Bad Moon Rising for Jim G

I phoned home tonight and talked to Dad. We were talking about gas prices when I mentioned that the nefarious Jim G is trying to sell his Ford F150 truck, a clear sign that gas prices are affecting behaviour down here.

Then, per tradition, I called the nefarious Jim G to wish him well in the triathlon tomorrow. He told me he had just sold his truck moments before in a fast cash deal.

Then it hit me: "hey Jim, how are you going to take your bike to the race?"

A pregnant pause on the other end of the line. Then mild profanity. Then, on my side of the line, uproarious laughter.

This is going to be excellent. Last I heard, his plan is to borrow a vehicle from the in-laws. Late on a Saturday night..... Perfect-o.

A Brief History of The Rivalry

Sunday will be the next installment of the ongoing battle between our hero and the nefarious Jim G. Here is a brief history, in part for new readers, and in part as documentation:

The Beginning

It started in 2001 with a 100 meter street race. I won. In 4 years, there have been countless running contests. The results have been lost to history but the memories are great. Let's say that we split those races 50-50.

Triathlons

Tri #1 RecPlex Oct 2005
Winner: JimG
Headline: CC uses a hybrid road bike, Butterscotch, and tries to will himself to victory. Jim G schools him on the importance of bike technology with an easy win.

Tri #2 RecPlex June 2006
Winner: JimG
Headline: Enter Blackbird: a pure road-racing bike. Blackbird's inaugural event, brought in under stealth with Jim G being completely unaware. Amazingly, Jim G still won. A crushing defeat which left our hero dismayed for weeks. A major turning point, CC would later vow to never lose again in head-to-head competition.

Tri #3 Lake St Louis Sept 2006
Winner: CC
Headline: Redemption. CC overcomes a 20-minute headstart (due to age offsets) to beat JimG outright. One of his greatest accomplishments in sport.

Tri #4 RecPlex Oct 2006
Winner: CC
Headline: CC ties the series 2-2 with a straight-forward victory.

Tri #5 RecPlex June 2007
Winner: CC
Headline: Domination. CC breaks the magical 2-hour limit and records his personal best for the course. Blackbird shines in a head-to-head uphill tactical battle.

In the fall of 2007, Jim G was off at the Chicago Marathon, a wretchedly hot race. And so the series is 3-2 in favour of CC. Going into tomorrow, neither Jim G nor I are particularly fit. After a frenetic February, I had a lame March and April and basically gained weight. I have run recently and have biked 75 miles in a week, but I don't feel good going into this.

We'll see. Wish me luck.... Swim time is 7:45 am which should make for a pleasant bike and run (regarding heat).

CC

ps. As always, I'm grateful for The Rivalry and for Jim G's friendship. We have both elevated our fitness to great heights. That said, he is going down tomorrow.

Hockey Night in Canada Theme

There is a major controversy up North about the theme music to Hockey Night in Canada. Here's a cool article (click here).

I didn't know that it was written in 1968. I thought it went back further. This is kind of like finding out the Maple Leaf wasn't our flag until 1965. (Believe me, that was a mind-bender).

I don't think there is any parallel to the HNiC in the US. Monday Night Football is a tradition and has a great theme, but I don't think Amercians would freak out if NBC bought the rights from ABC and used it.

The article profiles the woman who composed the tune and described the opening notes: dunt-da-DUNT-da-dunt. That's it right there. Just reading those words popped the song into my head.

Very cool....

Trudeau

The CBC is my homepage on the new Mac.

Here is a great collection of iconic Canadian photos on the CBC site.

I could blog paragraphs about most of them, particularly the hockey ones, but the real eye catcher for me is #7.

I think I've blogged on this one before. Trudeau was walking in a procession with the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace. Then he drops back, and unbeknownst to her, does a pirouette as a ham for the cameras.

This is crazy for a world leader in the Queen's presence.

And massively influential for me. Like Kennedy in the US, Trudeau's policies and performance as PM are overshadowed by his personality and vision for Canada (particularly bilingualism, which helped shape me as a person, and federalism which has been our Big Debate forever, but particularly since 1980).

I'm delighted to have found this picture!

O Canada and Your Efficient Passport Office

Woo-hoo! My passport has arrived... I'm good for another 5 years.

It took about 3 weeks. My application was executed meticulously.

Here are some things I learned, as a recap for the Canucks:

• Your guarantor may be a family member. My father was mine. The only restriction is that they must have a valid 5-year passport.
• Passport Canada's website and/or phone service has good information, including processing times. They said 4 weeks for me. I called them upon receipt and one woman said "call us near 6/13 to see how it's going". It arrived today on 6/9.
  
• Resident Canadians should definitely look into the express service which is even faster.
• Obviously, triple-check the list they give you to make sure everything is in order. That said, I think my eye colour was different on my app versus my driver's license (hazel versus green). Ah well... what's a hue among compatriots!

Happy day... In other news, I called Geico, the insurance for the guy that hit my car. They were very courteous and are getting me hooked up with a repair shop and rental: the works. The timing is not ideal (June is crazy busy) but not much we can do.

Blackbird's Meanstreak

Our hero glides across the parking lot like an eagle in the sky, stalled in flight, circling effortlessly. Despite only having a mere 30 miles this season on his trusted steed, Blackbird, the two have recombined into the inorganic union of man and machine.

It is the warm-up for the venerable Tour de Cure: a large bike ride to raise funds for diabetes. Children stop our hero and ask to ride Blackbird. With a kind-hearted shrug, CC explains that he is clipped in at the pedals and has no rides to offer. Other kids simply marvel and applaud.

Then, suddenly, the heavens open: zounds! Torrents of rain. Blackbird has never seen rain before; it is unclear how the beast will fare in the elements. Is he a prima donna? A warrior?

Our hero, already drenched, heads for the meager shelter of a tree, hoping that its vast canopy of leaves will somehow provide cover. In the chaos, our hero comes to a full stop: while still clipped in.

Time stands still. This is a decisive moment. In 2 years and 1000 miles, Blackbird has never dumped his rider. And yet now, frozen in time, they are truly stalled. What will happen? Can our hero mash the pedals and propel them forward? Can he miracuously flick out of the constraints in time? Will Blackbird, as he has so often before, simply will his way out of another jam?

The answer is an emphatic editorial from the earnest equine: be gone. With a stern throw of his graceful neck, Blackbird offers no quarter. Our hero plummets to the left, crashing against the asphalt in a full body slam. Children hide behind their mothers' skirt and point. Many yards away, an owl hoots an ominous warning.

A hero has fallen. The dynamic duo are divided.

It is an inauspicious beginning to the season.

Fender Bender Redux

There is nothing quite like coming home on a Friday night and having one's car rear-ended at a traffic light. *sigh*

This time was more serious to the car and less serious to me. The guy winged my driver side bumper. I _did_ lift my foot off the brake, out of gear, but he admitted that he picked up his cell and simultaneously hit the gas. Great.

This time, I listened to counsel from the previous comments: called the cops, took his info, etc. Interestingly, he had a Michigan driver's license, a car from Washington state, and no insurance card. He swore that he was insured, but the cop had no choice but to write him a citation.

Anyway, this one will get fixed. The funny thing is that the nick from the first accident will probably be fixed as well, since they'll probably replace the back bumper entirely.

A pain in the watoot though. I have stuff to do. Ah well, no injuries.

Tour de Crue

If I had time, I would try to find a pic of Jess and her mates with the heads of the hair band Motley Crue super-imposed. The Tour de Crue coming to a bike trail near you!

For reader donors, a million thank yous for your kind generosity. I am kicking butt towards my goal. In fact, I am schooling many of the others on the team (click here), thanks to your support.

In other news, Blackbird has finally been set up for the season. It has been a long time coming due to (a) unprecedented, daily deluges of rain and (b) a precipitous decline in service from my former bike shop.

CC has now re-doubled his endorsement for the original bikeshop: Maplewood Bicycle.

The irony is that it may well rain on Saturday, and I'm not riding Blackbird for 16 miles in the rain. This means that my hybrid bike, Butterscotch, may yet ride again! That will be interesting since I haven't been on it in 2 years.

Hockey Overdose

Wow, well that was a dandy. I just watched Game 5 go into 3 OTs... (Mercifully, the time zone worked to my advantage)

If Detroit scored, they would win the Stanley Cup. But they did not.

There were some sketchy penalties in Pittsburgh's favour (it is pretty clear that the NHL wants more games, eh?) but the refs seemed to try to even it up. Certainly the last penalty against Detroit was blatant.

Down here, NBC seemed to do it up right with almost no commercials except at the intermissions.

CC

ps. Here is some hockey trivia for you. In the mid 1980s, Edmonton was dominant in the NHL. In general politics in the late 80s, Newfoundland, on the far east coast, went to a different timezone from the Atlantic timezone. From what I remember, there was debate as to whether or not the Newfies should be an hour later, or, strangely, a 1/2 hour later from the Atlantic. The main argument against an hour later was that the playoff games from Edmonton would be on unbearably late.

Today, Newfoundland is 1/2 hour later than the Atlantic timezone.

