graceful (or not)

Tonight I pumped up the tires and adjusted the brakes and derailer on my bike, found my shoes and helmet, filled my Camelbak, and threw all of it in the trunk and headed up to Gatineau Park for a little ride. While I was there, I learned some new tricks with math. Specifically: kev + clipless pedals + going backwards + rocky hill = a bit of a disaster

I hadn’t been on my mountain bike for over a year, and I made a tiny little error when I shifted up instead of down while climbing a hill. Basically that killed my momentum dead, and I started to turn to the left as I stalled. I managed to kick out my right cleat, which helped me not at all because I had turned to the left, so was earthbound on the left side of the bike, whose pedal still had my left foot firmly attached. To break my fall I broke the cardinal rule and attempted to use my hands to cushion the blow.

Rocky hill 2 (still rocky, still a hill, no visible marks), kev 0 (wrenched wrist, skinless left knee)

After a couple minutes of excruciating pain, the desire to turn my stomach inside-out — from wanting to do nothing but throw up — subsided, and I continued on. The view from Champlain Point was totally worth it, and the dinner at Pierre and Carol’s after was awesome. These are the same folks I do my Wed night runs with, and I’ve missed them dearly. They were on the rocky hill, too, and to their credit they didn’t laugh at me until much later.

Next time will be better, and my pride is like my hand: a little bruised, but it’ll be fine.

I am soooo glad to be home.

serenity

There’ll be no spoilers, so fear not. The pre-screening of Serenity was great. I met up with Chris and Kris, and we sat in the middle about 6 rows back. The theatre was full, and everyone was paying attention. It’s the first time in a loooooooong time that there were no ads, and only one trailer (Doom – The Rock signed up for that when he was hopped up on something, I’m sure) before the movie started.

I’ll go see it again, because the audio on the print we had wasn’t quite right, and it would have been nice to have the digital sound and a little more punch. That said, the movie was solid, the dialogue excellent, and the use of humour liberal. A large number of blanks of the Firefly universe were filled in, and it the transition from the little screen to the big was done well. I can’t write more than that without giving anything away, and there’s a lot more to the story than the trailers let on.

Very, very enjoyable. Thanks again to coop and e, and to the head of the local browncoats for organising the whole thing (oh, and for the keychain – yay swag!). I’ll be seeing it again, probably in the theatres, and then at home when the DVD comes out. Recommended.

start the signal

Thanks to coop, and indirectly to the proprietor of pie palace, I have a ticket to this evening’s pre-screening of Serenity. I’m psyched, and have been catching up on the odd episode over the past week on DVD or on the recent Joss-a-thon they had on Space. From all indications the movie is going to be a very enjoyable ride, and it’ll be cool to get a chance to check it out before its mass release.

Damn I wish the retards at Fox had given this one at least a ghost of a chance to succeed and continue as a series.

home

Wow. I’m home. I have no trips planned in the immediate future. I don’t have to get up Monday morning at 04:00 to catch an 06:00 or 06:40 flight. I’m pretty relieved. I got home from NYC late Thursday and have been doing my best slug impression ever since. The project ended well, and I got to see Walt, Lee, Zoe, Jake, and Lee’s dad a couple times while I was there (not enough, but I’ll take what I can get 🙂 ).

I took Friday as my Civic Holiday, and blew a whack of cash on new dishes, my area rug for the living room, some shelving, and a new blender. The blender is amazing; here’s hoping it fares better than the three other blenders I’ve owned in the last four years. Now I have to sell my couch and chair, paint some walls, and figure out what kind of window coverings I’m going to use in the living and dining areas. And then… invite some people over for a feed, because it’s been too long since we’ve done one.

I also have a ridiculous amount of garbage to put out on Thursday. Ah, the joys of being home. I’m pretty happy that I can actually do something about it, for a change.

Now all I have to do is get over the fact that summer’s gone.

this week’s track

The more I listen to CBC Radio 3’s podcast, the more I like what I hear. This week introduced me to Vancouver’s The New Pornographers. They’re not anything close to new, but they’re new to me, and it’s another band you’ll never hear any place that plays a “Your station is a Standard Radio station” as part of its programming.

Their website has a bunch of tracks available for download in the “audio/video” section, and a video or two as well. Their latest CD, which was released last week, is available on iTunes, which includes a bonus track if you buy from there. They remind me a little bit of early Weezer with a little more punch/emotion and something electric that I can’t quite put my finger on. More good stuff, and another $10.00 from the iTunes account.

