WINE, SETTLERS, HOUSE AND A FEW PICS...

Despite the fact that Alberta has privatized its liquor market, and despite the fact that there is a liquor store on every block, it is so difficult to find good wine. I'm told that I need to look harder for the "good" places. I had dinner with my sister and brother-in-law and now I am armed with a "hit list" of good brands to go after. After a delicious rib meal, we enjoyed a bottle of French Perin. We then retired to their living room where we engaged in a ferocious game of Settlers. I have got to play this game more because I can see how this would sharpen my trading skills at work! We also watched an episode of House, a series that they are both getting into. It's kind of like a mix between CSI and ER.

Since I have access to a digital camera this week, I can do some picture blogging!










I took my grandmothers out to lunch at, of all places, McDonald's (it was at their request!) After getting my order, the person (not Asian) at the front counter gave me a lucky pocket! ARE YOU SERIOUS?











Found this at my parents' house. No spelling mistakes; just a very interesting, yet, somehow unappetizing way of branding a food product!













My Buddhist grandmonther gave me this. It's the equivalent of a cartoon Christian track that you would find in any church. Except this is a 60+ page, full glossy, heavy stock manual!





"Hey, do you have wood? I've got a whole bunch of bricks I need to dump!!" Oh, we're playing Settlers!

ROAD TRIP TO JAY!

Perhaps I HAVE been spoiled by being so close to the Rockies, but Jay Peak seemed a lot smaller to me than what I remembered from 2 years ago. Nevertheless, this 3 day snowboarding trip was still amazing as I was able to spend time with close friends. Despite the thin snow cover on the mountain, it was still pretty good riding. Thankfully, no broken bones or concussions, just some sore quads to show for some hard riding!

TEA TIME
A tradition, it seems, has formed where we will find a nice, covered patch within the glades, and have "tea". It first started 2 years ago at Jay when S and I decided to take a break within the Beaver Pond Glades. He happened to have with him a couple of snack kits containing crackers and some fancy tuna spread. I remember it being so peaceful in there, with the mountains serving as a beautiful backdrop; it was definitely one of those defining moments which warranted the beginning of a new tradition. So, we decided to invite everyone in our condo to join us for tea time, and this time we were armed with pumpernickel rounds (not that good, actually), soft lobster pate, and ice tea. This time, we parked ourselves in the "baby glades" and had a peaceful tea time. It was funny how this whole ritual was so similar to communion, as we passed along the tea-time "sacraments", even drinking our tea out of small plastic vessels!

WEED TIME
There is a log house in the middle of the baby glades. I'm not sure what it was built for, but I definitely know what it has become. One time, while gliding by this familiar structure, I noticed 3 boards leaning up against the log house. I didn't think much of it until the smell hit me like a concussion! That definitely was not a fireplace inside causing all that smoke escaping through the window!

EAT TIME
Our meals:
Fri lunch: Chunky soup (I forget the exact name, but it reminded me of a water-y chili because it had beans and wild rice in the soup), toasted English muffins and trail mix
Fri apres: M&M's on steriods, Chinese shrimp crackers, Pringles
Fri dinner: spaghetti with ground beef sauce, steak, Little Penguin cabernet
Fri siu-yea: Jello with fruit cocktail and evaporated milk

Sat breakfast: Go Lean cereal, S's bite sized muffins, scrambled egg on muffin with cheese, trail mix
Sat lunch: Tea Time in the glades
Sat apres: Tostitos with Stag chili, oysters on toast
Sat dinner: pasta with clam chowder sauce, super meatballs, corn
Sat siu-yea: Kettle-corn popcorn

Sun breakfast: Oh Diana chicken, french toast
Sun lunch: chicken sandwiches, poutine, double bacon cheeseburger pizza!

PEE TIME
Well, that's what happens when you watch Wedding Crashers (the uncorked version, of course) with a group of people who've just enjoyed some Little Penguin. I've seen it before, but I still laughed pretty hard!

We were all set to leave Vermont by 4 p.m, as scheduled, with the intention of getting back to Toronto by midnight, affording the option for those who needed to take the TTC to do so, myself included. I had arranged for a car to be left at Kipling. Well, as we got on the bus, we learned that one of the people on our bus got injured in the afternoon, having her forehead sliced open by another rider while she was on the ground. She needed stitches and was taken to the hospital. So, our coach had to go pick her up. So, we actually didn't leave Vermont until 6 p.m. Add to that bad weather in Montreal, a dinner stop and 2 rest stops, American Beauty, Red Eye and Zoolander, we didn't pull in until 3 a.m.! So much for taking the subway. Well, thanks to S (and K who fought so persistently to drive me as well!) who drove me all the way to Kipling, saving me from having to call a cab. So, at 4:30 a.m., I lie awake thinking about the weekend's trip. And I smiled.