Neighbours Part 3

Our hero lives Apt C (apartment CC was not available). Above him, the new nefarious nemesis of neighbouring negativity lives in Apt B. I probably have not mentioned that his buddy lives above him in Apt A. This has not been noteworthy as I have no quarrel with Apt A. It has been only an indirect problem as they have thrown mutual parties and generally just spur each other on.

Well. The dude in Apt A has left. The "chaos bloc" has been neutralized.

I met the new tenants in Apt A last night. A young woman and her beau. Within minutes, they asked me, unsolicited, if I could hear our man in Apt B. I felt vindicated. Though undoubtedly we suffer different experiences (due to the setup of the building), we are both suffering.

And so, though said umbrage, we have forged solidarity. In hushed tones, I encouraged my new compadre to fully voice any concerns to the office HQ. Later, I wrote out a manifesto on some paper. We agreed that upon greeting one another in the parking lot, we would make a gesture that basically shows our united front and also interrogates the other on how things are going.

Basically, we are in a gang.

And it is a hoot. Our own secret symbols and everything!

I don't know how much longer we'll have our friend in Apt B, but he is going down.

Give Early, Give Often

hey folks,

I've joined the Miss Jess and the Insouciant Cyclists in their annual ride to help cure diabetes.

I'm asking for your help. See my irreverent page (click here). I just can't write the usual upbeat, exclamation-point-laden call to arms.

My only pitch is that I don't ask for much, especially now that I have a reliable car. I will never ask you to help me move. I will never ask for a ride to the airport. But I am asking for this.

Partly because I've joined the party really late. And partly for my Uncle Nick, RIP.

CC

ps. If you are in Canada, you can probably donate. But if you are nervous to do so online, just tell me how much to put in and we can work it out offline. No worries.

pps. All irreverence aside, thank you. (And no worries if you choose not to.)

TV Alert

For those in St Louis (and/or the US):

On Sunday morning at 10 am, on the Speed channel, a show called My Classic Car will feature a "British Car Show" from a lil' province called Prince Edward Island.

Woo-hoo! My guess is that it will be down east near Montague. It was most certainly taped during the summer months: probably August.

Neighbours Part 2

Last weekend there was a new issue with the neighbours: a puppy. My guess is that the guy wanted to move on from his relationship, and if you already have a dog, then what better way to distract oneself than to get a new addition to the family. Plus the chick magnet thing and all that.

A week ago, the big dog and the puppy were out on the deck at 2 am. I went out and complained. I was tempted to yell and use profanity but I was on _my_ neighbours roof and so it is hard to get riled up. 2 dudes were sitting out there, eating dinner (I think). They barely paid any attention. Perhaps they were stoned: hard to say.

I came off my deck, went up the outside stairs, and repositioned myself near their fence. Making sure my voice stayed in that deep, sleepy baritone I growled at them about the dogs. Barely any response. 5 minues later, they were all inside but it seemed like it was on their terms.

By 10 am the next morning, I had 2 copies of a letter describing the last few months: one for the apartment office and one for their door. The one on the door had some choice words as a post-script. The apartment manager was adamant that "this wouldn't happen again". We'll see.

In the week since, things have been better but only barely. If I remember correctly (from a conversation several months ago), if I complain enough times, the apartment will level fines against the resident. That's when things will get interesting.

Hopefully it won't come to that.

I haven't been on my bike this year. It really bothers me but I have to remind myself (a) it has been raining cats and, yes, dogs almost all the time and (b) I have been exhausted from all this crap. Friends say that I "nap a lot". LOL... So would they, in my slippers. Plus I have a highly tuned metabolism and massive cranial capacity which requires constant maintenance.

Happy Memorial Day, USA

'Tis the big weekend down here... A major holiday where one needs to have plans for Sunday or Monday or else one looks like a total loser. One thing about the USA: people make sure that we wayward waifs are "taken care of" in the sense of "do you have somewhere to go?". This is extremely true for Thanksgiving but also the other big holidays.

I have been grousing a lot lately, debating about my future. I hope no one takes it as an indictment of St Louis. This is a great town and I am blessed to have a fantastic social circle here.

Plus, I think the USA generally kicks butt. It is a big, complex country, and a lot of the good things go unrecognized.

peace out from the CC newsdesk

Track Tasks Online

A friend of mine has a web site as a semi-pro hobby: the Online Task List (click here).

Check it out if you like: it's free. I use it for my weekend task list but also in general. He hasn't really advertised it anywhere: it is has been just been spreading virally to a level of several hundred users.

You can assign priorities, get email reminders, etc. It's pretty slick. The user interface is outstanding (e.g. changing colours on rollovers).

Happy Victoria Day

Happy Victoria Day, to everyone back home!

Victoria Day is the big May holiday in Canada: it is one of the major differences from the US in terms of holidays. In the US, Memorial Day is a giant weekend (this coming weekend). In the US, Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer; I wouldn't say that about Victoria Day.

My family on my Dad's side has a major gathering every year, on the Sunday before. When I was back home, it was a day to play soccer in someone's yard.

Here are some quick facts about England's longest reigning monarch:

• She reigned 63+ years from 1837 to 1901. Amazing. Queen Elizabeth II may give her a run for the money though. You go girls!
• Her husband died in 1861. In mourning, she wore black for the next forty years.
• I can't find it online but as a youth there was a great, quirky book called The Book of Lists which featured a very rare photo of Queen V smiling. She was on morphine.

Singing Songs

There is great news over on the Hegemom Blog...

wooHOO!!!!!!!

On My Current Power Rotation

Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky: What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changing
cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too


Landslide -- Fleetwood Mac

Check out the audio and a sumptuously gorgeous guitar solo here.....

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, all of the Mom readers, and all of the Mom-to-be readers!

I love being male and all that goes with it but I do respect motherhood: I've often said that the strongest force in nature is a mother defending her young.

I watch a _lot_ of nature shows and motherhood is truly universal. In the nature, the fathers can be rather shaky.

The Joy of Physics

My car, Rowdy, was rear-ended yesterday at a red light. No injuries and the car is just barely scratched, which is amazing.

I was turning left and a guy behind me gunned his Mustang into me, from a stop. So there wasn't much momentum but I could not believe how hard he hit me. Headache and a sore neck yesterday aft but fine now.

As it happened, I was due for a 30,000 mile tune-up on the ride, so I took Rowdy into the shop today. They saw no structural damage.

I've seen someone push hard on a fender and dent it worse than the damage left by the Mustang. I just don't understand, but I guess the back bumper may have one of those 5 MPH zones that "folds" in and then back out.

I was quite ready to be confrontational but the guy was sincerely contrite, so I was civilized. No cops, no insurance claim.

Lord Stanley's Mug

Bah, well there is no joy in Mudville again this year.

In Vegas in November, I bought 3 long-bet tickets for the Stanley Cup winner:

• Toronto didn't make the playoffs.
• Ottawa was ousted in the first round.
• Montreal was my last hope. This is somewhat ironic since I have historically not supported Les Habs. No matter: they are out as well.

Drat. Keen readers will remember that I seriously kicked butt on the first trip to Vegas (picked World Series winner, picked Superbowl winner, and the hockey pick went to the Cup finals).

There is only one conclusion: back to LV !

New Era on PEI

Quoteth (from this article):

A new era begins on Prince Edward Island Saturday as retailers can once again legally sell canned carbonated beverages for the first time in almost a quarter-century.

The lifting of P.E.I.'s so-called "can ban" is being viewed by Islanders as either a cause for celebration or a day to lament. Prince Edward Island was the only place in North America where pop could only be sold in refillable bottles.

The ban was put in place in 1984 to protect jobs at the local Pepsi bottling plant and to protect the environment.

----------------------

I thought the ban was way before 1984 ? I remember a can of pop being a 'status symbol' in the mid 1970s!?

CC

Reason #71 why I love Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani is a favourite guitar player of mine. Top 3 for me (and possibly Jess ;-)

Reason #71 is the name of his new album:

Professor Satchafunkilus and The Musterion Of Rock

Awesome.

For reason #70, check out this video where he explains music theory. Modes are scales. He uses sophisticated terms such as lydian, aoelian, raised 4th, etc, but don't worry about that: just listen to the moods that he evokes. And his style of exposition which is pretty much what I strive for (in general, when explaining computer science, guitar, award-winning blog writing, etc).

Passport Renewal?

Does anyone have any anecdotes about how long it takes to get a Canadian passport renewed these days?

Mine expires in Dec 08 and I need to plan around some stuff.

Merci bien!

Cops

After 2 nights of peace, things got crazy again at 2:30 am.

To their credit, the neighbours stayed off the deck. But it was still loud enough to wake me.

They were clearly on the verge of a total breakup, fighting about money etc.

I stood, blearly-eyed, in my kitchen for 20 minutes trying to decide what to do. Then the woman yelled "let go of me" and it was Game On.

Thankfully I had the phone # for the police station right at hand.

In the mean time, there was no violence. She locked him out at one point, so he was in the open-air hallway, yelling, further buttressing my decision. Things quieted down by the time the cops arrived.

From what I can tell, she may have been leaving, with him nattering at her, just as they arrived. Hard to say. They definitely did not like being greeted by a pitbull at the door. They might have asked him about a license? Not sure.

