Just when I thought I couldn't be shocked

I really figured I had seen and heard it all (even if I hadn't necessarily done it all.)

With all the chaos I had experienced with my family years ago, I really figured that there wasn't much that could shock me.

Please note the date and time here as I freely admit my error in that judgement.

An old high school classmate sent me a message this morning asking me if I had heard from my sister. Of course, I hadn't since we don't talk that much. He said there was big news out of our Home Town this morning. Of course, those words never leave me feeling happy or unworried. He pastes a web link into his messenger window and I check out the article.

What I read left me absolutely stunned. Stunned.

The subject of the article is someone I have known for nearly 25 years. We were classmates for the last 3 years of high school..we played in bands together...socialized...and he was arguably one of the most popular guys at school. Solid family life, devout faith, and a real dedication to his teaching career. He married his high school sweetheart and all that...has 4 kids. As I mentioned to a fellow blogger this morning, "imagine the least likely person about whom you'd receive this news...the person you would simply think it impossible....and my old classmate is that guy."

So you can imagine my surprise to see his name and photo associated with a story of a recent arrest on charges of sexual interference and internet luring.

Him? Uh, this is a joke, right? There's no way. He's not....no...cuz he wasn't ever...you know?

There's a chorus of that running through my mind today.

All I can say is that as much as I feel for the family of the alleged victim, I feel awful for his family because I do know what they're going through. In a small town like ours he was well known and his teaching career is effectively ruined, even if it turns out to be a false accusation. Although the sad realization is that if there's an Internet charge involved, there's probably a trail of some kind...and therefore....some small grain of truth or concern in there somewhere.

Somewhere north of here.....families are going through their pain and hurt and shock

Somewhere north of here.....a community is reacting in disbelief

Somewhere on the sending end of this blog.....a guy is sad for everyone involved and is reliving his own grief and guilt-by-association...hoping that the healing can begin soon.

Sou'Wester Saturday

Its a damn good thing I'm nice and solid because the wind blowing today could take a small child away. Fortunately its sunny...so you could at least watch the little ankle biter flying off into the distance.

I was toying with the idea of a nice long ride today but I don't particularly relish the idea of having to pedal into the wind. Of course the wind would be blowing in my face both ways, because fate is like that.

The Boy is off to Buffalo for an overnight trip with his Corps and The Girl is at her grandmother's place for the night. DW is working until 9:30 so its just me and that darn cat for the day. Is it possible to teach a cat to play Scrabble?

DW was in a movie mood last night after paying some bills (Payday Friday often coincides with Movie Friday at our place) so she rented Casanova and Aeon Flux. We really enjoyed them both, particularly some of the comedic lunacy in Casanova. I knew it was only loosely based on the Casanova tale so I didn't object to the occasional departure from the story. The advantage of filming in a place like Venice is that it has remained largely unchanged over the last couple of centuries....except for the pollution levels, I suppose. Aeon Flux was definitely an interesting presentation of the original work...kind of a Logan's Run meets Gattaca sort of thing. However, spending a couple of hours watching Charlize Theron kicking ass and taking names is rarely a bad way to spend an evening.

So here we all sit, waiting until we drop off The Boy and DW anxiously waiting for me to finish pecking out this missive on the crackberry so she can read it. Over to you hunny. :)

As Fridays go, well, this was one of them

Actually it got off to a wonderful start.

Last night was spent in the glow of a 4-0 win in hockey and a nice, quiet snuggle, etc) with my bride.

When the alarm went off in the morning, snuggling up to the form beside me was way better than dragging my ass out of the bed to bike to the train.

I had heard it was likely to rain this afternoon, making it no good to ride. (It didn't' and I didn't. But who knew at 6:15?)

I had a 2-hr class session to conduct (with the inevitable last-minute prep beforehand) and then a meeting with my interim boss afterwards. When all that was said and done, I was baked. But teaching always does that to me. Classroom work is a mental and physical drain.

However...

Its Friday. Its payday. The weekend is here. I'm in a reasonably good mood and on my way home.

Enough blogging. I'm in the middle of "The October Horse" and Caesar is drawing closer to his fate. Vini. Vidi. Vici.

#413

I'm happy to announce that this is post No. 413.  I'm sure you're all rejoicing at that news.

 

There isn't a lot that's blog-worthy at the moment, hence my silence.  I was, however, pleased to note the successful removal of one high-ranking terrorist/insurgent vermin the other day.  Sadly, where one goes away, yet another will rise to fill his place.  I won't get all polyanna and wish for peace, flowers and happiness, but there really are some twisted and misguided souls out there.

 

A big thumbs-down to all the idiots more concerned with the fact that it was 6.6.06, than the fact that it was 62 years since the Normandy Landing that same day.

 

Why are people so stupid?  Penny?  Kal?  Cricket?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?

 

 

D+62

As we walked along the beaches of Normandy,
We came to Juno, Omaha and Gold,
And whispered a prayer for the boys,
Who said goodbye to it all;

-Chris de Burgh

Lest We Forget...

Sunday is a day of what?

(Holy crap, I haven't blogged since Wednesday!! Must be a sign of the apocalypse or something)
According to someone's religion - if you subscribe to that sort of thing - Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. Of course, my mother never went for that argument when I was a kid and being directed to clean my room, etc. Damned lapsed protestants...

But, I digress.

This Sunday was the Ride for Heart. The 5AM alarm came mighty fucking early that morning. Even on a lousy nights' sleep I managed to remember everything I needed to bring and made it there in one piece. The Bat Rider and I were teamed up for the ride. He's as much a howl outside of work as he is in the office. He's far more regular rider than I am (as his blog shows) and he kept me hustling at a good pace. We were yakking and doing character assassinations all along the way (all the technicolour, spandex-clad Tour de France wanna-bes were the perfect fodder.) Some people take this shit a little too seriously. There was a bit of a lineup for our Early Bird start, but when we hit the Finish line and saw the HUGE number of people headed for the 8:15 start we figured we made the right call. I goofed in my initial estimate. There weren't 3,000 riders, there were over 13,000 riders. Holy crap! The photo gives you an idea of what the early stage of the 8:15 ride was like.















My legs were okay afterwards, but geezus, my ass was sore. Bike seats must be some kind of BDSM-inspired device.

There was no rest for the wicked, because after I got home Penny and I were yard-work demons. We weeded, we fertilized and we added some more edging to the front garden, picked up some better soil and stuff to mix in and feed all the greenery, and we did managed to get the lawn mowed. (Please remind me to get our own mower fixed...cuz that 6.5HP fucker from next door is a complete bitch to move around the yard.) By the time that was all done, I was done.

On our way out to DW for a little Blizzard reward, we met our new neighbours (2 doors down) and it turns out that the Wife and I have mutual friends and we've seen one another on the GO. The joys of suburbia and commuting. *bliss*

But after all that work, I was toast. According to Penny, I crashed around 9:30PM and I didn't surface until 7 this morning. I opened my eyes a couple of times after 4AM, but that was it. Fortunately, I'm not feeling any soreness (other than on my ass from my bike seat) and I am - for the moment - tempted to do the 50km ride next year.

And here I sit thinking that it's time for coffee.

(BTW, we did slip out to go see X-MEN 3. Wicked movie. I discovered that the "Xavier School" as shown in the movie is actually the campus of Royal Roads University. Wonder if this means I'll come back as a mutant??)

The best revenge

...is the kind served up in a blog.

To hell with the legal channels for retribution for eBay sales gone bad. Blog it!!

Public Idiot No. 1A

I give you His Worship, Mayor David Miller of Toronto.

In a rare moment of agreement with Royson James of the Toronto Star (a.k.a. The Red Star of Toronto) I can see that the Mayor fiddled (pedalled, actually) while Toronto burned...burned by ATU Loc. 113 as well as by the heat of the day. He was pedalling around on a photo-op to kick off Bike Week in Toronto. So imagine if you will, a bunch of smiling and waving politicians on their bikes...along with all the event's participants...getting a police escort (on their bikes, of course) through the heart of downtown...while tens of thousands of highly pissed-off commuters watched in sweaty disbelief.

And people wonder how the French Revolution got started...

The Mayor's biggest crime is that he knew for weeks that this issue was brewing and he did nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Made a couple of pro-forma statements to the newsies about how the Union should get back to work. *yawn*

Dave: spend a little less time on your hair and a little more time actually running the city. Stop pandering to all the NIMBY granola crunchie waterfront condo and co-op owners who think the Island Airport is the spawn of Satan. John Tory has done a better job addressing the concerns of Torontonians in recent crises than you have.

Oh, and by the way...its not just Toronto residents who got burned in that little transit fiasco...lots of us might work here but we don't live here. In case you think that doesn't matter, think again, Goldilocks.

Public Idiot No. 1

I give you Bob Kinnear: President of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113. Catalyst and rabid supporter of the wildcat transit strike on Monday.

Is it a coincidence that he kept up his stream of vitriol and hyperbole...appearing to "stand up to The Man" when he's up for re-election this year?

