The Boys and Their Parts

Thursday morning is generally reserved for plenty of lounging and relaxing at our house.  Today is no different.  Sheila is at work and Jasmine is at school.  The men?  We are about as relaxed as can be.  Those who know really well won't find this revelation shocking, but some might.  I hate clothes.  Not certain kinds, or certain styles, just all of them.  I put them on to leave the house, but this is only out of a desire to conform with social convention.  My reasonably new hobby of lifting weights has only made fully clothed at home time even more rare.  Honestly, who wants to lift weights with sweaty clothing draped all over their body?  So, I sit at my computer between sets in my skivvies.  No, I don't recommend others use my computer chair.  Asher has picked up the habit to some extent.  He seems to be okay wearing clothes around the house for some activities.  Others, not so much.  Carpet hockey simply cannot be properly enjoyed with clothes on.  When he has settled on playing, he will quickly strip his shirt and pants then holler: "Naked boy!"  His tiny little dinosaur or pirate briefs are much cuter than when a 30 year old man sports the look.  Today, in an attempt to obtain the pinnacle of relaxation, Asher is going with the shirt only get up.  No pants, no socks, no underwear either.  There is something bizarre about looking over and seeing a toy helicopter "fly" through the air, steered by a little guy while his little bird dangles in the wind.  We also played baseball, had a game of hockey, then raced our hot wheels cars, all while we were free and easy.  I told you, Thursday is for relaxing.

While Thursday is almost always for relaxing, we are even more tired today then normal.  You see, "us mens" had a busy day yesterday.  Getting out of the house by 9, we went to Strong Start to play a little basketball in the gym.  After basketball, we spent time painting, playing store, building a train track, having a snack, singing songs, listening to a story and getting a stamp.  All of which are important to a good time at Strong Start.  We came home and ate and napped, as one is wont to due after all that excitement.  Asher woke in time for us to go and pick up Jasmine from school.  Off to the swimming pool where I chased Asher around for over an hour, while Jasmine did her thing.  We had just enough time to come home and have dinner before Jasmine went off to her friends house (she was meeting up with Sheila at the pool to swim again).  Asher and I made our way to the CN Centre to catch the Prince George Cougars against the Portland Winterhawks.  We walked around the rink before the game, during the intermissions and after the game.  Asher started asking to go home during the second period, even though he was into the game somewhat.  He was playing hockey against himself during the game, drawing plenty of smiles from other fans.  If you haven't seen a hockey player fight himself you don't know what you are missing.  I laughed pretty hard when not long after standing and swaying while listening to the 2 national anthems, Asher decided to sing O Canada again himself while the game was on.  It was a small quiet crowd so all those near us could hear what he was up to.  Some of the little things he notices during the game are very cute, and they let me know just how much Asher is going to love the game.  He is mildly irritated when the Portland goalie didn't sway back and forth during the anthem.  He pointed out the distinct lack of pucks caught in the safety net, as he had scored a puck once when it was jostled out of the net at a game.  In his most profound moment, while sitting on my lap he let me know that "none of these guys has dads".  Referring to the players.  They were unlucky enough not to have a dad with them while they played.  "But he has his dad", pointing about 50 feet away.  Asking him to clarify, he pointed again.  Asher had noticed a man about my age with an older gentleman of about 60.  If I was to guess, he was probably right.  There was some resemblance.  I thought this observation to be much too astute for a 3 year old.  Not to worry, I assured Asher that the hockey guys most likely had dads, they just weren't on the ice with them.  He was content with that thought. 

I've had my mind somewhat cluttered lately while I try to find a balance between time with my children, and earning enough money to provide for my children, and also trying to find leisure time for myself.  My leisure time is complicated by the fact that poker falls into both the trying to earn money category and the leisure time category.  Asher and I have lots of time on my days off to fart around and be guys.  In any given week we play hockey in the carpet, hockey in the driveway, we watch hockey on television, we attend live hockey games, we consume hockey in any available form.  We wrestle regularly, and we also like to watch wrestling (go Daniel Bryan!).  In a scene out of those extreme parent shows, I was counting reps for Asher as he performed shoulder presses yesterday.  This was all his idea, but I have to admit, his form was pretty good.  Unfortunately, as Jasmine gets older, she seems to be getting less interested in spending time with Dad.  I'm not sure it can be helped, as this is likely pretty common with girls.  She still likes to go places with us, swimming with Asher and I yesterday and attending a movie Tuesday with Sheila.  Her hobbies are important to her to some extent, but time with her friends is definitely priority number one.  I just want her to be happy, so I will have to kind of play it by ear.  I want her to be able to confide in me, so I need to maintain a friendly relationship with my big little girl.  At Strong Start yesterday, I had another adult mention how well Asher was eating his snack.  I thought, um, well, it's an english muffin with honey, who the hell wouldn't eat that?  As the discussion continued, I mentioned that the only thing Asher turns his nose at, is if something is "too picy". (sic)  As a consequence, onions are the only thing we won't go for.  This drew astonishment from the two ladies at the table, one who's daughter refused a muffin with jam on it (she doesn't like jam, what?!?)  This led me to mentioning that my 10 year old daughter likes everything.  I could not think of a thing that Jasmine won't eat.  She tasted a bit of Brussel Sprout at Christmas.  She recently told her Grandma " I don't really like zucchini, but hey, if it's mixed in with other things."  Mom and I both found this both funny and profound.  Last night, as I prepared omelets for dinner, I mentioned to Jasmine that I was going to add bean sprouts and bok choy to make an asian style.  Jasmine actually got excited.  No child has ever had their heart race when hearing about bean sprouts.  "Dad!  It's been a long time since we had Bok Choy!"  "Mmmm, I forgot had good bean sprouts are!"  Said while shoving bite after bite into her mouth.  Jasmine also shares my affinity for Indian cuisine, going so far as to claim the same favourite restaurant as me "Dana Mandhi".  Perhaps food can be the hobby that keeps us close as she enters her difficult teenage years.

I mentioned finding a balance between earning money, spending time with my children, and relaxing.  It seems my children have taken over, and I don't regret that for an instant.  I have a few hobbies that really enjoy.  During the winter months, hockey in all its forms provides hours and hours of entertainment.  This week alone, I went to the Spruce Kings game Friday with one of the guys from work, I played hockey Sunday with Sheila and the kids watching, and last night Asher and I went to the Cougars game.  Tonight, a friend is coming by to watch the first game of the Olympic hockey tournament.  I am entered in no less than 5 hockey pools.  Sheila and I like to watch sitcoms together, and lately we have found some time to enjoy a few movies together.  We have watched the Butler, Dallas Buyers Club and Fruitvale Station in recent weeks, and we thoroughly enjoyed all of them.  I like to read, though most of my reading time is when it is quiet at work.  I have almost gotten through "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" which has been one of the most challenging reads I have ever tackled.  James Joyce is just not going to be a favourite of mine. 