I slept until 9:45. It is now 10:45. It will be interesting to see if there is any confrontation as I go outside about my business. Hey, I gave him fair warning.

Update: My neighbour left a note. He said he is moving soon, and apologized for being "nothing but trouble" throughout this ordeal.

Drama Redux: The New Deal

Tuesday night, around 2:30 am, I awoke to another racket on the roof. My neighbour and his belle were in another shouting match. They get into it in the house and then come outside to smoke, with no reduction in volume.

It was relatively tame and short, but I was angry enough that I couldn't sleep.

After hours of tossing and turning, reading boring articles on Wikipedia, and awaiting another earthquake, I eventually drafted a note. It was surprisingly civilized: I censored the profanity and threats of violence. In short, I said "Remember that deal we made where I come up and tell you if it's too loud? The deal is off: I'm calling the authorities if you don't start acting like adults".

At 6:30 am, I symbolically nailed the protestant missive to his door and trudged off to work. After a day of utter misery, I returned home circa 3 pm.

To be honest, I was nervous. I can enjoy confrontation but the apprehension isn't fun. Plus a nuanced, sensitive discussion is probably not in the cards here. This is guy who, as a display of emotion, yelled at his girlfriend that he can benchpress 200+ pounds. (I didn't get it either. I guess I should tell the ladies in the bars that I can run a mile in 6:30 or better.)

When I arrived home, his car was gone: probably went to work (2nd shift, I think). Surprisingly, there was no note of retort at the door.

I slept for 2 hours, and went off to a tri club meeting.

At 9 pm, I returned. He was home, but still no note: what? What is going on here? Was this some kind of tactic?

That evening, at 2 am, I lay awake in bed. Only the crickets chirp near the lake: all is still.

I am puzzled: what is he doing? Trying to outfox me with some silent strategem? I cocked my head to one side to pick up the slightest hint of the damn dog. Or the shrill voice of his girlfriend. Nothing.

"Dammit, man. This guy is good.", I thought to myself, rolling over to yet another side of the bed.

Here on night #2 of The New Deal, it is similarly quiet. Stay tuned.

New Toy

I have a new computer!  My first since 2000.  That is pretty crazy.

It is a laptop: the ultrachic Apple MacbookPro.  I'll attach a link or a pic soon.   It has a 17 inch display and a 2.5 GHz dual Intel CPU with 2 GB of RAM.  

In short, it is pretty wicked.

I've been up and running within minutes.  Really excited.  I've been looking for quite awhile now, and have known that I would join the autonomous collective known as the Mac community for some time.  Many blog readers use Macs and there is a strong faction in the geek community at work and elsewhere.  At those Java conferences, the saturation is about 100% among the presenters.

It's really fun to play with a new computer and OS.  It reminds me of the days in the 1980s with the Commodore 64 etc.

Don't come a knockin if the house is a rockin

Yep, we had a 5.x Richter earthquake in the midwest.  It has been the talk of the town.  In fact, during the talk at work, we had an aftershock around 4.6 R or so.

I wasn't sleeping well so came out onto the couch to watch TV circa 4 am.  I was snoozing when things got weird.  In my dozy state, I actually thought my upstairs neighbour was shaking my couch somehow.  I was ready to raise hell when I realized something was up.

For some reason, I knew it was an earthquake.  It was really weird.  I checked CNN immediately but of course it took time for the news to break.

At work, we were talking about the quake when the aftershock it. I didn't really feel it.  I thought some people were pulling my leg.  Or that they suffered from pyschoseisomatic disorder (ha ha!).

Forty

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

-- Freewill, Rush

I don't like writing long, introspective posts.

But I am 1.5 years away from being 40. The number and concept doesn't scare me but it certainly adds poignancy to the ongoing debate about where to live, play, etc.

I mean, if I'm lucky, life is half over. That's sobering. And somewhat liberating. I mean, even if I go on to become addicted to sniffing glue or something, people can say "well he had a good 40 years". As long as I outlive my parents (the fun just doesn't stop in this post), then who cares?

I'm truly torn between some big questions like "shouldn't I be with my family?" versus devil-may-care hedonism such as "why not live in New Zealand for a year? I don't have kids to put through university".

Heavy stuff. Especially now as things are going very well in St Louis. My life on PEI is well-documented, but I have great friends here. Work is going great and I've started to dabble a bit in the teaching/presentation side of work. That is a major draw for me. Like many of my cousins/family, I'm a natural born teacher.

My fear is that I will excel. I'll love it and wake up 10 years from now wondering why I'm still in St Louis.

See the quote at the top. From a Canadian legend, no less. Perfect.

Neighbours

To recap, my upstairs neighbour is a night-owl with a pitbull and a tumultuous lovelife.

Also, his deck is my roof.

We have had several run-ins and things threaten to get ugly, especially with the warmer weather coming. The most recent was 4 weeks ago where he, his girlfriend, and his dog had a heart-to-heart on the deck at 5:30 am. I had to go out on the deck and tell them to put the dog inside.

e.g. Last night he and his girlfriend are on the deck (circa midnight) in a profanity-laced shouting match. To his credit, for once, the damn dog wasn't out on the deck. However, I nearly got involved, in part because I need sleep and in part because it was pretty intense and I was getting worried about violence.

So I'm sitting up in bed for 10 minutes with the lights on, debating if I should throw on my clothes and go out on my deck. Or to call the cops.

Ultimately, I did not, and things settled down.

Stay tuned.

New Places for Advertising

Check out this clever, timely marketing idea (click here)

No GHP Again This Year

In what is perhaps my most visible detachment from Canada, the Great Hockey Pool (the GHP) is defunct again this year, for perhaps the 3rd or 4th year in a row.

Since the big strike, the TV coverage in the US has been relegated to a backwater channel called Versa. I don't receive it. It is painful.

Back home, there are probably 3 games on TV in a given night right now, in the first round. The national news is pre-empted for the coverage. The (awesome) theme song to Hockey Night in Canada is like the ringing of the church bells, inviting fans to come celebrate.

(Ed's Note: I just spent 20 minutes on YouTube watching old HNiC videos looking for the perfect theme song. Wow. The memories flood back. Emotion.)

At least there is some action: like last year, I visited Vegas and have some tickets for the Cup winner. I bought 3 separate bets. 2 teams are in the running; one didn't make the playoffs. (No, not StL though they fit the description).

Stay tuned... we'll see how it goes.

ps. It is somewhat embarrassing that half the audience will know this factoid and the other half may not care much. Hockey Night in Canada is the world's oldest TV sports program that is still running, and it dates much further back to radio. Monday Night Football is a tradition down here, but it is a young whipper-snapper compared to HNiC.

pps. All is not lost down here in the south. There is baseball! It isn't playoff hockey but the start of the season is a sure sign of spring. Here is a post on the other blog that was actually referenced by a columnist for the local newspaper.

Loyalty

Quoteth:

In 1924, a noted professor at Tokyo University died after suffering a stroke. He was mourned and then, as we say in the 21st century, life moved on.

That is, it moved on for everyone but his dog, Hachi-ko, who continued to meet his master's 4 o'clock commuter train at Shibuya station every day for the next nine years. The dog's intense loyalty became the subject of newspaper articles—he was eventually honored with a bronze statue and a postage stamp.

Hachi-ko was an Akita, an ancient breed beloved by samurai warriors.

Click here a book review on saving the breed (circa 1940s)

New Cellphone Parking Lot at Lambert

Here is some local news if you are in St Louis.

A new "cellphone parking area" at Lambert.

I assume that this is complete by now (the news item is 11/07) but I have been guilty of recently circling.

Click here for the story.

RIP, Dr King

"I have been to the Mountain Top" (click)

Some Minor News

I've been trying to write a build-up but I need to just tell y'all...

I am moving.

Since a recent lunch with a certain "Dr M", things have been rather crazy. I have an opportunity to work, for the same employer (no Visa change), in another town. And after a heart-to-heart talk tonight, I have decided to accept it.

As proof that God has a sense of humor, you'll never guess where it is.

Here's a hint..... The same state as our favorite PhD neuropsychologist (click here)

Many details, and tears, to come in the days ahead (click here)

Quoteth

The sound of laughter is like the vaulted dome of a temple of happiness.

- Milan Kundera

It is to laugh.

- Daffy Duck

Blue Owls and Big Pies

In Missouri, one should visit Lambert's exactly once. It is has a national reputation for gluttony.

But if you don't want to drive as far, and want (a) good food, (b) a country-style, old-fashioned tea-room, or (c) giant pies (including an apple pie that weighs an obscene 8 lbs), check out the Blue Owl. Really friendly people there

My New Online Opener

Online dating is a weird world. Often, you know a _lot_ about someone (e.g. religion, inclination for children, salary) before even contacting them.

Thankfully, the online world plays to my strengths as a writer. (In contrast to the bars where I've had to concoct a lot of stunts and tricks -- I'm neither tall nor burly so the physical factor just isn't there.)

Online, the first email is key. The ladies are usually inundated with messages/smiles/winks from guys who just carpet-bomb in the desperate hope that something will happen.

