8-ball and the thrill of competing!

Over the last few weeks I've been working hard at improving my game on the pool table.  Usually I make my way over to a nearby pool hall at lunch and practice for about 45 mins to an hour, for 3 or 4 days a week.  Most of the time, it just involves some fun games with a couple of colleagues. Then on Friday's a few friends will get together and we'll play pool for about 4 or 5 hours after work.  I know it sounds kinda lame, but it's a social activity that I look forward to each week.  Then on Tuesdays I play league and get a bit more time in on the table.  With that kind of time on the table a guy can't help but get better at his game.  


Well, to a point I guess.  You can put in all kinds of hours on the pool table, but if your practice isn't focused then you're just guessing at what it takes to improve your game.  


When I first started playing a couple of years ago, my friend Darren offered to help me with my game.  He plays at an A1/Masters level whereas I'm a lowly B3 player.  His offer of help was timely and very appreciated.  He started me off with drills to improve my stroke and accuracy and gradually introduced some strategy into my game.  With his help I rapidly progressed to the point I could hold my own on a table of my peers even though I couldn't sink balls as easily as they do.  I have kept up with the drills to the point now that my stroke only needs minor tweaking now and then.  I still have some accuracy issues, but my strategy is continually improving.  When I first started playing pool, stringing together a 3 ball run was an impressive thing for me to do.  Over two years my game has progressed but I haven't really been seeking out more knowledge on how to improve my game.  When I played at lunch, I would rarely do any drills or focus on improving anything about my game.  The same would go for the time on the tables on Friday nights.  So if I wasn't actively doing drills, then I wasn't really improving my game at all.


If you know me well, then you know I have a competitive personality.  I love to play and I love to win.  I don't mind losing if I put up a good fight or if my opponent is particularly good.  I don't however, enjoy losing when I know I'm not playing at my best or if I'm not playing to a level that I know I'm capable of.  I tend to get frustrated and angry and often embarrassed that I haven't given my opponent the game he deserves.  When I'm on my game though, I get a real thrill from competing.  I'll start tracking my progress, review stats and start comparing myself to other players that I esteem or think that are better than myself.  I try to keep my comparisons down to people that are in my peer group though.  I know Darren has years of experience on me when it comes to playing pool, so I would never compare my skill level to his.  I do however appreciate the complements he gives me when he recognizes improvement in my game.


2 years ago was approximately the start of my competitive pool playing career (in an amateur capacity of course).  I was the rookie on my team and scoring 25-30 points in a night (out of 40) was a good night for me.  I compared my stats to my fellow team mates all the time, looking forward to the time when I would be the yard stick which everyone would measure themselves by.  I was definitely the most improved player by the end of the first season and you could reasonably assert that I had caught the 'bug' for playing 8-ball. 


Last year my game struggled at the beginning of the season, and although it improved all year, it didn't start coming together for me till the end of the season.  I was successfully applying the lessons that Darren had coached me on and I was beginning to see the table a lot better.  Instead of moving from one ball to the next, I was now looking ahead one ball and basically working on 2 at a time.  I would choose my 1st shot and execution based on where I knew my second shot would be.  In the playoffs I ended up being one of the strongest players and anchored a few games.


This year, my game pretty much picked up where it left off.  I had purchased a new shaft for my cue over the summer and spent a bunch of hours practicing with it before the start of this years league.  A few weeks in to the season, I started getting the itch to improve my game again.  I found that I had new, higher expectations for myself and would get extremely psyched out when game time came around on league nights.  I would get tensed up before playing because I was so hungry to perform at a higher level.  It didn't take long before the results I had seen last season were eluding me on the tables during league night.  Of course when I went out socially on Friday nights or on any other night, I would perform like a champ.  I knew I had some kind of mental block to overcome.  I needed to find a way to take my A-game with me into a league game and not feel the pre game jitters as much.


Being the keener that I am, I decided to invest in myself.  I ordered some books online and started studying some new drills.  I even picked up a book that deals with overcoming the mental part of playing pool.  After reading passages from that book, I realized that if I wanted my game to continue to progress I would have to put in better time on the pool table than just playing a few games with my friends at lunch or on Friday's.  


I have now started taking some time on the table just for myself.  I've also started doing some more focused warm up time before league games too.  I am paying more attention to my shots and trying to analyze what I am doing right and wrong on the table.  Being able to self analyze has really helped my game.  The drills are working on different parts of my game, from accuracy, to ball control and weight control.  My game is really starting to evolve and I'm sinking more balls in a row, often putting down a 4 ball run.  