I’m going to have to start listening to university radio again, I think.

light at the end of the tunnel

Early this morning I completed the final component of a work assignment that has had me in New Jersey for more than a month. The number one priority has been addressed, and everything looks like it’s running smoothly. There were hiccups, but pre-planning and a couple dry-runs beforehand exposed the kinks and allowed us to tighten everything down before we flipped the switch. (although there was still a nasty surprise or three thrown in to make life interesting)

I’ll be here for another five days to watch over, document, and prep a final report on the changes we’ve made, and will make some suggestions on what direction(s) could be considered moving forward. The anxiety and lead-up to last night has pretty much dissipated, although I’m really tired and a little cranky from a late night, a little caffeine, and an incredibly crappy breakfast. That said, even if anything should happen now, issues will be of the “here’s the deal” instead of “what if”, which iare much easier to deal with.

I’ll take in small chunks of the city this weekend to get a new bag, a couple gifts, and maybe a visit to the toy store, and will try and get over to Chez Trotta to enjoy their company (something I’ve been lucky enough to do a few times in the last month). Not a bad way to finish things off here.

The first of September will mark the end of five months of non-stop travel that have taken me to Toronto, Philadelphia, a big chunk of Scotland, San Francisco, Monterey, Tucson, Winnipeg, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York. Since moving into the new house in April, I have been home a total of three garbage days. Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to being home for a while, and maybe I’ll even unpack. My management promises this, and I intend to hold them to it.

Five more sleeps. Here’s hoping the next few days are uneventful, and Thursday arrives with minimal fanfare.

good night

Last night, for the first time in the better part of a year, I managed to sleep the whole night through. I’m thinking things are starting to come together, and my body’s starting to like me again. Over the past few weeks I’ve:

  • cut my alcohol consumption down to one or two drinks on Fri and Sat with nothing the rest of the week
  • developed and stuck to a nutrition plan that limits intake to around 1,800 kcals/day using the zone guidelines
  • stretching 15-20 minutes, twice a day
  • running 3 times a week
  • core strength training 3 times a week

So far, so good, and I admit I’m feeling a lot better, although only a tiny bit less fat. The plantar’s is still annoying in the morning, but the stretching and consistent running is starting to loosen them up. I’m still a lot heavier than I want to be, and my travel schedule this summer has really fucked things up. It’s amazing how fatiguing and motivation-sucking non-stop travel is. I’m told the end of the tunnel is close, I just hope those telling me that stand by their word.

The theme for the month seems to be “purge”. I’ve been slowly getting rid of all the excess crap in my house on the weekends through want ads and freecycle, but I still have a fair bit to go. Old, unused furniture is on the way out, to be replaced by simpler affairs. Clothes that I’ll never wear again have gone to the Sally-Ann. Things that plug in are being donated, recycled, and sold (if there’s any worth in it). Books I’ll never read again are being re-distrubted in conventional and non-conventional ways. All these “things” I collect but don’t use are headed for the door, once and for all.

Now it’s time to do the same in my brain. Letting go of some of that clutter is going to be a lot harder. Still, I know that holding on to it is pointless, and will only cause me needless energy, so the sooner the better. Still…

Ah well, it’ll come. Ultimate starts Sep 11th, and Hockey (the kind I play) starts in October. It’s going to be a damn good fall, even though November already looks really close.

Here’s to many more good nights.

it’s like a real movie, or something

I went to see Skeleton Key last night and, Kate Hudson cute-ness aside, the best part of the movies was one of the previews. I was psyched, but a bunch of the audience was confused. Seems a LOT of people haven’t heard/paid much attention to Firefly here, including the person I was seeing the movie with. The upsetting part about this is that said friend is a huge Buffy/Angel fan, but had never seen a Firefly episode. They have the DVDs to correct their sins.

On the big screen, Serenity and her crewbies look great. It’s gonna be fun. (and coop, there’s your answer)

On a semi-related Whedon topic, does anyone else find the “Bones” promos just feel wrong with David Boreanaz in a scene involving copious amounts of daylight?

grab that gun

So, here’s where I rot in hell. There’s this band, I think they’re great, but no one plays them here. Worse, no one sells their CD here. I want to convince people that they’re a great band to listen to, but I have no where to point to. What do I do? I put on my eyepatch and say “y’aaahhhhhhhrrrrrr!!!”

Have a listen to The Organ‘s Memorize the City. Now, assuming you don’t think it sucks, go out and buy this CD. Oh… wait… if you go anywhere other than Amazon, you can’t. No one this side of Calgary seems to sell it in a CD-like format, so… go to the Canadian iTunes Store and Grab That Gun from there. It’s sooooo worth the ten bucks.

I ripped this from media I purchased. I claim fair use, in that only my friends pay attention to this place, so they’re the only ones I’ll be sharing it with. I’m sorry, but it had to be done, because Kelly Katie’s voice is that good.

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