ARCHIVED BLOG: JUNE/JULY 2004
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07/19/04...3:06 pm
Want to learn more about the aerodynamics
of how to catch a disc?
9 days and counting until I leave for Worlds in
Finland. (Luckily, I found new cleats in Montreal without
a problem.) I am not nervous yet, but I know I will be.
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07/18/04...11:16 am
Posting less frequently as of late. Perhaps this
can be explained by the rampant travelling I have been/will be
doing through August. Last weekend we were in Ottawa for a tournament.
Monday am I flew to NYC to work for a week (well, in truth 4
days). It was lovely, crowded, stinky, rainy, and fun. I only
managed to get 1 yoga class in while I was there, but it was
heaven.
I spent about 1 hour on Thursday calling athletic
stores in the hopes that someone would be selling my cleats (I
blew my cleats out at No Borders in Ottawa). Few stores carried
women's cleats, and none carried the Women's Adidas Predators.
Even the Adidas store did not have them. In fact, they had no
cleats, just fashion sportwear. Ridiculous.
I spent most of yesterday photographing the co-ed
tournament in Montreal. The AUM rented this sick digital
camera and it was a blast to use. Unfortunately, about 2 hours
into taking pictures, I felt the onset of a migraine. Until about
a year and a half ago, I didn't know that I got migraines. They
used to be relatively infrequent (about 1 per year) starting
in '97. Now I get three or four a year. Anyway, rather unpleasant
to be out in the hot sun squinting into a viewfinder while your
head is pounding. Luckily, Ian took good care of me when I got
home, so the headache was gone by approximately 10:30 pm. To
cheer me up, Ian sent me this hilarious cartoon.
Don't know who to credit for the joke,
but, it is brilliant!
Finished reading the 2nd and 3rd book
in the Thursday Next series of "literary detective" fiction
by Jasper Fforde. I like the 3rd best (The Eyre Affair, Lost
in a Good Book, The
Well of Lost Plots) and I can't wait to read the 4th, which
is supposed to come out this July!
Ian and I recently had a discussion
about the blogging phenomenon. Want to read his views?
In other fun links, check these out:
Just
in case you ever want to send your kids to a nudist colony...
Commentary
on the lack of reading in America.
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07/08/04...4:19 pm
A
sad state of affairs indeed.
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07/08/04...2:03
pm
Finally buckled down and read The
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I cannot see
what all the fuss is about. Similar to Digital
Fortress,
I thought the writing was juvenile. There definitely was no "literary
merit" to the writing style, which makes it a less than
enjoyable read. Furthermore, Mr. Brown's opening paragraph is
one of the least original beginnings ever written. Literary convention
may hold that you need to hook your reader right away, but he
couldn't have picked a more clichéd
opening if he had written "It was a
dark and stormy night."
Needless to say, my bad habit of reading every
book I start, regardless of whether I like it, prevailed as I
tried to get through it as quickly as possible. In an excellent
summary of the novel, reviewer John Brady offers this tidbit:
"If, by chance, you’re looking to find the Hegel of
airport literature, Dan Brown just might be your man." For more
on his opinion about the book, click
here.
As a piece of fiction, it is not hard to see how
curling up with The Da Vinci Code in front of the fire,
or on the beach, could be a compelling option (presuming
there wasn't anything else around to read). As a piece of historical
fiction, or a book based on various "facts" as stated in the
preamble, I don't think Mr. Brown does a very good job convincing
the reader of the "truth." Too many loose ends, unexplained reasoning,
and lack of evidence dissuade the reader from appreciating
the fun to be had with the ancient and modern codes and symbolism
in the novel. Hard to say why this spent so much time on the
NYTimes bestsellers list. Good marketing, I suppose.
For more info, check out Dan
Brown's website, or
this fun site about Math
Fiction.
Luckily, Sam got me three great books for my birthday,
so I have plenty of options for the next few days!
---
07/08/04...10:53 am
I am a sucker for online
quizzes. Here's the result
of the latest one that I took:
Wackiness: 40/100
Rationality: 68/100
Constructiveness: 74/100
Leadership: 62/100
You are an SRCL--Sober Rational Constructive
Leader. This makes you an Ayn Rand ideal. Taggart? Roark?
Galt? You are all of these. You were born to lead. You may not
be particularly exciting, but you have a strange charisma--born
of intellect and personal drive--that people begin to notice
when they have been around you a while. You don't like to compromise,
but you recognize when you have to.
