Alignment of the Sports

Every four years at the beginning of July three great things happen:

• Fifa World Cup Soccer Finals
• Wimbledon Tennis Tournament
• Tour de France Cycling Race

It's a marvelous time to have a PVR.

The New Pornographers

This was a great show! and not just because I was about 20 feet from Neko Case for a couple hours (though that was pretty cool too). The music was energetic and fun. The artists gave it everything they could give on this first show of their North American Tour.

The Mountain Goats opened with great acoustic set, giving me several reasons to seek out more of their music catalog. I was particularly stunned with "Matthew 25:21" from their latest album The Life of the World to Come. Great talent here.

We met up with five folks from church who were very adept at fighting off the drunks who tried to push us around. (point and wink to you Gary and Cherilyn). We were in line only about 20 minutes before the gate opened and we still got to the front of the crowd on the left, so we had great sound and view the whole time.

The New Pornographers played a new set supporting their very listenable album Together which I have been listening to pretty steadily for a couple weeks. A little disappointed that they didn't play my favorite song on the album, "Valkyrie in the Roller Disco." They did let Neko belt out a few songs and the guitarist was fantastic - as was the cellist. Lots of sound!

*I stole the photos from Facebook.

Out in Rocky

On a rainy and chilly May long weekend, we drove a couple hours northwest to join my sister and her family (and later my mom too) at the Riverview Campground in Rocky Mountain House. Because of the weather, we joined Saison and Dean in their luxurious camper trailer for the first two nights, but did pitch a tent for the third night.

The campground is situated on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River (the same mighty river that carves its way through Edmonton). We spent a little time at the river, but it was cold, so we stuck pretty close to home when we could.

Our site was directly across from a great playground so the kids could play almost all day. Dean and I headed into town to see game 4 of the Montreal-Philadelphia game (not a good game).

Dean was keen on having a fire and a barbecue. We were keen on enjoying the fruits of his labour.

The weather cleared up nicely for the last couple days. It was great times as we played a little baseball (I got to climb a tree), some bocce ball, kids golf, Scrabble, and our new vice: Stone Age.

We also ate very, very well.

Here's to plenty more camping weekends!

The Puppet Master

Last weekend I was treated to a triple-header at a puppet theatre in my own home.

Blaise set up his mattress as a barrier in his room and prepared the shows, one of which he starred in with the puppets (the first).

The Sheep and the Giant

Teddy and Leopardy's First Time at Church

Leopardy Falls Off Her Bike

The shows were very professional and enjoyable.

Dinosaurs Walked the Earth

Blaise was up early this morning, so as I was about to get breakfast ready, he asked me if a number was a six or a nine. I asked him if the tail went up or down. It went up. Then he rushed over with an open book and exclaimed:

"Papa! Dinosaurs lived on the earth 69 years ago!"

Game of Tennis

I love watching (and playing) tennis. I finally have the opportunity to watch the French Open final between Rafael Nadal and Robin Söderling and it is awesome. Söderling is on the brink of a break point in the second set (Nadal took the first 6-4). The two of them playing strong, strong games.

What is remarkable to me is that when I watch tennis I rarely cheer for one player over another. I have preference because I may have watched one player play more than then other, but it's the game I love. The players are distraction.

Zaakistan's New Look

Yes, I shaved my goatee, but I also revamped my entire website.

• New, clean, non-yellowy look
• Streamlined menu at the top
• Integrated RSS feeds of our blogs
• Security password for the family tree section
• Slideshow options for bike trip/canoe trip photos

Visit ZAAKISTAN.

April 28 Snow Day

Got a call this morning at 6:30. School's cancelled due to snow! It's been snowing this week already. Along with wind and rain and cool temperatures. Everyone at school yesterday was speculating and hoping for a storm overnight.



I spent the whole morning video editing - I didn't even eat breakfast.

I'm so giddy.



Spring will just have to wait until next year.

Drip

We've had a leak from our bathtub tap since we moved here. I don't use the bathtub (I bathe, just not there) so it has never been on my radar for repairs until one morning when I wake up and it's all I can here. I spend the next 2 hours taking it apart, seeing if I can fix it.

I visit Rona and they tell me it is a free replacement part - guaranteed for life! But they do not have any in stock at the moment. The Delta distributor comes around every month with a box of 5 gadgets. He might be along someday soon they say.

My fidgeting makes the leak worse and now hot water is dripping and it drips twice as much as before.

I call Rona a few days later and the Delta guy was in the day before. There are 2 things left. I have them hold one for me and install the sucker that night.

There is now peace in my house. Plus I got to buy a couple tools!!

Book Review: The Day Metallica Came to Church by John Van Sloten

Since the end of January, I've been meeting with eight other people from my church to discuss a book my pastor wrote. His book, The Day Metallica Came to Church is being published this August and he wanted to bounce the ideas contained in it with some of the members.