CAN'T WAIT, CAN'T WAIT, CAN'T WAIT

It’s been a while since I’ve felt so giddy. Well, I’m off to Toronto, which is actually just an extended layover. For, at the stroke of midnight right after I land, I will be boarding a coach to commence an 8 hour bus ride that will see me wind up in Vermont. Specifically, Jay Peak, for a 3 day, sleep minimized, snow boarding trip. I didn’t think that this year was going to be a big snowboarding year: last year, I was able to get to Blue Mountain on more than 10 different occasions, but it’s easier when an annual pass costs $150 and you can go pretty much go well whenever. Then, going to a place like Jay Peak was a treat, as these places would often dwarf Blue Mountain. Yet, I have already been to so many places this year that give Jay Peak (or Mt. Tremblant) a run for the money. It’s truly just been such an unexpected, blessed riding season so far.

I received another Toronto visitor this week, D, who was here to visit her brother and sister-in-law who live in Calgary, and her parents in Edmonton. It gave me another excuse to go to Sushi Towa (that place with BIG sushi – we shared 3 rolls for lunch and were completely stuffed). I also got to walk through the Glenmore Reservoir which is an amazing place to run. After meeting her brother and wife, I was happy to have gotten to know more people in Calgary and finding out that we share many of the same interests: hitting the slopes, good food, and music. Thanks to D who gave me some amazing Healthcrunch bars that will serve as good Jay Peak mid-day fuel!

D’s brother made a very interesting comment when I asked how he’s enjoyed living in Calgary for the past 4 years. He’s really liked it, but the biggest thing he had to get used to was that “Calgarians are so CONSERVATIVE.” Due to a publication ban, I wasn’t able to see how the elections results were shaping up even after I got off work. So, I went to they gym for a workout. When I returned, the results were in and Harper was celebrating his victory (in downtown Calgary, a few blocks away from my office, of all places!). CBC had a pictorial representation of the results. ALBERTA WAS SOLID DARK BLUE! Not a single red speck, not a hint of orange, not even light blue. My small group ‘warned’ me about this before I came here, but I guess I didn’t appreciate this until having lived here for a while. Calgary is a booming city and ethnic/cultural diversities that are characteristic of an expanding economy is present. Although my colleagues are great and have been very supportive of my development, we’re not what you would call close friends. I wrote that off to the fact that I wasn’t into clubbing on weekends, or driving expensive German cars, or the Calgary Flames. Nevertheless, I now realize that it is something deeper, more to do with how people relate to people. It's like people here possess a drive where one relentlessly looks after oneself before looking after others even enters the radar screen. Not necessarily in a selfish way, where they have to step on people to achieve this. Rather, an ambitious mindset to overachieve a target, for which they are greatly rewarded for. It’s cold, but also very efficient. Mind you, I do know of some Calgarians who are not of this mindset and probably a lot of my bias is derived from my workplace, which is a finance-centered area full of ambitious over-achievers. Still, it is one major difference that stands out, and one that creates a certain bubble of loneliness that I did not feel while in Toronto.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN CALGARY...

He opened up his email.

“Congratulations Tim - you are our winner this morning! You may claim your prize during business hours at CHQR, corner of 3rd Ave. & 6th St. Remember the tickets are for next Tuesday. Thanks for listening. Stirling Faux”

Wow! This has never happened to him before!! He faintly remembers groggily waking up and hearing about some trivia contest on the radio. He doesn’t know what motivated him to crawl to the computer and whip off a quick email to the radio station with what he thought was the answer. WHAT A WEIRD NAME FOR A TALK RADIO HOST? He could have just as easily forgotten to hit “send” as he stumbles into the shower…

The three of them left their snowboards near the front entrance. His two colleagues went inside to buy lift tickets, while HE got caught up fiddling with the lock. Finally, after his security piece conceded, he went to get his lift ticket. He looked up. WHAT A WEIRD SIGN? It seems that one can buy lift tickets upstairs, around the corner or outside. With the other two out of sight, he decided to go outside. He was immediately accosted by a row of automated machines, begging to be fed a credit card in exchange for a lift ticket. “Hey, are you planning on buying a lift ticket?” He turned around and faced a stout Asian dressed in a matching fluorescent snow suit. Without waiting for an answer, this human torch led him to the first available machine. Behind the glaring fashion statement, this person produced a magic card – it gave an incredible discount on lift tickets. Even before he finished swiping his own credit card into the machine, the man with the strange bright glow was gone, leaving only a searing afterimage that one gets from staring at something too bright for too long.