I think not.

Bob, do us all a favour: take a hike. Preferably a long one. Personally, I hope you keep defying the rulings of the Labour Board. I'd like nothing better than to see your unionista ass in Jail.

From the mind (and blog) of Robert Fulghum

I've been a fan of his for many years. My loyal readership (all 3 of you) know that he's one of my links.

Unreciprocated, of course, but I'm okay with that. He has a lot going on.

This tale from his online journal illustrates something we should all remember: try to have a little bit of fun every day.

I give you the tale, "Players".

Enjoy

I was going to blog yesterday

I really was. Honest.

But it was too *&^%$#<~! hot. Hot. Sweltering. In freakin' MAY! It hit 34C. That's not including the humidex.

And, just to add to the joy, the Toronto Transit Commission's maintenance workers decided to protest some shift changes by walking off the job at around oh-dark thirty Monday AM. The Drivers and other Operators, not wishing to cross their picket lines, were unable to work.

So the whole damn TTC was shut down.

On the hottest day of the year so far.

On a Monday morning.

Did I mention that it was hot?

Technorati Tag: Life

A funny thing happened on the way to a comment

I was responding to a comment made by Outburst on my recent post regarding the issue of "Intelligent Design" being forced upon schools in the US. I realized that my comment was approaching dtrini-like proportions, so I thought I'd post it instead.

Outburst's comment was that Intelligent Design isn't science, so it shouldn't be taught in a science class.

My response:

"Agreed. A philosophy/sociology class is a far better venue for that kind of discussion.

May that sort of foolishness never happen here.

Of course, this is the same province where a kid scoring full marks on an oral French test (language, you perverts!) can lose 35% of his mark because he can't remember the "signs" that they've been teaching the kids. Yes, signs. As in, some kind of twisted sign language. Like a Hawaiian dance, or First Nations signing.

WTF???

Apparently this little gem was proposed by some folk singer (maybe its a CanCon requirement?) and the leftie morons who run the school boards are just eating this shit up.

I know this much: If I tried to flap my arms around while attempting to make myself understood in Montreal, I'd be banneed from the City for life! Rome? Well, that would be another story entirely.

(Um, what point was I trying to make with all this?)"

This is why I like Jay Ingram...

The article speaks for itself. I've added relevant links for those who wish to dig further.

Intelligent design a difficult foe
For many, evolution theory hard to grasp
May 20, 2006. 01:00 AM
JAY INGRAM


Scientists are absolutely correct to argue that intelligent design — the claim that a designer, not evolution, created life on Earth — is not science and does not belong in science classrooms. But it might come as a surprise to many of them that simply saying so isn't enough.

First, to understand why intelligent design isn't science, you do have to know something about what science is.

Scientists constantly test their theories, trying to poke holes in them. They perform observations and/or experiments to do that. If their preconceptions are not supported by what they see, detect or calculate, they are discarded.

Darwin's theory of evolution has been subjected to more than a century's worth of testing. Not once has a fundamental prediction made by the theory been shown to be incorrect.

It's true that the story of life on Earth is still incomplete, something that ID proponents (and the creationists before them) have seized on by arguing that, for instance, there are no fossil forms that show transitions from one species to another. But such claims are not true.

Transitions between land animals and whales, fish and four-legged terrestrials have been found. There are still gaps, but the point is that there are no new fossils that disprove Darwin.

Proponents of intelligent design, on the other hand, do no experiments. They have promised them in the past, but so far, nothing. Instead, they simply criticize evolution. So, they're talking about science but they're not doing any. Science is about doing something. ID should not be taught in science classes because it isn't science.

That all seems pretty straightforward. So why does ID have so much traction in the United States?

Two interesting takes on this have been published in the last few days. One is an article in the journal Public Library of Science Biology about the work of Jon Miller at Northwestern University medical school.

Miller has been measuring scientific literacy over the past 30 years. In the United States and Canada, that literacy is appallingly low. No more than about 15 per cent of the general public can read and understand a science article in Time magazine. To his mind, the acceptance of intelligent design is directly related to the strength of the religious right in the U.S.

How about these examples: One out of every three Americans thinks evolution is "definitely false;" only about one out of seven is convinced it's true. In a ranking of 34 countries whose adults accept evolution, the United States stands 33rd. (Turkey is 34th.) Perhaps the most extraordinary claim made by Miller is that the United States is the only country in the world where a political party wants ID taught in schools.

With that background, it should have come as no surprise to scientists that countering the appeal of intelligent design was going to be difficult. Yet, many seemed surprised when that turned out to be the case.

Scott Lilienfeld, a psychologist at Emory University in Atlanta, understands why. In an article in this month's Skeptical Inquirer, Lilienfeld argues that the problem with scientists is that they expect the general public to be sensible about the whole issue and choose evolution.

But should they be? There is, of course, the issue of religion, as I just mentioned. But what about those who are on the fence, people who might be churchgoers but are not virulently anti-evolution? Is evolution the "common sense" explanation for the glorious diversity of life? No, it is not.

Evolution is hard to grasp. It only makes sense if you're willing to give it millions of years, and if you can grasp the idea that the most infinitesimal changes in genes can, when captured by natural selection, actually create marvellous organs, like the eye, and marvellous species, from fruit flies to blue whales.

Lilienfeld argues that intuition, so helpful in much of life, is a bad guide to accuracy in this case. The Earth does look flat; it isn't. The sun appears to revolve around the Earth; it doesn't. Living things appear to have been designed by someone (or Someone); they aren't.

Lilienfeld contends that the solution is to improve the teaching of science in school, to impress upon students that intuition can be wrong, and that the scientific approach is one way of ensuring that doesn't happen.

Of course, if intelligent design is part of that science education, so much for the chances of introducing thinking.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jay Ingram hosts Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel.

*article shamelessly purloined from the Toronto Star.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Here's my calendar of important dates in the sporting world:

May 21: Training camps open
June 2: Preseason begins
June 16: Regular season begins
July 1: Canada Day Bash
Nov 5: Scotiabank Semifinals
Nov 12: Scotiabank Championships
Nov 16: Rogers CFL Player Awards
Nov 19: 94th Grey Cup in Winnipeg

Now, add to that the NHL playoffs happening now and things are very nice for us sports fans. Of course, if I gave a rat's about the Blue Jay's I'd have the whole trifecta. Sopccer/Football's FIFA World Cup is also coming up. dtrini is in Heaven. He told me he was taking the day off when England played Trinidad.

Um, yeah. have fun with that. :P

As for me? I'm glued to training camp reports.

Take that, Bob Izumi!

Screw all that bait & tackle crap. These guys know how to make fishing fun!

http://www.break.com/index/troutfishing.html

Jour de Hump

I have a random assortment of thoughts for you today.

I always knew that Punters and Placekickers were kind of a weird breed...somewhat like goalies are. Take Duncan O'Mahony. Signed a contract with Winnipeg as their new kicker after 2 mediocre seasons in BC. Leaves home in Abbotsford to Winnipeg, via Calgary. Supposed to meet a friend for dinner at the Airport and then catch a plane to Winnipeg.

He misses dinner. He never makes the plane to Winnipeg. He gets paged twice with no answer, so they offload his bags and the plane takes off.

No Duncan. AWOL. MIA. Without a trace, and all that.

Football team has no idea where he is, and training camp has started.

Well, some 68 hours later, his family reports that he's been located, he's safe, and that "they request privacy to bring the issue to a close."

While this guy is known for being a bit of a free spirit, I can't see someone sabotaging his sports career with a disappearing stunt like that one. Of course, there is Ricky Williams...

****

Item two on the ol' hit parade was going to be me moaning and bitching that I was likely to be incommunicado from Penny because her cell phone needed charging. We tend to be SMS-ing or MSN-ing back and forth all day long. So she was off to work with no cell phone. However, smart girl that she is, she took her charger so all is well now. :)

****

Whatever happened to Digitalicat?? I figured he would be back at some point, but I figured wrong. Too bad, really. (see edit note)

****

Woke up this morning and thought it was Thursday.

****

The Edmonton Oilers are just one win away from making it to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 16 years. Of course, fans in Edmonton should be a little worried about their team blowing a 4 goal lead in the 3rd period before squeaking out their 5-4 win last night.

****

Would love to know what's making the weird noise in the rear wheel of my bike. Guess I know what I'm doing when I get home tonight.

****

Why do some women insist on marinating in their perfume? I nearly suffocated in the elevator this morning when this rather ragged-looking 50-something blonde got on this morning. *choke*

Okay, I think that's all....digest away!

(Edit: Fans of the late, lamented Digitalicat will indeed appreciate Joefish. I've added him to the blogroll as "Eat at Joe's")

I'm bored, too

I'm sitting here, to Penny's immediate left. While my kidneys are not acting with the same sense of urgency I can safely say that if there was a tree nearby, I would have been bored out of it long ago.

Back around 2PM, they say? There's a difference between "approximately" 2PM and "holy fucking late, Batman!". I'm scanning the skies for the bat symbol as we speak.

