Quick Weekend Post

Well, Friday's gig was a great time for myself. I think the people there enjoyed themselves as well. There were quite a number who attended. I thank everyone who came out and Mandora who put it all together. I ended up getting only 3 pics (seen below) 'cause I opted for the cheapo batteries and that is all you get with them, I guess. Carl was nice enough to video tape it so if I can figure out how to cut it up into youtube acceptable chunks I will post the better songs.

The house-warming was a success. We had many generous friends attend, bringing many beautiful plants and tasty liquors with them. I think we had about forty people in all. Hooray!

And finally thank you to everyone who wished me a happy b-day. It was very kind of you to remember.


Here' are the three pics I got. (Woody Sims, Woody Sims and the Animal)

New Years 2007 Party

Chad, Ngaire and the Animal hosted the NYE party this year. They did an amazing job; Best New Years I've had in a long time. Litres of drinks, delicious food and Beer Olympics! Here are some pics for your perusal:

Tim getting in some early practice for the pound-the-nail-in-the-log-in-one-hit game:

Goodsie (who came all the way from Halifax) pounding the nail in the log in one hit during the pound-the-nail-in-the-log-in-one-hit game:


Watson and Carrie completing a variation of the Bob and Doug McKenzie game "Beer Hunter" (randomly choose a can of beer and open it beside your head, hope it's not the one Tim and I shook the crap out of, chug it, place it upside-down on your head to prove you've finished):

Shane competes for the team "Gentleman Bugs" (ladybug stickers) during intense action of the game I dubbed "Search Party" : (while blindfolded, find as many glasses of beer you can and down them - Rhonda won with 7)


Tim after completing the "Boat Race" (a chugging relay). He was on my team, The Happy Drunks (smiley face stickers) We placed second in that event, but last overall. :
T doing the annual boxer short run for his team "The Gold Stars" (star stickers), this year sans souliers.:

The girls team (daisy stickers) captured first place overall. Here's Laura allowing the Animal to play with her prize.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Weekend Recap

Laura's friends were cast members in the Sault Musical Comedy Guild's production of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". She took me along to see it after a delicious dinner at the Lone Star with fellow musical goers. (Get the Portebello Vegetable Fajitas - they're delicious)

A quick review of the musical:

First the good:

Sarah was excellent as the naive comic relief "Shy" and Jamie did a great job of playing "Ruby Rae". The dance numbers were elaborate and well choreographed (like I know anything about choreography!). The set was impressive and the musicians were more than competent. The actor portraying Jewel brought the house down with her amazing number "Twenty-Four Hours of Lovin'"

Now the bad:

It was a musical. 'Nuff said.

Well, not quite enough. Let me rant a bit here:
The seats in the Kiwanis Theatre are smushed together too closely (no leg room!). The play went on too long with little happening much of the time. (Boring!) Superfluous scenes abounded! An editor was definitely needed. The accents on some of the cast members were hard to understand. And the audio mix was a bit inconsistent.

After the show we headed across the ditch for the usual insanity. This time it was Brady's birthday. The Animal left us a message telling us to follow the trail of chaos if we couldn't find them. We found them.

First stop was the Back Door where Brady won a shitload of stuffed animals (as usual) from the claw machine. He usually sets them up on the dance floor and busts a move with them. I missed it this time. Off to the Downtowner where beer barrels were downed. Next we moved on to the Alpha, munching on the popcorn from the basket that Jake brought with him from the DTer. Brady took down the 4 foot tall trophy from the wall and strutted around the bar with it shouting "We're #1". From there it was across the street to the Corner Pub, where to our disapointment Karoake was cancelled. We still chanted "On the bar! On the bar!" like we always do and Brady laid on the bar and had a shot poured into his mouth.

After that it was off to "The Bird" where Shane and I got up on stage and cut a rug. Finally we made it to "The Savoy" where the bouncer asked me what my postal code was when I showed him my I.D.

It was a good thing I drove 'cause I grew tired of the noise. I'm gettin' old.

All in all, a typical night in Soo Mich.

Laura and I went home and excitedly spoke of moving into our new house (which we get Friday. If you want to help move we'll be doing it Saturday).

This post is a cryptic write up of last weekend:

Why did Andy Kaufman wrestle women?