In the past, I've used a classic "dinner guest" icebreaker. However, it is growing a little tired. It needed a shot in the arm.

So I gave it one. Here, it is.... You are welcome to answer the question for yourself in the comments. However the point is: does it catch your attention? Inspire you? Think more highly of the writer? (Those are, after all, the real goals)

Question:

If you could have dinner with 2 people (from history, famous, no rules), but had to give one poison and the other an aphrodisiac, who would you pick?

CC

ps. Later, I'll tell you what some people have told me.

My Profs

For geek reasons, I was poking around on the website of my alma mater, the University of Waterloo.

I found that some of my profs have personal blogs of their own.

Here's one.... I haven't even read it much yet but I can guarantee that the writing will be excellent, highly opinionated, and rational. (Also, probably quite Canadian though I think the guy is American).

I've decided I'm going to throw a whole new section on the margin called My Profs' Blogs.

Check 'em out...

from Blog HQ,
CC

The Bachelor Kitchen #1

Is this weird?

Take Frosted Mini-Wheats (the cereal), dry, and dip them in garlic hummus.

Mmm mmm good.

And very common in my apartment.

Hallmark Sucks

I cannot count the number of times I have cursed the Hallmark e-card website.

It is slow and erratic. And yet when it works it has some fun stuff on there.

I want a new e-card website... recommendations anyone?

Wash U : Division III Basketball Champs

Many of my friends in StL went to the local Washington University.

This year, they won the Division III basketball division! (For the first time)

Click here for the article.... Quoteth (to understand the priority of this for an academic, research-oriented school that is more commonly ranked at the top for medical research):

Washington University security cars escorting the bus blared sirens to announce the team's arrival Sunday night.

Senior Troy Ruths was the first to step off the bus, holding the national championship trophy over his head. The crowd — about 30 fans — went wild.

Congrats!

Maritime Travel Questions

As you know, my friend Berlin will be visiting PEI in September.

Her daughter is getting married at Fortune Bay. She and her husband will tour the Island for 4-5 days, and then drive over to Cape Breton to go on the Cabot Trail. Then off to Peggy's Cove before leaving via Halifax.

Questions for the Maritimers:

• Recommending a fancy Lobster Supper on PEI is easy. Berlin asked for a recommendation for an informal restaurant that she could visit on a daily basis. She is from Taiwan, where seafood is a staple. I told her that lobster is far more of a delicacy on PEI than a staple, but I want to check with my people: where could she go for non-fancy lobster? Note that she will be mostly on the eastern part of the Island.
• The plan has 1 day to visit New Brunswick after leaving Borden and before driving to Cape Breton. Any sights to see in NB? I've been telling her to skip it ;-)
  
• How long does it take to do the Cabot Trail? I guessed 2 days at a leisurely pace, with perhaps a stop at a B&B on the Trail itself. Does that sound right?

thanks gang
CC

Tip for those using Windows XP

I just read this tip on Windows XP to change the text style to something easier to read.

I have a new LCD monitor (my old vintage-1997 monitor was getting pretty rough), and this looks really good on it.

• Right click on the Desktop
• Choose Properties
• Select the Appearance tab
• Open the Effects dialog
• Choose ClearType in the 2nd dropdown box

This gives the text a smooth feel. It is not the default in XP (though it is the default on the Mac).

Indexed

hi gang,

I've been really busy at work and then -- blammo -- sickness via a cold. Took most of Wednesday off and went to bed circa 9 pm.

I don't have much energy to write but here is a site that you should definitely check out: wisdom via index cards. It is pretty cool.

peace
CC

ps. I didn't work out for about 7 days and then got sick. Coincidence? You decide.

pps. I have recently come to the realization that I need to eat healthier. I don't eat junk, but I don't eat organic goodness all the time either. I think my overuse of Michelina's is cause for feeling rundown sometimes.

ppps. A very Happy Easter to readers who celebrate!

A Thought

Maturity is forgiving your parents for being tough when you were young.

Wisdom is accepting that you'll never feel that gratitude, for said rearing, has been fully expressed.

CC

Geek Weekend

Sorry to everyone if I have been out of touch...

I'm in my beloved "Java conference" this weekend. The one where the speakers tour around North America and conduct a 3-day conference in various cities; they are back in StL. This will be my 7th in 6 years. I just love the vibe of being with "my people" (geeks) and exchanging ideas.

Nothing new on the sticker/stunt front for the tech blog. Normally I have stickers made for these conferences but I have been busy. We have been asked to work OT for work (which I'm really enjoying) and that is a tall order considering I'm in the conference most of Friday and this weekend.

peace,
CC

Should We Talk About The Weather?

Sunday it was 75+ F (approx 23 C).

Tuesday we got 8-10 inches of snow (20+ cms) in a few hours. Quite a drop. No wind, just a steady, heavy snowfall.

The car, Rowdy, got along fine (after the late switch, my tires are probably better than yours), though its low clearance is a bit of an issue in times like this.

Interestingly, I have a small, collapse-able shovel from a "winter kit" as a Christmas gift (from my Aunt Joyce, I think?). I stow it in the hatch of the car. By Canadian standards, the thing is a prize from a box of Crackerjacks. And yet today I was a mountain man. Poor waifs at work were trying to shovel snow with their icescrapers. Enter Captain Canuck! Our hero was not only equipped for survival but also had the cardiovascular system to move snow fast.

Seriously, I was greeted as a liberator.

Blog Tag

My dear Minnesotan friend Jennifer tagged me....

According to the rules, I am to share 7 facts about myself — some random, some weird. I'll try to put stuff that hasn't been mentioned on here before.

1. When I go to bed and check the lock on the door, I say it out loud. e.g. "Thursday locked". This way, when I'm in bed dozing off, I can remember that I did it. Then, in the morning, I write out the letters O, C, D 100 times (not really).

2. Playing piano is purportedly my favourite thing to do in the whole world. I have thought about playing in a small church somewhere when I retire. And yet I haven't played in almost an entire year. This fact is killing me.

3. There is no "rule" per se but I almost never have pop (aka soda), cookies, or ice cream in the house. However, I can eat a tub of hummus like it is a condiment. I drink a gallon of milk in about 3 days.

4. For years, I go to sleep to KMOX on the radio. Conservative news-talk radio. I'm not very conservative, so this is sort of weird. When I first moved here, it was the strongest signal. Thankfully I don't "need" radio to go to sleep.

5. Until very recently there was a still-wrapped cookie sheet propped up against my closet. It had been sitting there for about 4 years. There was another one just like it out near the kitchen (probably 2 years there). Man, I'm weird.

6. Over 40 courses in my undergrad degree, my average was 90%. That took a lot of work. I won a prize for math and for science (which was a tacit admission that I had come in 2nd place, losing the coveted Governor General award). Unfortunately no one told me that no one would care later in life. I want that average on my tombstone.

7. As a teenager, I napped after school from about 4 pm to 4:30 pm. For years now, I nap after eating circa 6 pm to 6:30 pm.

I will tag others later on.... I have to go to work!

Rules:

1. link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.


2. share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.


3. tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.


4. let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Domination

These standings won't last long, so I've made a copy (click on pic). Note that #2 scored 101 and 100 points in 2 races for winning one outright and winning one age-group.

By comparison, my average over 4 races is 93. In rough terms, this means I was 7% slower than the winner of my age group. This is highly inflated due to the short, indoor (easy bike) nature of my races.

But we'll take it.

ps. My friend Jason E wins the prize for the best gag at an indoor triathlon. Last night, he suggested that I wear my helmet on the stationary bike. Brilliant! Too bad the suggestion came after the quatro of tri's.

Silence

When we were young, my family drove to the eastern side of the Island (aka Down East) every 2nd Sunday like clockwork.

There are many people down there who were massively influential in my youth.

We lost one yesterday.

My Uncle Donnie, father of Donald and Jeff, passed away after a long battle with diabetes.

He was a kind-hearted man with a hearty laugh and a sincere concern for others.

I have many stories and memories but this time they remain mine.

Life is Good on the Margin

As disclosed earlier on her blog (click here) and on CC, Hegemom received a diagnosis that was heavy news.

Today, there is great news! See her blog for details... I figure it's ok to share since it's public and wonderful! Many readers of this blog have heard a lot about Hegemom and Fred.

Be sure to check out the wig shopping pics, and the wonderful shot of Fred, replete with a shaved head, done in support. (This is one small example of why I dearly miss working with Fred.)

This is a great day. A day where people shout out loud upon receiving email...

Hockey Night in St Louis

BryGuy treated me to a hockey game last night. The seats were rock-star quality and the game was really fun. Seeing live hockey takes me _way_ back to watching games as a youth in a good old rink. No NHL stories from those days: I didn't see my first NHL game until I was 26, and it was in St Louis. In fact, I've only seen NHL games in St Louis (that's weird).

The Blues played the Chicago Blackhawks, an arch-rival and classic Old Six team from the original NHL. Plenty of goals and big hits. It was a terrific game.

I think the best part was the smell: the cool air coming off the ice. Arenas can try and dress up a venue so that it is like a movie theater, ball park, concert hall, etc, but they can never truly hide the fact that one is in a freakin' cold rink. Just the way God intended.

