3. A movie better be pretty interesting to hold my attention that long. It's a wonder I hold a day job, really. Random details in the movie made it come up empty. The Craken turns up randomly dead on an island. The Jamaican-sounding witch lady turns out to be Calypso (in mythology, Calypso is a sea nymph) in a underdeveloped plot line that ends in her growing ginormous with terrible effects and lots of cheese. The plot line of the evil East Indian Trading company is also underdeveloped. That's a lot of underdevelopment for three hours.

The ending was the weakest part of the movie. Again, don't read on if you want to see it. Jack Sparrow stands for an awkwardly long time holding a broken sword and the heard of Davy Jones. Finally, after the whole audience is making the "awkward hands" poor Orlando gets stabbed, so Sparrow uses the sword and Orlando's hand to stab the heart, killing Davy Jones but forcing Orlando to 10 years serving in Jones' place on the ship. What an asshole. Sparrow had ample opportunity to stab it himself, but instead he forces the newly-wed Orlando to give up 10 of his most fertile years instead. At that point, Jack's saving Orlando from dying, since he's been stabbed, but if Jack hadn't stood like a moron in the first place, it wouldn't have been a problem. Besides, Jack Sparrow could be a good captain of Davy Jones ship for 10 years, but Orlando? I thought he shone the most as Eric Bana's weakling little brother in Troy. He was pretty, but he could barely hold a sword, and that's much more what I see. Instead, the movie ends with Orlando leaving for his 10 year service (at least his Dad is along for the ride), and Johnny rows off into the sunset in a rowboat. I'm sure they explained why, but I think I was asleep.

There are a couple of cute or funny moments, but really just a couple, in 3 hours.

I give it a 1.5 stars out of 5.

Chris and Kiefer

Next week, I am writing my ethics exam to try and get my P.Ag. designation (Professional Agrologist). I don't think the exam is entirely ethics, but I think that's the bulk of it. It made me think of a couple of cases of Canadians in the news of late: Chris Simon, professional hockey player, and Kiefer Sutherland, professional actor.

I've been a fan of Kiefer since Flatliners, although I don't watch TV, so I've never seen 24. I'm sure you know this, but the man also makes a fortune as the voice of Ford. Just recently, for the second time, Kiefer majorly fucked up, so now he's in jail for drunk driving.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071207/kiefer_Ford_071207/20071207?hub=CTVNewsAt11
MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) wants Kiefer ditched, and I couldn't agree more. Even considering how bad I felt that Billy Mahoney kept terrorizing him.

Similarly, Chris Simon got handing a 30-game suspension from the NHL for trying to hurt someone on the ice, again(his 8th violent incident).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiMwXcwY3VE&feature=related
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2007/12/19/campbell-simon-suspension.html

The article says that both that Simon is on paid leave, but also that he will lose salary. I'm not entirely sure what that means is happening too him. I think it's ridiculous if he is continued to be paid.

Both these guys seem like they need some help, and hopefully now they will get it. I just can't imagine why any other middle class professional would lose there job for a breach of ethics or conflict of interest, but when you made over $500 000 US/year (Simon) and loads more than that (Kiefer), you get to keep your job.

The Hockey Division F-All Star Game

Have you noticed what that spells? The Fall Star Game. Oh yes, good times. What the hell, you're thinking? Don't you suck ass? Yes, actually, I do, but Shelly (a seriously good player on Nellie) couldn't go, and I got a vote or two because people, "thought I might do something funny." So it was me, Ann Olsen (skills), Suzanne Davies (skills) and Rebecca Evans (skills) and Leann Arbuckle (goalie skills). My teammates did really well at the skills sessions (break aways, hard shots, accurate shots etc). I was pretty bored. I did "accurate shooting", which for me was a bit of a joke, since I'd never tried shooting at targets before. I missed all of them, but I actually thought it went pretty well. I hit the net! The announcer for the Flames also announced our names before the game (except Rebecca and Suzanne's name, which he messed up - seriously, how hard are those names?), which probably would have been the highlight of my life if I was 5.

The game was actually great. It was fun to play with so many skilled players. It was so hot in there (the Saddledome) that I don't know how the ice stays frozen. The good news is, I've lost 2 pounds!

Also, just in case you were wondering, I'm feeling a bit better, although I'm sleeping unnaturally lots of pounding the Cold FX.

Coming soon: Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End Movie review.

News on Petra

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,523762,00.html

I'm feeling a bit sickly just now, so I won't expand on the article, but check it out. Go petra!

Weekend Highlights and the Hack Party

This was another busy and fun-filled weekend. I was pretty knackered going into it, with lots of sports and multiple late nights during the week.

Friday night was no different, with my first session of indoor ulti or the winter (other than juniors). Indoor was a tonne of fun, in spite of my tired legs. Playing ultimate again made me feel like all of the training and other sports that I had done since my last ulti game (the day before I went to Germany) were just filler (as fun as they have been). And that's just indoor.

