Weblog and Playground of Gord FynesAND IN THIS CORNER, presently weighing the most I’ve ever weighed in my life…
Over the past week, I’ve decided to take advantage of the special introductory offers at the local gym and sign up – hoping to drop a few pounds, the heavy bastard that I’ve become. At the moment, my waist size is greater than my age. Hopefully, by my next birthday the tables will have turned.
I do require a belt for one pair of pants at the moment, though.
WITH ALL THE OBJECTIONS TO VETERANS selling poppies over the years in public places around Remembrance Day, the idea of a commemorative quarter seemed like an honest thing to do. Distributing them through Tim Horton’s didn’t appear to be a grand marketing ploy on their part, seeing as it’s an institute that’s just as recognized and perhaps more respected than, well, those other places. Besides the usual morning line-ups, when you’re slightly irritated before that first coffee of the day, was there really that great a spike in traffic during the promotion? It’s one thing to be a member of the opposition party, but really, do you honestly have to have an opposing view on everything? Good grief!
First, the Mint approached Tim’s, not the other way around. Second, everyone goes for coffee. A great deal of people, for whom time is too precious to be standing on line to be gouged on a monthly basis, myself included, may prefer to do their banking online or through an ATM, neither of which offer coinage. Third, the drive-thru at Tim’s moves quicker than at an ATM, even if the minivan ahead of you has ordered half a dozen toasted bagels.
Could distributing painted quarters under an untendered contract really be as bad as say, oh, I don’t know, unhinging the jaw in order to swallow up a political party without keeping everyone involded in the know and still call it something it hardly resembles? Dollars to donuts it’s not.
IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT I’M ALMOST thirty-five years old and just bought my first suit yesterday. Thirty-five. Yesterday. Yes, you read that right. I’ve forever been in receipt of mix ‘n’ match hand-me-down jackets and shirts from my Dad. I wasn’t wearing a proper suit when I got married. Our unofficial maid of honour bought me the tie I wore on my wedding day. The shoes: borrowed.
Our friends Lisa and Geoff are to be married in a few short hours. Seeing as Laurel’s the maid of honour, the least I could do was try to look reasonably respectable. I’ve never been into the whole clothes-shopping thing, although even Laurel was impressed with how I lucked out in buying the first suit and pair of shoes that caught my eye. At nearly thirty-five years in age, my selection process when shopping for clothes has been somewhat honed.
If you happen to be in NYC over the next two weeks, check out the latest Christo and Jeanne-Claude installation happening in Central Park (where Laurel and I were married nearly seven years ago). Jason Kottke has posted wonderful photos and should be pimping the artists on his photography skills for the coffee table book.
ONE OF THE BEST FILMS that I’ve seen in recent years was Denys Arcand’s The Barbarian Invasions, which had me checking out earlier works of his. I’d seen the excellent Jesus of Montreal years ago at the Bloor Cinema not too long after it started making the rep cinema rounds. In fact, as we were walking up to the theatre, a crowd and comotion involving spotlights and blaring music were gathered just outside the front doors. Turns out, the once ubiquitous look-how-clever-we-are musical punsters, Moxy Fruvous, were shooting a video for their single, “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors”, starring none other than Mr. Book TV himself, Daniel Richler.
Announced earlier today, Mr. Archand is to be appointed to the Order of Canada. Well deserved.
BEING A READER OF A LOT OF AMERICAN BLOGS, I’ve been jealous of TiVo only being available south of the border. That is, until the communications empire known as Rogers (you know – the new SkyDome person/people) started offering PVR capability as part of their digital cable service. That, and the fact that digital cable is currently half-price for the next two months. I decided to give it a go, PVR and all. The only thing I’ll say now is that I’m getting my money’s worth, catching ALL the programs I wasn’t watching before. That, and I’ve now introduced Spongebob Squarepants into the home, two or three times a day!
School is still enjoyable – motivational and inspirational. If I were to win the lottery, I’d give serious consideration to attending university fulltime. Oh, and with a kick-ass TiBook, of course. Class is done in two months, at which point I’ll have to give serious consideration as to taking a summer course. Time and money permitting.
A photography/modern art website that I’ve been working on over the past month from scratch is just about done and should be launching shortly. Watch this space for more details. I’ve now decided that CSS is my new best friend and toy.
The old VW bit the dust at work this week. I vowed that after having to borrow cash just after Christmas to fix it, the next time it crapped out would be the last. I was not going to sink another dime, outside of oil changes, into the bastard. Wouldn’t you know, I haven’t started paying back the loan to have it fixed. That’s telling ya something. I’ll now be catching up on my reading and music listening as I ride the bus to work in the morning.
UPDATE: My review of Jeff Parker’s new disc can be found over at this week’s edition of The Brain.