You care absolutely nothing what other people think, and this somehow attracts
people to you. Treat them well, use them wisely, and ascend to your rightful
rank.
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07/05/04...12:31 pm
NFLD was great. Well, it was freezing, but it was
definitely a worthwhile trip. We got to spend some time with
Nat on Friday, as we trekked around downtown St. John's and walked
around signal hill. We took a boat trip out to Cape Spear (the
eastern most point of Canada) and saw plenty of minke
whales. Unfortunately, they surface and disappear so quickly,
it is hard to capture any good pictures without a huge zoom lens
and great timing. We did get some great pictures from our walk,
though.
Here's
one that Ian took:
We also have plenty of pictures from
the wedding, although I took mostly black and white photos using
my Canon so I have to make a trip downtown to get them developed.
But, here's another Ian took of the groom and I.
Did I mention
that Adam asked me the day before the wedding to do a reading
during the ceremony? One of the things I hate most in life
is public speaking in front of people I do not know, so I was
slightly nervous. But, I didn't miss any lines or anything, and
as Hilary said "it is good to do the things you hate." Hmm.
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07/01/04...1:56 pm
Happy Canada Day! So
many fun memories of spending this holiday in Montreal West,
watching the fireworks on the pool deck, flirting with the
pool staff, glow sticks, watergun fights during the parade,
decking our bikes out to ride in the parade, junk food, picnics....
Been too busy to blog this week. R&V called
and so I'm heading down to NYC on the 11th to work for a week,
and then again for a week in August. What is with everyone writing
WOOT when they are excited about something? Has woohoo gone the
way of the Dodo? I don't know anyone who actually says WOOT.
But, I digress. Flew to Calgary last weekend
for Ho Down, which was quite amusing. Great to hang out with
the team. The O needs some work, but we're getting there.
Psyched to be playing with Chaos. Today Ian & I are off to
NFLD for Adam's
wedding. Back on Sunday am to play the elimination rounds
of Jazz
Fest.
Haven't had anytime to keep up with my reading
(although I did finish all the New Yorkers on the trip to Calgary).
So, hopefully the flight to NFLD will allow me to get a little
further along in At Swim, Two Boys.
Training has gone to shit this week. Hopefully
I'll be able to get a run in tomorrow in NFLD, or Sat am. Bringing
the sneakers, that's for sure.
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06/23/04...11:41 am
Finally saw Harry
Potter last
night. We saw the first two movies on the first day of release.
Somehow we've been too busy until now. But, Jus, Ian and
I went and saw it on the IMAX screen downtown. Strangely
enough, it appears as though IMAX has trademarked the phrase "Think
Big." One
can only presume that it is only in reference to movie screens.
In any event, it was good. They did leave out quite
a bit from the book, but you could tell the director really knew
what he was doing in this one. The CGI was not LOTR-good,
but it was pretty impressive, and doubly so for kids, I am sure.
The movie had a "suspension-of-disbelief" feel,
something I thought that was lacking in the previous two. All
in all, good. The new Dumbledore is not as charismatic, but he's
not a terrible choice.
Haven't written much about training lately. Hard
to train when there is Ultimate every weekend and practices 2X
per week. But the current routine is plyos/conditioning on Mondays,
1 hr+ run (plus stairs) on Tuesdays, practice on Wednesdays,
hills on Thursdays and rest Friday, before playing all weekend.
It's working out ok. I wish I could squeeze in another long run
to build up endurance. But, body does need at least 1 day off
a week...
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06/22/04...11:18 am
There's a scathing
review of Eats, Shoots & Leaves in
the New Yorker. Some of the critic's points are dead
on (and hilarious to boot). I am not sure Eats,
Shoots & Leaves is meant to be the next
Strunk
& White, but there is way too much fluff and not enough
detail for it to be useful as a reference
for grammar usage. I just found it to be a fun read. Perhaps
the reviewer is being slightly overzealous in his trashing
of Lynn Truss and her myriad errors.
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06/21/04...2:09 pm
Back from my first venture playing with Team
Canada. Despite very sketchy hotel digs (read: bloodstains on
floor, etc.) we had a great time. The team was lots of fun and
the leadership is excellent. Clearly everyone respects the captains
and all the other players. And it was easy to fit right into
the system. I think I'll be a D line handler, but I might be
playing O too. Hard to tell just yet. Calgary should better shore
up our ability to play with each other.
Mom just got back from 2 weeks in NYC and brought
plenty of reading material. I am full up on New
Yorkers now.