Frisbee made for another late night, and I was all amped up even once I get home. After I play ulti, I can't help but analysis it. I think of what plays were good, what sucked, where my turnovers were, and what I need to focus on improving. In comparison, when I finishing playing hockey or snowboarding I think, "Gosh, that was fun."

Saturday morning I went for a start time that reminded me of my nocturnal university days. I slept until 12:15! Pretty crazy, considering most weekends I am up by 8 or 8:30. I get really weird dreams when I sleep late. I can't really remember much about it, although there was running away, violence and fire involved. The next night, when I was going to sleep, I remembered the whole thing again. Dreaming is like a whole different world. When your awake, your not close enough to it to remember much, but when you are falling asleep, it all comes back.

Saturday night I had my sister and her husband John over for dinner. Which reminds me, I forgot to mention I also had my parent's over Friday for dinner. It would have been nice to have everyone over at the same time, but my place is really little and I only have three chairs. It was a lot easier this way.

Late Saturday night was the infamous toque party and Dave and Brit's in Bridgeland. It's always a fun time. I didn't drink at all, but I still felt a bit hung over this morning after staying out late (2:30 - surprised? proud?) and shouting myself nearly hoarse. A party highlight for me was some hammered chick who managed to destroy a beer bottle on the kitchen floor despite the party's 'no shoes, no glass' policy. She was drunk enough that her attempt to clean it up lasted a couple of seconds, and then she fell over in it. I hope she didn't cut her ass. She didn't feel it at the time if she did. The reason she dropped the beer bottle was she was in the kitchen checking random bottles of beer and filling her cup with any remains she could find. EW! There was a keg for Christ's sake!

The next morning was Jeff and Lindsay's garage hack party. We played a lot of sack this fall, starting in Sicamous, and continuing at fall league. The Sill's had a genius idea: why stop just because it's winter? They cleaned out the garage, and had a bunch of us over for omelettes and hack. The breakfast was amazing (thanks, guys), with delicious omelettes (Jeff's a pro after 5 years in a restaurant) and delicious fancy coffees (I had three). After the eating part(y), we headed to garage for hack. We played for 3 hours!

A few new hack terms were coined:
-the shack (kick it with your shin. shin-hack.)
-the airplane landing (is that right? a giant air-swooping step into the dead space in the middle, landing one outstretched foot with the other behind you. Usually unsuccessful.)

The old classic:
-hacksterbate (to hog it, to play with....yourself).

New but not hack related:
-How to remember where to turn to get to the Sill's house: No Sill Drive (aka Nose Hill Drive)
-Said to somebody leaving the party: hacky holidays.

Hockey and Drinking a Litre of Vodka

Hockey was a lot of fun tonight, despite losing 0-5. I think I was on for every goal, and in this case, that's not a good thing. I honestly don't think I've ever been more tired after a hockey game though. When we were shaking hands, I couldn't see a thing becuase I had so much sweat dripping into my eyes. Awesome. A memoriable moment was Gindl with a huge jersey-ripping bail getting onto the ice. I only say the aftermath. Maybe I can convince her to do a guest blog about it. Gindl?

For some further awesome, check out what this man decided to do with a litre of vodka: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,523106,00.html

The Big Oopsa

Today was a really fun day. Weaze and I went snowboarding at Sunshine. There was more snow than I have ever boarded in before. I had a few bails, but nothing spectacular. Loads of fun.

After a nice warm bath and dinner, I capped off the evening with a 2 hours nap in preparation for an 11:15 hockey game. I'm finally awake, and I just finished getting all ready to go. This, alas, leads me to the big oopsa.....hockey is tomorrow night. Shit.

Oh a totally separate note, I'm pretty much finished my Christmas cards now. If you don't get one shortly, let me know, because Canada Post probably sent it Lethbridge (I was going to say Tuktoyaktuk, but I think Lethbridge is more out there). Or I made a mistake (see paragraph above).

I thought I would blog about how it is that I came to sent Christmas cards. On one hand it's completely in character for me (it's kind of dorky, but I embrace my dorkdumb) and on the other hand, pretty out of character (I can't seem to find time, let's see - put together that lamp that I finally bought weeks ago now. I still eat dinner in the dark). So anyway, it all started with that dern stress fracture that wouldn't heal. After I had my first surgery, I found a lot of time on my hands because I couldn't do anything. I was still on crutches at that point, and I got bored after about a day. So I decided the thing to do would be to start a project. I highly recommend it if you find yourself in a similar situation. It was perfect. I really like Christmas cards, so I got to send a bunch, and it took hours and hours. I've been doing it ever since. Now that I've started, I have no intention of giving it up. Like crack.

Elf was on TV the other night, while I was finishing off my Christmas cards. There was one line that I thought was hilarious. These guys are trying think of ideas for children's books. They come up with "a group a asparagus children self conscience about how their pee smells". Funny.

I wonder if there is any hope of me getting to sleep before 2 am. Bollucks.

Weekend Highlights

There were lots of highlights this weekend.

Friday night I swung by Terri's place for a beer after my workout. We were actually going to bake out deserts for the ulti party at MAC's the next day, but I had a long workout and ran out of time. In the end, not a lot (read: no baking of any kind), actually happening.