Two weeks ago I decided that I needed to get some outside evaluation on my game to catch the things that I was missing.  So now on Sunday's Darren and I get together to practice.  As my coach, he's in a better position to evaluate my game and point out areas that I need improvement.  He can also suggest areas of focus and things that I should learn in the next stage of my development.  This is really starting to accelerate my learning.


The reason that I know this is all working out for me is because of the results I'm finally seeing on league nights.  Last night I went out and scored 40 points out of a possible 40.  I won every game.  My last game was as the anchor.  We needed to win by 10-3 or better or we wouldn't win the night.  I ended up winning 10-1 and trounced their best player.  It was a really cool feeling.  When I looked at my stats afterwards and compared them to the rest of my team, I was pleasantly surprised.  Statistically, I am now the best player on our team.  I'm not sure how long that will last for, but I'll take it for right now.  I'm drinking in this moment and really appreciating what it's taken to get me here.  


Only 2 years ago I was the rookie, just happy to play, and now I'm at the top of the food chain on our team.  The best part is that my game continues to improve.  I have a desire to get even better and to play at an A-level some day.  Our team is in a competitive division that awards a trip to Vegas as one of the prizes for winning the year end playoffs.  Everyone on our team is hungry to win it, and I'm sure our team will be in the hunt for it this year, and if not this one, then next year.  I may lose the top spot on our team to someone else next week, but at least for now, I'm a force to be reckoned with on our team.  I may have become that proverbial yard stick, and maybe now someone else is comparing themselves to me! ;o) 

Bad Moon Rising

Looks like Halloween is just around the corner!  I really like this time of the year but unfortunately I haven't done anything in the way of prepping for it yet.  So far, I have yet to get a costume, buy a pumpkin or get any candy for the kids that might knock on my door on Hallow's Eve.  I'm not sure why I'm being such a stick in the mud this year.  I wonder if it's because it seems like none of my friends are doing anything for Halloween and as such I have no where to go this weekend?

Last year, a bunch of us headed over to the Classic Q on Halloween and played pool all night, ate pumpkin shaped cookies, and marveled over some of the costume choices that the other patrons made.  It was a fairly decent way to spend the evening.  I managed to enjoy some good company, and shot pool for free all night!  The Q brought out munchies for everyone to enjoy and near they end they had their costume contest.  The down side was that there were so many people that most of the tables were taken up and that left 8 or 10 of us trying to get time on the one we did manage to secure. 

This year I put the word out to see what everyone is doing and have received nary a response yet.  I wonder if I need to change my cologne?  I shower every day so hopefully it's not an odour issue!  Perhaps it's a personality issue!  Yikes.  That's a little tougher to fix.  I'm guessing that people already have other offers on the table and are hedging their bets to see which one seems like the most fun and will jump on that.  Otherwise I'm sure my friends would be comfortable enough to tell me that they already have something going on.   

I had been contemplating doing something at my place.  I had thought I would invite some people over to carve some pumpkins and just hang out.  Unfortunately no one seems interested in doing anything, let alone pumpkin carving.  It might even be too late at this point to get things going for a night of carving pumpkins.  meh.  The upside is that I won't have to worry about cleaning up pumpkin guts after.

In any case I think I'll at least carve a pumpkin for myself this Saturday.   It can be a tedious process but I do enjoy the results.  I'll make sure to take some pictures and post them here.  I might even pull out a scary movie, pop a batch of my infamous Nacho Popcorn and just chillax.  

In the meantime, here's a couple of links to some nicely carved pumpkins.  I'm not sure that I'll be able to crank out anything so spectacular though! :o) 

Pumpkin Masters Carving 2009 winners: http://bit.ly/aOOf1b

Some Amazing Pumpkin Sculptures: http://bit.ly/aubybT

Some Pop Culture Jack-O-Lanterns: http://huff.to/9q6L5y

Mid October Update

Well, I'm not sure who reads these things, but I figured it was time to post an update and to get myself back in the habit of writing.  :o)  


I know I posted the title as a "mid" October update even though it's already the 20th but heck it still feels like the middle of the month to me.  I guess that's probably because I just got back from a week in McMurray where I spent some time with my mom during Thanksgiving.  It was a nice visit, but I went up there to give my mom a hand with the house again.  There was more work to do in the basement and lots of little chores around the house that mom needed my help for.  It was fairly productive I have to admit.  I managed to help take more stuff to the dump, painted part of her basement, cleaned up her computer cables and tv cables, did a bit more yard maintenance, and even got around to painting a fence.  I think my mom was fairly happy to have some help with that stuff.  