Woohoo!
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06/17/04...3:13 pm
I love that first serial rights or second serial
rights are now often available online for free. This means
I don't have to hole up in a library or bookstore to read them
in magazines I don't really want to buy! Check out a chapter
from the new book called The
Sound on the Page. It's about style and voice in writing.
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06/17/04...12:36 pm
Ian sent me the following
link to an article describing how Disney
ripped off another animation to call the Lion
King their own.
Apparently, this other animated TV series had a very similar plot line, with
a male lion named Kimba (hello, Simba?) as the main character.
Even the drawings are eerily similar. But, does this surprise
anyone? What this "rant" and the others I have read about the Lion
King fail to note is that in fact, whoever created the original
animation must have forgotten to credit a little known play but
someone called, er, Shakespeare. Come on. Father murdered by
uncle. Son blames himself. Son spends entire movie deciding whether/how
to avenge father. Does it not scream HAMLET to anyone
else? And given the nature of Shakespeare's plays, it is highly
likely he borrowed from other writers too.
In any event, it is a worthwhile read.
I am currently reading At Swim, Two
Boys. So
far, so good. Rather Joycean in tone and cadence.
Last night we watched the most hilarious 80s movie,
called Breakin'. You
guessed it. It was all about breakdancing. The outfits in this
film were out of this world. So totally 1984. A must-watch. It
is right up there with Rad. My
brother must have watched Rad a thousand times
when we were little.
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06/15/04...8:48 am
Happy
Bloomsday!
Upon its release, Joyce's book was banned in the United States
for 11 years, until a U.S. Judge deemed that although it was "somewhat
emetic, nowhere does it tend to be an aphrodisiac."
Even Google is
tipping its hat to Joyce today. I guess that's because it's the
100th anniversary of Bloomsday.
Not too many other literary characters have a day
named after them, with festivals and readings and lectures on
the schedule around the world.
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06/14/04...9:07 am
Intriguing article about
a straight male author named Allison Burnett and how, because
the narrator for his novel is gay, everyone assumed he was as
well. I once met a pilot named Allison. He let me steer the airplane
on our way to Bishops Falls, NFLD.
--
06/14/04...8:33
am
Ian was watching this news item about a dog (border
collie) who can identify 200 objects (toys). You tell him to
fetch the red ball, and he'll know which one that is. The reporter
was talking about how intelligent the dog was, and other dogs
are smarter than most people give them credit for. I think pet
owners already know this about their own dogs. Anyway, there's
an article about
the same story in the New
York Times today. Except, the
writer takes the "intelligence" factor with a grain
of salt.
I miss New York bookstores. Last night, our women's
team went to see a chick flick. Because I was early, I stopped
off at Indigo (aka
Chapters, aka crap-ola bookstore). In New York, the smaller bookstores
always had the books you wanted, and if they didn't, they could
get them for you quickly. At Indigo (the big downtown store),
I often find that they don't have books that I want. For example,
on Sunday I read an article about a book called Jane
Austen's Book Club. It sounded good, so I thought I would
treat myself and pick up a copy. But, low and behold, at Indigo
it is not to be found. I even asked at the info desk (something
that I HATE doing) and the woman there (who I think was a Traf
grad several years older than me) said "No. But the store at
Rockland might have one in stock. I can call and ask, if you
want." One? This book is on the NYT best sellers list, and was
just reviewed. Get with the program, people.
At least if I was desperate in NYC I could order
online from B&N (Beans & Noodles, as the director of the Publishing
program always said) before 11 am and if the book was in stock,
receive it by 9 pm that day. That's right, folks. The B&Ns in
NYC have Same Day Shipping. Talk about a literary culture.
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06/11/04...3:34 pm
Busy week. Willis sent me this cool
link. Ian says
it is about "programming and visualization stuff." I
am not sure what that means, but it involves words, so, I like
it. Starting to design a toutpourlerock website.
Our 80s AllStars team had just so much fun at Gender that we
determined that we need a website to keep us in the "Less Talk.
More Rock." mindset. It's nothing much to look at now, but I
should find some time to work on it in the next few weeks.
My ex-Stella buddy tore her acl. It is such an
inconvenient injury. It's not like spraining an ankle
or say, jamming a finger. Those injuries hurt, but they do not
require surgery. And with enough taping, you can
generally continue to play. Torn acls are the worst. The recovery
process is so long and arduous. But, on the plus side,
you gain a better understanding of your body, its strengths,
and how to focus mentally in order to endure the long months
of no running, cutting, or any other physical activity, save
biking. To this day biking is my least favourite activity to
do at the gym. I feel like I got my fair share of stationary
biking in during my rehab.