Bored.

Bored, bored, bored.

Borini, boridi, borici. (I came, I saw, I bored)

*long exhale*

Um, guess I can do my own weekend update while Penny staves off the "gotta pee dance" in the passenger seat.

I worked wood this weekend. My drill press table looks pretty good and I've even christened it inbetween glue-ups I did get part of the lawn mowed before the verdamnt mower gave up the ghost yet again. Fortunately it was the front part which got finished. The back still looks like something that Stanley should be trekking through while looking for Livingsgtone. Must do something about that...

2:42. *sheesh* Timeliness isn't exactly a strong suit with the folks who run this particular corps.

Heck, we've even had time to get rid of some of the accumulated crap in the car. (No, that didn't take 45 mins). I got out my Armor-all wipes and did the dashboard. Found my molding and trim tape to fix the loose end of the ventshade on my window.

Checked the oil...a bit low. Must top up at home.

Checked the transmission fluid. All good there.

*sigh*

Now what?

*tap fingers on blackberry*

(We pause for a moment....Taking Penny to go pee before she has a breakdown. )

Shit. Now I gotta go too. ~fume~

Wonder where the bus is? Wonder where the lions are? If a Mossy pees in a forest, will anybody hear? if I had a ... No, never mind. I don't like Bruce Cockburn that much.

(News flash: called the Corps brain trust on a cell phone. Apparently the 2PM pickup time was incorrect, it was closer to 4PM. Me? So not impressed. Neither were the other parents in the lot when I passed that along. )

So here I am, back in the lot at the revised time. Kids? No sign.

*edit: Kids arrived shortly afterwards*

Tide-to-Go rocks!

it's Football Jersey Friday and I managed to spill coffee down the front of my San Antonio Texans jersey. (defunct US-Based CFL team)

Fortunately, I keep a Tide-to-go Pen handy at the office for just such an emergency.

Happy Birthday, Ma!

Yes, its another birthday for Motherdear!

I would have posted sooner, but, well, I got sidetracked....

Happy Birfday, Cricket!!

...and many happy returns to my favourite Goddess of the Random Blog.

I was contemplating doing a similar photo post to the one I just did for dtrini, but you know...those photos that you used to post, well... *low whistle* Dunno if I can use those ones.

Maybe next year, k?

Happy day!!

Dooced? To Blog or Not to Blog?

That is indeed the question.

Word reached these shores that someone who was dooced a little while back (with cause) is still blogging unrepentantly.

If you wind up getting Dooced, should you continue to blog? I therefore open this debate to my loyal readers.

Is it: "hey, its my blog and I'm gonna do whatever I like..."?

Or is it more like someone who drives drunk, has a very nasty accident and then continues to drive under the influence?

I'm not taking a side here...I want to see which way the wind is blowing.

The Magic Flutie Era comes to an end

I knew this day would come, but I knew I'd be a little sad and wistful.

Yep, the little QB that could has finally called it a career. 3 leagues, 21 years and 58,000+ passing yards later.

Doug Flutie has retired.

You have to hand it to a guy who never knew the meaning of the word "quit" and had such a mind for the game. He was an absolute thrill to watch, particularly during his two seasons in Toronto.

Dougie, you went out having fun and with a big smile on your face in your very final game and you went out on your own terms. The game is better because you were up here playing it.

See you in Hamilton in 3 years for your Hall of Fame induction.

Happy Birthday, dtrini!

Happy Birthday to my favourite Trini.

No matter how long our friendship lasts, my friend, this picture represents my most enduring image of you...

After much waiting and nail biting...

...like this, I got an email today.

From: [mailto:(Program Associate Name)@RoyalRoads.ca]
Sent: May 15, 2006 11:56 AM
To: Stone, Mossy
Subject: FW: Congratulations - Offer of Admission to the MA in Learning and Technology

Hello Mossy,

Congratulations! You have been accepted into the MA in Learning and Technology program. I have attached a Letter of Offer. I also have attached the Notice of Acceptance form for you to complete and return by May 31, 2006.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any other information.

Once again congratulation and welcome to the MA in Learning and Technology Program.

(Signed by Cheerful Program Associate)

The Jinx is in!

So much for the Sens getting swept 4-straight after my previous prediction of a Buffalo sweep. I guess I'll take some solace in the fact that Ottawa might get knocked out at home.

Yes, dear reader, Friday is Jinx day. Its a lovely day today and I'm taking a chance that the rain will show up in the afternoon, justifying my decision not to ride this morning. However, if its still dry when I get home, I'm definitely going for a ride.

"But Mossy," you say, "this post looks suspiciously like a mobile blog!"

Right you are, my careful-eyed reviewer! I'm blogging en route because I foolishly left my laptop in Stand-by mode last night and totally forgot about it. Dead battery means no Babylon 5 episode on the way in. As I was getting my stuff together in the bedroom I was debating bringing one of my techno-thrillers with me to read today, but I thought, 'naaah....I've got the DVD, so I might as well watch it.'

"Silly Mossy! You really need to listen for fate giggling in the background when you say stuff like that."

Right you are, reader! You're in solid ironic observational form today, I see.

On a positive note, because I can see you're anxious to know, my fundraising for the Ride for Heart is going well. I was a little concerned that I might not be able to raise much, but I'm doing much better than I thought - courtesy of a couple of generous online donations and the willingness of my colleagues to part with their cash. Apparently you can win some nice prizes for certain levels of fundraising, which is kinda cool. I wonder if I could be setting a dangerous precedent, though? I'm sometimes one of those "first time lucky" kind of guys, although its a rare enough occurrence that I still enjoy it when it happens. Just my luck I would enter next year and be lucky to cobble together a couple of loonies and a subway token.

"Oh Moss-man, don't be like that."

Hey, you chose the read so enjoy the ride. Besides, isn't self-deprecation one of my charms?

*ugh*

Cool, wet, and generally depressing.

That pretty much sums up Thursday.

Random News tidbits....

A coroner's inquest in Quebec finally determined that the 15 y/o girl who had allegedly died from a peanut allergy (ostensibly triggered by a kiss from her boyfriend) actually died from a severe asthma attack. The reported smooch from her beau actually occurred 8-9 hours after his consumption of peanuts...by which time all traces of the allergen are gone from one's system. The coroner went on to mention that the fact that the girl had been smoking marijuana beforehand "probably didn't help." (No shit, Dick Tracy. An asthmatic having a reaction from smoking....go figure.) The media didn't mention the dope in their initial reports a few months back, nor did they happen to mention to the time lapse between the PB and the smooch. Poor bastard gets vilified in the press and they all but accuse him of killing his girlfriend. Kudos to the coroner for setting the record straight.

***

Speaking of dope smoking, the Toronto Argonauts are still hopeful that they will be able to land erstwhile Dolphin RB Ricky Williams for the 2006 season. Opinion is sharply divided over whether the Argos should be parachuting in this fella when they've worked very hard to promote their community involvement and improvment programs (Anti-Drug, Anti-Gun, Anti-Bullying.)

***

Shrouded in secrecy and media debate over the name of the team, Major League Soccer's newest franchise (owned and operated by Condo developers and Basketball/Hockey meddlers, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment) was unveiled today: Toronto FC. ~yawn~

(Next???)

***

Looks like the Clown-Haired Bastard and the rest of the Ottawa Senators will have to try and make a 4-game run at the next round of the playoffs without Dominik Hasek. As I explained to Danikabur this morning, I'm not cheering FOR Buffalo...I'm just not cheering for Ottawa. "hey, Senators! Tee-off time is at 10AM Friday!"

***

Sad thoughts as the City of Windsor and thousands of Police officers said good-bye to the first officer shot dead in the line of duty in the 120 year history of the force. RIP, Const. John Atkinson.

***

Toronto Councillors need a pay raise like I need a boob job. Here's a hint: Make a real committment to term limits for the nitwits we keep sending to City Hall, and maybe then we can talk.

***

Note to the moron from my office who was actually making calls on his Blackberry while taking a shit: The Mens' Room is not your personal fucking phone booth....moron.

That is all...

Big wheels keep on turnin'

...Proud Mossy keep on....(bikin'?)
Rollin'
Rollin'
Rollin' to the GO Train....

Yes, sports fans, today was the first bike ride of the season to the GO train. I know I could have been out sooner, but those 6:45AM temperatures are a little on the low side for the Stony one's comfort and happiness. Normally this event is cause for more quiet celebration and reflection, but (in what DW would probably classify as a moment of weakness) I have signed up for the Heart & Stroke Ride for Heart on June 4. One of the higher ups here at the office decided to put together a corporate team and I jumped on board. Keeping a small measure of sanity I elected NOT to do the 50km or the 75km ride..I'm just on for the 25km trek. The advantage of the 'shorter' route is that we start around 7:15AM and then I can be home and recovering by noon or shortly afterwards.