On the way back from my visit in McMurray I managed to stop into Jomaa's Pizza and picked up a couple of pizza subs for my friends Darren and Lori.  Darren had made a request for one so I figured it was the least I could do since they were checking in on my cats for me while I was away.  I had contacted Lori to see what kind of sub she wanted and she figured I was goofing around when I offered to bring her back a Jomaa's sub.  So she played along and put in her order.  Was she ever surprised to find out that I was serious and did in fact pick up a sub for her and Darren.  Priceless! I have to say it was torture driving down to St Albert with 2 freshly made subs in the backseat of my truck!  They almost didn't make it and I was sooo tempted to pull over and satiate my craving!  I do have some discipline though so they made it intact.  


I decided to spend a couple of days in Edmonton though and stay with my sister and her husband in St Albert.  It was nice to visit with them and it gave me an opportunity to hook up with some old friends that live in the area.  Unfortunately not all of them could come out and play but maybe next time when I'm up we can arrange something.  All I can say is that the ones that couldn't make it missed out on a fun night of Karaoke and watching the Flames beat the Oilers! Yaaah baby!


Oh did I happen to mention that I have finally achieved some measure of resolution regarding my Softub?  Yup.  They said I could keep it - on several conditions though.  I have to keep it locked up when not in use - which is not really a big deal.  I just have to get in the habit of doing up the straps.  I also have to submit proof that I'm insured in case of damage or injury.  That bothers me a bit but I guess I don't really have much choice.  It's not that I'm worried about my insurance, but more concerned with the invasion of privacy in having to provide this documentation.  It would be similar to asking every driver on the road to prove to you that they have insurance before you'll drive on the road with them.  meh.  It sticks in my craw but what are you going to do?  I'm not going to "Lawyer up" just because of that.  The last couple/three stipulations basically revolve around the idea that they can revoke my privilege at any time for whatever reason they feel like - giving me only 30 days to get rid of it if they don't want me to have it.  I'm guessing that if I don't rock the boat, then I shouldn't have any trouble in that area.  In the meantime, I'll just finish my reno's and get the place ready to sell so I can buy a house and be done with condo boards!


Something interesting that happened this week was the civic election.  Calgary managed to elect their first Muslim mayor into office.  Personally I could care less what his religion was as long as he had my best interests at heart and helped the city to prosper.  I guess it's still an issue for some people though.  I'm not sure who exactly since he captured over %40 of the vote!  It was also a great year for voter turn out too.  Over ~%50 of eligible Calgarians turned out to vote. I guess that means 1 out of every 2 people cast a ballot!. wow.  That's impressive considering that in 2007 we only had ~30% voter turnout and in 2004 we had less than ~20% turnout.  


Mayor Nenshi ran a good campaign though and I think he deserves to take a crack at the top job.  I hope he does well. *fingers crossed*  Maybe he'll see fit to lower my taxes.  A guy can hope right? 

On the horizon looms Halloween.  I'm thinking of hosting a pumpkin carving event at my place again.  I wonder if I can get anyone interested in coming over to try their hand at a sculpted creation.  I have lots of patterns to take a shot at it with!  I'll let you know if this actually goes ahead.   If you happen to have any links to some good pumpkin carving patterns, please let me know, I'm always looking for some good ones!  Maybe this year I'll figure out how to use my dremel to do a pumpkin like this Monty Burns one! ;o) 

Kayaking on the Bow

I have to admit when my friend Darren asked if I was interested in Kayaking on Sunday, I was a little concerned that the weather might be a little shitty to be paddling around on the river in the cold and rain.  Luckily I have faith that anything Darren thinks might be fun, usually turns out that way.  So despite the forecast for being overcast with a chance of rain, I hustled my ass and rounded up all my kayaking gear so I could join him and his wife out on the Bow for a day of fishing and floating down the water.  It turned out to be a pretty nice for being out in my Yak.  We enjoyed +17 despite the fact that it was overcast most of the day.  In fact as we crossed under the bridge at 22x, the sun started blazing.