So we're running this women's hat tournament in
Montreal this weekend. I remember in years past we have contemplated
doing it, but never believed we'd get enough ladies out to make
it worthwhile. Well, we were wrong (dead wrong!). Over 100 ladies
have signed up to play. I can't believe it. We have got
to show them a good time so that they'll
want to come back again next year. I am excited (and a little
nervous). At least it's supposed to be beautiful on Sat & Sunday.
Rock on.
---
06/09/04...2:31 pm
Mediabistro comes through again. They have an
excerpt
from a new book coming out about Google. Pretty neat read about
how you can use Google to your advantage when searching.
---
06/03/04...4:14 pm
Why is it that when people resign
they always say it is for "personal reasons"? Why can't
people fess up to the fact that they just can't hack it anymore,
or they hate their job, or they are sick of being the fall guy?
Not to say that the head of the CIA is a fall guy,
but surely there are reasons that are more
than just "personal."
Excited to play a
tournament this weekend. It'll
get me into the co-ed groove. I need to remember what it's like
to play with boys before playing at North Bay with Chaos in two
weeks. Funny how the same game can be so different as soon as
you change the gender dynamic.
Tickets to Calgary & Finland are booked. Vancouver
& Nfld to come later today. Ugh. So much flying.
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06/02/04..3:03 pm
Ian has this habit of random clicking. Similar
to surfing channels, he will randomly click icons on the desktop,
or files, or open folders looking for something. But, he isn't
really looking for anything, he is generally thinking of something
else, or procrastinating. It drives me bonkers. Especially when
we are trying to have a conversation and he doesn't need to be
staring at the computer screen. It is some sort of magnetic attraction,
I think.
Last night, I realised that I was randomly
clicking after staring at the screen too long, working on A&J's
wedding site. Ian had
a good laugh over that.
I could never spell in high school. Or elementary
school, for that matter. I can tell when words are spelled wrong,
but somehow ask me to spell them and I need write them down.
Sometimes, I need to look them up in the dictionary. I hate when
you forget how to spell common words. Even when you write them
down they still look wrong. One of my favourite lines from Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead points to this dilemma:
"Has it ever happened to you that all of a
sudden and for no reason at all you haven't the faintest idea
how to spell the word - "wife" - or "house" - because when
you write it down you just can't remember ever having seen
those letters in that order before...?"
Clearly these
kids do not have the same problem.
For more on Tom Stoppard's brilliant word play,
check out an article from Salon.com.
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06/01/04...5:40 pm
Good to know people read this thing. My brother
just pointed out that, in fact, he never played with Martin St.
Louis. He did watch him play when UVM came up to pound the crap
out of McGill, but he didn't actually step on the ice with him.
I don't know how these rumours get started. But rumours are a
funny thing. Take, for example, the rumour circulating around
the Mtl ultimate community about this girl from Donner Party,
who used to play with FiFi. The word on the street is that this
mystery girl was moving to Mtl for the summer. Furthermore, this
girl was a friend of mine. I don't know anyone on Donner Party
(although it'd be nice to get to know the best co-ed team in
the world) but I do know a few people in San Fran. Sure enough,
it turns out this girl (who plays w/ another co-ed team on the
west coast, but not Donner Party), just arrived in Montreal
for the summer. But, it is amazing how inaccurate information
is passed along so easily and people rarely bother to check up
on sources or facts. Anyway, thanks
Dan for correcting
my error!
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06/01/04...12:24 pm
You have got to be kidding me.
And, why didn't I register bookslut.com. Genius.
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06/01/04...9:29 am
Article in
the New York Times today about
how some Yale student did a statistical analysis of the fiction
published in the New Yorker. To quote from the article,
"male editors generally publish male authors who write about
male characters who are supported by female characters." Shocking.
I finally decided that going to worlds is an opportunity
not to be missed, so, Finland, here I come. Now if only I can
find a decent flight.... It is somewhat of a relief to have made
a final decision. I guess I will feel more secure about it after
I play with Chaos at Ho Down and find out how much fun it is.
In other news, we got invited to another wedding
today. That makes three for the summer. And two that have yet
to be announced, but we know they are taking place. Total count:
3 confirmed weddings, 2 to-be-announced, 1 engagement party.
Ack.
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