(As a side note, anyone wanting to sponsor me can do so by clicking this link and using the secure online payment option. Tax receipts available for Canadians, but all donations gratefully received.)

I'm sure there was more I wanted to talk about, but this will do for the moment.

For those of you with a sense of History

61 years ago: V-E Day.

Lest We Forget

A better morning

I have to say that last week really sucked rocks (professionally speaking.)

This week, however seems to be much the opposite and I *finally* got some of the feedback and contact and info I was looking for. *applause*

It was a busy, busy weekend with my DW stuck at work and The Girl laid out sick and The Boy needing to be picked up & dropped off at various Cadet things AND my performance looming on Sunday.

Friday night was highlighted by an overflowing toilet in the kids' bathroom at 9PM-ish and I thanked my lucky stars for having the foresight to purchase a wet-dry Shop-Vac. Cuz that's how everyone wants to spend their Friday night, right?

DW and I managed to get out for dinner Saturday night with one of her good friends and her husband. We had a great time, as usual, but when we got home my stomach started sending "fuck you!" messages. I wasn't sure of it was something I ate or whether I had just over-eaten. Maybe the 3 Stongbow ciders didn't help. My head was absolutely pounding. I couldn't tell if I was going to be sick or not. Even with 3 ibuprofen I kept begging for someone to cut off my head (from the eyebrows up would suffice) but got no takers. I thought I was gonna hurl, and then not and then back again. Needless to say I felt absolutely dreadful and its been quite some time since I felt oogey like that.

Defying logic I managed to get some sleep and feel a little better on Sunday AM. I had to drop The Boy off at a parade and then get to my Dad's temple for the big service. I survived the performance, although my stage presence after a 20 year layoff wasn't quite what it should have been. I mangled the opening piece, but settled into it about halfway through. I wound up having to sight-read one of the hymns, but I lucked out because it was Beethoven's Ode To Joy. Just about anyone can fake that. Dad took me for brunch afterwards as a small thank-you and then he wound up back at my place to take advantage of my Shop-Vac. We ran to Canadian Tire to search for a replacement spark plug and air filter for the Lawn-Mower-from-Hell. (got the plug, struck out on a new filter...my curse for having the most popular model of engine) After receving a "hey, you wanna...?" text message from Penny, I managed to convince Dad to take the kids for an icecream run. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* (life is good sometimes)

We picked up a DVD for the kidlets and some DaVinci Code-inspired documentaries for us to enjoy to wrap up Sunday night.

So here I sit, close to lunch hour...watching life go by with a bit of a smile on my face.

Happy Monday!

The Brief Elasticity of Time (freewrite)

Time ebbs and flows and sometimes stops. Does the time of your life mean something you've had or something which passes? Every breath leaves you one less to your last. (How's that for a lovely, uplifting thought?) A morning seems so full and fleeting yet the afternoon moves like a slow, meandering stream. Time can be cruel and deceitful that way. My desk makes me a prisoner of time yet I willingly return. Fatalistic? No. Dedicated? Maybe. Too much time when you don't need it and never enough of it when you do.

Am I alone in preferring to be busy than to be idle? Idle is bad. The hands become the devil's playthings, so they tell me. Whoever they are. Of course, "they" might be the ones heaping scorn on the latest revelations from a Coptic gospel making a bad guy into a not-so-bad guy. He didn't have a good time at all, did he. Time to be born, time to die and all that crap. Time and time and time again. Time never waits and time never ends. Wasn't Merlin time-challenged? How do you live backwards in time? Does that mean that everything about him was backwards? Think about it. EVERYTHING. Can someone exist in multiple times? Could be cool but I have no idea how you'd manage the whole grocery thing.

*time check* 2:05. Shit. Not time to go yet.

Maybe I should pretend that I have a deadline or something. Nope. Can't fake that. I need real deadlines. But I sit waiting for answers from people who don't have the TIME to get back to me even though time passes closer and closer to the deadlines they gave me. Hello? Is this thing on? Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? Hey, remember the time, when....

When? When what?

When I had the time? Or was more patient about it? Or cared less about it? John Cleese did it best in Clockwise. Of course, he made an ass of himself in the process.

2:33. Not good.

"And then this one time? At band camp?"

Local Politics idiocy

(Disclaimer: This post isn't a political one, per se...just an observation of recent happenings)

Sometimes it amazes me that we blindly and willingly elect such "interesting" people to local office.

I make exceptions for people such as Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, who actually has a clue.

I shook my head at this little tidbit, and then thanked Biff that I moved eastward. I'd like to see by-law inspectors try to enforce that law if it comes to pass.

Now, I've often been told I should run for some kind of office. I mean there's lots of nice little perks, like going to Leafs games, or having expense accounts. But me? Elected?? Nope. No way. Not a freakin' chance. First, I have enough juicy skeletons that I'm sure someone would have a lot of fun with them. Second, I lack the patience necessary to deal with the follies of local politics. I don't think my elected colleages would appreciate being labeled "asshat" on a regular basis. Finally, I just couldn't spend so much time with either my head up my ass or with my lips firmly planted on someone else's ass just to get some trivial approval completed.

Two pieces in the local rag expose some of our elected officials for their sheer boobery. I mentioned Leafs games. Right. Some time back a couple were in attendance at a game and some large, loud, inebriated soul behind them was waxing "poetic" (read: expletive) about Politics and the Green Party and all that sort of dreck. Husband turns to soul above and asks him to dial it down a notch. The request wasn't met with much welcome, if the response was any indication. Security was called and the lump was removed from the facility. The inevitable question came up..."who was that guy?" One of his seat-mates produced a business card with the name of a City Councillor and said "I think this is him."

Oh dear.

So the couple heads home and drafts a letter to the city clerk. Of course, this letter gets leaked to the media and the Councillor in question vehemently denies such an incident, claiming:

"This is unbelievable. I wasn't even at the game, so someone's trying to do a real hatchet job on me, let me tell you," said Ford, adding he has not been at the Air Canada Centre since Christmas. "I can't believe it. I can't believe what they're writing."

and on the subject of his business card being passed out:

Ford said he couldn't explain how his business card was being passed out.
"I have no idea. Someone's trying, obviously out there to get me. I'd like to know who these people are. I have no idea." When asked if the allegations were bogus, Ford said: "Absolutely. It's slanderous if you ask me."

Oh dear.

Well, today comes and a very sheepish and chagrined Rob Ford admitted his part in the whole sorry episode. This is a guy who is talking about a run at the Mayor's chair next fall.

Let's just watch that little dream go up in smoke, shall we?? Of course, this is in the same burg where Tom Jakobek thought he could run for mayor despite his exceedingly creative bookkeeping when it came to our good friend Dash Domi. So who knows?

I also mentioned expense accounts? Right.

We move a little further east where the councillors are under somewhat less scrutiny and think they can do a little retroactive justification on their expenses.

There are some expenses associated with public office and common practice has the councillors claiming such expenses and being reimbursed (its often easier to pay for things yourself and claim it afterwards) [Sidebar note: Toronto's media has a watch list for who spends the most and the least amount of their annual office budget...it's interesting reading.] Anyhoo, this particular councillor decided that it was okay to run up some bogus claims and pocket the coin.

Apparently this is why God invented forensic accountants.

So there you have it. Evidence in abundance for the concept of term limits for local officials. Get in, make your mark, and get out.

A little late, but...

I'm posting my birthday blog.

Yes, the Stony One gathered a little more moss this past weekend. To butcher another analogy, If you cut me open you could count 38 rings.

Yep That's right. 38.

Less than 2 years to 40 now.

Oh gawd...

*giving head a shake*

Forty, shmorty. Who cares? I don't look my age and biff knows I don't act it. (I even have the Meme to prove it) So, the age becomes another number. It just means that I have to replace my drivers' license next year, that's all.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend. The weather was lovely and my in-laws brought over some monster steaks for us (read: The Stony One) to BBQ. The Dad came over as well and we gorged ourselves silly.

Penny had a last-minute change of direction with her gift buying (she had already thrown a couple of ideas at me) and got me a sizeable gift card for Home Despot, complete with a note saying "for sawdust purposes only". That means I get to use it for my own woodworking projects, not for household reno.

There were a few other small monetary offerings (all well received, of course) however, the topper was from the Wondertwins. Apparently they came up with this idea all on their own. Who knew I was getting promoted?

From this:






To this:










What can I say? It's a gift....

[insert title here]

I have no title for this one, it's just random stuff.

First, say a Hello to Outburst (The Sound of Your Heart), a new addition to the blogroll. Also say farewell to Joe who has decided to move on to other things. Personally, I think the hell of the US tax season finally sent him to the Rubber Ramada.

The wake last night was actually great. It was nice to see some of my former colleagues particularly those who showed up out of the woodwork, much to everyone's surprise. There were a lot of pictures of Sarah and we passed around a 'memory book' to give to her parents; they joined us as well and I think they were really touched by the whole thing. It was like old times, sitting up on the rooftop patio, eating the Calgary Ginger Beef, drinking beer and bumming smokes from Andre. Ah, good times, good times.

