Tit for Tat

After the yummy sushi lunch, Lorena opened her presents. It took her a second to figure out what it was, and when she did her glasses almost fell off! 

Yes! Wendy and I have exacted our revenge for the Firemen Calendar Incident of 2009.  Tip Tip might have been a bit confused, but in the end we all had a good laugh.  Lorena says she will read the book, Physique: Classic Photographs of Naked Athletes - just not when the kids are around. 

Not Read All Over

or Judging a Book by its Cover Page

The "Do not touch" signs were almost painful.  Earlier at lunch, Paul and I had been diving into the books at the Bookcellar with our (not that grubby) fingers savouring the pages.  Here at the FAB Gallery show, "The Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada" for books published in 2008, this was just not allowed. 

Both of us have ideas of what makes a good book - usually thinking good story and content.  I'd also give occassional points for the way the book feels in my hands, an interesting font, and maybe layout when it comes to textbooks or books with photos.  These awards though, concentrated on details that I'd hardly give a glance - such as a great copyright page!

It was a bit frustrating.  Written judges' commentaries talked about the books that were in glass cases, often referring to pages we couldn't see or textures we couldn't feel. Like a dog at a dog show, these specimens were not for play.  Which was really too bad since so many of them were just so fun and beautiful!  Especially the children's books. 

The fourth place in this category, Sire Hibou et Dame Chat (a version of "The Owl and The Pussycat" in French), was colourful and fantastical, dressing the loving pair in glamourous attire.  I craned my neck to try to see more of the pages, while Paul translated the visible text. 

In the Limited Edition area was an extremely impressive coffee table book - the kind where the whole book could be the coffee table.  It was glorious and under glass, and I'm not sure at all as to what was inside.  Was this the special holding place for Darkfire, the Limited Edition 1st Prize?  Hm... or something else entirely? 

With so many teasers, I'll definitely have to look for them in the library.  Fingers crossed they'll be there and that the are as good reads as they look.

Mute Point

"Anyone who would laugh at a recital is probably some sort of lunatic anyway. I mean, only a sick, twisted mind could be that rude and ignorant."

~ Jerry Seinfeld in The Pez Dispenser

I put my head on Paul's shoulder, closed my eyes, bit the inside of mouth, and tried not to think of tuba mutes.  It wasn't easy.  Right on the Convocation Hall stage, beside Scott, was an aluminum and cork (approximate) cone the size of my thigh.  I tried to calm down: This is serious music; A tuba mute is a perfectly normal thing; I should not be laughing.  Instead, I should take some deep breaths and concentrate.  CONCENTRATE on the music.  But it looks like a cartoon bomb!  Deep breaths, deep breaths...

Then, Scott picked it up and gestured.  I started giggling again.  Dang, so much for attempting proper decorum for a concert.  But, I do (sort of) protest, if a pez dispenser could send someone to giggles, a tuba mute certainly could too.  (Plus, Scott must have knew how silly it was - he did give the audience [me?] a knowing a look.) 

We left the Monday Music recital in the next break.  I don't think Paul was embarassed with me.  The whole thing does make me think twice about pressing my suggestion for Paul to add fireworks to his tuba's (Bessie's) bell - an extra zing to the performance (like that shown on the concert poster). 

Back at work, I found Paul had slipped some chocolate into my bag.  Hm... I hope he realises he just might be training me for more silly and uncouth behaviour.  Regardless, previous grumpiness completely cured.

Good luck, Beth!

Ice on Whyte

Drew laughed when I pulled on leg warmers before leaving the car, but after a few minutes we went back so he could add some layers.  Brr!  I was having trouble believing my eyes - so many people out in the cold having fun. 

I like being warm and would normally avoid being outside for long stretches of time, but Ice on Whyte lured me with promises of interesting ice sculptures. 

Even from the gate, we could see the giant ice slide.  Drew was so enthusiastic that I was coerced convinced to try it. 

I climbed to the top, took a couple of photos, and sat down.  And... was stuck.  (Was I in the wrong position?  Were my bottom layers just not good for sliding?)  As Drew laughed from the bottom, I used my arms to pushed myself until finally I had enough momentum to slide.  Drew's slide was problem free.

