New Dad Stuff

Sarah keeps laughing at me about how involved I am in planning things for the baby. I was the one who found the crib, I've been looking at bedding and strollers online, I even made a 3-D mock-up of the nursery on the computer yesterday so we could look at different paint colour options. Sarah loves that I am so involved but as I say, I think she finds it a little funny too. And based on the online research I've been doing on strollers, crib safety, etc, everything out there is targeted at the moms, not the dads, so I guess maybe I'm not the norm.

I guess I just want to contribute somehow. Sarah is doing all the hard work carrying the baby. She's right in the middle of being a parent already. It just feels to me like the only fatherly thing I can be doing right now is things like constructing furniture and installing new carpets. It's how I feel involved, even though I prefer the design process to the time when I finally lug all of my office stuff down to the basement.

A friend asked me yesterday if I was freaking out yet about being a dad. I haven't freaked out yet, but when I actually allow myself to start thinking about all the little things I easily could freak out. I'm pretty good with kids, they usually tend to like me (especially Westman children for some reason), but that's when they are a little bit older. I'm not as good with infants, so that will be a whole new experience for me.

But for now, the construction side is all I can do.

Why I Love Mennville

Mennville really is a great place to live. Even though many of us are not within easy walking distance of each other, there is a true sense of community that I absolutely love.

I thought I'd share a few experiences of mine to highlight just why Mennville is so darn awesome.

The other day my car started making a nasty noise as I was driving through town. Del happened to be on the street as I drove by, and he offered that I could bring the car over to his place and he'd take a look. So over to Del's I went, and after picking up some parts I went back the next day and we worked on the car. I have pretty much zero skills when it comes to fixing a car (I know where the gas and washer fluid go, does that count?), but Del took the time to actually show me how to do things, even when he was probably so frustrated with my lack of skill he wanted to punch me (which I said he could do if he needed to). Del never lost patience with me though, he just helped me when I needed help and let me work away when I didn't. I pretty much cemented my "least manly man in Mennville" post while working on the car!

At the same time as my car problems were going on, I posted a request on Facebook to see if anyone was going to be in Arborg with a truck, since I needed to get my now-fixed lawnmower home. I quickly had three replies offering to help me out, and Corey brought it home for me in the back of his van.

My car is still in Del's shop, so a phone call later and Lindsey said she'd drive me to work!

I don't know how I'd survive living in the country without such great friends and neighbors all around.

Another act of kindness that struck me as being awesome was again a result of Facebook. Jared had put up on his status that he could really go for a cold Pepsi, as he was out combining in a field. Shortly thereafter, Anita offers to bring him one and from what I could see on Facebook she did just that.

So for all of my fellow bloggers that live or lived in Mennville, I put this challenge out to you; why do you love Mennville? Let us know!

Help the Guilty, Forget the Victim

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2010/08/18/15062266.html

I read this story today about two 11 year old boys who attempted to rape an 8 year old girl. That got me angry enough, but then I thought a little more about the article.

Quote:

Sentencing them to three-year supervision orders, the judge Justice Saunders said: “I do not accept that what happened was a game but I do accept that you did not realize how serious what you were doing was.”

He said that to impose any sort of custodial sentence would be “counter-productive” and not in the best interests of the boys, the Press Association reported.

Okay, I get that rehabilitating these kids, especially at this age, is the way to go. I don't really have a problem with that, though there should be some punishment to go with the rehabilitation.

Quote:
“Because you are so young, the court is mainly concerned with doing what is best for you with the aim of ensuring that you do not do anything like it again. That means you must be helped to understand the seriousness of what happened.”

So here we are, talking about what is best for the boys who attempted to rape this little girl. The judge then comments that he is not forgetting her and says the following.

Quote:
“Everyone will sympathize with her for what she has gone through. Not only what happened to her as the victim of these offences, but also to have to give evidence about them.

“I hope that she will be given all the help that she undoubtedly deserves to get over her experiences. I very much hope that she and her family will not be forgotten by the authorities.”

So here we have two attackers and a victim. The attackers are given court ordered supervision to look out for their best interests. The victim will "hopefully get help". How about the boys' families being ordered to pick up the tab for that poor girls therapy, or whatever means she needs to recover from such an attack?

Unbelievable. Court ordered best interests of the attacker, and nothing but a best wishes to the victim. Absolutely terrible.

The Awesomest Awesomeness in the Known Universe

I love 40 year old foreign superhero films!

Photoshop

The other day I was inspired to play around with images of the actors in the upcoming Avengers movie. Since I can't draw to save my life, playing with existing images is the only way I can visually express myself. :)

Book Review: "Superman: Sunday Classics 1939-1943"

The other book I read over our camping trip, this is a collection containing all of the Superman Sunday newspaper strips from 1939-1943 done by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster themselves (well, themselves or by their studio of artists). This book does not contain the daily strips, but that doesn't hurt the reading experience since the Sunday strips are completely separate story-wise from the dailies.

Superman was a very different guy back in the day, let me tell you. He was still the most powerful guy around; in all of the strips I don't think he himself is ever actually in physical danger. He is literally faster than a speeding bullet, though it's hard to say how fast he really is (the narration at one point says he is moving faster than the speed of light, but I think that was hyperbole). He's really strong, invulnerable, has his extra-sensory powers, but I have to admit I had to remind myself he can't fly. A lot of his poses look like flight, and only the narration and the fact he often observes people hanging from telephone poles and window sills gives away that he isn't flying. Based on the art I'm not surprised he eventually gained the power to fly, since he looks like he's doing it all the time instead of leaping tall buildings in a single bound.

At first I doubted how good these strips could be; how much dramatic story can you pull off in a single Sunday comic? I have to admit, Siegel and Shuster jam-packed their strips with content with amazing skill. These guys are like the anti-Bendis, getting important information out in as little space as possible. It doesn't feel forced though.

A standard story isn't done in a single Sunday strip though. Rather, we get to follow the story over the course of I'd say between 6-8 strips (I forgot to count). Superman isn't waging galactic battles or fighting to save the planet, he's helping the common man mostly. Outside of a group of men in armour (believed to be robots at first) and one super-powered foe (who was a real push-over, he had some crazy weakness), Supes spends his time taking on gangsters and mysteries. It was really refreshing. Lex Luthor did show up for one story, which was great to see.

I don't think anyone would call this Superman a boy scout. I admit, one of my favourite panels has Superman saving some potential drowning victims. He swims up to one, who is calling for help. Telling him it is for his own good, Superman decks the guy right in the face before saving him. A later panel says it was because he was thrashing about and panicking, and the guy bears Superman no ill-will, but man I laughed when Superman decked him.

I got a few other chuckles out of the book too. For example, while Superman is trying to help a race car driver who is getting targeted for death, the rival race car driver is none other than "Pete Parker". Alas poor Parker didn't survive the story.

While Superman battles valiantly to save civilians, those of the criminal persuasion die regularly. Some of them Superman could have saved if he wanted to, others he actually killed himself. A plane was waging an attack and Superman jumped up and piledrived the thing into the ground, smashing it into an accordion shape. No way the pilot survived that.

I really recommend checking this book out. I don't know if I'd read anything by Siegel and Shuster before, but man, they were good. I give this collection 4 tall buildings out of 5.

Book Review: "Crimes & Punishment: Life as a CFL Official"

While away on our anniversary this past week-end, I brought along "Crimes & Punishment: Life as a CFL Official" to read. I picked this book up while at Value Village awhile back, for the low low price of $2.99, and decided to give it a re-read.