Penny works late tonight, so its yet another evening where I don't get to see much of her. *sigh* I'll resist the urge to hack into her blog. ;-)

Other than that its a lovely, sunny day here in The Big Smoke and I'd rather be anywhere but at work.

Ya know....

If I was a more suspicious person I would be concerned.

I got an email last night as I headed home from the rehearsal. Another of my former colleagues from that corp training provider apparently died on Friday.

According to the email I received, I believe that Roy died from cancer. He had recently turned 60.

So that's two ex-colleagues from the same employer, deceased within a two month period.

Its enough to give one the creeps.

Although, we can celebrate Roy's life when we celebrate Sarah's tonight at our little "Finnegan's Wake".

We'll hoist one for you, Roy.

I survived the rehearsal, but...

...it wasn't pretty.

Its true that if you don't use a skill, you run the risk of losing it. (explaining, of course, why Penny and I try to set all-time nookie records...but I digress.)

I had forgotten all of the things you need to keep your mind on while running through a piece of music. Did I mention that this was my first rehearhsal with this band? I did? Okay, good. Anyway, I had my hands full, that's for sure. I was worried about getting the rhythm correct, but I kinda needed to follow the conductor, to say nothing of, well, following the damn score! I was getting a little better by the end of the rehearsal, but I still felt like a complete rookie. (of course, being stuck behind the Tuba section made it somewhat challenging to see the baton....)

Just make things that much more interesting, remember how my Dad dropped an extra piece of music on me? (not two, as originally whined about) Okay, good. I get to the temple all ready with those two and all ready to set up the myriad pieces of percussion required, when I get not one but TWO pieces of music added to the pile. I casually asked the Old Man if he was familiar with the definition of the term "sandbag"?

So I got to add sight reading to the list of skills I had to rapidly put back into operation on top of everything else.

*ergh*

I suppose my errors were magnified only in my own mind, but knowing that doesn't make me diminish them or dismiss them. (yeah, I know...it's a little self absorbed, but what can I say?) At least I have another week before the next practice and the performance is May 7.

I regret that I can't quite figure out the.... (and after having to switch to another page, I come back here totally blank as to where this particular comment was going, oh, wait, it came back to me!) ...the technical nitty-gritty of audioblogging this event for those who were interested. I don't even think this music is available for download anywhere, but that's what you get for this sort of thing.

Anyway...the music itself is really great stuff and I suppose I'll be able to get through it with a minimum of chaos.

Before the conductor kicked things off, I leaned over to my Dad and said, I'm now going to offer the Shepard's Prayer*. "What's that?" he asked. "Dear Lord, please don't let me screw up."

*Alan B. Shepard, first American in space, just before his launch.

The blog hijacking has ended...

Sheesh....

This is MOSSY here...not Penny. For all of her wonderful qualities, I have to say that my *ahem* DW does have one small weakness. She can't keep surprises long. The nastier thing to do would have been to not let me find out until Wednesday morning, but Biff bless her she told me when I got home.

I got got...I definitely got got.

And, yes, I have indeed changed my password.

(We now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging)

(love you too, baby)

Pssssst....

It's me... Penny!!

Shhhh..... Mossy doesn't know I'm here!!

Mossy offered to let me answer the 20 questions from Duff and I told him I'd only do it if he let me on his blog. Well, he's at rehearsal and I guessed his password!! (Note to self: this is the last time Mossy will ever make a password simple to guess. Enjoy this while I can.)

Now that I'm here, however, I can't think of a single clever answer for those 20 questions.

Damn.

Geeze, it feels weird being in another blogger's, uh...shoes... world... blog? Whatever.

*looking around* I could get comfortable in here.

Hmmm *laughter* if I could figure out how to do it, I'd invite everyone in.

HOUSE PARTY WHILE MOSSY'S AT REHEARSAL!!!!

(that's almost as good as "threesome while Mossy plays hockey", but not quite)

I'm sure the key to the bar is around here somewhere...

Oh crap, I didn't say anything clever yet and I think he's home!

I wonder how long it'll take him to find this...

Hurry up and publish........






(love you, hunny)

This might explain why I keep getting carded...

You Are 19 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Assorted stuff

Thanks to dtrini, I've been having another DVD marathon, this time, it's all 5 seasons of Babylon 5.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this show when it was on. DW isn't a fan by any means, but The Boy and I spend a good part of Sunday watching Season 2. (The series ended long before he would have been old enough to enjoy it, but he's quite liking it now.) I really have to give Straczynski credit for weaving some very intricate plot lines and showing a far less idealistic view of the future than Roddenberry did with Star Trek. (note: not that I don't enjoy and appreciate ST. I do, but for different reasons.)

Is it wrong of me to enjoy the DVDs on the commuter train to & from work? :P

In other happenings, I have the first rehearsal for the gig my old man roped me into, tonight. DW and I were kinda scrambling over the last few days because we had a slight scheduling crunch with the Wondertwins and drop-offs and her work, but things have sorted themselves out nicely (of course, this was after we made contingency plans...cause fate's like that.) With the rehearsal coming up, I worked some more of the corrosion off my playing and broke in the ol' practice pad. I honestly don't know how much "cramming" one can do with this sort of thing, but I'm doing my best.

I think thats it...for now. :)

And the wait continues

According to the good folks at Royal Roads, my application package went for review only yesterday, so in 4-6 weeks ("often much faster", they tell me) I should hear whether or not I get in.

*sigh*

Bang the drum slowly, there's a lot of rust there.

Q: "What do you call a guy surrounded by a bunch of musicians?"

A: "The drummer."

Strangely enough, I've never found that joke to be funny.

Way back in my younger days I played drums. I liked it, even if I was somewhat of a self-taught player and not exactly schooled in the basic rudiments. However, I did what I could with my musical aptitude and learning from my various influences and managed okay in the various bands at school. I even played drums for a couple of years in a military pipe and drum band, but I hadn't played seriously for a number of years. I sold my kit about 10 years ago because I wasn't playing much and I didn't really have anywhere to put it in a 500 sqft basement apartment.

Over the years I've enjoyed a few moments of solutide by air drumming, but the chance to play for real was, I figured, gone forever. Sad, but not necessarily unexpected.

Enter my father.

I'll save the gory details of the somewhat trying relationship we have for another time, but a little while ago he came to me with a favour to ask.

You see, he joined the Salvation Army several years ago and is relatively active with their musical programs. They were quite happy to have a former music teacher and a skilled clarinetist at their disposal, background notwithstanding. Dad, having played a number of instruments well, has played everything for them from trumpet to trombone to stand-up bass. He's often dropped the hint that they were never happy with the guy who was playing percussion and, boy, he'd love to be able to play with me again.

(insert eye roll here, if you've ever had a parent try that trick before)

So Dad called and told me he was in a real bind for an upcoming performance (please mark May 7 on your Calendars) and he was going to fill in on percussion for a concert, but he told the bandmaster that he might be able to get another person to make it less of an octopus act back there. The band is, unfortunately, a little hurting for equipment and it will be a mix of some well-loved tympani of questionable tuning, and the rental of other pieces of specialized equipment (glockenpsiel, chinese temple blocks, etc.)

You can guess who he was referring to when he said "another person".

I must have had some kind of mind control lapse because I agreed to the gig, reasoning that it couldn't possibly be that bad.

Then Dad brought over the music for the one piece.

To say its complex is like stating that the Labyrinth of King Minos was a little tough to get out of.

This beast shifts tempo and time signatures like a F1 driver. It encompasses at least 6 different percussion instruments and lasts an exhausting 12 minutes. Okay, says I. I can probably handle this.

Then Dad brought over the other two pieces.

(other two pieces?)

One is manageable, but the second piece has a rather nasty and quick snare drum rhythm which repeats all througout the tune.

So for the next little while, yours truly will be occupying all of his spare time with a new pair of drumsticks and a practice pad, doing my damndest to crash course myself on reading music, but also making sure that I can sight-read these pieces and play without sounding like a spastic woodpecker. (which is what I sound like right now)

So call it the revisiting of the paradiddle and the 5-stroke, 7-stroke, and 9-stroke rolls until the concert.

I'll keep you posted on the musical carnage.

I should be so lively at her age

I admit it, I'm a Monarchist.

But having served in the Army of a Commonwealth nation and being immersed in its traditions and history will do that to you.

Yes indeed, the Queen turns 80 today.

Regardless of what many see as an irrelevant and anachronistic institution, I can't help but feel a certain fondness and admiration for the Royals. This is not to say that the Monarchy shouldn't change with the times, but I can't say I would want to see it gone forever.

And no matter what anyone says, you can't help but admire and respect a woman who maintains a gruelling schedule at an age when, as the Globe and Mail so nicely put it, "it is a struggle for some just to get out of bed."

She will be a hard act to follow, but the legacy will last forever.

"Happy and Glorious, Long to Reign over Us..."