I could write a lot more on this but I have to go to work. A really fun evening... Man, I need to get out to see them more often.

Final score: Blues 5 Blackhawks 1

BryGuy cheerily smiled through all of my old hockey trivia... Here's a couple of tidbits:

• Chicago currently has the longest "streak since a Stanley Cup". 1960-61. St Louis has been to the finals but has never won.
• I need to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure that Wayne Gretzky was once awarded all of the game's 3 stars. They had him skate out three times.

Trifecta

I ran tri #3 of 4 this morning... It went pretty well. I had barely worked out all week so I felt well-rested. (Rest, like hydration, is important but I think overstated. These aren't Ironmans!)

I finished 3rd in my age group and received a little medal, which is always nice. I think I have more medals since turning 30 than I ever received as a kid.

Update on the nefarious Jim G: he is down with the flu right now. So he will be iffy for next weekend. I hope he's ok but more importantly, that he can compete. A win is a win so I don't care if he's feeling weak. There's no pride here!

Four in Fourteen Days

On the weekend after next, there is another triathlon: an indoor smackdown with the nefarious Jim G, my dreaded arch-rival, on his home turf: his YMCA in Wildwood.

That leaves this coming weekend for rest and recovery.

Tonight, I decided to recover by doing yet another indoor tri. At the West County Y. Jim G has declined my entreaties to participate. This is pretty crazy since I don't feel good from last weekend yet. But my fans spur me on.

This will be 4 triathlons in the span of 3 weekends. Rock n roll, baby.

CC

ps. My YMCA doesn't host triathlons (yet). That would be pretty awesome. I call the cardio room "my 2nd home" and "the Theatre of Pain". To race in there would be fantastic.

pps. It will actually be 15 days but I like the title for the post.

Tough As Iron

One might think that tough is: doing 2 triathlons back-to-back.

One might think that tough is: coming home 2 nights later, still limping, and then going back out into a cold winter night to swim and run in order to loosen up the calf muscles.

In the big scheme of things, it's not that strong.

Hegemom is tough. Visit her blog and you'll understand.

In related news, please consider donating to the Komen 3-day walk.

CC

ps. Hegemom inspired the Give 'em Hell post.

Double Your Pleasure: 2 tri's in 24 hours

(Editor's note: if you saw the last post, be sure to check it out again. James was kind enough to write a response and give me the link to the website.)

I returned to the JCC for tri #2 this morning. This one was longer and I could feel it on the 5 mile run. Getting up at 4:50 am was 'interesting', but it was a great feeling when it was over.

For doing both events, I received a medal from the event. Ha ha! A medalist, no less, though I doubt if I placed on the podium in my age group. Certainly not today. Yesterday's time is looking pretty good (though still not podium-worthy).

The next tri is at Jim G's YMCA in Wildwood. I'm trying to talk him into a good old smackdown. Either way, this will make a tri-fecta for February.

Team in Training

I haven't blogged much on it but I'm returning to the JCC this weekend for two triathlons: the shorter one was today; the longer one is a 6 am swim tomorrow (yikes). I've done each event in years past but this is the first time I've tried The Combo.

Enough about me.... Listen to this. At some events, I've run into a chap named James W. We are in the same age-group and are mutual supporters. On the stationary bikes, this morning, he was great in terms of keeping us motivated. Later, we chatted and he told me his story.

He was a cross-country runner in high-school, and like me, eventually became quite un-fit by age 30. Then he decided to do something about it. However, his motivation is infinitely more meaningful than mine.

Through his church, he learned of a young girl who was diagnosed with leukemia. He joined Team in Training and worked his way up to triathlon. He does triathlons now wearing the Team in Training colours and wearing logos for the girl.

Alas, he told me the website, but I can't find it, even with The Google. Egad! Hopefully I can find it and put a link over on the margin.

ps. Thankfully James is craftier than I, and found this site (see comments). Here is the link to the website: (click here) for Kare 4 Kailie

Lament for the Death of Reverend Archie Beaton

I had the distinct honour of seeing Natalie MacMaster in concert at the Sheldon this week.

In my pre-blog days, I wrote an inspired for the first time I saw her perform, with Jennifer. I am forever indebted to Jenn for introducing me to her music.

Growing up back home, my folks would go out and socialize every Saturday night. On that night, there were two constants: Hockey Night in Canada, and "the Hoe-down" on a local radio station: old school bluegrass and celtic music. Jigs and reels, you name it. Really old stuff.

I didn't really care for it at the time, but music is powerful stuff. Here, in the middle of the US, it is quite a thing to see a world-class performer play authentic Scottish music and entertain the crowd in a classic Maritime accent. To be 7 years old again.

This show wasn't as good as the first one. But it was still fantastic. The Sheldon is a lovely, intimate concert venue, tailor-made for Natalie's style. Natalie played fiddle, some other Maritimers played piano and bagpipes; a tremendous prodigy from Mississippi played cello (he is 14 years old and worthy of a post in his own right).

I wish everyone I know in St Louis could have been there. This stuff is where I come from. At times, it wasn't so much a concert for me, as it was a pilgrimage.

One such moment: Natalie explained a bit of the history of the Scot music, which goes back to the 1700s. She said that she has learned some 200+ tunes from others, or recordings, even reel-to-reels that no doubt were once used on shows like the Hoe-Down.

She said that this one was different: it came from a music book. It was a very old, slow Scottish air called Lament for the Death of Reverend Archie Beaton. Some fools laughed at the title, which was marginally forgivable because Natalie had been cracking jokes all evening.

This wasn't a joke. It was a gorgeous, slow melody by a virtuoso fiddler player (who knows that holding a note can be more poignant than 8 fluttering grace notes) accompanied by piano. It was transcendent. I wondered how proud her ancestors would be to know that their music was alive and well, after so much change, and to know it is played true and from the heart. I wondered about old Reverend Archie, and what he was like. He must have been a good man to evoke a melody that lasted centuries.

CC

ps. Nat has a CD called "My Roots Are Showing". Perfect.

Blog Tag for Colleen

My sister's birthday is on the 5th. Happy Birthday!

Here's 5 things that readers may not know about Colleen:

• She once air-dropped into London, England on a wing and a prayer and worked two jobs for a summer. A bagel place and a pub, I think.
  
• She holds an undergrad degree in Math and a Law degree. She excelled, and did it with an academic era that was a helluva lot richer than mine in terms of life (I went under social lockdown).
  
• She played the flute in high school. I once asked her to play the hook from Ozzy's Crazy Train. It was weird. To pursue it after high-school, she joined the military, and passed boot camp! That's hardcore.
  
• She has a laugh that is both loud and infectious. It's hard to not laugh with her.
• Occasionally, it seems like she's older (she's not). e.g. For her wedding, she asked me to read Kihlal Gibran's On Marriage which was a bolt of lighting in terms of maturity and wisdom. That piece revolutionized my view on lifelong commitment.
  

Maritime Quiz

Yo, Maritimers!

As I may have reported, a dear friend of mine at work has a daughter who is getting married on PEI (!!) in September.

My friend wants to see the Maritimes. She will have a car and be there for a week. The wedding is near St Peters at the ritzy (from what I gather) Inn at Fortune Bay.

She is asking me what she should see... I have some ideas but I want your ideas. She definitely wants to go off Island but I don't want her to spend too much time driving. E.g. the ferry to Newfoundland is pretty crazy.

I might put a poll over on the margin later on..... for now, send me email, eh?

peace,
CC

Those Three Little Words

I've told this story but have wanted to write it down. It is one of the reasons why I started this blog, and now is the time to write it.

I have a favourite moment that I often recall when I need to summon strength or find motivation. Often, it is pivotal in helping me alter my attitude from being on the defensive, and living with fear, versus being on the offensive, and living with hope.

School

In the summer of 1991, I was planning to leave The Island to go to grad school. I had chosen the University of Waterloo; a school with a rather stout program. UW has a faculty of mathematics (versus a department). Its top math students routinely finish up there with MIT, Caltech, etc, in math competitions.

Though I put on a brave face, I wasn't looking forward to the adventure. I was scared. I didn't know if I could maintain a scholarship "in the big leagues", and neither my family nor I could afford this school otherwise. I had never lived off The Island and barely outside of my parents' house. In some ways, I had never failed; in other ways, I had lived a sheltered, easy life and had never been tested. I had no idea even how to prepare for this, emotionally, academically, grammatically.

To help mitigate the big change, I decided that I would move to Waterloo, Ontario (2 hours from Toronto) in July, well before the school year began. (Ed's note: no one knew that I would not return for 17 years and counting.)

The Barbeque

My dad's side of the family often gets together for a "barbeque" (cook-out, as they say down here) in the summer. My folks decided to have one in the final weeks before the Big Move, as a send off of sorts.

Generally speaking, this group is literate, cheerful, and devout. Not much smokin', drinkin', or swearin' with this group. A clever pun in Scrabble game constitutes mayhem. (And actually is mayhem -- it's fun!) With respect to faith, people varied but at the high-end of the theological spectrum is my Aunt Judy (and her husband). They can quote chapter-and-verse with the best of them. Their house, a modest place with spartan furnishing, is filled with Biblical literature and deep books on spirituality.

