CaptainOrange

Wendy and I are leaving for Nashville today. I'll start posting about that in a few days. Today, just a little update for those of you who are either far flung or have been too busy to catch up since my last mountain trip. As a disclaimer, many of these pictures have already appeared on G+ or FB. We did a family photo shoot at a couple of locations on the river bank. There was some grumpiness and hard feelings (aging parents and teenage girls have some body issues, in case you were unaware), but mostly we had a great time. There were Halloween shenanigans... Wendy is a genius when it comes to Value Village shopping. Months ago she found me some great felt boots. They were the basis for one of my favourite costumes ever. Sure, you say... Mike as a pirate, how novel! Get over yourselves. Yes, I could have (and have in the past) whipped up a costume for free. However, this is a costume that required some effort. Boots - Felt VV find -- $5 Pants - Lululemon. I wear the...

5 sec exposure and an inactive crowd made for a cool shot Although I have been a bit down for the last couple of months, it isn't as though there haven't been highlights. A big part of my coping with the bad weather of summer and the stress of putting on a new roof, guests and plumbing turmoil is diving into frivolous asthetic pursuits. fireworks over the Broadway bridge In early September there were some really terrific fireworks on the riverbank, just off Broadway Ave. I knew I needed to have a little fun, so I put on my Quester's robe, pulled up the hood and did a little climbing. Of course I took my camera gear. It was quite crowded and I enjoyed my strangely visible anonymity as I scaled the brickwork to my perch. If you've played Assassins Creed, you'll have a vague inkling of how cool I felt. As a side benefit, I got some nice pictures. Album:  Fireworks Leo's Favs... OAK! In the following weeks, I enjoyed more sun than we saw all summer. It...

It's official. Everyone in the family (except for me) is now a debater. Teenage battles are coming, and I am beginning to be afraid. This weekend, we went on our annual trip to Hitchcock's Hideaway (our previous trips here and here ). We saw Tim and Sherry and the boys as usual. Below, Ben and Jonah are engaged in a deadly battle at sunset. They are boys after my own heart AND I didn't even need to supply them with swords! Who says the education system is failing our children? This year marks the first time that the girls participated in all the events as advertised. Previously, Wendy helped run the workshops and we just messed around. This time, I was left to my own devices while everyone else did debate. The results are typical... So far, I don't appear to have hurt myself, though I was precariously near a sand cliff doing dive-rolls in the twilight. I've been really enjoying playing around with over-exposing some of my photos. If the look bothers you,...

I've been very excited about my new camera. Leading up to QNY, I spent quite a few hours on and about campus testing it out. Here is what I learned: Only attempt to do one thing at a time while airborne. In the above picture I had just jumped off of the window sill and was... doing a spread eagle trying to look manly in the spread eagle position (just as tough as it sounds) toggling the remote shutter switch for the camera attempting to land gracefully on the stairs I'll let you be the judge of my success on #'s 1-3. I seem to have failed miserably at #4. No, I did not fall down the stairs. I simply realized that the landing was a bit more jarring than I would have liked. At no time in this process did I feel "hurt". Upon waking the next morning, however, I discovered that I might as well have fallen down the stairs. I pulled a muscle in my back and popped a rib-head behind my shoulder. One of these may have caused the other--I don't know. It hurts. Oh, and th...

I did my campus-tower-home run in my Vibram 5-fingers for the first time about a month ago (and several times since). Let me tell you, I was nervous. My last major run in them, the 10km with Jaime last month, resulted in 3 days of serious stiffness in my calves and not a little whining. I recognize that (re)training my lower legs and feet is a process of undoing 37 years of unwitting damage. Atrophied muscles aren't going to strengthen and flourish in a month or two. However, I do feel that I am well on my way. I have started to think of running barefoot as a type of physiotherapy class taught to me by my own feet. I have found three distinct running styles while I am barefoot. When on grass, I jog with a typical "heel strike" method. Such as you would do all the time in running shoes. On harder surfaces, I run landing on the padding between the arch and my toes. This is what really gets the calf muscles working. When my muscles are feeling sore, or I am at a slower than ...

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