Weblog and Playground of Gord Fynes

Years ago, my then two-and-a-half-year-old niece hipped me onto to the fantastic claymation world of Wallace and Gromit by individually loaning me out the videos from the original boxset. We watched them over and over until I finally decided to pick up my own, which I again watched several times before passing around to friends and co-workers to enjoy for themselves and with their children. Then they sat idle for a few years while I was busy starting a family of my own.

My son is now two-and-a-bit (his words) and had exhausted his Bob the Builder and Kipper the Dog video collection when recently coming across good ol’ Wallace and Gromit amdist a pile of stuff to be filed away. They’ve since become his absolute favourite to watch, which prompted me to drop the $9.95 (US) online and download all ten of the new shorts in the Cracking Contraptions series. I probably did it more for myself than for him! If you love claymation, the guys at Aardman are probably the best at it. Plus, the English have a charm, sense of humour and mannerism like no other which makes them all the more enjoyable.

Once again, we’re just getting over another big round of snow that hit the GTA in the last couple o’ weeks. The difference is that this time I didn’t have to venture any further than my mailbox to get DVDs to watch thanks to Relay Rentals. For those not familar, in the States they’ve got Netflix, which is the on-line DVD rental site, with just about every known title available. I’d been jealous that the service wasn’t available in Canada, until a friend mentioned that such a service was available. I’m saving piles in gas money and wear and tear by not driving down to the old neighbourhood video store on a regular basis.

Of course, SARS is the major topic in the news as of late and has resulted in lenghty quarantines for potential exposees. Driving home on Friday afternoon, CBC Radio was interviewing Timothy Benson, a nineteen year old Toronto student who had recently started his own weblog and is updating frequently since he’s now got plenty of time on his hands as a result of being quarantined.

The sun is now shining. The snow is now melting (monstrous puddles abound for the boy to jump for joy in) so I think we’re off to traipse around downtown for the afternoon.

The Sea and Cake are in town this eve. Can’t wait.

Happy Birthday, my love!

It’s always sunny on your birthday.

Okay, just because it’s been a super-busy month, with very little time to catch up on this site, and the month’s almost out, and I’ve only posted once for March, here’s a little something for your viewing pleasure. I used to have pretty long hair in the mid 90s up until around the fall of ‘96. I’ve since met and become friends with quite a few people who had never seen what I used to look like. So, for a good laugh check out the before and after photos taken by my wife, Laurel, on Queen Street West, right outside of the barber shop where I had my locks trimmed away.

Happy belated birthday Dave!

Winter has hit back fairly hard here in Toronto for the better part of the last month. Just when the snow was starting to melt, and it wasn’t exactly toque and gloves weather, we get hit with a couple of storms and some major dips in temperature to keep ya indoors. Groundhog didn’t see his shadow? He was probably blinded by the light reflecting off the blankets of snow that are replenished weekly. Either that or the entrance to his home was frozen shut like the doors of a 1990 VW Golf at eight o’clock in the morning when you’re late for work and still have to drop the boy off at daycare. Then, the car stereo won’t accept a CD ‘cuz it’s too frickin’ cold. I’m guessing here.

The lack of outdoor activity had lead to watching piles of DVDs, trying to catch up on some reading, listening to music, messing about on the guitar and generally neglecting any updates/entries on this site. Oh yeah, that plus a trip to the dentist and Elliot being down with a fever and a bout of tonsillitis for the better part of a week. Never a dull moment. Sorry to those who actually read this stuff for not keeping current. Both of you.

In case you hadn’t heard by now, Toronto-based tech/culture Shift Magazine’s now last issue has landed on newstands. I’d been reading Shift for the better part of the last five years, including one subscription and one renewal. I loved the mag enough to get my pal Terry a subscription one Christmas. I’m very saddened to see them fold (hopefully just temporarily). At least there’s still the Shift Filter for the time being.