He finds himself hurling down the mountain at speeds never felt before. They call this place Lake Louise, but he doesn’t remember seeing any bodies of water. There are amazing views of the mountains, though, as evidenced by the three times he had to make sharp turns at the last minute to avoid crashing into amateur photographers who decided to stop right in the middle of the run. Still, it was an amazing day. Lots of fresh powder in the glades, no flat parts (a snowboarder's arch nemesis), and no line ups at the lifts (it was a Wednesday, after all). He also has his first experience with a rope tow - except this rope tow is the longest that he's ever seen and in fact is what take you to the highest point. WHAT A WEIRD WAY TO GET UP THE MOUNTAIN? Except no one ever showed him how to use a rope tow properly. So, he hangs on, grabbing it with both hands. Hmm. He's only gone up a few meters and his arms start to ache. He can also feel himself losing balance on his board. He finds that he can't hang on and lets go, tumbling off to the side into the soft embrace of a mound of snow. Meanwhile, a snotnosed snowboarding kid goes by with the rope tow tucked between his legs. The kid has a smirk on his face...

And so, he now nurses a sore body as he taps away on his laptop, wondering if there is any creative advantage to writing in the third person…

LOOKING BEYOND WHAT MY EYES SEE

I am currently reading Eyes of A Tailless Animals, the memoirs of a North Korean woman who was wrongly imprisoned, and this is her recount of the horrors and atrocities that she experienced and saw. The main thing that kept her surviving was her need to tell people of the truth about what was happening behind the prison walls. It is surreal for me to believe that such a level of inhumanity (to the point where the prisoners consider themselves lower than animals, hence the term “tailless animals”) can exist. It also makes me have second thoughts about buying “cheap things”. I think most savvy consumers know that products made in China or Korea are generally cheaper in price despite being lower in quality (yet we are price-sensitive creatures so price usually trumps). I’ve learned a bit about the Asian sweat shops and certainly this corporate practice should be abolished. Yet, I believe that the examination of the “source” of the consumed good should not stop there, because it can certainly be a lot worse. If I didn’t know better, an item that I am purchasing could be an output from one of these prisons where they force the prisoners (many of whom are not even supposed to be there in the first place) to meet unrealistic production quotas in subhuman working conditions. It’s not really “work” because there’s no remuneration; instead, if they fail to meet their quota, they reduce their already measly food ration (I can’t imagine only eating one spoonful of rice as my day’s intake or getting excited about seeing a rat because that represents the most protein you would ever get in this hellhole). It’s a pretty heavy read and I’m finding it difficult to sit for more than half with hour with it. Yet, it’s a story that should be told, for the sake of the nameless prisoners who have died needlessly. The book was passed on to my by a friend in Calgary, and once I’m done reading it, I’ll pass it on (so it should be making its way eastward).

Some days are just good days. These are days when everything seems to just go right, you’re not late for anything, you haven’t forgotten anything. I got up after what felt like a very good sleep, did some household chores and made my way to the swimming pool. After having the whole lane to myself, I plopped myself down on the very last stationary bike that had a TV. I was then able to catch a rather entertaining 4th quarter of the Steelers/Colts game, which was a nail biter right down to the last minute. I had a really good cup of coffee in a really comfortable chair at Second Cup while reading my book. Then, the steak I cooked for dinner turned out really good – just the perfect tenderness level with the right amount of spices (sometimes when you just eyeball it, you end up sprinking too much or too little!) I had plenty of time to pack “lunch” for work and caught the bus with plenty of time. Yeah, today was good!

Congratulations to my good friend J who survived his first snowboarding trip! Welcome to the cult (I mean club).

SEEING THE TREES AMONG THE TREES

If my tires were able to speak, they would probably be groaning about why they are treading on bare roadways, often having to endure warmer temperatures than which they were intended. I really have no choice, since I discarded the over-expired Yokohamas back in Toronto (thank you for 120,000 of reliable kilometers!) There was a slight sprinkling of snow these past few days, but nothing substantial. Not like the 63cm of snow they just fell at Sunshine in the past week!

