Busy enough not to post...

Hi all!

I think it's interesting to note that it's an accepted cliche to start a blog entry that ends a gap of entries with either two things:

A) "Wow, I guess I haven't written in a while and a lot of things have happened since I last did..."
B) Outright ignorance. Yup, I didn't notice that I wasn't blogging and neither should you.

Rather than choose A or B, I choose to make this interesting note. Aha! Rather than make a cliche, I have analysed it! Now... what am I going to do next time?

Since Banff, we've gone to Canmore and then up to Rocky Mountain House over the past two weekends. In Canmore, we were guests in a lovely condo/cabin for a Friday evening full of Settlers, home brewed pop and Lord of the Rings. In Rocky, things were a bit more rough staying in a tent.

As we do every May and September long weekend, we went camping with the DeGroots (Matthew and Kim) and company. These trips are essentially an extended patio adventure. We sit out in the sun with our drinks, play cards, talk about random things from politics to the best gay waffles in New Orleans (honest) and eat some excellent food. This weekend's menu included spinach lasagna (Natalie) and ceasar salad (me), egg McMuffins (Karen), pasta with homemade meat balls and an awesome veggie sauce (Sarah), and a breakfast with oatmeal with strawberries (Kim) and homemade banana bread (Matthew). Between those meals, we ate a variety of snacks including chips, cookies, cinnamon rolls, candy and more.

In an exciting turn of events, Mom and Dad even came to visit. I haven't been camping with my parents for at least 15 years. It was at that time that they decided (fairly enough, I think) that it was more fun to stay at a hotel or condo rather than fight mosquitos in a cold tent while it snows/rains/sleets outside. So for most of those years, I've been camping with this clan twice a year. For the first time ever, Mom and Dad came to join the fun. And even though they stayed at the Holiday Inn in Rocky, they were there for two days enjoying the great weather while playing cards, eating and going for a nice walk around the lake. It was nice to have them there and if Dad sends me one or two of his photos, I will put them up for all to see.

It wasn't all camping, though. We had to take a break on Sunday night to watch the Oilers beat the Mighty Ducks in Anaheim. Seven of us kids took a couple of cars to the town and grabbed a table at Boston Pizza to watch a 3-1 win. So good! After brushing my teeth in their washroom, we returned to the campsite.

And now I've returned to work where I'm busier than expected. The boss is on vacation and there was some thought that there might be less work to do, but I'm keeping my billable hours up so there's no fear of nothing to do.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm trying to grow a beard in the bosses absence. After two weeks, it's not bad and the bulk of the teasing has stopped. We'll see if I can be cool like my little brother and grow a testosterone-driven beard. Natalie and I are taking pictures of my progress and hope to detail it on the blog in the coming weeks.

And that's all for now. We should really use our camera more to document our travels. Maybe I should learn how to use it...

Fat in Banff

The Banff Springs Hotel has this... um... buffet where... um... they have a lot of tasty food... um...

Look at how happy we are. That's because we're in the middle of eating our weight in sweet, glorious food (ok, I'm just speaking for myself there).It was tasty and wonderful. Good food, good company and a wonderful view. Here's my dessert plate... I only had one although when I was placing a series of foodstuffs on my plate, the guy beside me said "oh, that's so smart getting a dinner plate for your desserts." Yeah, I thought so too... I'm a fatty.
We'll have to do that again... once I work off the extra pounds and make enough money to pay for it.

May the Fourth be With You!

I have to share...

On September 12, 2006, LucasFilm and 20th Century Fox will be releasing the original Star Wars Trilogy as it appeared in theatres in 1977, 1980 and 1983. That means Han shoots first, no extra crap and all the original special effects. It might be a bit expensive, though because this set will force fans to buy both the original version and the 2004 version (six DVDs in total).

Cash grab? Probably. You can't deny demand, but I remember how vehemently Lucas opposed releasing the original versions. They weren't his full vision, he said. Which makes Lucas' stock drop with fan I suspect. I mean, we thought we was a great film maker because of his original movies... and now we learn that what we loved wasn't what he wanted to do. That, in fact, we were more in love with the restrictions of his film making than his actual vision.

Still, Star Wars respresents a mythology for North Americans that didn't truely exist. In a culture concerned with immediacy and the "now," Star Wars was a vehicle for Western mythology--packaged in science fiction. It wasn't new, but it was new to us. And the popular discussion it launched about architypes and ancient stories captured our imaginations. We brought if further by making Star Wars part of the North American mythology--part of our creative history.

Fortunately, for the busines savvy among us, there is much money to be made in participating in a consumer culture's creative history. Go, George, you rich....

I'm helping, of course. I'll dutifully go buy the new DVDs and organize a viewing party. And soon afterwards, I'll buy Star Wars Lego II, because the original was so wicked!

Meet Ojosama!

For those of you who talk with me via MSN, you may have noticed the recent edition of Ojosama to my display image. No, Ojosama is not my cat or any cat I've ever met. Rather, I found him on a Fark thread one day and I fell in love.

I just love a good stunned look.

What is Ojosama thinking? Who hates him so much? How did he get in that collar? Until recently, I've been content to let that be a mystery (and some of it will always remain the object of speculation). But, while speaking/texting with Ryan yesterday, we simultaniously came across the website that gave birth to Ojosama. And you need to go there.

I don't think I have more to say about that. Ojosama makes me laugh. Ojosama is both frightening and pathetic. Ojosama is my face in cyberspace. And I'm not sure what that means...

In other news, I've joined Ryan and Karissa's soccer team. We're the Smashing Pumpkins (or the Smashing P if you look at the schedule... for some reason that makes someone in my office laugh...). We played our first game yesterday. We're a team of "casual" players and many of us, like me, haven't played soccer since the days it was forced upon us in gym class. I figured it would be a nice way to get some exercise and socialize with some people and, so far, it's been fun.

Yesterday we played a game in Dover, near my first Calgary home. It's been described as a pretty rough neighbourhood. I remember my arrival to Calgary when we stopped at the 7/11 near my place and we arrived just after it had been robbed. The girl working the till was in tears. Toto, I don't think we're in Stony Plain any more.

The game was played through a few weather patterns: wind, rain, hail and sun.

I scored once. On my own goal. I think Ryan forgives me, but it was pretty embarrassing. It wasn't like I was aiming to score, but I didn't block a corner kick very well and it banked off my feet into the goal. I subbed myself off pretty quickly, sulked a bit and went back in. I can't really expect to be that good, I know. I remember not being so hot in elementary, so I imagine nothing miraculous happened betten then and now in my skillz department. Still, it's fun and that's all I was looking for. I'm glad I joined.

We're nearing the mid-point in the Dodgeball season. That's also lots of fun. Our last game was a real hoot and we really enjoyed playing the other team. We're not ranked that great, but the fun continues and Tony has already asked when the next season starts. Since we have a logo, I think we're pretty bound to continue the legacy of the Thundercougarfalconbirds.

Go Thunder!

And that's the latest update. I think I'll see about getting Natalie to write something soon. Maybe she can give the update following our brunch at the Banff Springs Hotel on Sunday...