The highlights of Saturday were a Christmas get together at my sister's place. It was my first Christmas function other than my work Christmas party, and it was a lot of fun.

Right after, I headed to Mary Ann's house for some good food and chats. MAC also put on a fabulous slide show of pictures from the season. Definitely a highlight. Terri's cupcakes were awesome too. (Those the cupcakes not made Friday night). The white cup cakes had out brown uniform board shorts (that I love so much), a couple had little frisbee players, and the chocolate ones had our boobie shirts, complete with jelly bean boobies. It's too bad that more folks from the team couldn't come, but Mac, Robert, Terri, Jeff, Lindsay and I had a great time. If you couldn't make the party, I ate you cupcake.

I worked out that night, since I didn't have time that morning. It ended up working out great - I was going to go for a jog, but Nat was going skating at renfrew, so I went there instead. We played an hour of shinny with some boys who could really skate. It was fun to play outside, and cool to see players so good. The rest of my workouts was strength stuff at home, which definitely does not make the weekend highlight reel.

Today I went snowboarding at COP (aka the lam-o-hill) with Jeff and Lindsay. I'm not sure why I didn't include an e, but I didn't. We had a lot of fun. It got pretty busy in the afternoon, but the conditions were pretty decent. It wasn't really icy. It was nice to go get a few turns in and see what I could remember. I'm off to Sunshine with Weaze on Wednesday, and I feel a little more confident now. Whoever said it's just like riding a bike has never been to Moab.

The lowlight (although the funniest part) of snowboarding today was the mouse. Yes, the mouse. So there we were, gearing up for snowboarding day 1, season 2. Lindsay puts here boots on and points out a place where one is uncomfortable. She decides to fix it, after debating a bit of whether or not it's worth it to take the boot off again. IT WAS A DEAD MOUSE! In her boot...ew. Nasty. Lindsay was a good sport. I'm sure the story will be on the Sill's blog, and I'm sure they will tell the story better.

I should get back to my Christmas cards. I hope your weekend was good too....whoever you are.

Numa!

This is Numa, my friends the Shackleton's new puppy. She's only fourth months old, but she's about the size of an elephant. Numa is a Bernese Mountain puppy of the nearly 40 pound variety. In case you are wondering what the look on my face is, it's "oh my god, this dog is heavy/cute/hilarious."

Club Ted and Wildlife Sightings II

Here is a picture from Club Ted (photo credit to Tess). A keen eye may notice a lot of ankle in this picture. Those pants are 2, 3, dare I say possibly 4 sizes too small. I'm glad you can't see my ass in this photo. I don't actually remember it being taken. I do remember tossing back both drinks and announcing that I'd won.

It sure was amazing to see those moose driving. Good thing they had a sun roof. I feel.....sheepish.

Club Ted and Other Wildlife Sightings

Club Ted was a blast. It was a work party held by my friends Tess and Eric Drolet (TED, get it?). Everyone dressed up in their best tacky tourist gear. I'll post photos, but I'll wait until I have a few more to pick from. I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit hung over this morning (although I didn't have to go to the office until 10 am), but then again, so was everybody else. Good times. Thanks to Tess and Eric for hosting, and thanks to Leanne's mom for driving our drunken butts home. I wonder if Leanne's mom reads my blog?

The Club Ted wildlife sighting was deer in the backyard. I also saw 2 moose driving to site near Drayton Valley. One was little and one had a big rack. I like the one with the big rack. :) I also saw an owl on the drive home to Calgary. I couldn't tell what kind of owl, but it was very cool and a pretty reasonable size.

To tide you over until I can put up some Club Ted photos, here is a photo of some snow that I really liked on a fence beside my condo.

Drayton Valley

Drayton Valley is cold, but it feels tropical compared to Grande Prairie. I have just finished up a trip for work, doing Phase II's. A Phase II is a day of soil sampling, logging, diagrams, and freezing your butt off. I know that I wasn't crazy when I think GP was really cold a few days ago. We spent all day outside in -18 C and we kept saying, "oh, it might be chilly, but it's nothing compared to GP." I were so much clothes during the day that it's really hard to tie my boots. The ladies room is a particular challenge. Especially working on sites with limited coverage. I once created a ladies room behind a little well centre fence and two tumble weeds. The good news is that I'm on my way home tomorrow morning. Hurray!

The good thing about being in a small town is SAAN. I found a great outfit for Club Ted, a dress-up party I am going to tomorrow night in Millarville. More on the theme tomorrow night, plus I'll post pictures. Another fun note about Club Ted is that I nearly got to take the quadruplet's bus to and from the party. No, really. You know, the quadruplets. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/08/16/cal-quadruplets.html
Well, my friends holding the party know them (well, okay, their parents), so we nearly got the bus as a partymobile, since it's out-of-town and it's going to be a piss-up. Unfortunately, it didn't work out (insurance issues), but we're getting a minivan and a driver (aka Leanne's brother) instead. It's going to be great, but the quad's bus would have been pretty cool. Oh shut up. Like they need it. They can't even drive yet.