CaptainOrange

...granted! Vin was asking about my tree this year. Well, here it is. Naturally, posting a mere picture would be a tad too ordinary for me. I've elected instead to give you a taste of the possibilities your digital camera may offer.* I usually tell my friends to slap it into 'auto', make sure your flash is ready and then shoot. It is a pretty solid methodology which usually yields fine results for someone who can't be bothered to figure out all the buttons and menus on their camera. It will give you the most good shots the most often. But sometimes, as you will see, 'auto' needs to be put in its place. * digital camera mileage may vary by brand/model As you can see, this picture is full auto - with flash. And if that were a jumping 4-year old opening a present in a dimly lit room on x-mas morning, that would be the correct settings for your camera. We can barely see that the lights are on. No wonder or beauty. A great way to count your decorations though. Realiz...

Yawn! Things have been busy lately. That seems all to usual around here, but I really have an excuse this time. I've started working my hours as a 'casual' in the public library system and am still driving my bus route before and after school. The library hours are all call-in-as-needed, and the bus provides charters during non-school hours. The result is the ability to be as busy as I really want right now while still being able to take care of house and home. Many of you knew that I was 'paging' at the Cliff Wright branch library during the summer. Casual is something else entirely. I try to sum it up thusly; Casuals get paid more to work less. At least, that's how it seems right now. Paging was a lot of lifting, bending, carrying, etc... Casual work is much more with the standing, talking and typing. I'm not complaining, and as you can guess, the amount of learning required is higher, but all the same, I feel somewhat smug in my new position. Besides, it ...

Here is a video which expresses my thoughts on the matter. Day Vin Happy

If you like driving at all, driving a bus is just as fun as you think it might be. It feels powerful and just a wee bit scary. I have a lot of buttons to push and dials to observe. Aside from a minor incident involving a poorly placed street light (IMHO), things are going great. I love driving all the little kids and have immense fun chatting with them about their days and what interests little people (which is nearly everything that adults don't have time for). It really seems ideally suited to my time needs right now. It will take a little adjusting for Wen and I to be making less money. It is substantially more than I was making paging for the library, but still about $(insert undisclosed sum) short of what I would have pulled in with the daycare (although it is hard to measure accurately because of income tax, daycare expenses, etc...). Whatever the case, when I have recovered from my wisdom teeth being removed and the cold that I am trying to shake, I shall see what I can make...

Many of you have seen these pictures already, but I realize that there are some of you out there, whom I love, but may not have sent the link to view them. Therefore I present to you our latest family trip. Hitchcock' s Hideaway yes, I'm a link...click...NOW! Wen has been attending this debate camp since she was in high-school and is now something of a guru/legend to the people who gather there. It used to be called "Camp Raynor", but has since been renamed the more alliterative, "Hitchcock's Hideaway". Same deal -- students and teachers of debate from across the province meet to practice their craft and socialize with others who are as socially awkward as they are. As a dad, I go along to enjoy the scenery and help give us just a little family time on a weekend where Wen works from 7am until 11pm with only scant breaks to eat the catered meals provided by the staff of this beautiful prairie retreat. I'm not going to say much about the trip. I think ...

It has been getting cold here in Saskatoon. Anybody else notice that? Got our first frost last night, and I increasingly am finding inside projects on which to work and I find that I don't want to bother watering the plants anymore because... well... they're gonna be on my compost pile in a few weeks anyway! There was a very nice warm day recently, though. It had me outside and excited. The bugs thought it was great too. This spider has been hanging out under our deck for a month and I finally caught him out sunning. Across the yard, one of his brethren was out for a walk... where he had an unfortunate run-in with local law enforcement. Let me just say that he resisted arrest and was dealt with harshly. However, the large clematis out back was the real hub of activity for the hungry -- perhaps second only to the great compost pile, itself. You can click the image below to see a few more pictures and my witty captions... Bugs

What I am doing here is letting someone do all the work and then passing on the finished product to you. One of my favorite kinds of jobs. A couple of weeks ago, Anna and Ian offered to look after Leora and Anwyn for the day. Anna picked up the girls at 9am and told us we could come and get them after 6pm and we could have supper with them. It sounded like a good deal. Wen and I had a lovely day of doing not much and hanging out together. It may have been that day that we officially declared the bathroom renovation 'almost mostly done.' When we went to their house for supper, we were under prepared for the splendor of it all. I'm not going to go into too much detail about the food. Anna does that nicely . And who can blame her. The food was fantastic. While focusing on the food, she neglects a couple of highlights: Each of these tastes from around the globe was prefaced by a flag the kids had coloured as an introduction to the country of origin. While we were eating said di...