We toured the grounds for all the carvings.  Some were incredibly detailed - a fantastical bird (above right), a dragon, a desert lizard - with fine spines or feathers.  More than one seemed inspired by characters of warm places.  

(Right: My favourite sculpture, "Stretched".)

Then we visited the ice maze and castle (in the heart was a room with an ice bed - I can sleep on a floor, but this was seriously uncomfortable). 

The Verdict: The festival was pretty interesting, but the visuals and experiences didn't completely distract me from the cold.  

They did have hot chocolate there, which might have helped, but I needed something closer to real food before TA training.  We visited, on my request, McDonalds (Drew was shocked).  Plenty of calories and some dancing later, I finally warmed up. 

Surprise!

Wendy was away.  We also had official plans to have lunch together next week.  Therefore, it was the perfect setup to surprise Lorena for her birthday.  Promptly at teatime, Tip Tip and I unwrapped a cake and lit candles in a spare cubicle and stalked into her office.  She might have been getting ready to make a phone call.  Anyway, she was definitely surprised. 

"So far I see only snow.  How disappointing!"  The weather forecasted freezing rain.  I thought this was a fairly common thing, but Paul's only just heard of it (and hopes to actually experience it).  Online photos of severe cases are fascinating (example, below), but I don't think the city can handle that kind of drama. 


http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-for-kids/0118-freezing-rain.php



One Track (Two Tracks) Mind

"... and then we rip the skirt off!"  Like, Patrick Stewart in Extras (above), Eric seemed to have a one track mind.  But it was all in good fun.  He'd agreed to devote time to cheorgraph and train us for a formation team!  (And the Excutives had agreed to fund us.)  After finishing all the required regular TA training, most of us stayed back to brainstorm theme and costume ideas (all of them involved pieces of costumes being ripped off...), and to tally up skills (we have ballet dancers, some who can do the splits, and tumblers)  Nothing's set yet, but we're supposed to give it all a good think for next class. 

There's plenty of dance for the next while: Paul and I are taking Level I and II together on Tuesday, and I'm again teaching Wednesday night with Don.  Also, must think of some thing for Formation that doesn't include stripping!  Just the things to keep me distracted from the disappointment: The lastest "house of interest" went pending, again before I even got a chance to see it.  Who knew the housing market was so hot right now? 

Side note: Congratulations Jono and Dawn!  Look forward to meeting baby Arilyn.

Hot Pot and Robots

T&T is really amazing.  There's a whole section for "Hot Pot" (the broth fondue / steamboat, not the other thing), as Jazzy had said, but there were also plenty of words for Paul to practice.  The best part of all: Samples!  There was a little tastebud trip down memory lane at every turn (porridge Dad used to eat, the "carrot cake" I refused to leave Dim Sum without having first...), which I dragged Paul through too.  I was feeling mighty fine by the time we left.  And we had time to visit Indigo Books!

 

Paul saw right away the door handle was a clever hiding space for huge exclaimation marks. The kids section (with a teacup chair) was definitely the place to visit.  I giggled.  Paul looked at me.  I launched into "the Binary Solo" and bopped along with the lot of windup robots I'd put on the counter (left: a sample).  With all that laughing out of the way, we were ready for business - serious business at Jazzy's and Howie's.

(Right: Fish disguised as tofu, with something else that was probably also seafood disguised as something else.)

 

Though, Jazzy had referred to the evening as a chance for me to introduce Paul to my culture, it really felt like Jazzy was introducing her culture to me! 

 

The basics of the "hot pot" were the same - pieces of meat and vegetable are dipped into steaming hot pots of soup, then removed for eating once they were cooked - but her version had flare.  There were two soups in one pot and one of them was spicy!  Also, not only was half the "Hot Pot" items at T&T at the table, there were also interesting mushrooms, and a whole lot of different sauces*. 

 

Jazzy, Howie, Judy, Jeff, Paul and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, fishing out item after item and then finally drinking some of the soup.  The house was nicely humid from all the boiling.  And when we were done with serious stuff - we were ready to be silly again.

 

Thank you, Jazzy and Howie!

 

 

* The Secret Sauce (Jazzy's mixture of all of them) was the best.