The book is about the officiating story of Neil Payne, a long time CFL official. Payne has served many roles as a CFL official, everything from a "stick man" to an officials supervisor. He holds nothing back (or at least I hope he didn't!) in this tell-all book about the hidden world of officiating.

Payne tells various stories of the sacrifices and less-than-glamorous lifestyle of the CFL official. Staying in the cheapest hotels possible (he tells one story of a fellow official showing up at his regular budget saver to find it has been leveled to the ground), drinking with Polish sailors on their cargo ship, Payne paints quite the picture of the men in stripes.

I picked this book up because I myself am a sports official, though not in football. I am certified to officiate soccer and volleyball, but I figured there would be plenty of similarities anyway. Tough teams, tougher crowds, I could relate to a decent amount of the material, if on a much smaller scale.

I found that on my second read through I was able to keep all of the different officials he mentions throughout the book straight. Referees don't tend to be household names, so you really have to pay attention to who is doing what. I also found that some of his references would be lost on you if you are not a CFL fan (for example, he compared a woman hitting on him on a plane as "Chris Walby's bigger sister", or something along those lines). As this book is a few years old, Walby is one of the most recent CFL stars you will see Payne mention. If you're not familiar with CFL football, you will miss some of those references, as they are not all explained.

One of my favourite things about the book is Payne is actually from Winnipeg. Therefore a good number of his stories deal with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which I appreciate as a Bomber fan myself.

I did find that the book seemed to meander across different time periods in his career at times, but it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

If you're a fan of the unseen world of pro sports, this book is great. Payne passes on things you never see or hear about on the news or in the paper. However, if you are not a CFL football fan, I'm not sure how much enjoyment you would get from the book.

3.5 Flags on the Play out of 5. Repeat 1st down.

Anniversary

So today is our 2 year wedding anniversary. To celebrate this year, we spent 3 days camping in the Whiteshell. I would say it was a good anniversary.

We stayed at the Otter Falls provincial campground. It's a fairly small campground, at least in comparison to Hecla or St. Malo. The sites aren't as private as the aforementioned campgrounds, but we had chosen a site that only had a neighbouring site on one side. When we picked the site we didn't realize we were right next to the road either.

Would we go back to Otter Falls? Maybe. What the campground has going for it is the fact it is literally right on Margaret Lake. You can actually book a site that is directly on the water. So if you like to fish you can fish from your campsite. If you're a boater, you can pull your boat right up to your tent! And some of those sites actually had a small sand beach right off of them; if you are there with kids you can watch them swim while making dinner!

One highlight for me was our canoe trip. We rented a canoe and tooled around on the lake, and I really enjoyed it. Unlike Lake Winnipeg, the lakes in the Whiteshell are a little...calmer, and less unpredictable. I was a little surprised that I could rent a canoe without even giving my name; the Otter Falls Resort (next to the campground) rents out the canoes, and seriously, they took my money and rented us the canoe without taking a name, phone number, or credit card. We could have just loaded it on top of our car and drove away (but we didn't, just to be clear!). Had we rented a powerboat they would have taken our name (since they were going to record my Pleasure Craft Operator's license info)

We played games, had naps, ate some good camping food, and spent the whole time together. It was a great anniversary. I love you babe!

World Cup Blues

I have to admit, I really wasn't interested in the recently completed World Cup. I absolutely love to play soccer, and I play a decently-sized part in the organization of soccer in the Interlake, but watching the pros do their thing didn't really interest me.

There are two reasons I was not interested in the tournament. The first is, well, Canada isn't in it. It is very rare for me to watch any type of sporting event that I have no emotional interest in. I don't usually watch a CFL game unless the Blue Bombers are one of the teams competing. I rarely watch NHL hockey unless the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing. And so on. So having no team to cheer for was kind of a downer.

Possibly the greater reason, however, is the proclivity of "diving" in professional soccer. It seems that anytime an opponent gets near, the other player hits the dirt writhing in agony. They are trying to draw a penalty against the opposing team, and it is completely lacking any kind of sportsmanship.

Athletes in other sports embellish injuries too, I have no doubt about that. But soccer has gotten beyond ridiculous; the sheer number of incidents per game is enough to really turn me off the professional game. As a coach I would never teach my players something like that and I don't want them to learn that behaviour either.

I really hope Fifa does something to crack down on this, because if they really want soccer to take root in North America, it has to be dealt with. There are already tools in place that could easily be used to combat this problem. For example, they could designate a video replay official who reviews any injury to determine whether the player was actually touched or not. It would not slow down the game because the game has already stalled because the player is rolling around the field in "agony". Pretty simple solution for a problem that even FIFA has admitted they have.

Most Beloved

One of my hobbies is writing, and this week-end I threw this together. I've been a contributor at the Tales of the Parodyverse message board for many years now, and one of the regulars posted this picture of one of his characters. It's such a beautiful piece I had to write something to go with it. I don't know how hard this will be to follow for those not "in the know", but I figured what the heck, I'd post it here anyway just for fun.

Most Beloved

It was not clear what awoke Magweed that clear fall morning, the gulls circling her lighthouse home or the sunlight tickling her face through the open window. Irregardless of the source, the young girl awoke and sat up in her bed, arms stretched high and wide to stir her muscles back to activity.

With her stronger right leg she kicked the down comforter away and, bracing herself with her good arm, swung herself so her bare feet dangled over the side of the bed. She rea ched out to grasp for her cane before sliding down to the floor.

She quietly made her way to the wash basin in her bathroom. A splash of water across her pale green face helped to chase the last of the sandman's influence away. She found an elastic band and pulled her long brown hair away from her face, a few stray wisps escaping confinement.

With her hair secure, she padded back into her bedroom. She began to go through her closet, looking for something to wear. She quickly decided on a pair of comfortable dark jeans and a pair of white and pink socks. After a few more minutes of perusal, she settled on a tan t urtleneck.

The young girl then pulled on her favourite sweater vest, made special for her by her auntie Kerry's friend Samantha. It was green and yellow, modeled after her father's penchant for a green sweater and yellow overcoat. When she wore it she felt like her father was always with her, protecting her.

While she was dressed, Magweed was still far from ready to leave her room. She was born with a frail arm and leg, and they were not strong enough to support her without help. Friends of her father's had designed for her a set of special braces that would not only help her get around, but also build up her strength so that one day she would have no need of them.

She started with the arm brace; without it she lacked the strength to properly fasten the one for her leg. It had taken her weeks before she was able to don the braces without help, but now that she had mastered them she was determined to never need help to use them ever again.

Maggie fastened the last strap of her leg brace and stood up, this time without the aid of the cane. She took a moment to get used to the padded metal embracing her limbs, then stepped through her bedroom door.

It was still very early, and she did not want to wake any of the other occupants in the house. Her brother's room was next to hers, the door wide open. She imagined that the wind must have blown it open through the night, as the young boy inside usually slept with the door partially shut. Griffin was tangled in his covers again, his bare feet sticking out from the mass of fabric. He often dreamed of fantastic battles as a mythical griffin and more than once had actually thrashed his way out of his bed onto the hardwood floor below, and Maggie reasoned he had had such a dream again. She smiled at that; Griffin loved dreaming of flying, so he had told her.

The room with the biohazard symbol on the door belonged to her auntie Kerry, who was the legal ward of her father and also his sister by adoption. While Kerry would never hurt Maggie, the young girl had learned quickly that if she wished to enter the room, she was to knock, then hide around the corner to be sure no stray explosions made their way out of the room when the door opened. After that it was safe. Mostly.