Getting stuff done....including one another

Sometimes I do love where I work for purely superficial reasons. My recent raise and bonus notwithstanding, I've had my favourite work shift: Easter. A 4-day week, followed by a 4-day weekend, culminating in another 4-day week.

A guy could get used to this sort of treatment.

This weekend, Penny and I were kid-less (with the exception of the family dinner on Sunday) and that often leaves us time to do domestic things uninterrupted.

In our case for this weekend, that meant the "honey-do" list. And sex.

Lots of it.

Did I mention there was a lot of sex?

Okay, just checking.

For those of you who have not yet clicked away in disgust seeking more "PG" fare, it wasn't all about 'making the beast with two backs', we did all sorts of non-sex things. But now that I think about it, perhaps these tasks were just euphemisms for something more base and animalistic. I leave it to you, the remaining reader, to decipher the tasks from the fun.

As with many weekends it began with a little of the old in & out but that sort of routine rarely cuts the mustard. Of course, we had to do the chores like feeding the kitty and while we didn't need to clean the chimney out, the garage was another matter entirely. I have to say that after all that garage work and the astonishing amount of cardboard requiring recycling, I was ready to lie feet up.

Our plans for mass garbage disposal on Saturday came to naught when we discovered that the local recycling centre was closed for the whole weekend. We were both ready to plow someone at that point. The Mighty Intrepid still has a trunk full of trash (fortunately, not the stinky kind.) However, we took a trip up the highway on a whim and wound up in one of the local 'burbs with a "quaint" downtown. We found ourselves the proud owners of two neat-o candle holders cast like mythical tree spirit heads whose green glass eyes glow when the candle is lit and inserted.

Sunday was the dinner and we held off on the requests to pass the gravy. Family joys are such that Penny was ready to put the boots to anyone, and not in the good way. We did indulge ourselves by throwing a log or two on the fire later that night.

As Monday arrived and the weekend wound down we found ourselves with a few little jobs remaining, mostly having to do with Penny's frustration over the garden hose resulting in my rather slick installation of a new reel. Penny was also finally ready to accept Spring's arrival and wanted to give the windows a good hosing. After a trip to the local Canadian Tire, we thought we had the best solution tool for the task, but as good as the Mr. Clean Car Wash kit is for cars, it's not so good on windows above the first floor.

Thus you now find us sated and somewhat knackered, but as we have always said, all's well when ends meet.

(wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Sports Shorts

A couple of sad notes in Mossy's sports universe.

First, the impending retirement of Luc Robitaille from the NHL. "Lucky Luc" is one of the nicest guys to play the game and used a real lunch bucket work ethic to make himself the highest-scoring Left Winger in NHL history. He also earned himself a spot on a couple of all-time lists, notably those of the League (goals, assists, and games played) and of the Los Angeles Kings, where Luc played most of his career.

We'll see you at your Hall of Fame induction in 3 years, Luc...

Second, and closer to home, was the decision of the Canadian Football League to suspend the operations of the Ottawa Renegades for the upcoming season. I'm not sure I have all the words to lament this situation properly, but I can say that Ottawa has had the worst luck with team ownership over the past several years for both the Senators and the Rough Riders/Renegades. Hopefully they'll get their stuff back together and be playing on the banks of the Rideau Canal next summer. If nothing else, perhaps it will teach the League that bringing back a pair of idiot owners just because they had money and promises of better support doesn't always mean success the second time around. CFL fans everywhere bid 'good riddance to bad rubbish' to the Glieberguys.

At least Training Camp starts sooner rather than later.

(btw, I still remain unconvinced that the Maple Leafs will somehow manage to squeak their way into the playoffs. I suppose it doesn't matter either way, because the most they'd get is the 4 games they would lose to either Carolina or Ottawa in the first round...so why suffer needlessly?)

My Contribution to Public Safety

(meant to blog about this last week and I totally forgot.)

Ya know, sometimes you can make a difference just by being there. No, really...you can!

For those who aren't aware, the TTC revamped their security services a while back and created a whole new class of transit cop. Now these folks aren't carrying sidearms, but most of them are ex-cops and quite capable of taking you down without a (Glock/S&W/Sig Sauer/Colt. etc.) They even have a plainclothes group who look for fare jumpers and other undesirables on the system. Unlike a regular security guard, these folks have police powers while within the transit system and they can and will arrest or ticket people.

This in mind, I was headed home one day and I had to leave early to pick up a card, so I arranged to meet Big Guy from work at the turnstiles of the subway for our evening commute. With my errand done quickly, I had a little time to kill and I was leaning against one of the token dispensers. I heard a big thump off to my left and saw this early 20-something guy...all laughing and goofy in his baggy clothes. I turned to look and he saw me and stopped. A couple of minutes later his buddy thumped down the stairs next to him. They paused, had a quick confab and proceeded to walk towards me and into the station. These guys might as well have been carrying sandwich boards reading "Shit Disturber", because the clothes, the body language and everything else just screamed "I've got free time and I'll do whatever the fuck I want with it." I didn't give them another thought and proceeded to read my book, but remained aware they were walking towards me.

To my surprise and amusement, the first goofball who hit the bottom of the stairs looks at me and says, "hey Officer, how you doin'...you doin' alright today?"...and kept on walking.

Me (without missing a beat) "Oh I'm just fine...you fellas have a nice day."

"You too, Officer sir", they replied.

They kept walking and started laughing to themselves, thinking they "made" a plainclothes cop and somehow played some massive trick on "The Man". Of course, the joke was, and still is, on them because the one plainclothes guy I saw nailing a fare jumper looked a lot less like a cop and a lot more like a dirty drywaller with a badge hanging around his neck. I, for one, gave silent thanks to the Army for giving me that "don't even think about it" stare, which I obviously gave the first guy when he landed at the bottom of the stairs.

Big Guy arrived a few moments later and asked why I was smiling, so I related the tale. He, of course, thought this was brilliant and he congratulated me on keeping the streets safe.

See? Sometimes you can make a difference even when you're just standing around.

An Open Invitation...

After some discussions with those near and dear about my pass on Duff's recent tag, I thought it might be interesting to see if someone wants to ghost-write my responses to the tag. There are enough creative souls on the blogroll who could come up with some very amusing answers.

Anyone interested can leave a comment here (along with some way to email you) and we can talk.

Have fun with it!

(No, duff, I'm not passing on all future tags, my answers just weren't deep enough...)

Tagged by Duff

Sorry Duff, but I'm going to take a pass on this one. I'm sufficiently dull that my responses wouldn't be worth the exercise of electrons.

If anyone wants to try and ghost-write my answers, have at it.

By the time you read this...

...it might be over. (shamelessly swiped from The Toronto Star.)

`Chronological oddity' set to occur
Apr. 4, 2006. 01:44 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON — You don't find this happening every day. In a virtual blink of the eye early Wednesday morning, the time and date will be 01-02-03-04-05-06.

At 1:02 a.m. and three seconds on Wednesday, April 5, 2006, it will be the first hour of the day, the second minute of the hour, the third second of that precious minute in the fourth month and the fifth day of — uh oh — it's not really the sixth year.

It's actually 2006 — only in our shorthand is it '06.

"It just happens to be a chronological oddity," said Geoff Chester, spokesman for the U.S. Naval Observatory, an official world atomic clock timekeeper. "If you were to use the full year, that would screw things up completely. You do have to bend it a little if you want to make it work. That's what you call `Finagle's Law of Best Fit.' "

Even numerologists such as Rob Ragozzine, who runs the SimplyNumbers.com website, dismiss the 1-2-3-4-5-6 moment as merely ``a neat coincidence" because of that pesky 2006 thing.

"People are interested in numbers," said Jack Horkheimer, 67-year-old host of the Star Gazer public television show and executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium. "Would I stay up all night waiting for it? Ten years ago, I would have had a party. Now, I will probably be deep in the arms of sleep."

There are less bleary-eyed alternatives. There's 1:02 p.m., but Horkheimer said that's really 13:02 p.m. and doesn't really count.

Chester recommends celebrating universal time, the standard scientific time, which is four hours ahead of Eastern Daylight time. So 01-02-03-04-05-06 can be celebrated at 9:02 p.m. EDT by calling up the U.S. Naval Observatory's "master clock" then and waiting for the universal time pronouncement, he said. That number is 202-762-1401.

The clock is also on the web at: http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/what1.html.

For much of the world, especially Europe, this odd line-up of numbers doesn't really happen until next month. That's because many countries put the number of the day first, then the number of the month. So for many places, 01-02-03-04-05-06 happens at 1:02 a.m. May 4.

DS al Coda on the Musical Meme

I had some, well, *interesting* comments both online and offline about my musical meme.

Friend Larry said it best when he said, "This isn’t going to be exactly to my taste as far as favorites are concerned."

I could re-do this meme by genre or even by artist and come up with some radically different results (certainly, no less amusing.)

This book is more than its cover and definitely more than just this soundtrack selection.

Watch for this meme in syndication!