One of my more time consuming hobbies doubles as a money maker for me.  Poker for me is part hobby, part job, and part obsession.  Lately, it has become more job and less hobby.  This has consequently led to it becoming less fun.  I want to enjoy it, but it has become boring over time.  I have played a lot in the 8 years since I learned the game.  It was an absolute obsession for many of those years.  I didn't play hockey in the winter, or soccer in the summer, or have a toddler to entertain, or weights to lift, or runs to take.  All of my free time was spent playing poker.  I made more free time by not committing to anything.  Last year, 2013 was quite a drop off as far as result are concerned.  I've identified a number of reasons above.  I often would chose a 5 km run over a poker session.  I'd lift weights instead.  I'd play with Asher out in the yard.  Sheila and I would watch a movie instead.  Ultimately, I spent about half as much time at the tables in 2013.  I think my casino time only totaled about 180 hours all together.  Online, I got away from playing my best games, settling for whatever I had time to squeeze into my schedule.  I don't win playing online cash games, and I am a breakeven player in sit and gos.  I am a modest winner in the tournaments, but I rarely had the time to sit down and play.  The schedule for tournaments is pretty undesirable after 9 pm, which is when I would be able to sit down.  This had all become quite frustrating as I knew that I needed to make a little money to supplement my income.  Even with all the negative feelings surrounding my money making hobby, I still managed a winning year at the live tables, averaging around 8 dollars an hour.  That said, while I am confident in my abilities, its hard to have high expectations when the other players are spending considerably more time than you are practicing their craft.  Even bad players will benefit from time spent.  I'm too dedicated to my family and my own health to devote the amount of time to poker that I used to.  At the same time, there is nothing stopping me from making the most of the time I have.  I have an extensive library of poker books that I can re-read.  I can access the myriad of advice available online for study.  Ultimately, I would like to play 10-12 hours a week.  There is more money to be made at the casino then on the computer, but I also must risk considerably more to win said money.  The days of the week that I am available are not the best ones, and on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays most opponents will be of the heavily seasoned variety.  Online, again, Friday and Saturday night play would be best, but I work.  Perhaps I could play 2 sessions during the week, periodically replacing an online tournament session with a trip to the casino.  My confidence found a boost last week when I scored two decent results.  On Monday I made the final table of a 11 dollar 6 max tournament, finishing 4th of 272.  On Wednesday, I bested myself, scoring 3rd out of 278 in the same tournament.  I played a few more sessions since, so I currently sit at about 400 dollars more than I had a couple weeks ago.  I have now final tabled this tournament 5 times in the last year, which has me focusing on tournaments again.  Lucky?  Yes, to some extent.  I made a number of really good plays that surprised myself.  I had lost my swagger, and these results will hopefully bring some of it back.  I don't expect to get rich.  Just to survive. 

That's enough for me today, Asher and I have some eating and napping to do.  What?  I told you we were relaxing. 

BOOK REVIEW: "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey

In recent months, my reading pace has slowed considerably.  There were a few reasons for it that I can identify, namely my time was being stretched in more directions than it had been during the winter.  When spring arrived, I ramped up the intensity of my exercise regimen.  Plenty of my free time was spent running or riding my bike or lifting weights.  All things that can't be done while reading.  Most of my reading is done at work inbetween tasks.  That time was still there, but once the calendar turned over to April, something drastically changed. 

For the past two years I have co-owned a fantasy baseball team with one of my friends.  I enjoy it, baseball is the best fantasy sport there is.  So many numbers.  Trends, situational stats, injury impacts, it is a blast trying to figure out what all the different factors mean.  Our team is in year 3 now, and the league is scheduled to run perpetually.  This year another buddy offered a chance to join a second league.  Also a keeper league, meaning I am committed for the next handful of years, the new league might be even more competitive than the other league.  It is definitely more time consuming for a number of reasons.  With endless roster moves allowed, you can spend as much or as little time on your team as you want.  The rosters are set on a weekly basis, so you can just log on Sunday night, make a couple moves and be done with it.  Those owners doing that find themselves at the bottom of the 13 team league.  Right now, I am on the edge of contention, in 5th place.  I also joined a 1 year league with some other buddies, smaller entry fee, but with 12 teams involved, still worth a decent bit of money if I win.  I didn't intend this to be a detailed update on my fantasy baseball teams, as I have plans to make a post on the topic in the near future.  This is a book review, so let's get back to it.

For me to get into a book, and read it with a decent pace, there needs to be a flow to the story.  A reason for me to keep with it, to see what happens next.  If I pick the book up and read an uneventful few pages, my mind will begin to search for something else I could be doing.  Often, these books are still good reads, they just take forever to get through because I am reading them 2 or 3 pages at a time.  I read "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" over the course of about 2 months because it had this problem.  The story did centre around an interesting character, but it too often went off on tangents with other characters that didn't capture me.  The novel was drawn out over 350 pages, with a short climatic ending.  Too much time spent preparing for the end, too little time spent on the end itself.  I was beginning to wonder if my interest in reading was fading.  Fear not.  Enter Randle McMurphy.

The main character of the novel "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is different.  He might the most unique character in any book I have ever read.  If you took the character traits of Randle McMurphy and put them in a vaccuum, you would think villian, antagonist, bad guy through and through.  But, when he is juxtaposed against Nurse Ratched, the boss of the Psych ward that McMurphy gets sent to he becomes a martyr of sorts.  His frequently used and quite loud voice becomes a collective one, speaking for the patients on the ward who either don't speak themselves or didn't have the guts to do so.  Nurse Ratched, called "Big Nurse" by Chief Bromden and the other patients, seemed invincible.  Her cracks, so well concealed previously, are exposed with expert precision by McMurphy.  The arrival of the protagonist on the ward adds life to the other patients, but as the story reaches its conclusion, it's not clear whether or not the excitement that McMurphy has brought was for the best. 

Chief Bromden is the narrator of the story.  His situation is unique.  After experiencing considerable trauma in his younger days, much of which is chronicled in the novel through flashbacks, he is diagnosed with a handful of mental illnessess and sent to the psych ward indefinitely.  He pretends that he is deaf and mute, maintaining the charade for more than 10 years by the time McMurphy arrives.  After McMurphy's arrival, Bromden struggles with maintaining the ruse because he often hears shocking things coming from his mouth.  Bromden has to shape his behaviours based on things he can see, and try to sort out those things that he heard.  Eventually, he can stay quiet no longer, opening up to McMurphy and becoming his right hand man of sorts. 

The novel is paced by McMurphy's antics, and Nurse Ratched's reaction to said antics.  As far as I can gather, the theme of the novel is that while McMurphy is seemingly successful in breaking the head nurse down, he leaves a lot of collateral damage in his wake.  Even McMurphy begins to unravel, but Bromden seems to be the only other patient that notices.  He manages to convince the night watchman to allow a couple of women onto the ward, procuring alcohol as well.  Many of the men join in on the fun, having a blast with plans to clean up before the morning staff arrives.  The other men convince McMurphy that this is his best chances to escape the increasing harsh punishments that he has faced.  He doesn't get away, and the men all pass out without cleaning up.  When Nurse Ratched finds them all in the morning, one patient, Billy Bibbitt is still missing.  He is eventually found in the spare room on a mattress with the second woman.  His ever present stutter disappears as he stands up to the nurse for the first time.  She sends him into her office after telling him she would call his mother.  A few minutes later, they hear a horrifying scream from another nurse after she discovered Billy's body.  He had slit his own throat.  This leads McMurphy to attack Big Nurse in the climax to the novel.  She is off work for a week because of the injuries she incurs.  The ward crumbles.  Many of the guys get out, signing themselves out, getting themselves transfered, etc.  When Big Nurse returns, only 3 of the guys remain.  She is powerless as her voice doesn't work.  McMurphy is returned from the disturbed ward.  He has had a lobotomy and is now in a vegetative state.  The story concludes with Chief Bromden suffocating McMurphy mercifully, then escaping by using his super human strength that McMurphy helped him build up.

While I read, I knew that the end of the novel would be eventful.  I wasn't sure exactly which direction it would go in.  The writing of Ken Kesey is impactful and is quite a different take on the study of humanity.  The Big Nurse attempted to dehumanize the men under her care.  She tried to create a very mechanical atmosphere, and she seemed to have done it.  Once McMurphy arrived, she began to doubt herself.  The men gained confidence through McMurphy, and it turned out that you can't control people, even if they are sick and or mentally unstable.  I loved the wild ride that this book took me on.  It's status as a classic is widely debated, but critics be damned.  I know what I like, and this, I like.  Thanks Ken Kesey (R.I.P.) for bringing some excitement back to my reading

Inside My Mind

I have been struggling to get something written this week.  Normally, I look forward to my time spent pecking away.  For some reason, come Monday this week I wasn't feeling it.  I worked hard this weekend, the routine at work was broken by some unexpected situations.  I am going to give you an old fashioned rambling blog. Follow along as I search my brain.