Went to the lake for our annual pilgrimage. We shared a campsite with our good friends Rene, Devin and Abbie Cannon. We saw a host of wild beasties and taught the girls how to paddle the canoe. Other than that it was your average wilderness bliss. I missed the northern forest and kept needling Wendy to let us move back there. I'm in a rush so you will have to suffer with a short post and a link to my pics. Meadow Lake Camping

The berries, that is. Wen and the girls and I went to the Strawberry Ranch today and spent an hour picking before I went to work. We came away with 12 litres of berries for a total of $22 (plus gas and a little manual labour), which you will know as a fantastic deal if you have ever paid $4-6 for a pint (about 1/2 litre) of them at the supermarket. Off to work I went... Oh, did I mention that I'm working at the Cliff Wright library? I can't remember if I've told you or not. Anyway, I am. I'm hoping for a casual position for the fall, but in the meantime, I'm working in the back as a page. It is great fun. Handling books all day really lifts my spirits and I feel like I am part of an enormous and beneficial machine for human betterment. Enough of that... Home I came and the twelve litres of berries washed and gazing dumbly at me. Their seedy little stares daring me to do something. Before they could muster a defense, the four of us rushed to make a base of flour and...

I had a lot of trouble sleeping the night before I was to embark on this years circumnavigation attempt. At 4am it was storming fiercely with high winds, lightning, rain, and hail. In a fit of depression, I phoned Jim K and called the walk on account of the weather and went back to bed. By 5am it was obvious that the storm had passed and I had failed. Failed the test of the weather. By 7:30am I was sulking something fierce and Ms. Orange told me to just get off my duff and go -- late or not. (Sadly, to no avail) I left a message on Jim's cell and headed out the door around 8:30am. And to everyone who wished that we could start at a more reasonable hour... IT WAS TOO LATE! Too Late to finish (for me, anyhow), but not too late to have a fantastic day. I walked a little over 12 1/2 hrs. I haven't mapped it yet, but I'll go on a limb and estimate about 40 km. I had a lapse in my mental game when I realized that it would certainly be after midnight before I could finish and cal...

The weather for the next few days looks crazy hot, but Saturday still looks reasonable. You should consider only light activity for the next few days. You will want to feel as fresh and strong as you can. Get such sleep as you can given your twisted and painful lives. On the evening before, you will want to pack a bag. Make it a smallish backpack. Here is what I will have on me and in mine... I will wear comfortable, snug, broken-in shoes with two pairs of socks. Put Vaseline on your feet before you don said socks. Just get some on your fingers and smear it around. It is a trick I learned when prepping for my marathon. It will help prevent blisters which are likely to be your greatest enemy! I will begin the day in light long pants, long-sleeve shirt over wife-beater followed by a windbreaker, shedding layers and putting on shorts as it gets hot. A wide brimmed hat and sunglasses would be wise. In my pack will be a camera (you are welcome to all my photos, but may be expected to shoot ...

There is an inevitable conflict between finding the time to do really cool things in your spare time and then managing to tell everyone who might be interested about it. When you take the time to make a fire in excess of 660.32 °C (1220.58 °F) (wikipedia) and tell me about it the same day, you can berate me soundly. Below is a link to the best of the pictures with a few comments. Liquid Metal (linky link linkerton) Here is a short video of some of the second pour that we did. --edit January 13, 2013. Sorry. Discovered video is gone. Google! I didn't migrate it to youtube. I may add it later after I re-upload it. Mike--

Blogging, that is. Or for that matter, posting in a forum, or commenting on someone's comment. Why are you uttering (spoken or otherwise) your thoughts? Kyro did up this post last night. I was really impressed. The detailed and personal descriptions of how the game made him feel, the annotations on the pictures, provided the necessary details to allow you to see a real solid chunk of what makes him a person. Knowing him, I felt like I shared a bit of his evening with him... the part without his "johnson," that is ;) I vastly prefer this sort of commentary to the usual, "Hey, check out this great link (boobies) I found doodz!!!" No offense intended to boobies, but what are you trying to say with that? I'm sorry to offend any of you great people that post such drivel. BUT, it is the chud in the sewer from which I am trying to escape. It is the "hydro" in my hydrogenated margarine. Do you get the picture? Now, don't get me wrong (ha!). I make pos...

Expectation Reality 2 attendees: Vin and Me Vin, Me, January, James, Jay-Pep, Chantelle good food available Food was fantastic Irish beer and ordinary coffee to drink Several Irish beers, Irish-style coffee, Barley water w/lemon and honey! listen to Irish-based rock music Several Irish Artists, James played guitar and he and I sang 2hrs of U2, Sinead, Spirit of the West, and others moderated to annoying amounts of Joyce analysis check! Actually, I found it quite subtle and cleverly (hope, hope) integrated into conversation about society and (hu)*man All in all, a fantastic time was had by yours truly. This is definitely an event to repeat next year! * in case Lucky is reading along... I don't want you to get the wrong idea about my gender-bias

Some of you may recall a little dramatic flick I was in surrounding events in the Winter War (wikipedia). James Klenz has done another piece covering the same conflict but with a serious comic twist. The trailer is only 35 seconds, which I deem to be too short. I hope I am invited to a screening. It looks like a hoot. Jim, if you can hear me, post more details for your adoring public. I have a readership of somewhere in the ball park of three.