Quadruple-swiped Meme

...this time from my DW, and Larry, Kal, and The Steph. Here's how it works:

Put your iPod/Winamp/MP3 on shuffle.
Reading one question at a time, press play.
Use that song title as the answer.

(Note: This should be a rather interesting test, because I have a very weird mix on my laptop at the moment...)

1. How does the world see you? "Roam" - The B-52's. Does this mean I'm considered aimless?

2. Will I have a happy life? "If I Close My Eyes Forever" - Lita Ford and Ozzy Osborne. Is this a 'See no evil' kind of thing??

3. What do my friends think of me? "Souls" - Rick Springfield. Okay, I don't get the connection here.

4. Do people secretly lust after me? I've Had Enough (Into the Fire) - KISS. Now seriously, who could have enough of me? I mean, really??

5. How can I make myself happy? "Wind of Change" - The Scorpions. I need to change? *shrug* Probably. Go with the trends?

6. What should I do with my life? "100 Years" - Five for Fighting. I love the name of this band. Does this mean I'll make it to 100? Cool!

7. Will I ever have children? "Love Will Find a Way" - Yes. 'nuff said there, I think.

8. What is some good advice for me? "Take the Time" - Dream Theater. Hmmm...slow down...take your time. Yeah, I probably should.

9. How will I be remembered? "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" - The BeeGees. I guess I'll be haunting someone's ass for eternity. Cool!!

10. What's my signature dancing song? "Sister Golden Hair" - America. Um, I like the tune but could I really dance to it?? Its just about a hungover dude bailing on a wedding. I think.

11. What's my current theme song? "Bad Boys Running Wild" - The Scorpions. Oh yeah, baby!! That's me!

12. What do others think is my current theme song? "Roundabout" - Yes. Must be my penchant for sometimes going around in circles.

13. What shall they play at my funeral? "I Can't Explain" - The Scorpions. That's fitting. A remake tune explaining constant bafflement and bewilderment. "I'm getting funny dreams again and again..."

14. What type of women do I like? "Rock You Like a Hurricane" - The Scorpions. Oh I'm not gonna comment on that one. (Love you, baby!)

15. How's my love life? "Two Minutes to Midnight" - Iron Maiden. Um, what??

If anyone wants to try and interpret the Life of Mossy through Music, please feel free, cuz I so don't get this.

I think I need new tunes.

I'd just like to say...

..that for the past couple of days I haven't really had anything significant to say.

Yeah, stuff's been happening (cuz life does that, ya know) but I didn't know whether or not I should/could say anything about it.

However, would like to state for the record that my DW is awesome.

Just cuz.

Am I bad...

For agreeing with the sentiment in this article?

All I need is for a seal hunt protester to be rescued from a swamped zodiac by a hunter and the cycle would be complete.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

So, maybe its not really good-bye? You know...they say you can never go home again, but in this case I believe it's possible. I mean, we've been together for a while now. We've shared, seen, and experienced so much.

It was a tough decision.

But, maybe its time to try a different direction for a while. A little while. You know. A change is as good as a rest, isn't it. DW was happy with my decision. In fact she has been encouraging me for a while. After a lot of reflection, I looked at myself in the mirror and decided that maybe it was time to try moving on.

My decision made, there's always a sense of trepidation about the new...the unknown...and what things were like before, but I still think I've made the right call. I did this once before under different circumstances, and I eventually came back to where I knew I belonged. So, you see, it's not forever.

Those of you who knew me as I was might still recognize me in my new guise, and those who see me now might never know what was.

And so it goes.



(What? oh, for heaven's sake....NO I'm not quitting the blog, you dunderheads. I shaved off my goatee.)

*sheesh*

Friday, faltering

I managed to make it into work today.

No stupid, if you write it like that, it sounds like you're El Cid, propped up on your horse in the middle of your final battle...

I decided to go to work today.

No, stupid, then it sounds like you deigned to grace your employer with your presence...

*drums fingers on desk*

Well, however it happened, I'm at work. I'm feeling better than I was earlier in the week, but still not 100%. DW was apparently right about me having a stomach bug of some kind because my symptoms are looking that way. I decided to forego hockey last night because I simply didn't feel I'd be up to it (a rare admission for me where hockey is concerned.)

On the good news front, my admission package for Royal Roads is going in the mail in about half an hour. Then, as I mentioned to Kal in a recent exchange, "I get to spend the next 6 weeks tossing chickens into the volcano in an attempt to appease the gods." Needless to say, we're pulling for one another on the Grad School front.

Also in Good News is the fact that my brother-in-law and I will have the chance to replace the oil pan on the Mighty Intrepid on Sunday. I might even take pictures, just for laffs. The timing is really good because, well, I was due for an oil change anyway, and Penny and I have a trip to make Mon-Tues and I'll feel better about driving with the pan replaced. The Wondertwins are also off for a 3-day school trip on Monday....everything comes together at just the right time. *grin*

On the more distressing front is the fact that The Maple Loafs most likely played themselves out of the Playoffs last night with an ugly 5-1 loss to Montreal. The Habs were a critical rival in the race this year and the Buds had to win both parts of the 2-game series last night and Saturday to really make a run for it. Ah well, maybe next year.

Also sad is the current state of the CFL, in the guise of the Ottawa "Don't-Call-Them-Rough-Riders" Renegades. The League is scrambling to find new owners since the Glieberguys redux seems to have generated more of the same fan apathy that they had the last time they owned a sports franchise in Ottawa, to say nothing of their efforts in Shreveport. For the League's sake, I hope they sort this shit out in Ottawa soonest.

On that note, I trust all of you are having a good Friday.

let the comment flood begin!!

Insomnia sucks

For the past two nights sleep has been somewhat elusive. Now, Monday night you'd think I was suitably tired from hockey and would therefore sleep soundly.

No dice.

Fine. I can deal with that. I'll just work from home on Tues and I should be nice and wiped and be ready to face the world on Wed.

Nope.

Once again I find myself watching re-runs of CSI at oh-dark-thirty, wondering why the sleep isn't coming. TV is usually the Rx for my sleepessness.

Not this time.

I finally drag my ass to bed at 3AM, and then Shadow the Howler starts up downstairs. I suspect it was 3:30 or later when I finally got unconscious. You can imagine how thrilled I was when the alarm went off this morning.

So, Penny convinced me to stay home because I'd basically be useless, so there was no point in going to work just for that when I can be useless at home, right?. (ed. note: that's my own spin on the logic, not her arguments in support of the suggestion.)

I did manage to get a little sleep and Penny called around 10:45 to make sure I didn't completely sleep the day away and mess myself up for tonight.

I've had some tea, I've had a bagel, I got dressed, I tidied a few things upstairs and I'm contemplating facing some of my now-encroaching deadlines.

But I still feel like shit...

Ah well, maybe next year

We did our best but still came up a bit short. We lost the "A" final 2-1. Since I'm still "looking for the small victories" from that, I can say that a) it took us being down 2 guys late in the 3rd for them to score the winner, and b) it wasn't because of some spectacular goaltending collapse on my part.

The team that beat us finished in first place during the regular season and for us to finish 5th and still be in the "A" final is pretty good.

I'll definitely miss playing with this particular team. We had a really good draft of guys and the league as a whole was well-balanced. So I'm down to at least 2 more games before my seasonal hiatus. Looks like I'll only be playing once per week over the summer, but I might get the occasional pickup game in.

And so the day goes on...

More local history to be lost...

Toronto, for all of its charms, has a really odd sense of self when it comes to history.

We're a city of some significant happenings over the years, yet we often seem to tear down these reminders under the poorly-labeled banner of "progress."

I would be the last guy to say that we should not move forward or modernize, but with other major cities in North America seemingly able to embrace and intergrate their pasts, why can't we?

I can hear you all now..."Okay, Mossy...why the rant?"

I got somewhat irked by this article from the Red Star of Toronto. Much of my impression of cities comes from the architecture. I absolutely love the architectural wonders in places like New York and San Francisco. Its impossible to ignore all the history in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Even Montreal and Quebec City haven't forgotten their own history when it comes to buildings and neighbourhoods.

Toronto?

Not so much.

You really have to look for some of these visual gems when moving through the downtown core and I'm saddened by the loss of yet another piece of our history, all for the sake of another waterfront condo abomination.

Fugly Friday

A gruesome loss last night for the Steve's Painting crew. Not quite what we wanted to achieve.

*ugh*

However, today is another day and I'm actually in a surprisingly good mood. It's a sunny day, albeit chilly. My usual morning routine took far less time than usual and all the green lights were with me as I was able to get out and get the earlier train. I managed to find a spot in the closer parking lot at the train station, saving me a somewhat lengthy walk.

Ah yes...today, life is good.

Why I love my Wife (Reason #783)

I now see some light at the end of the tunnel vis-a-vis my Personal Statement for my MA program application.

Penny put her considerable literary talents to work and we formed our usual "documentation team", me pacing and formulating, and Penny playing scribe and editor/filter, idea goddess.