Topically, the book examines the infinite possibilities of knowing God as the author of two books: The Holy Bible and Creation. Expanding the idea of creation from a typically "nature only" scope to culture and science and art and sport and indeed everything we find on this planet. Since God created everything, his fingerprints or pre-fall echoes lie in everything. With discernment, but also with an open mind to seeing/ hearing/ tasting/ smelling/ touching/ feeling/ reasoning/ etc. God in all we do and experience, we can draw closer to God and allow Him to speak to us in every present moment.

It's a great book. Buy it when it comes out (it will be on chapters.ca or amazon.ca).

We'd eat great food and then spend a couple hours discussing one of the chapters. We finished the last chapter last night. It was a great privilege to be able to read the book pre-publication, but more so to discuss it with the very insightful author - John Van Sloten.

Test Answers: Bible 7 Boys

Q: How does Solomon stray from God?

• Because of his dad David
• He takes lots of wives and concubines but he does not love them all equaly and that is wrong
• He starts walking in the opposite direction
• He got 1000 women to sleep with. After asking for all wisdom.

Q: Who are Chemosh and Ashtoreth?

• They were eli's wicked sons
• They were samuel's very bad sons
• Sons of Saul
• They were two priests who did not want to say were david was

Q: Give a lesson we can learn about David and include a brief description of the event in David's life that teaches us this lesson.

• you should never underestimate you enemys because saul underestimated david and david snuck into his camp twice
• snecking behind someonse back and lying can get you into some deep stuff. When david lied to the philistines.
• you can never be too safe b/c he dies

Q: List the 3 books of the Bible that are said to have been written by Solomon.

• ephrites
• ephenece
• Ephesians
• corinthians
• half of Saul
• Song of Saul
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Saulms
• Psalms
• Kings 1st and 2nd

Q: List 2 events in Samuel's childhood.

• He Ummm... he did stuff with his masters
• He Ummm... he did stuff with other children

Acadia's Goals

A couple weeks ago, Acadia to her mom standing beside the car: "when I get bigger, I'm going to drive and peel things like you."

Back in the Editing Chair

It's spring break. I've only 7 of 16 days left, but I've achieved a fair bit on my 2 year project (that I haven't touched in 1.5 years). My film is called either Own Goats and Milk Them for What They Are Worth or For What It's Worth, Milk a Goat. [if one title strikes you as better than the other, let me know].

I spent the first couple days logging and importing all the footage and then reviewing all 5+ hours of footage and making notes. Most recently, I've been writing out the script as this film will be narrated (I hope Morgan Freeman is a free man). Sequencing the movie is tricky too because I want to follow the timeline and I have to carefully introduce tension and turns.

The movie will have to be subtitled as it was shot in three languages. That will be a fair bit of work - especially since for it to screen in Montreal, it will need English and French titling.

I'd like to have some animation done for biblical and journey portions. Salomé? My "Danny Elfman" is getting married this summer - gotta do some editing so he can get started. I should ask him first too. Justin? Once the film is complete, I have one year to get the film out to festivals. I'll be a bit more aggressive this time. Maybe get a publicist to help me out. Melayne?

Les Jeux d'Hiver/The Winter Games

I'm compelled to write down a few thoughts about the past 17 days as I have been immersing myself in the Winter Olympics much more than I have in any previous Games. Thanks to Shaw for offering a sweet deal on cable just before the Olympics started. Some highlights:

FIGURE SKATING: I very nearly decided to become a figure skater after watching Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo fly with such power and finesse. Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue gave me goosebumps too when they took gold and more so when I learned they had been skating together since elementary school.

BOBSLED: Canadian women took both gold and silver in their event and then we took bronze in the 4-man. There was a picture in the paper today with one of the bronze medalists without his shirt on and you'd think he was a power lifter.

SKELETON: Jon Montgomery rocks - an auctioneer from rural Manitoba decides that he wants to go the Olympics and so he moves to Calgary and does the skeleton and wins the gold medal! I was pretty choked that Melissa Hollingsworth bombed the event as she was favoured to win Gold. I teach her cousin and she was pretty choked too.

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING: Those short track races are crazy awesome and I don't get it one single bit. The Korean skaters were ruthless, great skaters, but ruthless. One race, the men's 1000 m final, there were five competitors and two of them were Canadian. I thought, "well, we've got to get at least one, right?" The odds were pretty good. The Hamelin brothers got 4th and 5th in that race. Pretty disappointing. It was the only day Canada didn't win a medal too. They redeemed themselves later on in the relay by winning Gold (the older one picked up another Gold too).

SPEED SKATING: Those thighs! Mercy! And Stephen Colbert was dynamite! "Thigh Five!"

FREESTYLE SKIING and SNOWBOARDING: Québecois Alex Bilodeau dominated the moguls for Canada's first gold of the games. The fact that he had his older brother who has cerebral palsy cheering him on was pretty sweet. The ski-cross races were akin to the short track races, except with a bit more elbow room: very exciting! Canada snagged some golds there too.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING: Despite the heartbreaking finish of Devon Kershaw in the 50 km race (he finished fifth, 1.6 seconds behind gold). His interview after the race almost made me cry. 2 hours of hard racing and nothing to show for it. It was tough to see Norway's Marit Bjoergen win her third Olympic silver too.

CURLING: Well, I watched more than what a sane person should watch of curling over these two weeks. I have to say, Canadians can curl! The women's final between Sweden and Canada did not turn out well. Skip Cheryl Bernard made serious errors ends 2, 10 and 11 which cost them the gold. Kevin Martin's crew won 11 games in a row for gold.

HOCKEY: Two gold for Canada. Two silver for United States. Two bronze for Finland. I think it worked out nicely, though the Slovakian team deserved a medal - they had the most heart out there. My sister got to watch the women's final live with her husband. Punks. Canadian men's team delivered some great games, but way too close to the edge for me. My pastor preached on the Canadian Men's Hockey Team and even made it onto CBC's The National on Feb 24. This is his article in the Vancouver Sun.

The Own the Podium slogan rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, I want Canada to win medals, but ultimately, it's the country who puts the most money into its athletes that will win. I didn't see Kazakhstan and other former soviet republics dominating (if you put all the former soviet republics together, they still won only 21 medals when they used to dominate the games under the USSR). I'd love to see a greater camaraderie between nations in helping less fortunate athletes train and work with better equipment - a more equal playing field so to speak. I appreciate that we've never dominated an Olympic games before, so it's fair that it was our turn.

I was amazed at how fast Wikipedia updated after events were won and at the speed times and scores were posted online as they were posted live on TV.

Overall, I think it was the best Olympics I've ever watched.

Wilco (The Concert)

Folk-Roots or Alt-Country or Edge-Rock, there really isn't a way to categorize Wilco, so why bother when you can listen to them!

I got to listen to them live on Tuesday night at the Jubilee (the twin of Edmonton's Jubilee as Wilco mentioned after their opening band Califone did too). Lucky me!

Wilco proved that they can play amazing music generating huge sound on some of the more experimental numbers like Bull Black Nova from their most recent album to some sweet melody like on Jesus, Etc. which they let the audience sing until the middle of verse 2.

UtHC becomes Simple Bites

Head on over to my friend Aimée's new website and follow some instructions to win over $500 worth of kitchen stuff. Inspired to start blogging by yours truly, chef-turned-mom Aimée has built up quite the great following on her blog Under the High Chair and on Twitter.

I've known Aimée since we lived in Montréal and I've been following her foodie blog since 2006. She and her family visited us last summer and she cooked us a sensuous feast.

Impaling the Wazoo

Truly, I'm overinsured!

. . . at home

I have car insurance: $132/mo

I have contents insurance: $13/mo

I have fire insurance: $75/mo

I have life insurance: $57/mo

I have health insurance: (our socialist system at work)

. . . at school

I have disability insurance: $74

I have employment insurance: $82

I have more life insurance: $4

I have more medical insurance: $17

What could possibly go wrong? In fact, I'm paying nearly as much for insurance as I am for food these days to ensure nothing will go wrong.

Superman Face

Blaise: "Wanna see my superman face? It's a little bit angry because I'm being really really strong."

500 Posts

The past 20 months have felt like a century. The past 100 postings have covered topics from

Hide-n-Seek to 4-year-old logic
Rio Dulce to Prince Edward Island to Vancouver
Barack Obama to Ed Stelmach to nearly a Coalition Government
Audi A4 to Greyhound to Bike Day
Commuting to school to a 3800 km trek to back country driving in Guatemala
Leonard Cohen live to Stuart McLean live to U2 live
Revisiting a crosscontinental bike trip to Pugwash after 15 years
Wordles to SweetHome3D to zip.ca
Raffi Cavoukian to Neko Case to Jon Foreman
Inglewood Bird Sanctuary to la Plage de L'Aboiteau to la Planta Hidroeléctrica Chixoy
iMac to the iPod Touch to a Nikon D90
Salomé's cakes to berries to Spring Brook Farm
NHL Hockey to Beijing Olympics to local boxing
Don't Fear the Reaper to Six Feet Under to Uncle Wolf's passing
Shane's wedding to dates with Amber to a wedding anniversary
Just Wages to Alberta violence to people group name use by corporations
Ginger beer to NB wines to water
LifeTouch Photography to Justin Jeffery Photography
Calgary Zoo to New Hope Church to Bearspaw Christian School Volleyball
Microfinance to financial stress to body cleansing
Getting my car stereo online to a dead battery to getting into my gas tank
Top R.E.M. songs to a new song by Charlie Winston to the Weepies

Thanks for reading everyone!