-Jasmine's soccer team.  Wow!  I was pretty discouraged to start the year.  It seemed many of the girls weren't very interested in soccer, and I would have a trying time teaching new skills.  I have to some extent, but I have spent my time instead encouraging aggression and working on finding the ideal position for each to girl to play.  I have found 3 dedicated and strong defenders.  Steve's (my co-coach) daughter has regained her confidence and along with Jasmine has been providing goal after goal.  After starting the year with 5 losses and a tie, we are unbeaten in our last 3.  After a 1-1 tie last week, a 3-2 win on Saturday, and a 2-1 win last night I'm not sure what the ceiling is.  The girls are watching the game from the sidelines now, and when good things happen they are getting excited and screaming and yelling.  I'm glad they are having fun with it.

-Queensway Auto World, member team of the 30+ division in the North Cariboo Senior Soccer League, did not concede a goal this week in 180 minutes of soccer.  We used two different and very capable goalies in the games, but for the most part, they just watched.  We knocked off the newest team in the league 3-0. then played the top team on Friday.  A physical battle ensued, but we came out on top, in part thanks to a replacement goalie who allowed 3 very soft goals.  It was all we needed.  3-0 scoreline once again.  I didn't score, but I am getting a fair bit of time on the ball, and I can see the benefits of my conditioning.  I had some fun, trying a move or two I don't usually go with.  I pulled off the move where the ball heads through your legs, but you reach back at the last minute and heel pass it the other direction.  I can't recall ever trying it before, and it even worked.  At 3-1-1 we are now tied at the top of the table.

-My son is sports obsessed.  He has to come to all of Jasmine and my soccer games.  He takes part in the warm up with Jasmine's team.  He kicks the ball around the backyard any chance he gets.  A day doesn't go by without him playing hockey downstairs.  He has to join me lifting weights every chance he gets.  As I realize nearly every topic on my mind also has to do with sports, I guess it's not his fault.  He was born with it.

-As I type, Asher has climbed up on the couch, set up a pillow and cuddled up in the blanket.  This is about the same time he does this most days that we spend together.  It's pretty cute.  Making it even more so is that he is staring over at me batting his eyelashes as his eyeballs head into hiding.  If I look over and smile, he smiles back, even bigger.  What can I do but work hard to match his width?  Smile away little man!

-Jasmine is pretty awesome in her own right.  I don't get the super big smiles from her as often as I do Asher, but she still loves Dad.  When I arrived to buy some goodies at her SPCA bake sale on Sunday, she ran up and gave me a huge hug.  She was dressed very nicely with earrings and a nice dress, and her hair very fancy too.  Jasmine and her friend had come up with idea to sell goodies and donate the money to the SPCA.  Sheila slaved away making cookies, while the other girl and her mom made cupcakes.  When I arrived, they had recruited a bunch of helpers.  There was 7 or 8 of them altogether, having fun, helping out.  Jasmine saw half of her class, either helping or buying goodies.  Everything went, and after a few donations were added, the girls had $123 to give to the animals.  They went down and gave the money to the SPCA last night, and Jasmine is very excited.  She and her friend had their picture taken and may appear on the SPCA Facebook page! 

-8 guys got together and drafted 10 players each for a hockey playoff pool.  6 of the 10 guys I grabbed were gone after the first round.  I gave up on the pool, and barely caught a minute of round 2.  I didn't realize that when I drafted David Krejci, I would be getting the leading playoff scorer.  I watched as the Bruins dispatched the Penguins, and the Hawks knocked off the Kings.  This leaves a bizarre situation.  First place guy has 73 points but no players.  Other guy also has 73 points and only Dave Bolland left who has 1 point so far.  68 points and in 3rd place, he has 4 players, 3 Hawks and 1 Bruin.  I'm in 5th, 64 points, 4 guys, 3 Bruins and 1 Hawk.  Two poolies will be rooting for plenty of 1-0 scores.  One guy wants a long series with Chicago doing most of the scoring.  I will be cheering for a long series with Boston scoring more.  Only top 2 get paid, I will be certain to make money if I gain the magical 10 points to pass the tied guys.  Assuming Dave Bolland doesn't get a hat trick or two.

-I got a little carried away yesterday.  I did my chest and triceps workout in the morning and early afternoon, I was way to distracted playing around with Asher so it took me forever.  I went and coached Jasmine's game.  Came home and ate with Sheila and the kids.  A fantastic chicken and rice dish, that had us all eating second helpings.  After sitting and hanging out for a while I set out.  A 7 km bike ride, the first time on my bike in 3 weeks.  It felt good.  I timed in at 18:07.  I sat down for a bit.  Checked on my fantasy baseball teams.  I stretched out.  I completed the 5 km run in 24:51.  I finished off the night with a long leg workout, 8 exercises, 3 sets each.  I discovered a new favourite exercise.  1 leg squats.  Just your body weight.  I even grab onto the weight bench to assist.  I can do about 10-12 each side before the legs give out.  Feeling alright today, was expecting the hit by a truck feeling.

-I'm reading again!  I started "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" last week, and I have actually been spending some time with it.  I like the original style of storytelling, and I get into these types of storylines quite easily.  It has a very similar feeling to Aldous Huxley or George Orwell.  Full report to come once completed.

-Sheila is thinking about turning her baking passion into a more serious endeavor.   She is thinking about selling baked goods at the Farmer's Market, specializing in gluten free items.  Jasmine would likely join her in the project, and it sounds like a great idea to me.  Asher could wear a sandwich board and walk around promoting the booth.  Who could resist that little smiling face?

-We are being very casual about planning our holidays in August.  First we were planning to go spend some time on Vancouver Island.  Now the plan is stalled at "camping".  That where, how and the rest of it has yet to be determined.  I would like less driving time and more relaxing time.  Maybe somewhere near a city so that we can do some tourist type stuff too.  Of course, any other city requires considerable driving time.  We still have 2 months to figure this out, right?

-My fantasy baseball teams are doing pretty good so far.  My 1 team has been in 1st or 2nd all season in the 12 team league.  I keep finding studs on the free agent list, and 2 weeks ago I snagged Domonic Brown right before he produced 8 homers in 7 games.  Jason and I share 1 team, and we have been top 3 all year.  We currently sit comfortably in 2nd out of 10 teams.  Lastly, I am in 7th of 13 in my other one.  I have managed to put together a really solid pitching staff, and with a little work on my offense I could be contending.

-Until next time!

Life Ain't So Bad

As I sit here at the computer on this fine Sunday morning, I am deep in contemplative thought.  The sun is shining brightly through the window, something I just became aware of when I pulled the string to raise the blinds.  The weather man couldn't decide what today was going to be like ahead of time, waffling between sun and cloud like a toothless old woman trying to chose which of her cats she prefers.  It looks nice right now, and if the weather holds for another 8 hours, Jasmine, Sheila, Asher and I will probably spend time this afternoon beautifying our yard.

Our home is quite modest, and I am not one for going overboard with yard upkeep, but I do feel a certain level of pride when it comes to the appearance of our place.  In the front yard we have a small garden plot, with a lilac bush in one portion of it.  We will pull the weeds, rake the leaves out and plant a few new flowers in hopes that they survive the season.  Sheila loves lilacs, they were her dearly departed mother's favourite flower, so in honour of her mom, Jasmine and I planted a second lilac bush in the front yard, near the road.  We made a tiny circular garden space around it, and once again this year, we will add a few annuals to this little space.  The flowers were safe from the Asher man last year, but he is another year older, and somewhat more destructive.  He is smart little 2 year old, so I am hoping that an explanation from Dad will stop him from pulling heads off of flowers, or squashing the plants flat.  We will have to see.  We also have a small plot of gardening space in the backyard.  Unfortunately, its located near the high wooden fence, and is partially blocked by a tall evergreen tree so we had limited success with the vegetables last year.  With a bit more forethought, and a bit more attention from Jasmine and I, maybe we can see some better results.  Ever year I get a little excited about gardening, though I wouldn't call myself an avid gardener.  It's kind of fun to see if you have what it takes to grow a successful garden.  As it is, we are about 0 for 5, but we will give it a go again this year.