My Aunt Judy literally has worn her hair in a bun forever. Like the rest, she is always cheerful, sunny, and is fantastically clever. The speed of my wit is little league by comparison.

Three Little Words

At the end of a long, fun afternoon, people began to leave. For many, this would be the last chance to see me before I left to "be away" -- anywhere off Island. I remember the dread of saying goodbye, knowing that I was one step closer to my own departure, my own new beginning. To be honest, I was terrified. I was exactly in that place that I would find myself so many times in life: on the defensive. A hostage, of sorts.

Thankfully, it was this day that I received the best advice I have ever known.

As she went to leave, my Aunt Judy approached me. With a beaming smile, she said, "well..." and her voice trailed off. She gave me a giant bear hug, and leaning in close, whispered in my ear:

Give 'em hell.

Happy 45th Anniversary !

My parents' anniversary is Saturday....

45 years!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

The Home Pagers

There are a select few, among the masses of the CC Nation, who use this page as their home-page (seriously).

These devotees want their CC updates ASAP: every opportunity to open a browser is an implicit check on the goings-on about local events, world affairs, and, yes, me.

After all, the 'Internets' are just one click away: most browsers support Google and Wikipedia searching in a little toolbar.

However, The Home Pagers receive a special treat, as a thank you for their dedication: some handy links off on the right margin. The Web just became a little closer; this page, a little warmer.

And for the rest of you ingrates, a bonus as well: CC dot com continues to put the thrill back in blog, by adding some Random Sites over on the margin. This is no mere blogroll: these sites represent some neat-o sites that you may enjoy. They will change on occasion, making each visit a potential new gift from me to you.

All this, for free (at least for now -- we are still working on a subscription model, but don't let that scare you). Merci!

peace,
CC

Streak Ends at 15

My consecutive streak at the gym is over: 15 days straight.

The streak served its purpose: giving me a shot in the arm toward regaining fitness. It was starting to take on a life of its own, though. That's ok but the workouts were becoming shorter and shorter as the grueling marathon wore on.

The stats for the streak:

Run: 20 miles
Bike: 38 miles
Swim: 4250 meters

Celebrating 18

I have a math degree. The first two years involved a lot of number crunching (the latter two years involved highly abstract proofs).

I have spent hours pouring over numbers. Integers. Rationals. Irrationals. Complex. Transcendentals. You name it.

A favourite number is 18. Mostly because I was born on the 18th. My Dad was too, as were some close friends, including Jess: Happy Birthday!

Factoid: the word "life" in Hebrew is made of two letters, whose numeric sum total to 18.

Random Facts from Home

Here's some truly random factoids from my trip home at Christmas

• In 2007, my sister read approximately 275 books. My Dad biked approximately 2000 miles. It's kind of an extreme family that tracks numbers.
• A local tattoo place has a radio ad: very "local" in the sense that the ad is low budget and has some good ol' Maritime accents. The ad touts artistry, safety, and cleanliness. Then at the end, the tag line is We're Gonna Hurt Ya.... And You're Gonna Love It.
• My Dad had a big 10-gallon cowboy hat and cheerily offered to me as a "prop" for some bar stunts. His use of my term was a hoot.
• My bro-in-law and I watched an episode of South Park about the game Guitar Hero. We cracked up: it is absolutely hilarious and more evidence that Fred is always right about entertainment choices (he recommended the episode).
  
• My cousin, Supergirl, age 4, happily proclaimed that "Mike was born in Canada and grew up in the United States". A single tear fell from my cheek (not really but sorta).
• Air Canada, je me souviens. Fureur pour vous (et moi).
• My wildman cousin, Jeff, is a father figure for 2 young lads. He offered this advice to them regarding hockey and general playground demeanor: when you are mid-sized, your responsibility is to protect the weak, not to prey on them. That's sublime.
• Most importantly, my friends Vic and Colleen had a Good Year, to say the least. Finally: justice for Jewel. See the video. (Why hadn't I seen this before! Or did I, and I'm just going crazy?)
  

Micro Testimonials

Last year, our team at CC dot com invigorated the world with the notion of micro-posts. Those little blurbs at the top of the page. They ranged from birthday greetings to daily status reports to various and sundry tag lines.

However, especially with a new look for 2008, both fans and critics alike have been writing to our HQ, asking for new invention. New ideas. A sense of direction in an uncertain world.

Step 1: Micro Testimonials. This sub-genre of micro-post will endorse products that I enjoy. At CC dot com, we don't have time for full reviews, plus they are superfluous: if we say something is good, it is good. Just go buy it. Today's micro-testimonial is for Columbia winter apparel. I have a ski-jacket (with removable liner and a zillion pockets) by Columbia. I've had it for years and it is possibly the best jacket I have ever owned.

CC fans are keen, and we can already hear a chorus of "what if we miss a micro-testimonial? They change so quickly".

The Chosen Few know the answer: make CC your homepage! No need to "check in" on a semi-regular basis: just bring up a browser, and bingo, there you go. All the CC news you need to move on with your day. And now: a hand micro-testimonial serving as your own "Consumer Reports Concierge".

Live. Laugh. Buy. With help from CC dot com.

100-Mile Diet

Paraphrased from The 100-Mile Diet:

I phoned Rich Pirog, the researcher responsible for the "food-miles" statistic (i.e. our food averages 1500 miles in transit). The explanation for long-distance eating? Cheap oil. Transportation costs are a fraction of the retail price. According to a 2001 study, shipping food nationally uses 17 times more fuel than a regional food system.

More and more, North American consumers eat produce from distant places they will never visit, though they might have easily grown the vegetables in their own backyards. E.g. Imports of strawberries to California peak during that state's strawberry season.

I received a neat book from my sister and bro-in-law: The 100-Mile Diet. A couple in Vancouver chronicle their one year experiment: eat only food from a 100-mile radius. It has helped spawn a new awareness of "food-miles" and the effect on our economy, our health, and our agriculture. It's quite an eye-opener....

Check out a related website here.

Streaking through Boot Camp

There are no plateaus at CC dot com. Every vector of life is simultaneously on the sharp ascent or descent.

Mercifully, the fitness gradient is on the increase.

I have modest streak going: 4 consecutive days at the gym (alternately running and swimming). This is not impressive, but it is a motivator (the streak). And that is terrific. Just what the doctor ordered.

I'll be back in black in no time.

Just the Stats

Here's a breakdown of 2006 vs 2007. I was off to a great start in 2007 but 2006 was a very solid, complete year. And to think I was dating someone in 2006 and had a very busy social life. I think 2006 may have been one of the Great Years. It's stunning to me now. The numbers don't lie, eh?

Ye Olde Units (2006 vs 2007)

Run: 332 mi vs 298 mi
Bike: 520 mi vs 500 mi
Swim: 46 mi vs 21 mi

Metric (2006 vs 2007)

Run: 535 km vs 480 km
Bike: 837 km vs 804 km
Swim: 75 km vs 34 km

Suffering at the James

One knows that one hasn't exercised lately when one is so estranged from a former friend, Gym, that now one uses the more formal James (or Gyames).

Our hero stands in line to enter the James. It seems familiar yet foreign. The high walls and open spaces are reminiscent of a cathedral. He vaguely remembers repenting here, months ago.

He has returned, virtually indistinguishable from the other visitors. Many of them are the New Years Newbies. Both CC and the Newbies are welcomed by the staff. There is no sign of recognition in their eyes. After all both CC and the Newbies have not been here in a long time; both have been on a recent diet of personal destruction; both have "let themselves go" for their own individual reasons of erroneous priorities.

It is time to repent. Time to suffer. Our hero respects the Newbies, but he is not one of them. He decides to stand out from the crowd.

Mile 2

At mile 2 on the Tread, he is sweating profusely. 4 months ago, at this pace, it would take 5 miles to hit this level of exertion. Good news: many of the Newbies have already retired. Bad news: his knees start to twinge with pain.

Mile 4

The exertion is much more serious now. The knees ache. Most of the Newbies are gone; a fresh crop have arrived. Our hero digs down deep for further motivation: he analyzes the last 3 months for wanton acts of selfishness, stupidity, and sloth. Payback's a bitch and it starts now. Gritting his teeth, his legs burn.

Mile 6

Though heartened at outlasting all of the Newbies, our hero is chained in his own prison. The cardio system seems to remember the Great Days of 07 (pre-August) but his legs and knees cannot bear the burden. His form is creaky; his face contorted with suffering. Children cling to their mothers at the sight. A fallen hero punishing himself through impotent rage.

Mile 6.5

Zounds! The software of his brain is overridden by a hardware interruption: the right knee fires a sharp shot of pain across the bow of his consciousness. We need to stop now. Our hero slows to a walk.....

Later he hobbles through the parking lot. It is 72 F and sunny. As he collapses into the driver's seat of his car, he exhales heavily.

2008 is looking better already.

Four Straight, Baby!

Woo-hoo!

The Canadian Junior hockey team won its 4th consecutive championship at the World Juniors!

They won the final game against the Swedes (who snapped our 20 game win streak earlier in the tourney). They took us to OT in the final. It must have been a nail-biter.