The last door before the stairs belonged to her father, Visionary. To many his name seemed odd, even peculiar with his lack of a surname, but to the fairy princess who was born t o two mothers, one of extraterrestrial origin and the other a sophisticated computer system, the peculiar was rather ordinary. Most of her family had no last name, though she herself had two. While she went by Magweed, her birth name was actually Naari, which in the Caphan language of her mother translated to “most beloved in all the world”.

Taking special care not to wake her father, Maggie crept down the stairs of the lighthouse. She lacked the stealth of her brother Griffin, but she still did her best. One day she would n ot have the leg brace weighing her down, clacking against the wooden steps.

Once Maggie reached the ground level she made her way outside. She loved the outdoors, especially early in the morning. Her home on Parody Island allowed her to feel like she was away from the technological bustle of the city and one with nature. Having grown up in Faerie, modern technology was something she was still adjusting to.

As she made her way down the cobblestone path to the island's shore, animals began to gather around her. A robin perched itself on her shoulder, and field mice frolicked at her feet. As she approached the water several fish signaled their greeting by leaping above the waves, the morning sun gleaming on their scales.

When her friends were around the animals were not as open with her, as they were frightened by those who did not understand them. But in the early morning, with a salty breeze w histling through her hair and the human and humanoid occupants of the island tucked into their beds, she could get out and spend time with her feathered, furred, and finned friends in peace.

And thus Princess Magweed, Naari of the House of Visionary, most beloved in all the world, gave that love back, one tiny friend at a time.

New Look for Wonder Woman

I just happened across an article on the CBC about a new costume for Wonder Woman. I have very mixed feelings on this subject.

The classic version of Wonder Woman's costume is pictured to the left. I personally feel that superhero costumes need to be somewhat functional; fighting crime in a one-piece with what must be the ultimate Wonderbra (pun intended) doesn't seem very functional to me.

At the same time though, the whole outfit really works and has become the defining look of the character. When a costume gets redesigned, especially on an iconic character like Wonder Woman, enough elements of the original look to make the character instantly recognizable must remain.


The image to the right is Wonder Woman's new look. This isn't the first time Wonder Woman has been redesigned, but looking at this new outfit, I doubt it will be the last.

I like that the top is no longer strapless; it makes a lot more sense from a functional standpoint. I also like the addition of pants.

That is all that I like about this costume.

While I like the addition of pants, I really don't like the solid black. Wonder Woman is a bright, shining superhero, the inspirational equivalent of Superman. While dark pants with almost no contrasting colours are starting to become a fad in superhero costumes (the redesigned Captain America and the Thor movie costume, for example), it is too bad this trend is hitting Wonder Woman.

Her bracelets and tiara are included in the outfit, but the tiara seems kind of small. The bracelets are just hideous; sometimes simpler is better, and this is a perfect example of why.

The original look draws heavy influence from the American flag, and this look does not, which would be a bonus except Wonder Woman has been wearing the flag for something like 60 years. It has become a part of the character, plain and simple.

Has Wonder Woman had worse outfits than this? Yes, she has. But I really hope that this look does not last for long; if I had just seen this image on its own I would not have known this was the new look for Wonder Woman. I would have thought it was a poorly-designed fan drawing.

Speaking Greek in English

While attending the BCBC 40th Anniversary celebration this past week-end, I got to spend some time with my good buddy Riker. Riker is turning 8 years old this year (I hope I've got that right; I can barely keep my own age straight), and is growing up fast! He is quickly becoming schooled in the art of trash talking; he challenged me to a game of torpedo ball and then promptly called me "old man". My former name of "JayBoaz" (as the Westman kids usually call me) has been replaced with "old man". I perhaps made the mistake of asking Riker if that meant Sarah is the old lady...

Anyway, while sharing lunch together, Riker and I were quizzing each other on Transformers. I have fond memories of the Transformers cartoon from my childhood, and actually have it on DVD. Riker has borrowed my Beast Wars DVDs before, and now he and his dad are working through their own set of the Transformers cartoon. Riker also spends time reading about the Transformers on-line.

So Riker would ask me "Who do you think my favourite Predacon is?" I would proceed to rattle off several Predacons from the Beast Wars series. Waspinator. Inferno. Rampage. Finally I guessed Quickstrike and was right.

So we went back and forth, me guessing Riker's favourites, then Riker guessing mine. At one point, when discussing Decepticons, Sarah tried to participate in the Decepticon debate by suggesting Optimus Prime. Riker and I looked at each other, partially amused and partially shocked. We informed Sarah that Optimus Prime is an Autobot, not a Decepticon.

I then thought about it for a moment, and asked her, "It sounds like we're speaking another language, doesn't it?" She confirmed that yes, the nuances of Cybertronian lifeforms were an alien language to her.

Clearly our schools need to spend more time on the important things in life, like the difference between an Autobot Headmaster and a Predacon Transmetal.

Book Review: Robin Hood, King of Sherwood

I'll be up front before I review this book, the author is actually a friend of mine. We have both been participants on a story-writing message board for many a year now (at least 10), and have collaborated together on on-line projects before. Regardless, I thought this book was outstanding.

This is an origin story of Robin Hood. In the beginning of the book, Robin is not the leader of the Merry Men. However, he is still the Robin that we all know and love. He is a master of the bow, a charming rogue, and a man of character.

I don't want to spoil the story, but we very organically see Robin adopt his mission to rob from the rich to give to the poor. The story never feels like an origin story, which often attempts to shoehorn in certain story beats in an awkward manner to make it match the end product.

Many stories today feature shades of grey, where it is sometimes hard to distinguish the heroes from the villains. Not so here. The villains are vicious pieces of work, both dastardly and cruel. Our heroes clearly are not, though they are not afraid to kill when necessary (a reflection of the time the story is set in, as that was the way of things). It is refreshing for the heroes to be just that, heroes.

The only negatives I have about the book are that some plot points are not wrapped up by the end; though it is important to note the author did not rush to tie them up neatly (and improperly) with a little bow in the space allotted (which would have cheapened the story). This is addressed in the afterword, that if sales are sufficient there will be another volume or two published. From personal experience I know the author has a tendency to plan a single story that then sprawls into multi-part epics, so I wasn't surprised by this. As long as the rest of the story gets published, it will all work out just fine.

I also found the odd section to be rather, well, wordy. This book is historical fiction, and as such the names and terminology of the times are used throughout the book. In the opening chapter I felt it was a little heavy on this, but to be fair it may be because the author is English, the book is set in England, and I've never been there. Generally this is a strength of the book, not a weakness, just that opening chapter was a bit heavy.

All in all, this is a fantastic read for those who love adventure and right versus wrong (as opposed to law and order). I give it 4.5 arrows out of 5.

Canadian Television

I read an article today about Alberta's Culture Minister making comments that "Canadian TV is crap".

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2010/06/16/calgary-blackett-banff-television-comments-backlash.html?ref=fh,www.mymanitoba.com

He's taking a lot of flack for it, but honestly, I can't really say that I disagree with him (before he backpedaled). When I think of good Canadian programming (excluding sports coverage, which is excellent), I have trouble thinking of a lot of candidates. The ones that come to mind are:

Corner Gas
Canada's Worst Driver/Handyman
Battle of the Blades
Dragon's Den

Honorable mentions to programs that have been out of production for a few years - Royal Canadian Air Farce, the Red Green Show, The Littlest Hobo, and old school Degrassi

I really can't think of any other Canadian programs I really enjoy watching, to be honest. I think one of our problems is Canadian programming has to feature the best Canadian for the job. Compare that to the United States, where it's not the best American for the job, it's the best person for the job, period.