It's amazing how the look of a river can change so dramatically as the seasons change.  It was really something to be out there and see all the fall colors out in full force.  I really wish we had more red in our trees to offset some of the overwhelming yellow's and oranges that we get, but that's not to say our fall colors lack anything in the beauty department for a lack of red.  It was so nice just to float and take in the scenery around me.  The river did most of the work and carried me along while I was gently bobbing along in my kayak.  For an hour after I got off the river, I still felt the gentle rocking motion of the boat.

Luckily the river was kind to me yesterday and finally rewarded me with a fish!  Yes that's right!  After casting my line out over a thousand times over the summer I finally caught something!  Oh wait.  I caught a fish when I was at Buffalo Lake at the beginning of August but that one didn't put up much of a fight compared to this one.  This trout was a beauty, at least 12 inches and I had it jumping out of the water on the end of my line!  I pulled it right in to the boat and as I was reeling it in, it slipped the hook and swam free.  Ah well, I'm ok with that.  Yesterday was about catch and release anyway.  I wasn't planning on taking him home with me, although I'm sure my cats would have loved that! :o)

Now that we're deep into Autumn and I've had my last taste of the water for a while, I'm already eager for next year to come around.  I have a few more modifications I'd like to do to my kayak and then it will be a great recreational fishing craft!  The most important change will be the addition of drain plugs at either end.  I'm tired of the hassle it takes to try and get all the water out of my yak when I come off the river.   This little green fishing kayak of mine has been a great learning experience.  I'm sure at some point I'll upgrade to a newer model and hopefully by then I will have figured out all the features I really enjoy and want in a kayak. ;o)  Till then, I guess I'll have to enjoy my winter hobbies!

Oh and before I let you go, here's a link to a little YouTube montage of all the pics and video I took while I was out on the river!   Enjoy! http://bit.ly/9vsK64

My week? Ok. My Cousins week? Not so good

My week started out pretty good, and then I got to work.  On Monday I found out my cousin was admitted to the hospital and later diagnosed with a pretty serious condition.  He's a real trooper though and has managed to keep a very positive outlook throughout the week.  I'm real proud of his maturity (he's only 21) and the way he's handled the news.  The doctors are hopeful too, which helps a lot.  If the treatment works, then the worst he can expect is to have to take some expensive medication for the rest of his life.  I don't even want to think about the alternative.

So far the meds they're giving him are helping so there is lots to be positive about given the nature of his condition.  I'm just really glad that his mom is there for him, and he's got a lot of good friends checking in on him. I've got my fingers (and toes!) crossed and I'm saying all the prayers I know for him.  He could use a little extra help right now.  So if you have some extra prayers tucked away, just send 'em to Jason's cousin.  Thanks. :o)

My thoughts are with you Cuz'.

A great night at league

I don't know why I get so nervous when I go out to play 8 ball on our league nights.  Yet, every time I'm out, my heart races in anticipation of proving that I'm a half decent pool player.  In reality it shouldn't even matter how I do during the regular season.  Our regular season actually doesn't mean much as far as the standings go.  Unless you're in first place, then the stats are not particularly relevant.  In the end every team ends up in the playoffs and everyone makes it into the money.  The best teams will go on to win Vegas trips, so there is motivation to do well in the playoffs.  Which means that playing in a regular league night is nothing more than an opportunity to have fun, and earn some bragging rights with your teammates and opposing players.  Why do I feel like I'm playing for the world cup then?

I don't know to be honest.  I think it's a combination of several things.

• I am a very competitive player, no matter what the sport is.  To be more specific though, I'm very competitive with myself.  If I think I could have done better, I get very mad at myself.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well and do not like it when I under perform.  I put in a lot of hours practicing during the week between games.  I focus on improving my game and do plenty of drills to help bring up my abilities.  I even have a coach to help me out.  With this invested effort that pays dividends between games, I feel that it should also show up on league night.  I know I'm improving and I can see it in my practice, so I want to make sure it's not wasted effort and have it prove itself on the table during league night too!
• I also want to make sure I don't let my team down.  Yes I know the games don't mean anything during regular season, but our team gets pretty pumped when we win and often quite down when we loose.  I want to make sure I'm a top contributor so I guess there's pressure to do well from my team.
• I don't want to embarrass myself on the table in front of my peers and opponents that I play against.  I want them to know that I belong in this division and that I even though I'm a fun guy to play against, I'm also a decent competitor who has earned the right to play at this level.  I don't want to be "that guy" everybody knows.  The one who they feel is an automatic walkover. 
• We also play with a low man rule.  This means if you're the low man for the night, you have to sit the next night.  I love to play, so I don't want to sit.  That means I have to shoot better than the next guy/girl on my team.
• As part of being a competitive person, I also have the desire to be at the top of the pack as well.  I want to be the best player on our team.  I like the knowledge of being the best player on the team even though there is added pressure that comes with that.  I love reading the stats from week to week and seeing my number go up and up.  It's fun having a rivalry with 1 or 2 or 3 players on my team.  It makes us all strive to be better which I think is pretty normal for a competitive person or team.