I didn't see any of the game: my only suspense was a slow load of the page from TSN (the Canadian ESPN). I yelled out loud at the news.

In the US, baseball is claimed as the national pastime but I think it is actually football in terms of community involvement: Friday night is high-school, Saturday is college, and Sunday is the NFL.

In Canada, hockey is still #1. The World Juniors feature the elite players aged 16-19 (roughly). In that age group, there is nothing even close: it is their Stanley Cup crossed with the Olympics.

CC

ps. I know some peeps back home who have the Canada Juniors team logo (see pic) as a tattoo.

Year of the Near Misses: 2007

Keen readers may remember the Resolutions of Jan 07. I really upped the stakes back then: travel to Europe, complete 1/2 Ironman, and run a marathon.

I accomplished none of these. The headline is: one yard short. But didn't John Stuart Mill write that a person's reach should exceed their grasp? That true growth, the joie du vivre, comes from our attempts?

Whatever. Mill was a loser and his quotes are utilitarian at best (ha ha).

Now, I aspire to George Dubya's "soft bigotry of low expectations".

Well, no one needs to read a grocery list of disappointments. Let's accentuate the positive, as they say:

• Surely, there were good times: killer trips to Memphis, Phoenix, Vegas, and home. Celebrations of weddings, birthdays, Thanksgivings, and lives well-lived with my people in StL and PEI. In public, much laughter.
  
• Some successes through work, and some stunning wins on the tech blog. Two words: James Gosling. My my.
  
• I ran a mile in 6 minutes! Possibly the purest accomplishment of the year.
• Though the heat stroke at the 1/3 Ironman began a downward spiral for the year, I did finish the damn thing.
  
• On piano, I practiced every day until an eerie, inexplicable cessation in March -- oh wait, that's a negative :-}
  

Anyway, see ya 2007. Come on in '08, and sit yourself down.

Resolutions to come.... I don't take them super-seriously, but I do like thinking about them. No vague goals (e.g. "exercise more") for me....

New Lang Syne (The Nuptials)

I wrote out a moderately long post about the NYE Nuptials but it feels weird to summarize such a big event (and someone else's event). I can't post it. Maybe later in anecdotes or something.

You had to be there. It was profound and joyous! Cheryl and Bryan looked radiant. If you know them, the wedding was filled with people from their lives (fam & friends). Truly powerful.

The combo of the wedding and New Year's was just as they had hoped: a sincere, heartfelt service, followed by a huge party. Fun....

Congrats, C & B ! Enjoy Buenos Aires!

CC

ps. The cupcakes were a smash hit. As you know, this was the big night for the Cupcake Project. They looked great on a multi-tier platform, designed like a wedding cake.

pps. Some of you may know I have a keen interest in people's choice for the wedding song. BryGuy and Mrs C picked What a Wonderful World (Louie Armstrong). Delightful.

ppps. I really enjoyed catching up with out-of-towners and locals alike... The guest list was like a "Legion of Hall of Famers" from C & B's life.

pppps. Happy New Year's to everybody! Here's looking to a great '08 ! Stay tuned for a year in review and resolutions.

One for the Ages

The plan for the trip home was 12 hours. That's almost optimal.

Stunningly, it was 26 hours, replete with weather delays, an all-nighter in the Montreal airport, and 4 layovers: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Chicago.

Essentially, it was like 5 two-hour flights interspersed within 16 hours of waiting time.

Fun! But I'm home now.... a great trip otherwise. Pretty wiped out though.

CC

epilogue: My checked bag showed up in StL immediately, as though the travel gods were saying "see? no harm, no foul". But I'm not buying it.

ps. At least I'm not sick. Last year was worse (I was very sick). Poor Colleen had consumption all through Christmas.

She's Shutdown Solid

My flight was canceled out of Ch'town, mostly due to fear of the storm.

We did get 15 cm (~6 inches) but it fell straight down and isn't a big deal. I fly out later today (Friday) and arrive in StL on Saturday morning after an all-nighter in Montreal.

Nothing is easy, eh?

The good news is that I booked with some slack before BryGuy's and Miss C's wedding (precisely for this kind of contingency).

Holiday Index

It has been another great trip.... I'm leaving in 5 hours (gah). There was snow on the ground for Christmas and another 2 inches tonight.

In the style of Harper's Index, here is a recap of the week....

# of homesteads visited: 9
# of wakes/funerals attended: 1 (this part was not 'great'. RIP.)
# of calories ingested: 200,000
# of miles run: 0
# of laughs: oodles
# of old memories: countless
# of new memories: we'll see

It was a pleasure to see each and every one... Peace out. Have a great New Year's Eve, eh?

Stay tuned for the CC year 2007 in review. It ain't gonna be pretty for my personal goals. How about you?

Hello Stars, My Old Friend

(Ed's note: It is past 1 am local time. This post may prove to be as useful as trying to explain a dream to someone. We'll see in the morning.)


As a kid, Boxing Day meant traveling to the eastern part of the Island to visit relatives. Often, on the drive back from 'down east', I would look up at the night sky, full of stars. I appreciated them but never took the time to learn the constellations.

As I have lamented in the past, I had no idea how lucky I was, from an astronomical perspective: very little light pollution and a clean atmosphere.

Tonight, I was Down East, driving from Murray Harbor to home in Cornwall. Throughout the evening, I noticed the sky but on my way home, circa 11:30 pm, I pulled over on a long, dark, and desolate road outside of Montague.

The night air was still: crisp but not freezing. It was eeriely quiet. A full moon shone down like a photo-negative sun. And the stars were still there, as though I had never left. Dozens, in every direction. Big easies like Orion and the Dippers. Formations that were surely something but more difficult -- Cassiopia? And a myriad number of little anonymous clusters. Bright, dim, crisp, blurry.

The last time I lived on The Island was 1991. These stars, this view, was now both exotic, foreign, and yet familiar. In the north, the night sky has infinite patience: it greets the prodigal sons and daughters with unconditional, timeless beauty. No questions asked.

It is the sons and daughters who ask the questions.

CC

ps. I drove through Charlottetown via University Avenue, just like old times. And partly to spite both progress and readers of this blog.

If You're Gonna Go Cheesy, Go All the Way

Christmas In Killarney

The holly green, the ivy green
The prettiest picture you've ever seen.
Is Christmas in Killarney
With all of the folks at home...

It's nice, you know, to kiss your beau,
While cuddling under the mistletoe.
And Santa Claus you know, of course
Is one of the boys from home...

The door is always open:
The neighbors pay a call;
And Father John before he's gone
Will bless the house and all...

How grand it feels to click your heels,
And join in the fun of the jigs and reels!
I'm handing you no blarney:
The likes you've never known,
Is Christmas in Killarney,
With all of the folks at home.

See you soon, PEI.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and a Happy New Year to all....

Appetite for Construction

St Louis will soon undergo a prolonged (2 year?) shutdown of a major highway: the dreaded I-40.

The town is abuzz with the prospect for chaos in early '08 and general suffering through '09.

For Islanders, imagine that University Avenue or the Stratford bridge were shutdown for 2 years. Wicked.

It will impact me only peripherally (I hope). I have been avoiding 40 for months just on principle.

I only post this because I think I coined the title before anyone else in this town. (hello, Guns n Roses fans).

peace
CC

Happy Birthday, Dad

Happy Birthday to Charles!

I hope it's a great day back home....

Travel Plans and New Year's Eve

Hey Islanders!

I'll be back on The Island soon.... arriving late Friday Dec 21 and teleporting back crazy early on Dec 28. She'll be a breezy trip but I'm looking forward to seeing you all!

I'm not a big New Year's person but this year will be great. Long time readers know that BryGuy and Miss C will be 'completing the merger' (no jokes from me) of Dogtown Inc! Very cool stuff....

CC

Like Night and Day

The Last Run

3 pm. Our hero looks ponderously through the windshield. He is at the base of Heartbreak Hill, the steep ascent at his apartment complex. It is the final run for the summer stickies on Rowdy, his black Honda.

Grimacing, he grips the wheel. And guns 'er. He knows from past experience that the ice & snow cover on this hill is treacherous. He has seen dozens of vehicles lose their momentum and merely polish their tires at the midway point.

However, Rowdy is front-wheel drive: this car requires more care. One cannot simply gun 'er, for if grip is lost, then so too is steering. And many cars are parked along the hill. A dangerous game.

Our hero zooms along the base, running a faux stop sign, hitting 12 mph. Any faster would be reckless. Any slower would be pointless. He guides the car into the curve and begins to climb.

The car loses grip immediately. Shifting into higher gears, the car gains a bit of speed and yet reduces torque. The speedo clocks in at 30 mph but the car is barely climbing the hill.

After a long 2 minutes, our hero crests the grade. Miraculously, he has done it.

He may be an absent-minded philosopher without mechanical skill or a sense of winter planning, but so too: he is a driver.

The First Run

5 pm. After a pleasant visit to the local NTB store, Rowdy and our hero sit again the base. Now, Rowdy is shoed with high performance all-season tires. Also, the alignment has been corrected. They both grin wickedly at this litmus test for the new rubber.