Zuppa, Art, and Return of the Snuggie

Rem: This one is lentils spiced with Simon and Garfunkel.
Steph: So, that's where Simon went.
Stephen: Where do you find a Garfunkel?

Thusly, Paul and I were greeted at Feast, with a good dose of silliness.  Delicious soups were on the menu, but when the oven door opened, all eyes turned to focus on the baking tray. 

There wasn't a stampede, but it wasn't long before the numbers looked small and Rem did some quick math, "There are six scones left... FIGHT!"

We stayed civilised, though some of us did retreat into the side room.  There we caught up on what happened over the holidays.  Stephen began working on Steph with clothespins to create something that might be art. 

Before you knew it, the Snuggie cult had returned!

More photo evidence of our silliness can be found here. 

The Flame, This Way Came

From Neil's office it looked like a white thing and another white thing happened to have another bright white thing pass between them.  The photos show exactly that. 

After seeing this exchange, Paul, Wendy, and I headed our separate ways home. By chance, the LRT I caught also included one the white shapes (now clearly more than a thing), who candidly talked about the experience and posed for some photos. 

Downtown, it was clear the excitement of the Olympic flame making its way through the city had come to a boil.  The Square had been turned into a (at least partially) corporate sponsored carnival.  The Beverage Company had a booth to hand out specially packaged samples, a bank handed out souveniers... All had the Olympic symbol, so I guess are official collectibles.

 

People milled around for the entertainment and to wait for the last leg of the relay in Edmonton. Some were even dressed up - fully decked in red and white, and plenty of maple leaves (I feel a little sorry for the really young kids - do they know why they're out there in the cold?)  I wasn't going to wait for to seen another white thing meet another white thing... so I hopped on my bus and went home (with a couple of souveniers, of course). 

Today, everything seems back to normal.  With a little talk of whether we attended the festivities.  Boss Michael told me then the relay doesn't actually all happen on foot - the flame is driven from city to city.  While this is understandably practical, it seems a little less magical. 

Meanwhile, there is other magic: A M&M baby!  Congratulations, Margaret and Morgan! 

Unseasonally Warm Here

It's +3 degrees.  In January! 

Meanwhile, England looks like a popsicle.

Weekend Colour: Less and Full

"You could write to my parents to trade me for a big fish!"

We hid the container when got there.  Drew and B played along, ignoring any clues we might have slipped, and served us dinner.  After the fajitas, we revealed the super secret, experimental dessert: Albino muffins!  (Not really so experimental, I guess, since Paul's made them before, but certainly newly debuted.)  Drenched in maple syrup, they were delicious (though you can probably guess what they truly are). 

After the chromatically-challenged dessert we got a full dose of colour in The Fall - another CBC Hidden Gems on DVD.  The story was set in an American hospital in the 1920s.  A young girl with a broken arm befriends a man beridden young man, who she convinces to tell her a story.  Five heroes are sent on a fantastical quest in a strange world.  The story's characters are cast from the people the girl has encountered at the hospital, but bit by bit the viewer comes to understand that the situations are being drawn from the young man's pre-hospital experiences.  And outside of the story world, things are also happening...

I was amazed with the beauty of the movie.  The story sequences are saturated with colour and intensity: A blue-green butterfly is a tropical island, a tree is also a person.  It seemed so dream and The Cell-like (oh, wait, they're by the same director!) that I couldn't really pinpoint if something was truly a continuity error. 

Despite it being a really good movie, I ended up apologising to them for choosing it.  It was kind of disturbing and sad (but very, very good). 

Next day, Steph and I head over the to the Royal Alberta Museum for a special exhibit with diamonds!  Yay, sparkles!  Diamonds: Mined, Refined, Designed had plenty of dazzling fakes among the couple real - all with a lot of information.  So, I think we did, in fact, learn something:
1. Diamonds are very important in industry
2. They are a major heat-sink (even more impressive than Steph).

After putting in our names to win one of the sparklers, we headed off to the other exhibits. 

In Much More Munsch, we watched a little bit of a video with Munsch telling a story to a bunch of kids, played with a wall-sized word search, and mixed and matched the clothes of characters from Martchenko's illustrations.