I have to wonder if we cut down on the Canadian quotas (for crew, actors, etc) in our television and film industry, if that would in fact strengthen what we have.

The Deep End

Today I rode my bike to work.

Not the biggest accomplishment in human history, but I'm pretty darn proud of this addition to my personal history. I would guesstimate that it is around 20 km from my house to Riverton. I've been telling myself that I would try it out one day, biking to work, but thought maybe I'd first to a trial run on a week-end.

I don't think I ever would have done that trial run. I would have come up with other things to do, or made excuses, and I doubt I ever would have gone.

This morning, I got up and decided the heck with it, I'm going to jump on my bike and just do it. It's not like I have any choice but to keep on going once I've started. I also have no choice but to bike home today as well, because Sarah will be working at Spruce Sands tonight and won't be able to pick me up and drive me home. And that's where the title of this post comes from.

Sometimes we have to "jump into the deep end" to push ourselves to achieve new things. We can analyze things, think through the pros and cons, but sometimes we spend too much time on analysis and not enough time on action.

And just to finish up, here is what I learned about biking to work in the country:
- Fresh gravel is the enemy of the cyclist
- My shoulder bag is not as suited to cycling as I thought it was
- Head winds suck (well, technically they blow I suppose)
- People don't always slow down when they pass you on a gravel road
- Nature is loud

- What a great way to start the morning!! (in all seriousness, no sarcasm here, it was a great way to start the morning)

Robert Munsch

It has come out in the news over the last couple of days that children's author Robert Munsch has been battling drug and alcohol addictions; he announced now that he is 4 months clean and sober.

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/05/18/munsch-support.html?ref=fh,www.mymanitoba.com

The article I've linked to above talks about the positive feedback Munsch has received for coming clean on his addiction, and how most people are being very forgiving and understanding.

While I'm glad to hear he is 4 months sober, I do have to wonder though at the acceptance he is receiving. Robert Munsch is a children's entertainer, through his books and the tours he goes on. As a children's entertainer, whether he intended to be or not, he is a role model for young kids.

I have to wonder if people would be as accepting if it came out that a school teacher was battling drugs and alcohol. Would that teacher, who is also a role model to children, get such acceptance? Or would they get run out of town? Is Munsch's celebrity the reason he is receiving accolades for revealing his struggle?

PATH Facilitation

Last week I took part in a PATH Facilitator training course. PATH stands for "Planning Alternatives for Tomorrow with Hope", and is planning tool that can be used for individuals or groups to help define goals and map out the way to achieve those goals.

I thought I'd write a little on the subject, and to give you a visual, I'm going to use this PATH done by a group of Interlake recreation, health, and sport professionals done in March of 2009 (that I participated in) as my example.



Looking at that image, I'm sure it is pretty difficult to discern what is going on. Let me break it down for you.

The first thing you do is title your PATH, to give some focus. We were discussing physical activity in the Interlake, which our title reflects. After that you being to "dream", and that is the images at the bottom of the image. Normally the dream would be on the right-hand side of the PATH, but for space reasons when I redid this on the computer I put it on the bottom.

The next step is to then create some Goals, which are in the circle on the end (which I like to call the Pac-Man section). Any goals that are listed need to be "Positive and Possible"; we don't want to set goals that cannot be achieved (eg. "We will build a multi-use facility in Geysir in 2 months!"), and we want our goals to be phrased positively.

We then jump to the "Now" section on the far left. The Now is just some quick facts about the current situation, but they don't necessarily have to be directly related to the Goals.

We then go to the "Enroll" section; this is where we list the people we need to get on board to make these Goals happen. When I did this on the computer I colour-coded everything, so that if you read the blue text, it is all for that one Goal.

"Stronger" can basically be divided into three sub-categories: Communication, Information, Celebrate. Basically, who do we need to communicate with and how will we do so, what information needs to be gathered, and how are we going to celebrate our successes.

Then we move to "First Steps" and "Half-Way" (Half-Way is the arrow head, I forgot to label that when I made this graphic over a year ago). We work backwards from here; we look at our Goal, and figure out what needs to be done by the Half-Way point (if our Goals are to be completed in March 2010, and we did the PATH in March 2009, the Half-Way point would be September 2009). Then, we go back further, and figure out the very first thing we need to do.

After that, participants are asked to express in one word how they feel about the PATH; those are the words along the very bottom of the graphic. All participants in the PATH are then asked to sign the poster (not replicated on the computer graphic), as a way of taking ownership of the plan.

It's a neat process to do, and as I said, it could be done as a personal planning tool, for a business, non-profit organization, whatever! I am now a trained facilitator in the process, so if you find yourself interested, let me know! I'm hoping to do a PATH or two in the community shortly; 2 facilitators are required to do a PATH, but fortunately for me 3 other people who work in Riverton also took the training!

Hurry Hard, Comrade

So it was in the news yesterday that Jason Gunnlaugson, a Manitoba curler who managed to qualify for the Canadian Olympic Trials last year, is going to be curling for Russia for the next four years.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/curling/curling-for-the-kremlin-92393409.html

The initial knee-jerk reaction is Gunnlaugson is deserting his country to compete for Russia in the 2014 Olympics, that he's a deserter. And while I was surprised to hear of his decision to curl for Russia (since the Manitoba curling scene is starting to open up for the younger teams with Burtnyk retiring from competitive curling and Stoughton getting up there in age), I can't say I blame him.

Firstly, he will be a funded athlete, meaning that he will truly be a professional curler. He will be getting paid to do what he does best. This is a guy who play on-line poker to support himself while curling because of the flexible hours needed to dedicate yourself to the sport. No more hunting for sponsorships, he will be a paid curler.

Second, he will be living in Russia for 2 months out of the year, an adventure he is looking forward to. Getting to experience another culture on the host country's dime is something a lot of people would love to do. He'll still spend most of his time in Canada, especially since most of the World Curling Tour events are in Canada. The report said he'd curl about 2/3 of the times in Canada and 1/3 in Europe. So not only will he get to see Russia, but other parts of Europe as well.

Third, he wants to get international experience; do you know how hard that is to do in Canada? Canada has such a strong field of curlers it is almost impossible to get to the international level. Look at Kevin Koe this year; he's never been able to curl for his country because Kevin Martin and Randy Ferby live in the same province as him. With Martin curling at the Olympics, Koe was able to attend his first Brier, win that, and then go on to become world champion! A guy who never made it to the Canadian play-downs beat the rest of the world! If that doesn't show the depth of Canadian curling, nothing will.

By playing for Russia, Gunnlaugson automatically becomes top dog and will be able to get that international experience. He will also be helping to grow the sport in Russia, which is a good thing.

It shows though that maybe Curl Canada has to look at the way things are done in Canada; a promising young curler defects to another country because he has the chance to become a professional athlete, not one who also has to hold down a day job. This certainly isn't the first time something like this has happened, but I think it is a first for curling. Hopefully it doesn't become a trend, but if I was Gunnlaugson, I can say I certainly would have been tempted by the opportunity.

Chewing Gum = Safe Sex

Sarah and I were flipping between a couple of shows last night, and saw the following commercial.



The commercial is playing with the concept of Dentyne Ice replacing a condom (not literally!), insinuating that by chewing their gum you are more likely to get sex on a date. What I found ironic about this commercial is the show we saw it aired during.



Clearly if these kids had chewed Dentyne they wouldn't have ended up in this predicament.

Making Progress

I hit a milestone in my weight-loss journey today; I tried on my high school volleyball jersey and it fits again! It's not as loose as it was, but just the fact I can wear it again makes me pretty happy (I'm actually wearing it right now!).