I am hereby announcing my intention of doing another trek around the city of Saskatoon this summer. My proposed date is Saturday July 7th (4am-ish). I'm pretty solid on that date, but I would be willing to negotiate with anyone who is actually serious about coming along for the trip. There are two things I have learned from my previous attempts: Prepare. That is mentally and physically. If you aren't running, or at least walking (a lot) yet... START! With construction and all, we could be looking at 65 km or more. For perspective, that's coming up on 1.5 marathons. Involve such family as you have. People walking stretches with me and meeting for picnic lunches, etc... were both encouraging (trust me, it's a long day) and just plain fun. Wendy will be heading up my support committee. If you are going to come along you should have your people talk to my people. Here are the links to my trip from last year. lead-in , ramblings and pictures

O.K., I know I haven't posted details of day 3 yet, but I am surprised at how when you get back to the real world there isn't 2hrs a day to come up with the perfect description of your day and crop, size and place to perfection the photos that go along with it. Instead of making everyone (especially me) wait, I am putting up what I consider to be the most important post next -- even though it will destroy the verisimilitude. I will post the details of day 3 if and when I have time (My apologies to Vij's restaurant and the wonderful company we had while there for the delays). You will notice that there are no pictures. I was not among the many who were gutsy/rude enough to take in their recording devices. I make no apologies for respecting the establishment in this one respect. Without further adieu... The concert was fantastic. Sting's son is in the band – Fiction Plane -- which opened for The Police (hmmmm...) Yeah, well, they were actually pretty great as unknown open...

I'm starting to think that waking up broken might just be the way I'm meant to feel. 5 hours sleep. I know I've got to to better if I am going to drive all night after the concert tomorrow. Though I am feeling very tired, I am also invigorated. There is nothing like having all work beyond your reach to make you feel like playing all day long. While Anna headed out for coffee, I sneak the phone outside and give Wendy a call while Ian sleeps. The time difference makes communication via regular phone difficult. It seems by the time I am up, Wen and the girls are gone for the day and once I am back for the night, they are asleep. As today is Sunday, I get lucky and manage to speak to her for a bit. Ian rises from his stupor as soon as the coffee comes in the room. "I could quit if I actually wanted to," has become my favorite phrase to parrot back to him anytime he mentions needing a coffee. I can tell he regrets ever having mentioned it. We agree that we over did thi...

But first, a little bookkeeping. I've added a few panoramas to my pictures. I put them in the rough order they occurred, so if you've been following along, you may want to go back. They are a nice shot of Granville Island from above , Anna hugging the giant tree, and the Pacific Drum store. They won't display worth a damn online as the image you see is only a thumbnail, so if you would like to see really detailed versions you will need to download the pics and zoom in. I guess it's only for people who are literally driven to tears (or boredom). But, as I always say, when the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around. We walked (o.k. limped) along Denman street to see if there was anywhere to eat for supper. Anna had read about a place in her guide book called Legendary Noodle House. It was nothing to look at, but it did sell noodles. Anna's blog will have the pics and meal details, but all I can say is "J'aurais toujours faim de ...

After sampling the mouthwatering food and suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous entertainment we brushed the pigeon dropping from our shoulders, shouldered our equipment and set off on the next leg of our journey. Most of this day will center on the region referred to as the ' West End '(wikip). We walked from Granville "Island" ( tsk, tsk, (click my added icons for some extra basic geography) ) down Davie st .(wikip) I thought it all happened as a happy coincidence, but with Anna at the planning helm of our vacation 'Enterprise', I have no idea which courses were plotted and which were the result of unstable wormholes. In short it was (for me) a happy coincidence to find myself strolling along such fertile valley of humanity. Q says that our race " is always suffering and dying ", but Davie Village points out quite clearly that there are a number of things Q failed to mention ;) It was there that Anna got in touch with her sensitive side. We...