We had much more fun though with Ted Harrison's Northern Alphabet.  The collection of 26 paintings had been published together as a picture book meant to teach the alphabet using examples of common arctic items (some not so common south of 60).  We stared at each painting and rattled off (likely and unlikely) words back and forth until we had exhausted the possibilities.  Then we moved on to the next. 

(Left: Cover of Northern Alphabet, and also "M".) 

Twenty-six letters later, we left.  It was a little sad to be greeted by white and grey rather than blue and purple snow. 

Danced the rest of the night away - TA classes are back in session and there are hints of a formation team...

Feast

"We're super indy," Stephen announced as we dug into yummy Dutch pancakes.  It turns out "British parties" are all the rage, and we, quite ahead of the game, have an "authentic British person." 

(Left: A BLT light - not to be confused with a sandwich lantern) 

 

It shouldn't have been too strange then when Paul was declared king. 

It immediately became Saturday (via socks). 

From the rocking chair throne: "I demand my subjects be more refined!" 

 

The pronouncement seemed somewhat successful: The conversation turned to Canadian politics.  But before long, it switched to burial rights for the body (why embalm?  To make sure someone's dead?), to how security guards on plane should be ninjas... 

"Shatter those sacred cows!"*  ~ Malcolm

A great Feast to start the new year. 

 

* With a ball peen hammer on a cold day.

Art courtsey of Stephen.

Ninja Babies

There are the playpen ninjas, and then there are the A&W ninja babies.  Catherine and I meet up for dinner at the down-the/my-street A&W and were ambushed.  They came from the ceiling, they came from the walls.  Exactly what they wanted, we're not sure.  But they were there.  They watched us eat, and talk, and open presents.  And then they probably watched us leave to go into the Shoppers Drug Mart. 

We head to our favourite sections for a laugh.  

Cosmetics - the old get a new twist:

- The smokey eye now involves colour

- The almost-neon bright eyeshadow of the '80s are back in different combinations

- The spikey, vibrating ball on a stick is what they want us to believe is the better mascara wand. 

Magazines - it's prom season. 

Catherine drives me down the block.  Before I leave the car she tells me about Good Reads.  It was helpful for her at work to get some short reviews on new books.  From what she said, it sounds like librarything with a fun interface where you can look at other people's collections, read reviews, and play trivia games... Hm... interesting...

Deviation and New Year Standards

Woot!  I made it work before the sun got up!  I know it's actually rather embarassing, since everyone gets here pretty much at this time, but compared to my arrival times before winter break, this is truly miraculous.  Thankfully, my bosses are flexible with my more flexible work hours, but I'm pretty sure they'll never put me out on the basketball court (did anyone else get this as a stats problem?).  All confirming one of Na's most important rules to professionalism: Consistency.  Maybe I should aim for a consistent late... Or just consider today a small victory, and leave it at that. 

It's been a good vacation and a very good year.  But last year's goals / resolutions haven't changed much in status since the mid-term review:

1. The course portion is indeed finished!  And yes, really, the experience portion should be done soon (need to review it all with Lorena). 
2. Didn't touch it again.
3. Got sick and didn't manage two more donations.
4. Still (very much) behind
5. I'm starting to think the key is to learn how to be a nicer person...
6. Yes! 
7. Still don't remember

And that's that.  What do I want to concentrate on this year?  I think I have to give up on Andrea's scrapbook, but the others re-hashed here with a couple new:

1. For reals have the CGA done.
2. Donate blood - will again try for 4 times in the year
3. Continue blog; Don't give up!
4. X - Still here on the list, but, as in above, also learn to be nicer
5. Posture! Can’t be a dancer, slouching like this. (But maybe like this?)

Final Days

... of winter break, with Yo-Yo Kevin, Hero, and Evensong

Kevin visited Saturday afternoon with his yo-yo.  The string was a little too long, but that was remedied in a simple way: I got him to stand on a chair.  He doesn't have that many tricks, but as he works on them I think he's happy to know, at least on camera, it looks like he can throw fireballs.