Sarah has really helped me re-focus on losing weight, using a website called www.sparkpeople.com. There is a calorie counter that really helps with your own awareness of how many calories you take in. It also has a fitness tracker, with goals you can set for time spent on physical activity and roughly how many calories you burn doing your activity.

My goal is to get some solid physical activity at least 3 times a week, though I'm really trying to get do it at least 4 times a week. Getting back into badminton helps, and soccer starts in a couple of weeks. Otherwise I've been riding my bike again (I'm thinking of trying to bike to work pretty soon, though I'm not really in bike shape so it might take awhile), going for walks with Sarah, stuff like that.

I'm at 273 right now; 2 months before my wedding I weighed 314. So I'm pretty pumped about how I've been doing, and I need to maintain that momentum going into the summer. My end goal is to get myself down to 220 pounds, but right now I'm just taking it one day at a time, celebrating the small victories.

Beanie Cap: Yea or Nay?

Sarah and I were talking about my beanie cap the other day. I think it is the epitome of awesome; Sarah thinks people don't laugh with me about the hat, they laugh at me.

So what do you say? Is it stupid, or awesome?

Corner Hiccups for Mayor

Corner Gas has to be one of my all-time favourite television shows. Each main character brought something special to the show, and being a rural prairie boy myself I loved seeing a show in that setting. I was sad to see the show end after it's 6th season, but happy at the same time that it went out strong (though season 5 was kind of shaky).

Now we have two new shows starring some of the Corner Gas alumni, and featuring a lot of the behind-the-camera talent from the show as well; Hiccups and Dan for Mayor. While watching commercials for these shows, I thought the characters the Corner Gas actors were portraying looked pretty familiar. But I thought I'd give the shows a chance.

After watching a few episodes of each show, I have to conclude that Hiccups has simply moved Brent and Wanda out of the gas station and into Vancouver, and Hank is running for mayor. The new shows aren't grabbing me like Corner Gas did, because the rest of the cast is missing. Other than a name and scenery change, Hiccups has 2 Corner Gas characters and Dan for Mayor has one. And unfortunately, none of them are Oscar!

Seriously, if you're a Corner Gas fan, give these shows a try, you might like them. The style of humour is very similar, so for some that may be a good thing. I just can't get past the fact that these are the same characters with different names and supporting cast.

Winter Games - Comraderie

One of the fun things about the Winter Games is the people you get to hang out with. When you are a Coach or Manager, pretty much your whole time at the Games is spent with your team (unless you have Mission Staff like me who don't mind taking a shift supervising; I watched the kids with the Manager while the Coaches went to watch a Ringette game). The Coaches and Managers are the ones responsible for the kids 24/7, so when the kids go to bed, the Coaches and Managers go to bed.

Mission Staff, on the other hand, go out to party.

Every night there is an Adult Lounge set up, where Mission Staff, volunteers, and the general public are able to get together and unwind. There is a bar and a live band, and most importantly smokies are served too. Not every region sees their Mission Staff go to the nightly party, but Interlake is usually a, well, strong presence at the event.

I only went 2 of the nights I was there, mostly because I didn't want to be left out (the 2nd night I thought I'd be a sport and be the DD for everyone else). I don't drink, so usually this kind of atmosphere has no appeal to me. However, the music was really good, and the people I was hanging out with are all good people.

Interlake really had a great Mission Staff team; I knew about half of them prior to the Games, but we all gelled into a group very quickly. Nobody got stupidly drunk or anything, let me make that perfectly clear. Everyone that drank was responsible, nobody became unruly, and we had a pretty good time.

I do get a chuckle out of the fact I was driving around with and hanging out with an old University budy...of my Dad's! Fred, our Curling team Mission Staff, used to be really good friends with my Dad in University, but it was me cruising down to the bar with him!

Manitoba Winter Games

I'm back from the Manitoba Winter Games, and was it ever a great experience. I don't know if I can get everything I want to touch on in one post, but let's see how we fare.

The Games are a huge undertaking; until attending I didn't realize how big. There were approximately 1400 athletes participating in the Games, though all were not present at once; the Games are divided into two phases, so there were about 7-800 athletes present at a time. Over 1000 volunteers gave of their time and energy to run the games, and they did a fantastic job.

I was part of the Team Interlake contingent as Mission Staff for the badminton team. Basically, I handled all of the non-sport logistics stuff so the coaches and managers could focus on the sport stuff. It's actually extremely similar to being support staff at BCBC.

We had a team of 16 badminton players, and man, did we ever have a great group of kids. Well behaved, level headed, and for the most part really there to compete. Other than one kid I never had any worries about what the badminton players were up to.

Team Interlake finished fourth in the overall medal standings (Eastman beat us out by 1!), but second in gold medals. I think that's a great result for our region, considering all the advantages the Winnipeg teams have.

I don't want this post to get too long, so I'll probably do a couple of posts over the week detailing different aspects of my Games experience.

Winter Games

I'm off to the Manitoba Winter Games for the rest of the week, so don't expect any more blogging until next week!

Moustache March

Olympic Flag Bearer

Sarah and I were talking the other night about who should be the flag bearer for Canada at the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics. Unlike last time where Cindy Klassen was an easy pick, it's not so clear-cut this year. Here are who I think the candidates are:

Alex Bilodeau - Won the first Gold for Canada at home. While it's a great achievement, I don't think he should be the flag bearer. Why? He won the first Gold because his event was one of the first ones scheduled. It easily could have been one of our other Gold medal winners, but they were scheduled to compete later in the games.

Kevin Martin - If Martin wins the Gold medal game in men's curling, his team will have gone undefeated through the entire Olympics. That's about 12-13 games in a row he will have won against the best in the world. That's just as, or more, dominant than Cindy Klassen was 4 years ago, but he'll only have one medal to show for it, not 5.

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir - I think these two have a real shot at hoisting the flag, for being the first North Americans to win Gold in their sport. To me that's more of an accomplishment than Bilodeau winning the first Gold of the games for Canada.

And finally, who I think deserves to be the flag bearer...

Joannie Rochette - She won a Bronze medal under the absolutely worst condition you can imagine. Her mother died in Vancouver of a heart attack just a day or two before Rochette was set to compete. Rather than bow out, which nobody would have blamed her for (Skate Canada was ready to support her decision to drop if she chose to do so), she skated her heart out in tribute to her mother. Canada would have been proud of her even if she finished last, but winning a medal under such adversity is an amazing accomplishment.

So there you have it, my thoughts on the flag bearer. If Joannie wasn't up to handling the flag bearer job (which would be completely understandable), then I think it should be Kevin Martin. Probably a long shot, since I can't think of any time in recent memory that a curler got to carry the flag (Sandra Schmirler may have, I'm not sure on that one), but if Joannie isn't able to, I'd like to see the Old Bear get the job.

The Problem with Own The Podium

Canadian officials have finally acknowledged that the Own The Podium program, a 100+ million dollar initiative to try and win the overall medal count at the Olympics, has failed. I'm not really surprised, and the reason why is simple.

Other countries have been throwing as much or more money at the medal count a lot longer than Canada.

I've heard reports that the funding Canadian athletes have enjoyed for this Olympics will be cut. This is a typical political knee-jerk reaction to the failure of a quick fix solution. To make Olympic champions, you have to start at the ground up, not by simply throwing money at your current crop of elite athletes. And starting from the ground up takes time, as those young athletes need time to grow into tomorrow's champions.