Police Tour

4 hrs of sleep (8:30am (SK time)... ugh. My eyes feel very much like sandpaper. And not good sandpaper either, but rather the kind that you start using and immediately all of the sand crumbles off the sheet and dribbles all down your hands. It is a good thing that can't really happen to my eyes. One reason to be happy this morning.' Anna drove out to a nearby Tim's and got us a wake-up call, while I read some news and tried not to wake Ian. Anna said he could not be woken by the apocalypse itself, but as it happened, he was vaguely aware that all was not right in what should have been a pleasant land of slumbery bliss. After coffee and some news/blogging on our two laptops, we set out on our second day of this adventure. 10:45am we leave the hotel on foot. Anna has done extensive reading and planning on the bus schedules , pricing and frequency. It looks like we can ride on the weekends for $2.25 with a pass that lasts 90min. Considering how many buses and the frequency, th...

This my recounting from my journal of the events of day one... For now, you can guess where most of the photos fit in. If I feel generous or REALLY bored at some point, I may "in-line" them for you. The photo link is at the end of this post. About 6:07am (my watch) Anna, Ian and I hit the road from my house. 6:30am we start listening to our first music. I have decided to put an entire playlist (as sanity allows) on the blog to help establish a time-line. (thanks to wikipedia for all the cut and paste playlists ) " If I Ever Lose My Faith in You " (Sting) – 4:30 "Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)" (Sting) – 5:11 " Fields of Gold " (Sting) – 3:42 "Heavy Cloud No Rain" (Sting) – 3:39 "She's Too Good for Me" (Sting) – 2:30 "Seven Days" (Sting) – 4:40 "Saint Augustine in Hell" (Sting) – 5:05 " It's Probably Me " (Sting, Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen) – 4:57 " Shape of My H...

Really tired. It's 3:47am. I'll post details tomorrow. The really important stuff is here Police Tour LINK

It is set to begin tomorrow morning at 6am. Anna and Ian are coming to pick me up. We plan to make a quick stop at Tim Horton's on Idylwyld and thence away... away, ere break of day, to seek the pale enchanted... er... musicians. Here is a link to a quick Google map of some of our projected destinations. My travel materials includes: Meals: Breakfast of Bagels w/cream cheese, watermelon and coffee. Lunch and Supper will be composed of some French bread that I made last night spread with fiery red pesto and dressed with an assortment of cheeses and cucumber, etc... At Wen's behest, I am taking a cooler with 1/2 dozen diet Coke w/lime. The junk food will be Miss Vickey's Black Pepper with Lime, Sour Patch Kids, Goodies and assorted flavours of gum. Clothing: You don't care and I don't want to tell you. Suffice to say that it is largely black and I am paying close attention to the potentially rainy conditions on the coast. Tech: Laptop, Cellular/Treo, Camera (check on ...

I woke up at 6:20am on Sunday. Leora wanted to get a head start her mother's day prep and Anwyn was just not waking up. "...so then I had to pinch her awake," was Leora's explanation for the noise that brought me upstairs in a rush. After comforting Anwyn for a bit, we began our labours. This year was great. The girls are getting big enough that my task was confined to advice and clean-up. The pancakes, sauces, flowers and presents were all managed with only the most minimal input from me. Washing dishes was another matter entirely... A little later, it was time to deal with my own mother. We went to Calories for brunch and had a really great time. I can't really speak for Mom, though. We did an excellent job of not discussing video games, but there was an air of discontent about and much of the conversation was dedicated to the woes of the education system and how teachers (not so subtly) act as corporate filters to sort people into their future jobs rather than ...

For those out of the loop, C.C. (short for Cookies and Cream) is our new cat. We fetched her from the S.P.C.A.'s "detention level" for Anwyn's b-day in March. C.C. is about 5 months old now and, Like Luke, she was almost "too old to begin the training." With my trusty X-wing still up on blocks, we have had to forgo the trip to Dagobah and make due with less suitable environs. Instead we settle for regular visits out to my compost pile which teems with life nearly as hideous for most of three seasons. In the spring, the mainstay of my pile seems to be mice. I don't think they are particularly good for the compost itself, but the reverse is clearly true. Yesterday was her "first catch of the day" and I can only speculate that she will continue to round up the "rebel scum" until she manages to eliminate them from our little corner of the galaxy.

The girls orchestrated a fabulous event for we parents on Tuesday. Leora did the fabulous backdrop (a heart skull and crossbones) and sang vocals. Anwyn played lead guitar and helped the boys make and distribute tickets and they both trained Eric and Anthony to take tickets, sell plastic concession food, do sound and lighting, and provide the audience with cues for when to clap. The set was planned as 4 songs from the " Scooby-doo and the Witche's Ghost "(wikipedia) soundtrack. It was a 3-seat sellout! The girls (and possibly their dad) have been obsessed with the hex girls (hex girls coven) for several years now, ever since we first saw the movie. If you are a Scooby-doo fan, or just into Wiccan, goth/vampire, chick bands, you should definitely check them out (youtube). Leora and Anwyn have done air-bands to them sooo many times, I thought it was time to blog about it.