And completely unrelated:

More Weekend Action

Following Carl's lead, Brady booked the Gymnastics Area of the John Rhodes centre on Sunday. Everyone had a good time swinging on the ropes, bouncing on the trampolines and flipping into the foam pit.

Bouncing by (in order of appearance) are Brady, The Animal, Jeff and Kates.




p.s. The Big News is Laura and I got engaged.

HOCKEY!!! (part II)

Shane took the initiative and booked a bunch of ice time for us Sundays across the river at the Big Bear Arena. After much negotiating and prodding, cajoling and imploring I finally convinced Laura to come out and play hockey for the first time. We scoured the city for equipment and ended up outfitting her for a very reasonable cost. Do I have a wicked-awesome gf or what?

Shane rented the Olympic sized ice pad so we were happy when there was a huge turnout - five on each bench! Aside from Laura there were at least four or five other first timers or not-too-much-experiencers out there. We had a great time and look forward to next week. On a crappy note Heidi couldn't find the place in time and didn't get to play. Oh well, there's always next week.

Laura suits up:




The Animal changes on the fly:



Monica leaves Joe in the dust:
Scottie's intense on the bench:



Tim lurking in front, waiting for a pass from Mattias:


Laura (#6) mans (or womans) the blueline while Shane (#3) forechecks:


Shane's a sniper:


My camera was on the wrong setting and my hands were shaking from the excitement - hence the blurry pics but you get the idea. I can't wait till Sunday!

HOCKEY!!! (part I)

Last night Laura took me to the Steelback Centre to see the Greyhounds take on the Saginaw Spirit. When I walked in on opening night I was awed by the beautiful building, but now that I've had a chance to digest, I'm afraid to say the SBC is lacking in atmosphere. It may be the design but it seems really quiet a lot of the time. In the Gardens the steep slope of the stands seemed to keep the fans looming over the players and there was always an audible buzz throughout the crowd. At the Gardens you seemed part of the game. In the SBC you're very detached. But I guess you can't compare 50 years of character to a couple of games. To the SBC's credit the Hall of Fame wall is a nice touch.

Anyway, the Hounds debuted their third jerseys which can be seen here courtesy of www.soonews.ca :

I gotta say I'm not a fan of these. They're okay I guess but black (or is it really dark blue - I couldn't tell) for a sweater is played out. Also, the "Soo" script is more suited for baseball. I heard that it was a nod to some team of the past but to me it just seems pedestrian.

I don't want to make this post all negativity but I should talk about the game. The Hounds ended up losing 5-4. Overall it was pretty entertaining (they tied it up 4-4 after being down 3-1) but their power play is horrendous and they do not seem to have the ability to clear their zone. Both teams scored some really pretty goals and there were a few good hits. When Hartsburg started listening to me and playing #19 more things started looking up for the Hounds. Laura took notes on the positional play. Why? (to be continued...)

Halloween 2006 (part II)

We also had some pumpkin carving:

There was bobbing for apples:

Dead pirates were spotted in the kitchen with the Ass:

Uhhh...a toga woman?, cowgirl, Black Eyed P, French Maid and punk witch:


Here's the best part of my costume. (Value Village FTW!)

Halloween 2006 (part I)

Saturday night Mattias hosted a Halloween bash at his place. It was packed.

We did some eating:


And some drinking with Batman, Robin and a Smurf:


The Big Bad Wolf acosted Little Red Riding Hood:

The dirty old man perved on the French maid:

The Kissing Booth, She-Devil, Ass and Bride of Frankenstein posed for a pic:

I have no idea what's going on here:

(just kiddin' Chad - it's better than Ngaire's costume, I mean, what kind of assassin forgets their rifle?)

Warp Bay



Labour Day weekend we left for Lake Superior Provincial Park in our annual visit to Warp Bay. The twelve of us followed this guy for approximately 5km to a beautiful beach where we set up camp:

Gratuitous explorer pose:



The boys arrive at camp:
Carrie's dad flew in and took people for scary airplane rides:

Laura swims in front of THE DEVIL'S CHAIR!

Enjoying Ngaire's Indian curry:





The end of the journey:

Durdfest 2006

The invitation:

Mattias hosted the third annual Durdfest. All you needed is a durd name and some durd clothes.

Some pics from the event:

Roger (aka T) and The Animal (with hair! - I forget The Animal's durd name)

The ladies (Including Trixie and SugarPie)

Skeeter (aka Brady) with his sweet ride: