Dave Duncan

It would be an understatement to call this weekend a busy one.  Danielle’s dad and stepmom arrived by train from Montreal on Friday afternoon and we spent Friday evening talking (in our patented blend of French and English) and catching up, as well as celebrating a VERY overdue Christmas by opening all our gifts.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of homemade Sausage and Egg McMuffins before heading up to the Toronto Centre for the Arts to see “Jersey Boys“.  We bought Danielle’s dad tickets for Christmas, and picked up our own at the show.  By the way, if you ever want to see an awesome musical for cheap, head to the theatre two hours early on show day and pick up ‘obstructed view’ tickets.  Ours were $20 each (no fees or taxes) and we sat about 10 rows from the front and could see nearly everything.  It’s a great, cheap night out.

The show itself was unbelievable.  It tells a fantastic and compelling story with amazing musical performances, hilarious and heartbreaking acting and amazing set design where everything changes all the time without the story stopping or slowing for a second.  There is quite a bit of authentic ‘Jersey’ language (that is, swearing) and viewers should be warned that Joe Pesci is one of the characters, but those are the only offensive things in it.

On Sunday, we headed to both High Park and Yorkville to show off the city (with our dog) and then a trip to Union Station to drop off our visitors.  Danielle and I spent the evening watching the Superbowl at home and heading to curling, where we got a default win when our opposing team decided not to show up.

Now I’m relaxing at my desk with a sore throat and The Four Seasons greatest hits stuck in my head.  Not a bad start to the week, really.

I’m kind of bummed that this week is drawing to a close, which is kind of weird for me.  It’s been a ridiculously exciting week and the momentum will drop with a few badly-needed days off, but at least I can get caught up on my sleep and my in-laws are in town from Montreal for the weekend, so there’s plenty of fun in store.

So I’m not bummed about this weekend, I’m just bummed that I can’t keep this rollercoaster of awesomeness going for another day or two.  I’ll just have to pick it up where I left off when Monday morning starts.

In the meantime, I hope y’alls have a great weekend.  Laters.

Our neighbourhood is completely overrun with little, furry-tailed rodents.  Somehow it sounds more vile when you say it that way, even though squirrels look cute and playful, even when there are hundreds of them scurrying around the yards and rooftops.  Each day, while I sit working near my front window looking out into the street, at least a few times each day, one will sit up on the windowsill watching me work.  That inevitably will lead to my dog losing his mind and barking madly until it disappears off in search of food.

I know that all the trees and garbage cans around give them a ready and steady source of food, and the older houses in various states of disrepair give them plenty of roof holes to burrow into for their homes.  All they do is eat and procreate and the only things holding their population back is their food source and housing; both of which are in plenty here in the east end.

I’m confident that our house isn’t a nesting or breeding ground, and our garbage bins are all tightly secured to keep any and all critters out (mostly to keep the raccoons from feasting), so we’re not contributing to the infestation.  That means that I get to enjoy watching squirrels run around looking cute-ish and fighting one another without any downside.  Well, except my dog wants to catch and eat every single one when he’s outside.  So there’s that.

I think that after being away for far too long, I finally have a fresh idea for a series of short fiction pieces for SilentTalkie, but I wanted to run it past you first.  It came to me last night while I was struggling to fall asleep with a bunch of stuff on my mind.

Who wouldn’t want to read a series of stories where in each one, the protagonist quits his or her job in creative and bridge-burning ways?  It’s exactly the type of thing that youv’e always wanted to do, but common sense has stopped you cold in your tracks. That’s why fiction is great.

Weird, right?  I probably should’ve started this post off with a caveat that I had a really late night last night and really early morning this morning, so I’m a wee tad short on sleep.  Hence all the weirdness and me wanting to run this idea past some normal people before I go running off with it.

So, your thoughts?

I find it only fitting in the midst of the first real cold snap of this winter, one which forecasters and the Farmer’s Almanac said would be colder than normal, that a bunch of rodents have determined it will continue for six more weeks.  That’s right, today is Groundhog Day (in case you didn’t figure it out by the post title) and if the little beasts are right, we’re in for the long haul.

I’m not sure how often the groundhogs are right, but according to the CBC, at least three of the major prognosticators all agreed that winter will continue.  I’d say those are pretty good odds, or at least it means it was sunny earlier this morning in at least three places in the US and Canada.

While I can’t say I’m a huge believer in weather prediction using animal shadows, I truly believe that animals have a sense of long-term weather patterns.  It only makes sense in our climate, where knowing if winter will continue for six more weeks is a matter of life or death.  I do know that despite the occasional winter thaw, the squirrels and chipmunks continue to store away food, which is a woodsy-wisdom sign of more winter weather to come.

Also, on the weekend a bear told me he was planning to pick up a new fur coat, but was going to wait until it went on sale in the spring, so he had 5 months to save up for it.  That’s pretty telling too.

Anyways, let’s all hunker down and enjoy a nice, long, cold winter.

After a nice, relaxing weekend at my parents’ house in the Ottawa Valley, I rushed back through a light blizzard for our weekly curling match.  Sadly, we lost, but it was a close game and our opponents have been undefeated so far, so it was a reassuring sign that our skills are quickly improving.

Last night was our fourth match of the 10-match season and we’re currently at one win and three losses, but we expect our stats to improve in the latter half of the season.  We finally have an idea of what we’re doing and we’re better able to respond to our opponents on the ice.

Curling, while a surprisingly physical game, is based on skill and strategy.  It’s not enough to simply whack your opponents’ rocks out of the house, but you have to place yours right where you want them for maximum effect.  This is generally where we’re still lacking, but like I said, slowly but surely we’re getting better.

As our season moves along and we approach the playoffs, we might be looking for a cheering section.  Before you say no, did I mention that the viewing gallery is in a licensed bar? Now you have all the information you need to make your decision.

Aside from all the other stuff I have to do today, I need to get an oil change and new wiper blades for our car since I’ll be driving all the way up to the Ottawa Valley in subzero temperatures.  I really like going up there in the winter, but driving those desolate back highways late at night when it’s so cold does give me some pause, so I like to make sure the car is in the best shape I can ensure.

Lately, our wiper blades have been sucking it big time. They only clear the windshield on the two points at either end where they touch the glass, so their time has come.  I’m thinking about trying some of the fancy wiper blades, but even the standard cheap-o ones only need to be replaced every once in a blue moon, so is it worth it?  Has anyone out there had a good or bad experience?  It likely won’t matter as I’m heading out at 9am for the oil change, so I won’t know your opinion anyway, but someone else might care.

On that note, have a great weekened everyone, and wish me luck on my cold, dark drive into the foreboding northlands.

In case you haven’t been reading this stuff in a while, my two latest rants have been against the proroguation of parliament and Rogers putting a useless “Quick Start Menu” between me and my program guide.  Since I don’t see a quick end to either of these, I’ve decided to take a break from ranting about them, mostly to keep you guys from starting your own blogs ranting against my rants.  If you hate these things too, there are Facebook groups out there you can join, and letter-writing campaigns you can take part in.  Feel free to rant about them in your comments on this post and any future posts. 

I’m also going to keep from ranting about Apple’s new iPad, which is all over the everything.  Internet, TV, radio, newspapers and blimps.  I’m sick of the overload for something that actually has very few practical uses, but it takes us one step closer to my dream of a chip in my brain that connects my thoughts to Wikipedia so all my questions are answered the moment I think them.  I’d pay $499 for that.

On a more positive topic, Sunday night curling is awesome.  Our team is actually quite good and we had our first win last weekend.  Given our abilities, I figure it’s just a matter of time until we’re on top of the standings.  I mean, even when we tried to lose, we couldn’t do it.  THAT, my friends, is innate ability.