The title of today's post is in reference to this past Tuesday's Provincial Election.  The line above is one of a few different coping mechanisms I have been falling back on after the election resulted in a less than desirable outcome for myself.  It truly is a bizzare feeling to support a party that was ahead  in the opinion polls for 2 full years prior to the election, not once in that entire time were they behind, then have them fall soundly come election day.  I was nervous coming into election day for a few reasons, and most of all, it's the power of the older crowd.  Old people get out and do things when they matter to them.  And when it comes right down to it, if you have the support of senior citizens, you can count on that support in the same way you can count on death and taxes.  I am disappointed in the outcome of the election, I am disappointed in the younger crowd who simply didn't turn out at the polls, and most of all I am disappointed with the state of the political world as a whole.  I have lived in Prince George for more than 10 years now where the municipal government, the provincial government and most certainly the federal government all lean heavily to the right of centre.  I didn't cast a ballot for any of the people currently serving as my representative, save for 1 or 2 city councillors.  What I see as a significant silver lining though, is that despite the fact that I don't care for the political ideals of these people who represent me, I am lucky enough to live in one of the best countries in the world.  A country where even the politicians who represent the "right" are reasonably progressive.  I am not going to get carried away, the federal Conservatives are far from proactive, but due to the culture of Canada, they are forced to move away from their most extreme ideals towards a more acceptable right of centre stance.  Canada's version of right is actually left in many places in the world.  We are so very lucky here in Canada to have the freedoms that we do have, so for me, despite the disappointment I felt earlier this week, I am just happy to have been born in a place and time where I am free to do or say almost anything.  Will the Liberal Party do and say things that I don't agree with?  Sure.  Will they put economics ahead of people?  Sure.  But, I believe that while misguided, their intention is to do good.  To improve the province that we live in.  Time will tell, and if their track record is indicative, I will likely by let down, but even a let down in British Columbia is better than most places in the world.

Earlier this week, I finalized my plans for the summer in regards to sports and fitness.  I had signed up for summer hockey a few weeks ago, then last week I committed to playing recreational soccer.  I didn't play soccer last summer because it conflicted with Jasmine's soccer schedule.  I also had written off playing in the open league due to frequence of weekend games that conflict with my work schedule.  Saturday, as I haphazardly coached the opening game of Jasmine's soccer season, a friend of mine approached.  His daughter is on our team, and I have been a soccer teammate of his in the past.  I had asked him to help me out and coach the team for the next game while I was busy.  Instead of asking about his coaching gig, he isntead inquired about my interest in playing with his soccer team.  My reflex reaction was negative, as I knew the obstacle of scheduling would make things difficult.  Also, I knew he was playing in the "30+" division, and I am stubbornly holding onto my twenties card, at least until my birthday in October.  I asked my friend about the age thing, and he thought it was okay, as I will be 30 this year.  We decided to wait and see, pending the schedule.  It was released the next day, and it a happy twist of fate, many of the games fall on Wednesday and Sunday evenings, and I can play most of them.  I was officially drafted last Wednesday and the first game is in 3 days.  I have abandoned a few buddies who are set to play in the recreational league, but the chance to play a higher level of soccer is one I want to take.  I didn't play soccer at all last year, and spent the season before in the recreational league.  Prior to that I played 2 seasons on a very weak division 2 team.  Needless to say, it is likely that my new team will be the best team I have been a part of in a long time.  My friend is the reigning "Top Defender" in the league, and he is the only member of my new team that knows my game.  On his word, the team signed me up.  It adds a little pressure, and I am admitedly a little nervous going to the first game.  My love of fitness and exercise is continuing to grow and one of the fun things that comes with it is my ability to challenge myself.  I look at this as one of those opportunities to put myself out there and go for it.

I spent some time the other day figuring out which days I could book off that would allow me to have a few extra free days with Sheila and the kids.  The residual effect of this is that it frees me up to play a few more soccer games that fall on weekends, and it also opened me up to add another running race to my plans.  As we stand, I am going to run 5 races this season, starting in 2 weeks when I run the YMCA Road Race.  Adding soccer to my summer plans, to go along with the running races and the hockey games will lead to a few interesting tests of my stamina and fitness.  One such situation falls of the weekend of June 14th and 15th.  I have booked the days off, and will play soccer on the Friday night at 630.  The next morning at 10, I plan to participate in the "Beat the Bugs" 10 km trail run.  I really like to challenge myself, but this will likely be my biggest test yet.  I'll let you know if I survive, a discontinued blog and you can draw your own conclusions.

My rekindled love of sports has shown up in Asher in spades.  His favorite things are his "truckies", his potato heads, and his growing collection of sports gear.  He has his set of plastic mini "gicks" and his mini hockey nets.  He has a handful of hockey balls, hockey pucks, 3 or 4 "buuballs", a couple "gocker" balls, a "baaball" glove and bat to go with the balls themselves, and it goes on from there.  On Thursday morning after we had roused ourselves from bed we went outside to go for a walk.  Asher found his glove and ball, and we got distracted.  Asher handed me the bat, and before long we were all set.  Asher was the pitcher, and yes, he can throw.  Standing about 15 feet away from me, he was able to throw a hittable pitch time and time again.  I crouched down to his size so that he didn't have to throw it high, but nonetheless I was blown away by his accuracy.  When I hit the ball, I would run across the yard to the fence, and he was able to figure out the idea of tagging me out.  He would laugh hysterically as he chased after me, and when he caught me he even threw in the "you're out!" for effect.  I snapped a couple of pics of the little guy and his gear, then when I attempted a video, hilarity insued.  I wanted to show off to Sheila just how good he can toss the ball and I start to record.  I provide commentary, then realize that Asher won't have me crouching down as a hitter to provide a target.  I say "throw a pitch", while standing safely off to the side with the record button down.  He winds up to throw straight ahead of him, but I had obviously caused some confusion.  The throw came straight at me with perfect accuracy.  I jumped out of the way while hollering, shocked that it was so perfectly thrown.  I will have to rethink my videography plan before attempting it again.

We went for our walk, but not without the glove and ball that he wore the whole time.  Our destination was the park at Jasmine's school where we stopped to play basketball.  Asher wore his glove, and he tossed the ball at me while I shot hoops.  I would retrieve the ball and throw it back, kind of like a game of fetch.  Asher befriended a boy who was sitting on the park bench watching us.  He was about 7, and Asher went right over and sat beside him.  Smiling, waving and coaxing him into playing catch with him. Asher got his wish, but after a few throws his teacher hollered at him from across the way to sit back down.  As it turns out my little man got him in trouble, but I love the way that he will be friendly with just about any kid that comes along.  Asher is a lot more guarded with other adults, just the way we want him to be.  Asher was disappointed that his new buddy couldn't play, but he joined me with the basketball instead.  He dribbles the ball by slapping it as hard as he can, then when he is bored he passes it back to me.  He doesn't get upset with the fact that he can't shoot yet, even with my help.  We left the park and finished our walk.  Later in the morning Asher joined me in lifting weights, its pretty funny how much he enjoys being like daddy.  His 2 lb rubber dumbells get lifted up over his head repeatedly while he beams proudly.  That night, as if we hadn't had enough sports, Sheila, Asher and I bought a soccer ball at the store.  While we waited for Wawa while she attended a play with her Guide group, Asher and I played soccer.  He decided that 2 signs that were close together provided a good enough goal, and he jumped between the pipes.  It's really funny, but as a goalie he actively roots for people to score on him.  The ball almost dribble across the line on him, but he decided it was close enough.  He let out a big cheer for me, then ran to give me a big hug.  Then on his prompting we switched places.  He managed to get a few past me, he is already hitting a size 5 soccer ball with his instep, something I can't get some of the 9 and 10 year olds to do.  When his time comes, he will be ready.  If you are one who keeps track of such things, Asher played soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, swam and lifted weights this week.  And they say we are getting inactive as a society, obesity rates are soaring and all is doom and gloom.  Something tells me there is hope for us yet.