Without fanfare, our hero kicks Rowdy into gear. Intentionally, there are no momentum games and no exotic gear-shifts. This is is an honest test.

They come off the base at 7 mph... the tires bite into the snowpack. Slowly, and without wheelspin, the car climbs the hill with a sense of purpose and calm, almost as though being pulled by a tow-line at a ski hill.

Both runs had a sense of inevitability: however the latter is based on sound engineering principles, rather than clever skill and megalomania. It's less fun, but a lot more promising for the winter ahead.

ps. NTB = National Tire and Battery. I think I like them better than Dobbs. And certainly better than Sears re: Jennifer's experience. I miss Canadian Tire (separate post).

Silly Snowy Shutdown

Peter Jennings, the legendary ABC News anchor, was Canadian. One time, he confessed that he failed to give a particular snow storm enough coverage because winter weather is so common back in Canada: it wasn't newsworthy.

Pete is my only shred of dignity down here in St Louis.

The last years of Herbie (the Miata) were shameful in winter: many pushes, bummed rides, and general embarrassment as our hero, a Canadian, was stuck in 3-4 inches of snow while the Americans drove around freely.

Though the Miata is not a great winter car, one notes that St Louis does not have Great Winters: they are generally tame with the occasional bluster. The problem was a lack of 'Tire Awareness' on the part of the owner.

Tire Awareness

Tire awareness is roughly defined as knowing the current state of one's tires, both in terms of wear and their rating for snow & ice. It is perhaps my greatest weakness as a driver.

Alas, the story continues: a lack of tire awareness currently has the new car (Rowdy, a Honda) stuck at a gas station. Actually, it is tire negligence since I knew that the new ride had performance tires geared for dry, if not summer, conditions.

I tried to venture out to a birthday party last night. About 4 inches (10 cm) of snow had fallen... Not good. I made it about a mile away until stopped at an intersection with a slight incline. I've come to hate inclines. For a spell in 2005, I would plan entire routes based on favorable inclines.

No accidents or damage (I think) but the requisite push at an intersection and the Walk of Shame back to the apartment. Plus I nailed a couple of curbs.

A subtext here is the handling characteristics of a front-wheel drive car versus a rear-wheel drive car. I know the difference quite well, but it is astounding to see it in action. Essentially, rear-wheel drive cars are finicky but predictable. Front-wheel drive cars are stable until they ain't, and then, as Dad says "you go in a straight-line until you hit something". Fun!

And so after a blissful 6 months with no vehicular stress, we now face the prospect of buying all-season tires under duress, and the questions about what to do with the car in the mean time. After all, it is parked at a gas station, where the attendants don't really speak English and may soon believe that the car is a gift for their lackluster service.

Good times! Oh, and I'm flying home in 4 days. LOL. I may bring back some tires.

ps. That Subaru WRX STi is looking better and better. Perhaps the 15 MPG and hearing loss would have been worth it.

New Channel

I've started putting 'the tele' on BBC World in the mornings.... It's not the beloved CBC but it works for me: nice to get world news that doesn't directly involve a certain country *ahem*.

I suspect 2008 will be about keeping in touch with Canada. A recent thought: perhaps the CBC is available via satellite? Now we are talking. (I know they stream stuff online but that kinda bites, IMHO).

Thermal Bliss

When in bed, I spend a lot of time thinking about how warm I am (or should be).

My apartment is about 67 F and kinda drafty. The first hour in bed is chilly but then my superhero metabolism cranks the temps way up.

Here is a quick inventory of the top layers:

• lately, socks and shirt and/or PJs (4 CCTUs)
• flannel sheet (1 CCTU = CC Thermal Unit)
• a tightly knitted blanket (3 CCTUs)
• a dark-blue afghan made by Mom (2 CCTUs but high sentimental value)
• a down-filled comforter (5 CCTUs). This is the fire-starter. Bought over the Christmas holidays for $100 (down from $250!) circa 1997. Money well-spent.
  

I don't know why I'm writing this either, but that's 15 CCTUs. Comfy.

ps. I have another of Mom's afghans (tri-colour blue) on the couch. I have spent probably 5% of my life napping under an afghan. I still remember a giant one we had growing up. Green & gold... maybe some orange too.

Late Summer on the Island

I'm working at the new gig with an old friend. A wonderful woman named Berlin.... she is hilarious and a patient, clever developer.

Big news from random dot com: her daughter is getting married next September, on Prince Edward Island! She visited a few years ago and loved it.

That's awesome..... Berlin forgot where I was from in Canada but the topic came up recently.

Beethoven's 5th

The comment on the last post has me in a writing mood.

In Mozart's day, the gist of a symphony was 4 movements: each one would basically have 2 musical ideas which were presented separately, then interplayed in a middle, 'development' section.

Mozart was very clever and would sometimes introduce 3 ideas. Sometimes, when 200 years of convention would dictate that an idea should be in a major key (given the previous idea), he would use a minor key. Subtle, but witty stuff.

Beethoven kicked down the door, ushering in the Romantic era. Though not the first example, the best example is the ubiquitous 5th symphony. It takes that single idea (you know it) and pursues it furiously -- almost insanely. It was terrifying for audiences of the day.

Beethoven broke all kinds of rules. The glorious 9th symphony re-uses ideas from other movements (crazy!) and of course employs a chorus in the finale, Ode to Joy (influencing a famous tech blogger some 200 years later).

ps. Their personal lives rivaled any rock star of today. Esp. Liszt and Paganinni.

Jupiter

(My apologies if I owe you an email... Things have been pretty crazy lately. Up at 4 am a lot, not from worry per se, but either excited about the new gig or awakened by my Neanderthal neigbours.)

In 1994, my GF and I joined a mail-order book club. 10 books free! The last one that I chose was a lark: What to Listen for in Mozart (click here).

The book changed my life. It explained the structure of classical music (in particular, the sonata form), and described Mozart's life in riveting detail. I plunged into a period of intense devotion to Mozart. I remember watching Amadeus during this time and noting historical inaccuracies. For about 3 months, I listened to Mozart every day.

The book analyzed 3 pieces, including the 41st symphony, known as The Jupiter. This was one of three symphonies written in a 6-week span in 1788. To this day, no one knows why Wolfgang wrote these symphonies: he had no 'buyers' for a work and was seriously down on his luck (he would die 3 years later).

As a birthday gift, BryGuy took his Pa and I to see the 41st at Powell Hall on Sunday. It was wonderful. A special treat was that the conductor/musical director gave an hour lecture before the performance. Among his thoughts on the 41st:

• Mozart had been studying Bach's fugues (playing melodies against themselves) at this time. The influence appeared in many places, but none more so than the finale of The Jupiter. Wolfgang develops 5 distinct melodies and plays them off one another. With some study, it is easy to identify each of them: they pop up like old friends.
• In the recap of the finale, Wolfgang pulls out all the stops and juggles all 5 melodies in various sections of the orchestra. To quote the conductor: "If you have taken a formal class in music theory, you know that writing a 5-part harmony is theoretically impossible". Such is Mozart.
  
• Quoting the conductor again: for all the things the human race has done of which we cannot be proud, Mozart holds up The Jupiter as a shining example of what we can accomplish.

Thanks, BryGuy. It was a wonderful performance.

Check out Mozart's 41st symphony on iTunes. The first and esp. 4th movements are where it's at. If you like it, you may want to check out the magnificent 40th, a rare work in a minor key. I could write pages on the 40th. It is much more sinister, and even more gorgeous.

Random Acts of Genius

Check out this story... For Canadian readers, Goodwill is a non-profit organization which accepts donations of clothing and other goods and sells them at reasonable prices to less affluent shoppers.

Until now: in DC, they have people sifting through the clothing, looking for vintage apparel, which is very much in vogue these days, in the eyes of affluent shoppers. These hidden gems are sold on an online auction site for big bucks, which is then invested back into Goodwill.

Check out the story here.

Grab Bag Update

Wow... I stop blogging for a week and ye olde mail bag is filled with requests! The interns at CC HQ are working around the clock to ensure peeps that all is well.

I've had some semi-serious stuff to think on lately and sort of went reclusive.

Also, I've been busy: started the 2nd stint at the new client site, which is going fantastic. I'm working with some of my favourite people and we are at the very beginning of a new version of the software. The software is for a medical device, so the cause is just, and we have a domain expert (microbiologist) who is very passionate about his product. Excellente'

Turning to sports, the dreaded Jim G and I teamed up with 2 others to run a marathon relay: a big ol' marathon chopped into 8 pieces. We each ran 2 x 5 K legs. Sadly, Jim G and I ran identically for both legs, and not fast. I have hardly worked out in 2 months but have been eating like an Ironman. It catches up. But, soon, the next tri is in February.

From the "hello?" files: hello, it's December ?? When did that happen.

In weather, the lil' hot hatchback will be interesting in winter. In part because the car is new to me: e.g. it heats up pretty quickly but not as fast as the Miata, which had roughly the same cabin space as a toaster oven. It's nice to have a rear window defroster. The big issue will be tires: it has some snazzy summer stickys on it and I can tell already that that situation will need to be altered soon.

That's a wrap from CC Central. Peace out.