Premier Stelmach makes a point

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach just hired a new director of communications for the Alberta government. When asked about how it would be different, he replied:

"Umm, it'll be better. Uh, better. It'll be better."

Well said, sir.

My Bedroom Office

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we've had occupants in our basement since October, so I was compelled to move my office to my bedroom. What is great is that I prefer my office in my bedroom - it's warmer, it has more light, and I can watch movies/TV shows in bed with my handy Apple Remote.

This past weekend I decided to bring up the last piece of furniture: a large 5X5 foot shelf in which I house my shrine to the Lord of the Rings, blank media, books and file folders of official stuff. I wanted to ensure that our bedroom wouldn't be too cluttered and to see if a different arrangement of the furniture would suit the room better, so I recreated the room and all the furniture in SweetHome3D - a super freeware application.

After meeting Amber's approval, we moved the shelf upstairs and all of its contents and it looks a lot like SweetHome3D predicted:

Locked Out of My Own Gas Tank

A week and a half ago, I pulled into a gas station to fill up and discovered that the little door that covers the gas cap was locked and I had no way of opening it. It is supposed to unlock with the doors and if the key is out of the ignition. I was frustrated, but only until it opened at a gas station closer to our home.

Then I forgot about it.

Until last night when I tried to fill up again and the same thing happened. I got back into the car and hoped it would open at the 7-11 by our house. Still nothing. Oh well, 1/8 of a tank left. It will work in the morning, right?

Except today it wouldn't open either. When I got home from work I proceeded to seek a solution. A friend at work suggested that it was probably just a fuse, so that's where I looked first.

I finally found the fuse box under a panel, left of the steering wheel. None of the fuses were marked as "fuel door lock," so I had to get my Haynes car manual out. I sought out some kind of reference to this pesky problem and finally found it in Chapter 12: Chassis Electrical System as a part of the electrical diagram as "Fuel Tank Door Unlock Switch" and as a Motor on the grid.

Seeing as how everything else on that particular fuse works well, and the fact that the fuse was fine, it clearly was a problem with the switch or the motor.

I am not interested in spending hours on my own or hundreds of dollars at the dealership just to regain access to my gas tank. Plus, who on earth still syphons gas out of cars these days?

So, I broke in. Blaise even offered to be an accomplice by holding the flashlight.

See that little nub in the middle there, that's what I cut off with my Swiss Army Knife. (I love those knives!)

Kyle: 2 for 2

Last Saturday night, I went to Teofista Boxing Club to watch some boxing matches. In particular, I went to see Kyle fight his second fight. Kyle is my sister-in-law's boyfriend and they, along with their baby, have been wintering with us since October. Kyle's first match was earlier this winter and he won in the first round.

This one was no different. His opponent came out strong, but then Kyle went 1 - 2 - 3 and that was it. The ref called the match over because his opponent didn't recover fast enough.

The whole event was really fascinating. There were maybe 200 people there and about 10 match-ups - half of them were exhibition and the headlining heavy weight fight was cancelled because one of the fighters was in jail. There were even ring girls who hoisted cardboard signs reading "Round 2" and "Round 3." It's a whole culture I had never explored before.

So, congratulations Kyle on a spotless record.

Excitement in the Robichaud Home

Yesterday, I purchased an upper-end used vacuum cleaner at a local independent vacuum cleaner store and repair shop. Michael the Romanian made me a pitch I couldn't refuse since my wife was expecting something because we have guests coming today and our old cheapo piece of junk Bissell conked out a week and a half ago.

So, I bought this used Electrolux Ambassador. What I like about it? It's older and sturdier than most everything the same price. And it sucks. Hard.

Top 2009 Movies

Considering I only saw 16 movies that were released in 2009, my pool of top movies is smaller than I wish - especially concerning foreign language films (which are often released later locally). Anyway, here is my list:

7. Fantastic Mr. Fox : both classic Roald Dahl and Wes Anderson

6. 500 Days of Summer : great comedy and hip pathos

5. The Informant! : superb inner dialogue with a sensational plot twist

4. District 9 : witty, gritty and original alien movie

3. The Road : one of the best book adaptations I've seen

2. Up in the Air : a grounding picture for our culture

1. Where the Wild Things Are : visually stunning and emotionally draining

Some that I am still looking forward to seeing: A Single Man, A Serious Man, The Lovely Bones, The Hurt Locker, Nine, Crazy Heart, Brothers, An Education, Invictus, Taking Woodstock, Coco Avant Chanel, and Amreeka.