While Asher won't stop playing sports, Jasmine is a little different when it comes to physical activity.  She is athletic that's for sure, but she doesn't obsess over sports the way her little brother does.  Jasmine enjoys playing soccer and basketball with her teams and gets a lot out of her interactions with her teammates and coaches.  She wants me to be her coach, and it provides some great father/daughter time that we both have fun with.  While she has been gifted with an athletic body, and she is capable of great things, her desire to practice and work to get better isn't there.  She just likes playing, and that is quite alright with me.  Jasmine and I found a couple sports that she likes and it seems like she will stick with them long term.  She's not worried about being the best, and it's nice because she doesn't get discouraged either.  Besides her 2 teams sports, Jasmine has been an avid swimmer for her entire life.  She goes at least once a week, and would stay all day if she could.  This spring she has been riding her bike to school every day, and this has led her to going for more leisure rides as well.  Her dedication to her bike has me on the lookout for a bigger one, something I promised as long as the current one got regular use.  Hopefully the growth spurt is done for a while, and this next bike will fit for a while.  It will be an adults bike so lets hope it works for a few years.  Speaking of getting to big, she has also outgrown her soccer cleats, that she has never worn.  That's right, Sheila found a bargain at the end of last season and stored the shoes away for the spring.  Jasmine put them on last week for her first game, and found them to be too small.  Like, 2 sizes too small.  I took her to the mall to search for new ones, then we discovered with the sizing doohickey that she is actually completely out of kids sizes.  This shouldn't be a surprise, she has been borrowing her mom's size 8 shoes for a while now.  She needs a 7.5 in womens shoes, and dad had to go home to reformulate a plan.  The adult shoes are much pricier then the kids ones, but hopefully they fit for a while once bought.  Jasmine likes her sports, and I want to keep her comfortable while she plays.  In the past week Jasmine played soccer and basketball, rode her bike every day, and swam on Wednesday.  I am proud of both of my kids when it comes to the active lifestyles they have.

On the arts and culture front, my reading has stalled.  I have been in the middle of "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers for what feels like months now.  I've been busy balancing family, exercise, extra work, poker and yard work and reading has been restricted to work time.  I feel like I have been enjoying the book, but if I am going to be honest with myself, not picking up the novel is a sure sign that my interest isn't quite there.  Hopefully I can make some progress on it this week, and I can move on to something else soon.  The movie front has also been quiet.  The last few weeks at work we have been unable to attend the theatre for various reasons.  The last movie I watched if I remember correctly was "42".  It was well done, with sports and drama mixing nicely.  I think the last movie that Sheila and I watched at home was "The Adams Family".  It was mediocre, and as is typical put me to sleep.  Maybe we will find time this week to cuddle up and watch one, but with soccer season underway the schedule is filling up.

I have found a few great albums that I have been playing regularly in recent weeks.  Apache Indian has a style of music that is unique to him.  He is a British artist of Indian ancestry who created the genre "bhangramuffin".  Most, including myself aren't familiar with the "raggamuffin" genre either which is a sub-genre of dancehall or reggae music.  It relies more heavily on electronic instrumentation than reggae or dancehall does, and incorporates sampling quite often.  Apache Indian puts a unique twist on it, in that he provides reggae style delivery with his indian accent.  His sound is quite authentic as he practiced his craft, and recorded his albums with a number of different reggae artists in Jamaica.  I can't help but move when I listen to it, and it never fails to lift my mood.  The other new find is a dancehall group called Culcha Candela.  They are a dancehall group formed in Berlin in 2001.  The founding members go by the super cool names of Johnny Strange, Lafrotino and Itchyban.  What I most enjoy about these guys is their multiculturalism, which leads them to incorporate english, german, spanish and jamaican patois into their tracks.  The guys have German, Polish, Colmbian, Ugandan and Korean roots (there are now 7 members), and they move away from dancehall into reggae, salsa and rock genres as well.  I have been playing their one album very heavily, and will likely give the rest of the work a try soon.  Allow me to provide more info on both Apache and Culcha Candela, and a couple tunes as well.

Apache Indian Wiki




Culcha Candela Wiki






Last Sunday was a very nice day.  After work Sheila, Jasmine, Asher and I drove to Quesnel to celebrate Mother's Day.  We stopped at the municipal cemetary to visit Sheila's mom.  We brought tulips, and cleaned off her headstone.  Asher didn't really understand, but he was well behaved while we stayed.  After a few minutes, Asher and I wandered away and let Sheila and Jasmine have some quiet time to reflect.  Jasmine has some recollection of her Nana, but she was only 3 when she passed away.  Sheila had a chance to shed a few tears as memories flooded over her.  It was very nice that we had the chance to visit on such a special day.  We then went for dinner at my parents house, and had a nice visit with my Mom and my second Mom, Anna.  She is my mom's best friend, and just a wonderful kind hearted woman just like my mom.  My mom always loves to see the kids, and it was great to see her so happy on her special day. 

I really am quite lucky in life.  I have a girlfriend and kids that love me, and I also have a very supportive extended family as well.  My mom and dad as well as my sister Paulette have been seeing us regularly, and I think everyone has enjoyed the increased contact.  Rather than making excuses as to why we can't get together, we have all made an effort to see each other frequently.  We only live an hour apart, and it seems that excuse of distance has been cast aside in recent months and over the past year.  My mom has made a few solo jaunts to stay with us, something that I know is outside of her comfort zone, but once she arrives it seems that she quite happy for having made the trip.  Asher and Jasmine never fail to bring a smile to her face.  My younger sister Erin lives in Montreal, but we have also made a better effort to have regular contact.  She makes me very proud when I discuss all of the things she has accomplished in her short life to this point.  Erin and my brother in law Adam recently sent Sheila and I a lovely note to celebrate both Mother's and Father's Day and it was a nice reminder of how lucky we are to have such family.  My brother Ian lives in town here, and he and his girlfriend are expecting a baby in a few months.  We are all getting very excited to meet him or her, and I know Ian and Larissa will be great parents.  I am happy to be alive, and I hope all of my readers feel the same way.  Have a great week!

I teased you all earlier about this video, then decided I had to include it as well.  Watch Asher "Roger Clemens" Prosk nearly take out his Dad!  Enjoy!

This is a Blog Post

I had grand illusions of using this space to let everyone know how busy I am.  The truth is, that while I may have had a fairly busy week, the real reason that I am unable to produce a longer post is that my normal blogging time, the quiet of the early morning before the guys I care for have risen for the day, will be used for more important things.  Later today, we are doing our annual refresher course for Therapuetic Crisis Intervention.  It is required learning, and in the case of emergency at work, is beneficial to keeping myself and the guys safe.  I am lucky in that the guys I work with are general calm and jovial characters, and I have little reason to use any of the training.  That doesn't mean it's not worth knowing.  Having peace of mind is a nice thing for mind, body and soul.  I thought I would provide a quick update on the week that was, provided my time doesn't run out.

Last weekend, just over a week ago, I struck a deal with one of my competitors to "chop" our hockey pool.  Those of you who are poker players will know the term, but the "chop" is a splitting of the prize money reducing the gap between the finishing positions and reducing the variance involved.  We had 10 entrants at $100 each, and then 6 of the guys put in an extra $50 for a winner takes all side pot.  Both Cam and I were in the side pot and had run away from the other 8 teams.  We had 9 days left in the season, and I had closed the gap from 30 points to 8 points in the 2 weeks preceeding.  First place with the side pot included was scheduled to get $1000, and second was set to get $225.  I offered to make a deal, and within a couple of days, I recieved a response.  $600 for him, $500 for me, and we play it out for the last $125.  After doing some quick math, I decided to take the offer.  I then proceeded to close the gap to 3 points with a few days left, but never did get any closer.  I took second, and the $500.  All in all, a good result after getting dead last in the same pool last season.  My best picks?  They were Patrik Elias late, Jakub Voracek when everyone giggled, and Matt Moulson.