So with all these things contributing to the excitement I get when I go to play pool, it definitely has an effect on how well I do.  I find that my heart races, and my muscles tense up.  It affects the way I hold the cue, and how well I stroke the ball.  My aim is affected and my shots start to falter.  Once I start playing poorly, I start to loose confidence in my ability and it just magnifies the problem.  The mental game really gets to me.  I think once I master the mental game, I'll be master on the pool table as well.  When I play from a calm and confident place, I actually play very well.  

Knowing all of this makes last night's league night a moral victory for me.  Out of a possible 40 points I managed to score 35 last night.  This means I also won 3 out of the 4 games I played in.  Not only did I win 3 of the 4, but in the game that I lost, I was only 3 balls shy of winning that game too.  I was only 3 balls shy of having a perfect night on the score board.  

I have a lot to be happy about as far as my performance goes.  To be fair the team we played last night was not as strong as the previous teams we've played this year.  However, despite the fact that they did not run us out on every game, I still played well enough that I would have beaten anyone from the previously played teams as well. I moved the ball around on the table nicely, and I executed my game plan on the table well, and I made the shots I needed to when it was important to do so.  I made some great safeties to retain control of the table and I made some difficult shots to get myself out of trouble when I was in a tough spot.  I played well and it was reflected in my scores.

I should be able to retain my 7 average and possibly even jump it up to a 7.5.  I also ended up being top player on our team for the night.  I think my stats overall are moving in the right direction.  I need to build on this momentum now and continue to shoot well.  As Darren (my coach) says, the more often I play under pressure situations, the more I will be comfortable with it and as a result the more often I will do well, and improve as a player.  I need to play under pressure more often to learn how to deal with it and improve as a player.  I think I'm getting there.  I'm already looking forward to next Tuesday! 

Another weekend in the books

The weekend turned out to be a pretty good one!

Friday night I went over to the Classic Q and played a bit of 9 ball and a lot of 8 ball.  I'm not sure if my game improved or not, but hopefully the time I put in on the table has a cumulative effect and starts to show improvement in my game again. I found a few drills in my book (Phil Capelle's - Play your best eight ball) that I'd like to try out.  I just have to find some time on a table by myself where I can actually run through some of them. I'm finding that when other people join me to play some 8 ball, I don't focus on improving my game all that much.  I tend to play with winning in mind instead of practicing and improving my shot (at the expense of winning the game).  Certainly playing 8 ball can give me more experience but I need to be highly focused on my shot making and my shot choices.  If I play someone in 8 ball and I make a poor shot, I don't get to set it up and try again, like I would if I were just doing drills.  Don't get me wrong, drills can get boring in a hurry but they sure accelerate the learning curve.

I think if I play 8 ball against someone in practice, I'm going to have to start finding ways to add pressure so that I get more accustomed to that aspect of play.  I think one of the ways for me to simulate the pressure of a game is to play in a tournament once in a while.  I think this will mean that I need to spend waaaay more time on the table.

This has also prompted me to start thinking about ways I can put in a table at home.  When I first measured my basement and decided that it wouldn't work. I was measuring for a 5x10 table and with the rails added on plus the extra room needed around the table, there just wouldn't be enough room.   That definitely won't fit in the basement space that I have available.  However, it occurred to me yesterday that I could still practice on a 3.5 by 7.   So I started the calculations.  Add a foot for rails, so now the table is actually 4.5 by 8.  I also have to make sure I have room for a cue to fit all the way around.  That means 5 feet added to those numbers.  When went down again to measure the basement I had a 8.5x12 space in mind and thought that this could actually work.  Then I realized that I need 5 feet *ALL* the way around not just on 2 sides.  so my numbers are more like 13.5 by 17.  I think I could still make that work though.  There would be 2 poles in the way though (a plumbing stack and a support beam).  So if I can live with that, then maybe a table in the basement could actually work!