I'm not disparaging the efforts of our current crop of Olympians; they've trained hard and done their country proud. But I'm really sad to see the cuts coming to sports funding, as it is just going to set back what Own the Podium started, making that 100+ million dollars spent a waste.

Curling Too Rowdy

There is an interesting situation that has developed with the curling competition at the Olympics. The crowds have steadily been getting louder and more boisterous as the tournament has gone on.

In most sports, this wouldn't be a problem; it would actually be encouraged. However, curling normally isn't one of them. The etiquette of curling would have the crowd quiet down when one of the players is throwing their rock. Also, since communication is so important, the cheering is making it hard for the teams to communicate while sweeping.

I'm of two minds on this topic. On the one hand, the curling purist in me says the crowds need to quiet down. During the Canada vs Great Britain game last night, the crowd broke out into a loud rendition of O Canada. Normally awesome, but Canada's second actually had to wait for the singing to subside before he could deliver his rock. It wasn't a problem because Canada had a lot of time left on the clock, but if they hadn't managed their time so well, it would have put them in a real bind (each team gets a certain amount of time to make all of their shots; Great Britain had about a minute and a half left at the end of the game). If a team runs out of time on their clock, they lose the game.

But on the other hand, isn't it great to see so many people excited about curling? While curling remains popular in Canada, a lot of clubs are seeing a reduction in participation, not an increase. Why? The old guys are moving on and there aren't as many young people getting into the sport. The crowds at the Olympics are really pumped about the game, so if that excitement leads to new curlers as a result, that would be great.

Maybe at this level the players need to be given headsets to communicate with each other and then the crowds can make as much noise as they want. It would be a real shame to lose the absolutely electric atmosphere that has overtaken the curling venue, but we also don't want that atmosphere to cost anyone a game.

Losing What Is So Easy To Gain

Man, I wish my title was talking about money. ;)

I've been working at losing weight lately, but I want to make sure I keep my motivation up, so I thought maybe I'd start blogging about my weight loss adventure, kind of as an accountability/support thing.

I'm ashamed to admit it, at one point I weighed 314 pounds. That's what happens when you don't exercise and eat too much of the wrong things. I think I was operating under the impression at that time that exercise had to be running on a treadmill or an exercise bike, when really that isn't necessarily the case.

When I was in high school, I liked to get my exercise through sports, and while I lived in Winnipeg I stopped doing that because I wasn't really sure how to go about getting into sports in the city. Or more likely that was just my excuse. I'm getting back to sports now, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm curling 2-3 days a week (not counting a couple of bonspiels coming up), which isn't the most intense form of exercise but it's certainly better than sitting on the couch. I'm also playing indoor soccer in Winnipeg Beach once a week, and man do I wish it was more than once a week! Just last year I got back into soccer and hadn't realized how much I'd missed it. I've also been using the in-laws treadmill whenever we are in the city, and soon I'll be getting an elliptical machine that my parents are no longer using.

Anyway, at this point I'm sitting at about 282 pounds. Still way too much, but I'm plugging away at it. I'm down a belt loop on my pants since about a month ago and I've got clothes that are starting to fit better or just plain fit again. I don't think I'll ever get below 200 pounds, even though the Body Mass Index says 180 is my ideal weight (don't be fooled, BMI doesn't consider body build; all of the U of M Bisons men's volleyball team are actually above their "ideal" BMI, and I guarantee those guys are in shape!). I'm thinking that with my fairly broad build if I can get to 220 I'll be good. I admit, part of me wants to try get down to 199, just to say I broke 200, but I don't know if that's actually feasible without getting deathly ill.

So from time to time I'll post updates on how my weight loss is doing. I'm hoping that by talking about it on the blog I can keep my motivation going.

My first bald spot

Well, I guess I'm getting older. I found my first bald spot the other day. This isn't that momentous an occasion really, I'm just confused that it's not on top of my head, it's on my face!

(Note: Yes, that is Michael "Pinball" Clemens in the picture with me!)

Check out that smooth spot in my beard on the left side of my face (right along the "goatee line" were I to only have a goatee). I shaved my beard down to a goatee later to see if I'd just trimmed my beard to low in that spot, but nope, that patch is smooth.

I really hope that patch eventually grows again because I hate shaving every day, that's why I grow a beard!

Old Friends, Good Times

I'm in Winnipeg for a conference right now, and while I was in I thought it would be a good time to reconnect with some of my old Olive Garden friends. While I don't miss serving tables, I really did work with some great people.

I started a tradition at the Olive Garden (it lasted a few years, don't know if it still happens now) of a karaoke party to celebrate the ending of the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion. After that a group of us started going karaoke somewhat regularly, and we kept at it until the karaoke bar we frequented (which was really close to work) closed.

So, I thought doing a karaoke party as a way to catch up would be fun, and man was I right! We went to a place called Muz Karaoke; unlike a bar, you rent a private room so it's just you and your friends. If you want to talk, you can talk, and if you want to karaoke, you don't have to wait through 2 hours of people you don't know before you get your turn! The facility definitely caters to Asian customers, since English was the second language in the song books (and there was about 1/3 English songs to whatever the Asian language was), but it was a lot of fun.

We thought there were going to be about 10 of us, but in the end there was only 4 of us. Still, we took turns singing individually, doing some duets; sometimes someone would grab up the second microphone and join you on the chorus or harmony, it was a ton of fun. We booked the room for 3 hours, but were having so much fun we stayed for an extra hour and a half. The room rates were very reasonable as well; on a weekday, you can get a room for an hour and a half for $25 (including taxes).

I really loved getting together with my old friends again, and hope to do so again too. Thanks Colleen, Pasith, and Penni!

Reading at REMS

Today I got a phone call from the Riverton Early Middle School; they are looking for different people to come in to read to the students as part of "I Love To Read" month, and lucky me, I got asked to be one of the readers!

I really love to read, and kids are awesome, so I'm looking forward to combining the two. The school gave me the option of choosing my own material or they would get some books ready for me; while I was tempted to choose my own books, I thought I'd let the school handle it just to make sure everything is age appropriate (and therefore more enjoyable for the kids).

There is part of me that is really tempted to bring along a comic book to read to them too...

Why I Hate "The Bachelor"

My wife may not want to read this post, since she's a fan of the show!

I really, really can't stand The Bachelor. Sarah likes to watch it, though she's had to miss it most weeks this season because she is curling on Monday nights. But if it's on and we're both home, I usually head down to the Mancave.

I have a real problem with the whole scenario of the Bachelor. One guy simultaneously dates 30 women, supposedly looking for true love? I'm sorry, but in the real world, a guy who dates even 2 women at the same time is a complete sleezebag, let alone 30! But because it's on television, it's okay? A guy dating 30 women isn't looking for love, he's looking for cheap thrills on a television company's dime.

It's not like the guy is just hanging out with these women to see who he clicks with and then starts dating one; I wouldn't have as big a problem with that. By the end of the season he is seriously dating several women, and they're all okay with this?

The guys that are on the show get played up as these really great, stand-up guys, but as I recall, the guy who was featured on the last season of the Bachelor proposed to one girl on the Season Finale (before the follow-up show), but then broke up with her to get engaged to one of the other girls? Yeah, he's a real stand-up guy this one. If he wasn't sure, he shouldn't have proposed, simple as that. The show is supposedly dealing with real people's feelings and emotions, therefore I don't care how dramatic an end the proposal made, it shouldn't have been done.

I get that women like to watch tv shows/movies about true love and all that, but really, if I told you I was dating 30 women at a time, would you think it romantic, or think I was the biggest jerk on the planet?