Having locked up a bit of cash in the hockey pool, I decided it was time to get back to the poker tables.  I made a few visits to the Treasure Cove this past week, and while mostly uneventful, I came out in the black.  10 days ago, on Friday after work I stopped in to play.  I visited with a friend while I waited for a spot to open up.  When I got in to play it was a quiet game, but I immeadiately started catching cards.  While most of my good luck was being wasted due to a lack of action it was a very encouraging sign to at least be hitting.  My luck had been so sour that anything positive was welcomed.  As we sleepily played a limp and call type of game, I found a big hand.  I played Queens for a raise in early position and got just one caller.  I flopped a set, with an ace on the board.  I got the call.  When a second club turned and I led out again, I was promptly re-raised.  I shoved for the rest of my stack (~$250) and managed to win when his A6 of clubs didn't hit.  I booked a solid win that night, which had me itching to return.  I played a few more times this past week, and while I broke even overall, I felt like I was playing really well.  My game gets rusty due to inactivity, but I also don't have a ton of time to play when I am juggling everything that life throws at me.  I have a couple more weeks to play, then soccer season starts which will cut into my free time quite significantly.

Speaking of soccer, I went and picked up the gear and schedules for Jasmine's team this past Saturday.  The season is set to begin in less than two weeks, and I'm getting excited.  I'm coaching with the same partner I had last year, and I really enjoyed hanging out with Steve.  We both had the same goal, to help our girls and the rest of the team have a lot of fun.  I think we were pretty successful last season, the girls all seemed to enjoy themselves, and we also won almost every game.  Most of the wins came due to hard work and effort, as the girls grinded out plenty of close games.  As I looked over the new team for this year, aside from Steve's daughter, I recognized only one other name.  I'm looking at this as a chance to get to know some different kids and see what I can do to help them along their soccer paths.  Enjoy the game, improve your skills while you are at it, and see where it takes us.  I'm anticipating the challenge greatly.

I'm still contemplating what I am going to do for summer sports myself.  I feel like I should play soccer, despite my annoyance over the escalating fees.  I have had a number of recent discussions with people asking me if I am going to play.  I bumped into a teammate from 2 years ago at the youth soccer office, and he asked me if I was going to play.  I ran into an old Quesnel acquaintance and found myself encouraging him to get back into soccer (he was damn good 20 years ago when we were kids).  I got together with my hockey pool buddies, and had a couple of them talking about playing.  The recreational league doesn't conflict with Jasmine's soccer so that excuse is out the window.  Just do it, right?

The hockey pool buddies only get together for one reason, and it was with that in mind that we met up last night.  I had to collect my cash from the regular season pool, then turned around and handed part of the money back over for the playoff pool.  Only 8 entries this time, we lost 3 guys and added 1.  I didn't prepare properly, and the end result was a team I don't care for.  Channeling all the powers of Nostradumbass I've expertly decided that Boston will meet and defeat Chicago in the Stanley Cup Final.  This will happen after they beat Pittsburgh and Vancouver respectively in the Conference Finals.  With that in mind, I tried to stick to those teams for my players.  The problem being that Boston is quite a low scoring team that spreads their offense around.  I didn't get my hands on the top Chicago guys, and the Pittsburgh guys went very quickly.  This left me with Vancouver and all their talented snipers.  Of course, I didn't get them, I got the second line guys.  If these boys win, we can all be shocked together.  I have Dave Krejci, Marian Hossa, Henrik Sedin, Patrice Bergeron, PK Subban, Tyler Seguin, TJ Oshie, Alex Burrows, Brendan Gallagher, and Jannik Hansen.  To make life more interesting, I took a bet that says Vancouver beats San Jose in the first round.  Yes, I hate the Canucks.  And yes, I will be stuck cheering for them to some extent as I have 3 of their players, and a sizeable bet to see them win in the first round.  Go me!


I think it's fair to say that I'm addicted to this exercise thing.  I know, I talk endlessly about it, but it's now reached a whole new level.  If I have an unproductive day, I feel off.  Having a solid cardio or weight lifting session makes me feel better for the rest of the day.  It frees my mind, and gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I managed to nicely fill my week with exercise, and I am pretty damn proud of myself.  I totalled 10 km running, 16 km biking, 9 km walking, 4 sessions with the weights, 2 hours of yard work, 2 trips to the swimming pool and as my Dad pointed out, spent plenty of time chasing a 2 year old.  I time my runs, and this week I managed a 5km run in 23:40, my second run in driving rain and gusting wind clocked in at 26:01.  I would be more then happy if I could run at that pace over the full 10 km next month when I race, but I am shooting for the more realistic goal of 5 minutes per kilometer.  I know there is a different feel on race day, adrenaline, other runners to keep pace with and so on, so I am going to set a realistic goal and look to out pace it.  I like they way the training is going so far.

I'm currently in the middle of two books. I usually like to read one at a time, but circumstances led me to having two on the go.  I will politely describe my friend as a non-reader, someone who only picks up reading material when he needs to drop the kids off at the pool.  When I visited him recently in Quesnel, I was chatting his wife up about reading and the books we have been enjoying.  Next thing I knew and my buddy was chiming in with a strong recommendation to read "Crazy Man's Creek" by Jack Boudreau.  My friend is an outdoorsman, loving all things that involve getting out in nature.  Hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, tree sapping (is that the right term?), and mining are all interests of his.  He told me he likes to read about thing that are "real", not made up stories, and he especially likes to read about the local area.  He passed along his copy of the book, and the other day I dove in.  It's a fun read, and I can relate to the idea that local stories add some interest as well.  Most of the stories centre on the early half of the 20th century and the initial settling of the Prince George area.  Thanks Richie for the solid recommendation!  I'm also reaching the climax of another book on the Modern Library list, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers.  It's really good so far, another work from the Southern gothic genre, with a focus on black struggles against racism and opression.  It really focusses on the nature of humanity, and the power of listening to one another.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Last but not least, I found time to enjoy a few movies the past couple of weeks.  I got to the theatre 10 days ago with the guys to enjoy "42".  I loved it, and I think most everyone will enjoy it.  Baseball is the background for a great human rights story.  Harrison Ford pulls off an awesome performance as Branch Rickey the man who decided to take it upon himself to break the colour barrier in baseball.  If it wasn't for him, Jackie Robinson never would have got his shot.  At home, Sheila and I caught "The Adams Family", which neither of us had seen.  Meh.  Really, it was okay, but the unique concept could have been done better.  I got a kick out of seeing Christina Ricci again, as she was and still is one of my favorite actresses.  When I saw her in "Casper" as a pimply youth of 12, I fell in love.  Later, she cemented my crush with a steamy performance in "Buffalo 66" when I was 15.  I was smitten, what can I say?  I don't care for her looks much now, but nothing will take away that teenage attraction.  I also watched "UHF" starring Weird Al this week.  It was odd and quirky as you might expect, but it wasn't bad.  It was made 24 years ago and led to Weird Al getting zero other movie roles, so maybe it wasn't well recieved amongst those who matter in the movie industry.  All in all, I enjoyed it.  I also watched "The Foot Fist Way" starring Danny McBride this week.  Made on a whopping $78,000 budget, McBride is the 1st, 2nd and 3rd star.  Playing the lovable loser who runs a kung fu training facility, he is convinced that he is a really big deal.  No one else thinks so, and hilarity ensues.  I already liked McBride from his work in a "Pineapple Express", "Hot Rod", "Tropic Thunder", "Your Highness" and this just makes him even cooler.  Definitely, its worth a watch.