We made some awesome progress, meaning I *might* just able to meet my target date of Friday for sending my Resume, Statement and References off to Victoria. Of course, I might just be able to find some documents/projects I've worked on to include in the package so that they may better assess the wonder that is me. Um, educationally speaking, that is.

She rocks...she rules. Accept no substitutes. And don't let anyone else tell ya different.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

One stoopid misplaced keystroke and I totally lost a very laudatory blog entry...

Fucken blogger....

~fume~

I want Larry to do this at my house

Dude, if you can make this happen at my house you would be such a god.

I dunno...I would have kept my mouth shut for a while.

Writer's Brick

I hate this...

I'm trying to finish drafting my "Personal Statement" for my Royal Roads application and it's going absolutely, positively nowhere.

It's a deceptively simple task, they say.

Your personal statement should consist of a one or two page letter indicating your motivation for seeking entrance to the program. Your statement should comment upon your personal and career goals, the expectations you have for the program in relation to the achievement of your goals, and the strengths you feel you can bring to the program.

Simple? Bullshit.

For some reason I am having a lot of difficulty trying to articulate how this program works for me.

Apparently "cuz, I really, really want it" won't suffice as a response.

*sigh*

Friday Follies

Penny is home with the Wondertwins today, because they apparently get a PA day to begin their March break.

Who knew?

I, on the other hand, elected to head to work to a very, very quiet office to make some feeble attempts to get some work done. I'm having yet another one of those "I've-got-stuff-to-do-but-dunno-where-to-start" days.

Hate that.

The hockey crew from 'Steve's Painting' did not exactly cover themselves in playoff glory last night. (This loss is balancing my hockey karma to ensure that my 4-0-0 streak on Mondays doesn't go to my head.) We lost 3-1 to fall to 0-1-1. I spent much of the post-game time looking for the moral victories. I know we played better against them than we did last time (as I recall, we got a real drubbing) and I felt I played pretty well. DW and The Boy actually came to watch, although I'm sure he's convinced that he's bad luck; every time he comes to see me play my team has lost or someone gets hurt, or some combination thereof.

The Mighty Intrepid has had its tie rod end replaced and all is well with the steering. I do need to tackle that oil pan at some point...sooner rather than later. Fortunately, I found a Mopar parts place close to our nearest Sam's Club and I might see what kind of price they want for an oil pan. Regretfully that will be a messy job, but I'd still rather tackle it myself than to cough up a fiscal kidney for a mechanic. However, I'll really need to get off my ass and check my spark plugs and my air filter. Gotta do something about my rapidly decreasing mileage performance.

*sigh* Still crummy looking weather out there. Its 10°C today and I'm hoping for the 12°C we've been promised for the weekend so I can get the kids' bikes down for them. They'll definitely need adjustments for height and all (to say nothing of air in the tires.)

Have I babbled enough? Have I? Huh? huh?

Courtesy of the Web Junkie

Now this is the way to promote The Simpsons in the UK.

Students pay, and pay, and pay...

**SPOILER ALERT - This post contains some rather unfriendly things said abut Unions. If you don't share these particular opinions, consider yourself forewarned.**

My feelings on unions are a matter of blog record. I was a student the last time the faculty of the provincial Colleges went on strike and the experience was no joy at all.

The 9,100 strong academic brain trust is at it again, walking off the job and leaving 150,000 PAYING students in their wake.

"Oh, its not about money", the staff say.

Me: Bullshit. It's always about money.

Them: "Its about class sizes and workload."

Me: Rrriiiiiight. Don't make me go there.

Them: "We want the best for the students."

Me: Oh? Okay, then compensate them for the extra money that many of them may have to spend in food, accommodations and other expenses when you have to extend the school year. Cash or cheque, please.

Gov't of Ontario: "We regret to inform you that tuition will be increasing, following the lifting of a 2-year freeze."

Me: Oh nice. First, the unionista academics fuck the students out of the better part of 4 weeks of their education and THEN the government says they'll get to pay more for the privilege.

(As an aside, my College tuition in 1988-1990 was approx $770 per year. My University tuition was somewhere around $1600-$1800. College now costs about what my University did, and university is now pushing $5000 per year. Holy fuck!)

Since everyone keeps going on and on about how important higher education is, why can't we elect someone with the balls to declare education an essential service, barred by law from strike action??

k. Rant over. I feel better.

Mossy's Stone?

Wonder if I can talk Penny into this stone?

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Technorati Tag: [tagname]

It's not a brain cloud...

It's a word cloud.

Thanks to duff for the link. I was all excited to tell Penny about it and she was, as usual, way ahead of me.

Tuesday treats

All in all, I'm in a better mood today.

We managed a nice 4-0 win last night. My first-ever shutout in that league (although I know it was far more the team's shutout than mine, particularly over the first two periods) and I even managed to pick up an assist in the second period. Not a bad night, all things considered.

Unbelievably, we now have a 4-0-0 record in the playoffs and sole possession of first place overall. I have to say I'm surprised at our record and that the higher-finishing teams from the regular season aren't doing as well. I guess it's true about what they say, "anything can happen in the playoffs."

I have to say I'm enjoying my second season in this league and I'm going to miss this particular team when its all done. One of the downfalls of the pool/draft system they run, I suppose, but its balanced and its a lot of fun.

That's all for the moment. Have a happy!

Technorati Tag: Hockey

For the love of....

Will someone *please* tell me why I have snippets of my high school's fight song running through my head....over and over and over?? Complete with brass band accompaniment, no less...

(To the tune of "Hey, look me over")

Hey, look us over, we'll make it clear
We are the students in search of a career
We play the game that's part of our lives

*unintelligible mental lyrics*

We're the * * * Raiders in Scarlet and Gold, we know we'll do alright
We're the Raiders here we come!

(Shoot me....shoot me NOW)

Kind of a good news/bad news blog

I'm definitely in a mood today. Actually, I've been in one since Friday. Fortunately, I was smart enough to put it on ice for the bulk of the weekend. It's work-related and I'm not bringing that stuff here.

'nuff said.

Sleep was rather elusive last night. I blame that partly on the tea I had around 7:30 as well as the "ohmigodidontwanttogotoworkanddealwithallthatbullshit" chant running through my head. I cannot blame, however, the cat. I discovered that "Shadow" is apparently from the ancient Sanskrit appellation "she who turns humans into mattresses". Le Chat has been sleeping with Penny and I more and more often. Pretty interesting change for an animal I've had for almost 10yrs. She even followed me downstairs when I slipped out of bed to read. Very challenging to read a book when the 9lb fuzzy, purring lump has her head parked right in front of your chin.

(Side note: I picked up Rich Man, Poor Man and Beggar Man, Thief from the little book trading cart at Penny's parents condo. While sometimes a little dark and depressing, the first book is quite a good read. Very reminiscent of Jeffrey Archer, Pat Conroy and remarkably like Erich Segal.)

We didn't get to the Home Workshop show this weekend. Probably a good thing, in the long run.

We have both wrestled with the state of our front door and its mind-boggling weather-stripping problems. So far, clear duct tape is working nicely, but it makes actualy entry/exit somewhat problematic. The real solution to the whole warped door frame issue is simple: get a new door installed. If that didn't mean a huge outlay of cash, we'd be on it like....like....um...well...insert appropriate metaphor here.

I saw my brother-in-law this weekend for a little maintenance reality check on the Mighty Intrepid. The right front tie rod end definitely needs to be replaced. The good news is that a) the left one does not, and b) the part was cheap to purchase. Now all we need is a relatively mild day so I can get over to his place and get it done. My oil pan, however, definitely needs replacing so I'll have to bite that bullet sooner rather than later. My tires are not as bad as I thought which is a $500.00 load off my shoulders.

So far I think that's it.

Hockey tonight at 10 PM (ick) and we put our 3-0 record on the line.

One Step Closer...

Subject: Royal Roads - Online Application Confirmation
From: admissions@royalroads.ca
Date: Fri, March 3, 2006 11:22 am
To: Stone, Mossy
Priority: Normal
Mailer: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000

Royal Roads - Online Application

Thank you Mossy Stone for your interest in Royal Roads University. Your application form has been submitted for processing.

Please keep this confirmation email for your records.
The Confirmation Number for Your Credit Card Payment is : ********
Use the following application reference number for correspondence with Admissions: *****

(I have applied for their Masters' program in Learning & Technology...wish me luck!!)

Five Colleagues and a Funeral

Sarah's funeral/Life Celebration was actually a beautiful thing. The church was filled to overflowing and her brother-in-law gave a glowing and honest tribute.

I've often said that these sorts of events for older relatives, et al, are often easier to cope with, but losing a peer and a colleague is harder.

There were a few of her former co-workers there, and many others who couldn't attend because word had only just started to get around and they couldn't get away. However, in what we feel is a fitting tribute, a number of us will be getting together in a few weeks' time at our favourite watering hole (and Sarah's, as well) to say our own good-byes.

There's nothing like the right time and the right place for a life celebration. We'll do it in style.