I've vote jerk.

9 Years Old & 707 Penalty Minutes

Two nine year old hockey teams in Russia got into a bench-clearing brawl, and as a result 707 penalty minutes were assessed. Before you blame the NHL, remember, Russia has its own hockey league, the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League) that has had it's share of brawls and fights as well.

Manitoba Winter Games

There are some definite perks to working in the Recreation field. Recently I was asked to be a part of the Mission Staff for Team Interlake at the Manitoba Winter Games, being held in March in Portage la Prairie. Basically, as Mission Staff, I am support staff for the coach(es), allowing them to deal solely with the coaching aspect. So if a kid hurts them self and we need to get the medical people over to have a look, I deal with that so the coach can concentrate on the games. I'd say it's like being the team manager except there is a team manager too!

I'm looking forward to going to the Games. I'd like to go sometime as a coach (I had signed up to be an assistant coach for the volleyball team but, long story short, I ended up choosing not to do so), but having that experience as Mission Staff will be great. My board has agreed (unofficially, it'll be official in February) to my suggestion that I go to the Games, but I would not claim overtime after my 8 hour day is up (because I'm sure I'll be 'on' more than 8 hours a day). If I could afford to take the time off I'd happily go as a volunteer, but getting my regular pay cheque while attending is pretty nice.

The Games is job related, and as one of my board members put it, it's a great professional development opportunity for me that will cost no money aside from my time. I get to see how such a large event is run, and will actively be troubleshooting some of the problems/situations that arise during such an event. I'm also glad that I'm going to be a part of the badminton team; I was asked before if I'd consider being Mission Staff for cross country skiing, but I would rather work with a sport I'm actually familiar with.

I'm looking forward to a fun few days at the Games, though I will miss the wife while I'm away. I also learned my plan to sleep at my parents won't work; I'll be on an air mattress in a school classroom (or something like that).

Still, being a part of an event like this is a pretty sweet part of my job!

What is the Point of Deadlines?

I read this article today in the Free Press and it got me a little fired up.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/dont-dock-students-for-missing-deadlines-ndp-81662227.html

The title of the article is "Don't dock students for missing deadlines: NDP". Basically, the article is saying the Manitoba government does not want to see students being deducted marks for turning in assignments late. The argument is the students capabilities and what they've learned isn't being reflected by their marks if they're penalized for turning in their work late.

What a bunch of hogwash.

What students are learning is they are able to turn in their work late and still get full credit. It takes away motivation to work hard and get the job done on time. It also creates more work for the teachers, and speaking as the husband of a teacher, teachers have enough work to do already without having to plan their lives around marking late assignments.

If there is a valid reason why work is late, and it is discussed between the student and the teacher, I have no problem with that. Real-world situations pop up (the death of a loved one, for example) and need to be accounted for. But being able to turn in assignments whenever a student wants is ridiculous. It's not fair to the students who did the work on time, it's not fair to the teachers who have to find time to mark it (even though they've already marked everyone else's), and it's not fair to the students who turn it in late because they aren't learning the importance of completing their work in a timely manner.

The trend in society these days seems to be one of holding everyone's hand, and I think it's a trend that is going to bite us in the rear end as the baby boomers retire. Adversity builds character, and getting a 10% deduction on your English assignment for being late teaches you to get the next one in on time.

Does Anyone Read This Thing?

When I set up this blog I put Sitemeter on it, so I could see how many people actually come here. According to Sitemeter, I have 0 visits in the past week...am I really the only one here?

Book Review: Curl To Win

Recently I picked up "Curl To Win" by Russ Howard. For those unaware, Russ Howard is an Olympic Gold Medalist in curling, teaming with Brad Gushue at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Howard has enjoyed a long and successful curling career.

I find it a little hard to categorize Curl To Win. In many ways it is a resource to improve your own curling game, but it isn't as technical as a coaching manual would be. There are also many stories of Howard's own experiences, which adds that personal element you wouldn't get in most "how to" or improvement books.

In the end, I like the blend of the two styles. The book is very reader-friendly, as you get to hear stories of past Brier's and and the Olympics instead of simply being told to "do this" or "do that". The book is also extremely friendly to new curlers; the first chapter or two is all about introducing and explaining the game to beginners. Experienced curlers could easily skip this part of the book, and when I reread the book I'm sure I will be skipping that part too, but I'm glad it's there as it sets a good framework for the rest of the book.

I tend to disagree with a couple of things Howard says in the book, but that doesn't mean he's wrong; I'm by no means arrogant enough to think I know more about curling than Russ Howard. He's been curling for a long time, but for example, he recommends the lift delivery when throwing a curling stone (where you lift the stone off of the ice in a backswing motion before throwing it). I am in the camp that likes the no-lift delivery better; hefting a 42 pound rock when I don't have to seems harder on the back and there is also a smaller margin of error when delivering the rock. To be fair, even though Howard recommends you progress to the lift delivery, the book still shows you how to do the no-lift delivery as well, leaving the choice up to you.

The book also contains pictures of Howard (or other curlers) to demonstrate all of the techniques in the book, which is a great visual aid. He also demonstrates some classic mistakes as well, which is nice for comparison. The pictures are especially helpful in the section dealing with various curling drills; as a curling coach I'm always looking for new drills, and the book was very helpful on that front.

I really liked the section dealing with the importance of each position on the team. Rather than write these sections himself, Howard went out and got other curlers who are at the top of the field in their chosen position to write about it. Howard has been a skip for a great many years, so it was nice to hear about the skills needed and importance of the lead from someone who plays and loves the position. I definitely want to have my curling team read that section of the book.

I think Curl To Win is a great resource for anyone that wants to learn to curl or refine their game. I would have liked to maybe see a little more technical stuff later on in the book for the more advanced curler, but the book still has a lot of value.

I give it 4 curling stones out of 5.

Arizona Weather

I think this'll be my last post about Arizona, but I had to share about the weather in Arizona.

It is winter in Arizona, so it is cooler right now than in the summer. I'd say the warmest the mercury climbed to was about 22 degrees Celsius (for all intents and purposes the rest of this post will be in Celsius unless I say otherwise), and it would cool down in the evenings to about 8 degrees or so.

To me, coming from Manitoba, this is warm. Not hot, but warm. I wore shorts and sandals pretty much every day, and even Sarah (who gets cold infinitely sooner than I do) wore a skirt for a day or two. I definitely stood out as a tourist, because to natives of Arizona, it was cold.

For example, while golfing (in shorts and a t-shirt, though admittedly I probably could have worn a long-sleeve shirt or a windbreaker) I saw the beverage cart girl drive up to us. She was wearing a hooded sweatshirt (with the hood up), mitts, and a scarf over her face.

While at the Coyotes game, two guys behind me were talking about the possibility of Phoenix playing some games in Saskatchewan, and about how cold it is there. One of the guys commented that it was cold enough in Phoenix that day that he pulled out his parka. I couldn't help but turn around and talk the weather with them.

Some businesses actually have outdoor heaters set up. The Hilton had four heaters outside their entrance so you'd be warmed up on your way in the door. When we were last in Arizona for Joel and Ashley's wedding, the venue set up heaters at our outdoor dinner table (which I thought were mosquito zappers until someone told me they don't have mosquitoes in Arizona).

Our server at the restaurant in the Hilton had a great point though; while residents of Arizona probably couldn't handle the cold in Manitoba, we Manitobans wouldn't be able to handle their heat in the summer (the average summer high is about 40 degrees Celsius, which means it gets hotter than that!). I think it was a good point, and I for one hope to not visit Arizona in the summertime!