I have saved the most important bit for last, as my younger sister is set to celebrate a birthday tomorrow.  Erin turns 28 tomorrow, and as the world turns we just can't stop getting older.  I remember the days clearly in my mind when I would torment her endlessly.  Despite the hell I put her through my sister become an amazingly accomplished woman.  She holds a B.A. from McGill, a Masters from U.B.C. and she is currently keeping busy running a Compassion Club with her boyfriend in Montreal.  I am very proud of her, and often enjoy bragging about the things she has accomplished.  Happy Birthday Erin!  I hope you enjoy your day, and find some time to relax and celebrate.

My Week In Pictures

I'm in a really weird place this morning.  On one hand, I am really beginning to feel like a real blogger.  Having now posted more then 60 times since the start of 2012, and managing to post at least weekly since 2013 began I now regularly begin to think of ideas to write about as my free mornings approach.  Sunday and Monday are usually my writing days because I have significant time to myself in the morning on those days.  Today, while I am excited to share a few stories about what my family and I have been up to, I don't feel an overwhelming desire to actually type out the content.  In fact, I am not sure there is much to type up, and that is why I've decided to do something a little different.  I'm going to share some pictures and provide some commentary with each one.  Let's see how this goes.

The other night, the guys pictured above played their last game of the season.  That's my brother Ian on the left, and me on the right.  We had a decent season really.  We moved up to a tougher division, and while the scoring and puck possession time was down, it felt like we were solid contributors to our team.  The team was able to have a solid season, winning as often as we lost.  The season was capped off by beating one of the better teams (we finished 5th out of 8 for the regular season) and qualifying for the semi-finals against the best team.  The game started poorly for us and never did get any better.  We ended up losing 6-1.  That's that.

As I have already covered to the point of annoyance in this space, I have gotten myself pretty wound up about running this spring.  It's something I seem to do almost every year, but this year I am taking it to another level.  I have never had myself in this kind of shape, and I want to take advantage of it.  I'm signed up for a 10 KM (6.2 miles for my American readers) running race exactly 7 weeks from today.  While I'm not flush with cash I decided the benefits of having a new pair of running shoes made a purchase necessary.  After researching extensively, I settled on the Saucony Kinvara, and to save a few bucks I went with last years model.  I bought them Tuesday and put them to use that night.  I ran in a driving rain but all I could think about was the comfort my feet were enjoying.  No knee pain, no shin splints, no pain at all.  They seem to be designed in a way that gets me away from a heavy heel strike towards a more ball of the foot focus.  More stride feels more springy and I really like it.  It was week 1 of the 8 week program I am doing to get ready for the race.  I ran a 3 mile run Tuesday, then a faster paced 2.5 mile run on Thursday and I am already feeling the love for my new shoes.

Nearly 50 years before she met George W. Bush and recieved the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to American Literature, the woman pictured above wrote an engaging, thought provoking novel.  Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a great read that I finally got around to completing.  It is funny how that works.  I didn't realize how badly I wanted to read it until a friend by chance offered me a copy.  As soon I finished the book I was reading at the time I jumped into Harper Lee's work.  She put together an amazing book, focussed on what seems to be my favorite novel subject, black rights, segregation in the United States and what that entails.  The main character and narrator of the novel Scout Finch is on the best characters I've come across in a novel.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I always feel the need to get to know the author of the work I am reading.  Being that she was one of Truman Capote's best friends, and I have enjoyed everything he wrote I figured I might enjoy Harper Lee's work.  Harper Lee had this classic published in 1961 at the age of 35.  She is now 86 and in deteriorating health.  In the 51 years since her novel was published, she wrote nothing but a handful of short papers.  When asked why she never wrote again she said: "Two reasons: one, I wouldn't go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again."  What a great woman.

I don't watch a lot of golf these days.  In my teens I was an avid golfer, and for $200 a season I got an entire summer's worth of fun out of my course membership.  I always enjoyed playing more than watching, but there is a handful of tournaments that I still make a point of watching, namely the Major tournaments, specifically the Masters.  I've been relatively busy this weekend, but I will be watching golf this morning while I work.  While there are a number of guys in contention to win, my favourite story of the tournament is the golfer above.  Yes, the boy in the yellow shirt who could pass for 10 or 11 is playing the Masters golf tournament.  He is actually 14, which makes him the youngest person ever to compete at the Masters, the second youngest golfer ever to play a Major.  Amazingly, he didn't just show up, but was competitive.  He managed to overcome harassment from rules officials about his slow pace of play, even absorbing a one stroke penalty for it, to qualify for weekend play.  Dozens of other golfers were sent home after the second round including numerous former champions of the event and other major tournaments.  I was excited at 14 to golf a round of 85 on an easy local course.  An intriguing story that will have me watching today.

Sheila and I settled in and enjoyed a couple of movies this week.  I am always on the lookout for comedy movies as it seems we have seen a lot of them, and there is a limited number of good ones produced every year.  My research has been focused on older movies, often ones that were before our time.  The movie we watched Wednesday wasn't old, but it was one I had not heard of.  "Black Dynamite" was the result of incredible creative vision from Michael Jai White.  He wrote the movie after being inspired by blaxploitation films that rose to prominence in the 1970s.  He plays the title character himself, and incorporates his martial arts background into the role.  As a begin my rambling, gushing diatribe about this flick, I will put this out there, I flat out loved this movie.  Creativity oozes from every scene, Black Dynamite comes off as a bad ass hip hop Robin Hood type with witty lines and funny slap stick scenarios thrown in.  Black Dynamite's brother gets killed, and he spends the movie trying to avenge his death.  At the same time, I works to rid his hood of a new drug that has taken hold of the youth.  While he is so slick that he manages to both avenge his brother and take back his neighbourhood at the same time, I found myself laughing a number of times at the subtle understatedness of the whole premise.  Watch this film, find it any way you can, and sit back and enjoy.  You are welcome.

It took us a couple nights due to extreme fatigue Thursday on my part, but Sheila and I also enjoyed this classic Steve Martin film.  The Jerk was blatant in its use of stereotypes, the storyline is that Steve Martin's character, after being raised by a black family in the deep south goes out into the world not realizing that he is in fact white.  Hilarity insues as his ignorance and naivety get him into all sorts of scrapes.  My favorite may have been his attempt to halt a group of criminals who come to his gas station to fill up.  He attempts to apprehend them, but in the end he tears a church in half.  While not as awesome as Black Dynamite, Sheila and I both still enjoyed this one.

I really left this one for last because I wanted to appear modest.  Consider the above content, movies, running shoes, sports, and books as filler to get to this one.  You see these two above?  Asher Felix, now 27 months old, and Jasmine Rose just a week past her 10th birthday are darn cool.  This photo was taken by their Auntie Larissa, and I quite like it.  She watched them for a couple hours a few weeks ago, and Asher managed to get all sorts of treats and snacks out of her.  As you can see, he doesn't have just one sucker, but a whole bag of them.  Jasmine absolutely loves her little brother.  She looks out for him, and spends a lot of time entertaining him.  I appreciate how patient she is while giving her time to him.  It's hard not to love the little guy.  In general she is a great girl, who is quickly growing into a young woman as scary as that is for Dad. 

This week, Jasmine did a number of things that made me proud to call her my daughter.  On Tuesday, after coming home from school, we had decided to go for a walk.  Asher in his stroller, and me ready to go, she came running out of the house with garbage bags in hand.  We have taken a number of walks since the weather as started to warm, and during these walks we have discussed the litter problem in our neighbourhood.  Jasmine had mentioned a few times that she would like to pick up garbage so that we could enjoy our walks without seeing so much trash.  Also, she wanted to protect the animals around from getting sick or choking to death on the various things people had tossed on the ground.  She started with gusto, and as my pride swelled I joined in.  Before long, we were filling our bags, finding bottles and cans to help her get rich, and having a great time.  I was already getting emotional about how cool it was that she had taken this initiative, but when Asher started joining in it was almost too much.  He was riding along in his stroller, stopping constantly so I could grab trash.  He started to help out by spotting litter and calling out to us so we wouldn't miss it.  "Wawa!!!!  Look at dis!  Right dere!!" Pointing and smiling the whole time.  We filled out bags twice, then tossed them in a dumpster at the daycare around the way from our house.  Jasmine made plans to finish the rest of our walking loop next time.  "We need bigger bags Dad!"  I couldn't have been more proud.