A recent trip to Whitecourt (about an hour west of Edmonton) saw some of my colleagues and I arrive at Millar Western Forest Products, a pulp and sawmill that happens to be one of our syndicate partners. Although I was impressed by how advanced this mill was (each log that comes into the sawmill is scanned by a computer, which determines how to maximize the number of cuts and which cuts are most profitable based on real time market information – for example, if 2 x 4’s are more profitable than 2 x 6’s, that will be the choice cut). What was saddening was when they showed us the “yard” where all the logs were stored. As far as my eyes could see, piles and piles of logs were stacked about 30 feet high. And as fast as the automated crane could pile these things onto the loading machines to feed into the mill, logging trucks continuously arrived with more. I thought back to my tree planting experience in Northern Ontario where the company I worked for had won a contract from the Ministry of Natural Resources for a reforestation project. I quickly learned that we weren’t “reforesting” for the sake of preserving nature, but it was an attempt to replenish what was taken by companies such as the one I was now visiting. It was all part of a rotating cycle: log and plant, log and plant. And it was tough work: a day where I could plant 250 trees was a good day. But looking at this city of logs, I wondered how many tree-planters and how many years it would take to keep this going. Every paper product that anyone uses in this country probably has derivates from this plant (our tour guide jokingly encouraged us to always use gratuitous amounts of toilet paper, paper towels, and computer paper, lest the company experience its first down quarter). Ironically, the Millar Western plant in Saskatchewan (which is partly owned by that province) just recently declared bankruptcy protection. Depletion of resources or depletion of demand?

I just signed up for a library card. Sure, at $12 a year, that might seem like a rip off for a “public” library system (similar to how “public health” now costs me $44 a month). But I am so happy that this also gives me access to some amazing resources. During B-school days, my student-ship allowed me access to a wealth of journals, articles and newspapers from all over the world. Well, with this library card, I can sign on to all these same resources, like EBSCO, ERIC, MEDLINE, etc. They have articles from the Harvard Business Review and an amazing collection of jazz and classical music can be listened to online. I can even read a PDF version (in full colour) of The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. Amazing!

Speaking of newspapers, a recent Globe and Mail had, on its front cover, a picture of Stephen Harper side by side with one of the actors from Trailer Park Boys, as the article established a genealogical link between the two. The immediate reaction by most of my colleagues here was disdain for this obviously pro-Liberal rag. In fact, I’ve noticed some things that indicate just how Conservative and anti-Ontario this place is! Aside from NEVER showing a Maple Leafs game on TV, I’ve heard Ontario being referred to as the province that is God’s least favorite (this statement made jokingly during a sermon at a church of all places!) and that Ontarian is just full of whiners with fake cows. I have to admit that I have not had one bad cow experience yet, but I digress. Seeing as Harper's riding is here in Calgary, I can see why he has such a strong following here. And people never forget that Ralph Klein is Conservative and what he has done for this province (despite having put his foot in his mouth a few times when it comes to federal politics).

TOTALLY CHEAPIN' OUT!!

Till this day, I still have not installed cable television. The main motivation is to see if it is possible to live without television. Well, I've determined that I need some "moving image" stimulation although I don't miss advertisements at all. So, I've gone out and purchased the Season 3 of The Family Guy. The humour in this show is very crude, but it makes me laugh. Perhaps it's the many references it makes to the pop culture of my growing up years, or just how "stupid" the father is - there isn't an episode that hasn't made me laugh. I've also discovered that the video store across the street from where I live has a special promotion right now: free rentals during the weekend. So, you can pick up a video on Friday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday if you feel so inclined to watch that many movies. They're not new releases but there's still many titles I haven't seen before. If that wasn't enough, I have found one more outlet, lest I really admit that I need TV. The community centre that I am a member of has very hi-tech work out equipment, most machines connected to a central database to keep track of member fitness programs and progress. Well, connected to some of the aerobic machines are little 12" plasma tv's. AND THIS PLACE HAS FULL CABLE!!! Yikes. No wonder this place is always so busy! So, after a swim workout, I decided to park myself on one of the stationary bikes and watched the entire first half of the Steeler/Bengals game! Unbelievable. So, during the times that I would be able to watch TV anyways (i.e. when I'm not working), I could schedule a workout, and then a "cool down" period catching whatever program interests me, like Lost or a Leaf game. I don't feel bad because I've paid their membership due. So, maybe it's not necessarily a question of not surviving without TV, but being able to find healthy outlets to consume it! Ha ha.

I have also found other enjoyable forms of entertainment on the internet. It's amazing what people will post in the way of vides. Most are amateur-ish and I do get motion sick after awhile. But some are great, especially those that post clips from comedy shows or talk show segments. Back in the summer of 1994, I went tree planting. It was a tough experience, roughing it out in pure back country. Even tougher when the favorite activity during our down time was smoking weed. So, it was kinda lonely, but I had my music to pass time. One tape (yes, back then I didin't have a portable CD player and MP3 players did not exist) that I listened to a lot was The Muppets soundtrack. Don't ask me why, but ballads sung by frogs and monsters were very soothing! Anyways, one song I really liked was Mahna Mahna. There are no lyrics but the music is ingenious. So, when I came across this video, I was very nostalgic: http://www.devilducky.com/media/7452/

My dad is a pretty good harmonica player. He loves to play for church functions, senior citizen gatherings and family dinners. So, when I saw this, I thought it was pretty sic! http://www.devilducky.com/media/10119/