My First Coyotes Game

While in Arizona, I really wanted to go see a Phoenix Coyotes game. The nearest NHL city to me is Minneapolis, at 10 hours away, so a 45 minute drive down the interstate was much more appealing. A few people I talked to beforehand in Arizona thought driving 45 minutes was too far for a hockey game...I drive almost 2 hours just to go to a Moose game, let alone an NHL game, so the drive time didn't really phase me.

The Coyotes have been pretty shaky financially since, well, probably since the team moved to Phoenix. The organization offers a lot of perks to get people to games. For example, I did not have to pay for parking, and there was a pile of staff out directing traffic so parking was an absolute breeze.

When I approached the ticket booth for tickets (Sarah was worried they'd be sold out; I told her not to worry, it's a Coyotes game), I was promptly informed that there were no more $15 seats left. I said that was fine, I didn't want $15 seats. I think they just expect that people want the cheapest seats possible.

One promotion the team offers runs from Monday-Thursday, where a $30 ticket gets you an upper deck seat and all the pop, hot dogs, and popcorn you can consume. While tempting, I didn't want to sit in the nosebleeds, I wanted a good seat. So, I chose the $60 seats, which got us a seat on the corner near the top of the lower bowl. Honestly, the seats were amazing. We could see everything on the ice; if you're too close to the glass, or in the middle of the arena, you can't see into the close corners. From our seats, that wasn't a problem.

The arena is a very nice facility (it reminded me of the MTS Centre, actually). I really liked seeing the numbers of the only retired numbers in the franchises history, because they were all Winnipeg Jets, not Coyotes. The names and numbers were displayed in Jets colours too, which was a nice touch.

Speaking of Jets colours, I took my Jets jersey with me to wear to the game. I had a few people ask if I was from Winnipeg (to which I said yes, it's easier than explaining where Riverton is when you're out of the country) only to find out they were from Winnipeg too.

There was a pretty good size crowd at the game, which surprised me. However, when the national anthems began I was struck by how many people were singing O Canada. Turns out the game was packed with Canadians on vacation like us who chose to go to the game against the Vancouver Canucks. There were a LOT of Canucks jerseys in the crowd.

The Coyotes scored the first goal, and half of the crowd got up and cheered. A minute later the Canucks scored, and the OTHER half of the crowd got up and cheered! The game was very enjoyable because both teams had a strong presence in the crowd; "Go Coyotes Go" was often met with "Go Canucks Go". Sarah was cheering for the Canucks, but I couldn't bring myself to cheer against the Coyotes while wearing my Jets jersey.

I was talking with some guys in the crowd during the game, and they told me that this was the second largest crowd the Coyotes had had all season. The biggest crowd was the home opener, when all the seats were free. From what I understood, the best crowds throughout the year are the ones when western Canadian teams (and the Leafs) are playing the Coyotes, as those are the ones the snowbirds go to I guess.

The game was a tight one that went all the way to a shoot-out (which I was hoping for). I have to admit, the Coyotes have really turned things around this year. Come play-off time, they'll be the Western Conference team I'll be rooting for all the way, until/unless they meet the Penguins, then I have to go with my boys.

I have some pictures from the game, but they're not on this computer, so I'll include some later if I post some pictures on the blog (those of you who have me on Facebook can see the pictures I have up so far there).

Christmas in Arizona - Travel

I think I'm going to break up our trip into a couple of small posts based on theme, rather than try to recount the entire trip. So, to start things off, let's talk about travel!

Getting down to Arizona was pretty easy; the only hiccup along the way was Sarah feeling a little faint in the Denver airport, but after we got some food in her she was fine. The fun began upon landing in Phoenix.

While waiting at the baggage carousel, a voice came over the PA system to announce that our bags would not be unloaded from the plane because it was raining. Nobody was very impressed with this; it's just rain! There was some brief lightning strikes for a few minutes, but I don't know that that warranted waiting over an hour for our luggage.

Once we finally got our luggage, we discovered my golf clubs hadn't made the trip. We eventually discovered they were coming in on another flight, and I was given the option to have them delivered free of charge. Rather than hang around the airport for a few more hours I chose the delivery option. I was told they would be delivered between 5:30 and 9:00 that evening.

After 9:00 I called to ask where my clubs where; I was told they'd be delivered now between 7:30 and 11:30. I also found out at this point they had the wrong phone number listed for the condo, so I corrected it with them. Martin and I waited until 1:00 AM before giving up and going to bed. Long story shorter the clubs were finally delivered the next day around 5:00 PM.

Coming home was more of an adventure. Firstly, our luggage was overweight (we had 2 large suitcases and my golf clubs). If we were underweight, it would cost $70 to check our bags. With the 2 suitcases over, it was going to cost over $300! The lady at the counter suggested we go around the corner, buy another bag, and then it would just be an extra $30 to check the fourth bag (bringing our total to $100 instead of over $300). Sarah went and grabbed a bag small enough that we could use it as carry on and we didn't check it at all, so the extra cost was just the new bag. However, the lady at the counter forgot to actually take our payment for the bags (and we forgot until we were going through security), so in the end we paid $30 for a carry on bag and nothing to check the rest!

After getting held up in security for a bit because Sarah's heat bag was showing up as something suspicious in the carry on bag, we were on our way. We were concerned about making our next connection though; we had 40 minutes to change terminals in Chicago's O'Hare airport. If you've never been to O'Hare, the place is huge!

While waiting to board the flight from Phoenix to Chicago an announcement was made asking people with larger carry-on bags to check them, free of charge, to make room in the overhead compartments of the plane. I gladly did so, since I was dreading having to run through O'Hare with a 30 pound bag strapped to my back. They checked it all the way through to Winnipeg, so we didn't have to worry about picking it up in Chicago.

On the flight to Chicago, our pilot announced that he was going to have us on the ground about 10 minutes early, so we were happy about that. In the end, for whatever reason, we ended up landing almost 20 minutes late. We now had 20 minutes to run to the shuttle that would take us to the next terminal and board our plane.

I managed to get us off the plane quickly (by walking briskly down the aisle of the airplane saying "We have 20 minutes to make our connection, excuse me!"). Everyone let us go through, even the people in First Class. We then ran through O'Hare to the shuttle, got on it, and then quickly made our way to the gate we needed. The plane was just starting to board as we got there!

When I got to the gate, I asked (to nobody in particular) "Is this the line for the Winnipeg flight?". This bald guy turns around to let me know it was the right line. I then realized the bald guy was Mike Kelly, the ex-coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. I was a little surprised he was allowed to leave the country (he was arrested not long ago on assault charges), to be honest, but he may have had special permission since he was probably going back to clean out his desk and home (and, I'd later learn, to smooch with that blonde in the Winnipeg airport).

I was then amused to discover that sitting one row behind us was Lyle Bauer, the ex-CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (he resigned his position, he wasn't fired like Kelly). I wondered if the two had been visiting together, but Bauer and Kelly had nothing to do with each other in the airport at all, so I doubt they were traveling together.

This time all our luggage made it (we actually saw our bright pink and blue suitcases being loaded onto the connecting flight while we were boarding), which made me very happy. There was some stress on the trip home, but the important thing is we made it!

Back in the Red, White, and Snow

We're back from our trip. After an interesting flight home (that involved a baggage error in our favour, a sprint through O'Hare airport, and sharing a plane with two ex-Blue Bombers) we made it safe and sound. I'll probably do a few posts on our trip over the next week, since it's too much to cram into one post. We're in Winnipeg at the moment, but I think the plan is to be truly home later today.