Jasmine is nearing the end of grade 4 and lately has been faced with a grim reality of getting older.  Homework.  She has had occasional assignments to complete at home, but lately she has had to tackle school work more regularly at home.  Her teacher retired shortly after Christmas and she has a newer teacher, who assigns more work to do at home.  I like it.  It's going to help build a work ethic for school that Jasmine doesn't currently have.  She enjoys school, and she does reasonably well.  It seems to come relatively easy to her, but she doesn't handle adversity very well.  Anything tough leads to her giving up and getting frustrated.  Well, she got a doozy of an assignment on Wednesday.  She started on the 3 assigned pages of math work with her mom, but Sheila admittedly isn't very good at the subject.  I took over, and soon realized that Jasmine was struggling in large part because she seemed to have no knowledge whatsoever of the material.  I enquired about this, and we concluded that her teacher had gone over the material, but she had paid little attention.  While battling frustration, both of us worked for nearly 3 hours.  Staying up well past her bedtime, Jasmine struggled.  I explained the same concept to her dozens of times.  We would complete a question, move on to the next one that was in the exact same format as the previous one.  I would have to explain it to her again, as if she had never seen anything like it before.  She managed to complete 2 of the 3 assigned pages before nearly falling asleep with the books on her lap.  Jasmine got a good nights sleep, and while she was willing to go to school without finishing the third page, I encouraged her to open the books back up at 730.  She breezed through the last page in 15 minutes without help.  I double checked the answers, and gave her a big hug.  Proud Dad again!

While I drone on about my amazing girl, I must conclude with another big one.  Jasmine has also registered for the YMCA race on June 2nd and she is busy getting ready.  Her race is called "The Healthy Kids Marathon".  The idea is that she will complete 41 km of exercise, either walking or running before June 2nd.  On that day, all the kids registered will run 3 laps of the track at Masich Place to complete their marathon.  At my urging, Jasmine has embraced the idea.  In the first 2 weeks she has recorded 9 km of walking distance, not including a few shorter walks to and from school.  On Thursday, after some coercing from me, we set out for our first jog.  I mapped out a 2 km route for us, wanting to see what she was capable of.  We started out, I gave her a few pointers on running style and pacing and things were going well.  A number of times I was able to motivate her to keep going, as thoughts of quitting creeped up on her.  She did stop for a brief few seconds once, but started up again.  She was a little annoyed with me for getting her to finish and tiring her out so much.  Within hours she was bragging to her mom about it, and was happy with what she had accomplished.  We plan to jog together more often as we prepare for June 2nd.  Asher found it hilarious to have Jasmine jogging beside him, he enjoys his runs with me, but it seemed to be even more fun to have his sister along.  As proud as I am now, I can't wait to watch her run the race with all the other kids.  Hopefully, the future runs are a little easier on her and we can chat and visit while we get our exercise.

I could continue on about how great Jasmine is but I am going to call it her.  If she happens to read this her head will swell, but I don't want to risk permanent damage.  Sheila and Jasmine are off to the Mariannas Trench concert tonight, and both of them are at home bouncing up and down with anticipation.  A fitting way to end a great week for Jas, full of accomplishments that had her Dad beaming with pride.  I hope everyone has a great week!

I'm a page turning, movie viewing fool.

The first few weeks of 2013 have proven busy and exciting.  Asher had a wild birthday party where too much sugar collided with too many kids and created a whirlwind of action for a few hours that took days to recover from.

Jasmine and I have been to the College Heights rink twice already, the first time meeting up with he friend to skate, and the second time to play hockey with her 2 year old brother Asher.  He had fun for a short time, tip toeing all over the ice in his bob skates and even sliding the puck into the net with his over sized stick.  He got a new mini stick set for his birthday (Thanks Lisa!) and has been obsessed with "hoggie" ever since.  The trip to the outdoor rink only served to make him more crazy.  I'm happy though, it could be our ticket to getting him to love the outdoors again.

Jasmine, Asher and I went to the library this week before our pool visit.  Jasmine grabbed a picture book, a short novel from "her favorite horse series", then a novel about the Holocaust.  Shocked, I asked what the book was about.  She couldn't really tell me but then she told me that Miss Marples had been reading it in class.  While surprised, I was also impressed.  It seemed to be a book similar to Anne Frank`s Diary, and I look forward to asking her about it if she does indeed read it.

Hockey season is back in full force.  As I have chronicled in this space, it never really left for me with junior hockey to watch and my own team to play for.  I have gotten out of synch with my own team as my work schedule has caused me to miss a number of games recently.  When I do have a chance to go though, I have been doing quite well.  5 goals in my last 6 games thank you very much.  I will miss another game tomorrow, but it looks like I might be back at it most of the season after that.  The NHL is back tomorrow, with 5 games on national television.  I will do my best to not let work get in the way.  The Oilers get started Sunday in Vancouver and I am giddy with anticipation.  My hockey pool team will keep me busy sweating as I have 15 players from 15 different teams.  My PVR will be working overtime. 

I just finished reading my second book of 2013, an edited version of a George Orwell work called ``Fighting In Spain``  Full of wit and humour Orwell provides a curious account of his time participating in the Spanish Civil War.  He embraced the uniquely slow pace of combat in what was a major precursor to the Second World War and left me curious to check out the unedited version ``Homage To Catalonia``.  Having read his most well known works ``1984`` and ``Animal Farm`` I aim to read more of Orwell`s work in the future, it`s always really entertaining often in different ways.  The first book I read this year was the recently released ``Invisible Country: A Mystery`` by Annamaria Alfieri.  While I was not overwhelmed by the quality of this novel, I did enjoy the historical aspect of it.  Knowing nothing of the conflict that Paraguay went through in the mid-19th century, I enjoyed the opportunity to gain a basic understanding.  As the country suffers greatly it`s disillusioned dictator desperately attempts to hold onto power.  The mystery of the novel unravels slowly as the country crumbles.  In the end the novel comes to a fitting conclusion of the happy ending variety.

Those that know me will not be shocked to hear that I have been pretty busy watching movies to start 2013.  Sheila and I watched "End of Watch" last night, and it was great again.  Having seen it in the theatre helped me really appreciate the handheld camera style with which it was shot.  Hard hitting violence throughout the movie really leaves an impact on the viewer.  A few scenes are quite horrific, the kids taped up on the closet got Sheila gasping, as did the cage full of humans, but it was this gruesome bluntness that made this movie so good.  Two of my favorite actresses are part of the cast, (hello Anna and America!) so I wasn't going to miss a chance to see it again.  Last week at the theatre we went to "Silver Linings Playbook" at work.  Inventive, original and extremely well acted this movie was easily the best romantic comedy I had seen.  Usually the term romantic comedy is enough to ensure that the movie with lack anything funny, but this one was the opposite.  Normally Bradley Cooper's acting is like stale bread, but his role as an uncured patient who had escaped the mental hospital with help from his mom was so dynamic I was forgetting what actor I was watching.  He holds his own with Robert DeNiro who plays his father and engages him in some outrageous scenes, including a fight they have in the middle of the night, a 70 year old DeNiro in pajamas trading blows with Cooper's character.  See both of these movies, you won't regret either.

That's my time for today.  I need to get my workout in while Asher sleeps, then get the basement in order for some serious NHL viewing this week.  That reminds me, I need to call to confirm my free Centre Ice subscription for this year.