Later that evening, Paul and I made dinner and sat down to enjoy the much recommended movie Hero.  English subtitles helped fill in the gaps of my sketchy Mandarin, but the script wasn't the most important part*.  Instead, after a little while, I gave in to the beauty of the film.  Some images were jaw-dropping stunning, such as the two female leads dressed completely in red, sword fighting among swirling golden leaves. 

I was certainly caught up in the drama, and kept wondering what the twist would be. On the surface it was a story of how one solider managed to kill three highly trained and well known assassins - thus earning favour to meet the emperor and tell his tale.  Of course, in the end, it was mainly about what makes a hero. 

It was all so good that I insisted on watching the special features.  That's where we learned how difficult it was to film, and what lengths the actors and director went to for their art (IMDB trivia lists many of these). 

On Sunday, Paul and I went to All Saints' Cathedral for Evensong.  (Paul had impressed them last time and garnered an invite back for both of us.) I had hoped it would be easier or at least more familiar, but there were all new pieces on the line up.  A short rehearsal later we back in the "green room".  Someone let me wear the shortest choir robe (yay, it didn't drag!) and I followed my benchmate out. 

The readings were interesting and it was again fun to sing (though there were close calls when I had to sing and walk at the same time).  Paul recognised one of the MCCB tubas in the audience and they chatted afterwards.  He knows so many people!  But I was not completely outdone, I recognised an ex-co-worker in the ceremony, and later also realised two members in the choir were previous dance students. 

Today, I'm back at work. I don't really feel that rested from vacation, but it definitely was a nice one.  Hm... let's see if I can remember what all these files are all about.  I'm sure glad I did the dishes before I left. 

* There were a few interesting translations, and while it was good to know a little history, I didn't think pointing out the inaccuracies to Paul helped him to enjoy it. 

New Year's Day with a Connection to K

"Wait!  You're Bernie?  Bernie, Bernie?"  At the dinner table where Sherri's made a lovely dinner (she invited us over for New Year's Day), that the pieces started to fit in my mind: Her husband, Bernie, was in fact THE Bernie - the guy we bugged every time we wanted to hold an event on campus and needed tables and chairs.  What a small world. The world seemed even smaller when it was revealed that both Bernie and Sherri were past Circle K members. 

The evening continued to delight.  I was impressed that their children (teen-aged daughter Katie, and tween-aged son, Jaime) seemed happy to hang out with us and play board games.  An electronic Catch Phrase had us beyond guessing words, to also why certain words would fit into a certain category (one could choose "Everything", or a subset such as "Family" and "Plants/Animals"). 

We take a dessert break.  Sherri's made a lemon meringue pie (one of Paul's favourites).  It was extremely tasty*.  It was no wonder then the package of "Tropical Fruit" gummy squares tasted subpar (but someone went further calling them "wax fruit squares").

Scattegories followed.  Paul made me laugh (M word for "Ethnic Food = MMMMM).  But H  "Pizza Topping" made me laugh more: Both Paul and Jaime had put "(H/J)alepeno" (one of them at least was in earnest). 

A fun start to the new year.  Thank you, Sherri and Bernie!

* She revealed her secret when I asked for the recipe: Sherriff Lemon Filling, and cinnamon. 

Happy New Year!

Paul might have had second thoughts when I read aloud:

Haircutting For Dummies is probably your kind of book... you feel the urge to express your creativity and haircutting is an attractive outlet.

But he didn't stop me.  He didn't stop me even when I maybe, probably, cackled a little bit...

And so, Before:

And then, the Day After:

And here some closer (if posed) shots:

 

If I do say so myself, a decent job for 45 minutes of fumbling with a book, a comb, and a pair scissors (all the while standing in the bathtub).  Most importantly, no one was hurt.  It was a nice cap to 2009. 

Our New Year's Eve was also highlighted with two international moments.  Siew Chui called from Malyasia to catch up (she's expecting!).  And seven hours before our 2010 started, we made a call to Paul's family (gathered at his uncle Paul's) to wish them well.  They were all friendly and cheery.  And while I was able to wish them a happy new year, I was too shocked and distracted for anything more: a) There are so many of them,  b) They all sound British!  I have since recovered... sort of. 

Happy New Year, everyone.  Hope you also have a wonderful start to 2010.