Just for shits and giggles, I went on the internet and checked out used bar tables (3.5x7) and actually found one for 20 bucks in Edmonton.  It was pictured unassembled but even if it was missing a few parts I'm sure I could source them and still have a working table afterwards for well under the going used rate of a 1000 dollars. The only problem is that I would have to buy and store the table before Friday this week.  Did I mention that it's in Edmonton?   Yeah, I'm not that motivated.  I'm sure another deal will pop up before I'm ready to put in a table.

If I did put in a table, I'd have to sacrifice my other plans for my "man cave".  I don't think I could reasonably put in a couch and a couple of chairs as well as my big screen TV, plus fit in my elliptical trainer as well.  Hmmmm decisions decisions.  I think I might just wait on the table and focus on buying a house next year. ;o)

Anyway... I woke up early this morning and snapped this picture of a beautiful September sky.  I think it's going to be a good week!

A nice looking weekend ahead!

Well, it's Friday again and this time the weekend has some nice temperatures waiting for us on the horizon.  +16 today, +21 tomorrow and +22 by Sunday.  I should have planned to take the trailer out to do some camping but alas I think I'll end up prepping it for winter storage instead.  It also would be a good weekend to take the bike out for a spin in the mountains, but again, it makes more sense for me to prep it for storage too.  Still, I have plenty of other things to do this weekend that will still allow me to take advantage of the great weather.   I haven't had the kite up all summer so I think that will be on the agenda, and I do have some yard work to do as well.  I can also see some grilling happening tomorrow too.  Lots of fun!

A Weekend in McMurray

Well, I survived a weekend up in Fort McMurray.  :o)  I went up to visit my mom and to help her around the house as she prepares her condo for sale.  As much as I never want to live in McMurray again, it's still nice to visit, at least when the weather is nice, and to see all the changes that have happened to my childhood home.

Alberta experienced rain almost everywhere in the province over the weekend but in McMurray we had sunny days with +12 to +14 degrees.  The leaves on the trees were well on their way to turning orange and yellow.  There were plenty of them on the ground too.  As you arrive in the city, the scenic approach down the valley in to the downtown core is highlighted with the different colors in the trees.  There was plenty of contrast between the various shades of green, yellow and orange.  Very pretty in a fall sort of way.

There is still plenty of construction going on in Ft McMurray too.  Progress continues on the overpass at the bottom of Thickwood Blvd and there is a new overpass being constructed at the bottom of Confederation Way.  The new bridge nears completion too, but I wonder if they will hang on to the old green bridge or if they will just pull it down.  Housing is expanding as well.  I was amazed at how much development has gone on in the north part of the city.  As you travel up Confederation Way, you can see more and more houses, apartment buildings, and infrastructure springing up on either side of you.  I think the last time a census was done, the population was pegged at ~ 80,000 people.  I imagine it's still pretty close to that number now.  Oh and they completed a ring road of the downtown core along the Snye.  There are tons of apartment buildings springing up along the banks there too.

One of the new things a visitor has to get used to in McMurray is the ban on providing plastic bags to customers when they go shopping.  In an effort to be more eco friendly, the city has decided to ban the use of the disposable plastic bags that are provided to you when you purchase goods.  An example would be the bags that Safeway gives you when you go shopping. Everywhere you go, you must provide your own bags or purchase one of the reusable kind from the store you're at.  That was a little weird to get used to - especially when you're at Canadian Tire with armful of stuff and have to buy a reusable cloth bag that you probably won't need outside of McMurray.  Oh sure, I could use it here in Calgary when I go shopping but the convenience of letting the store provide me with a free bag far outweighs the hassle of bringing a cloth bag with me everywhere I go just in case I might like to buy something.  Needless to say I looked a little weird carrying out an armful of goods (unbagged) from Canadian Tire.  I'm just glad they didn't ask me to fish out my receipt from my pocket on the way out of the store.  Now that would have been tricky.

I was glad for the nice weather for more than the pleasant atmosphere it provided while I was visiting.  It allowed me to help my mom take care of some much needed outdoor chores as well.  I managed to mow, rake and clean up her front and back lawn.  I also managed to paint her flower boxes, front railing and divider, as well as her garbage bin that sits street side.  I think those two activities alone helped with her curb appeal.  On the inside, we spent some time installing a new printer for her, cleaning up her basement, as well as setting up some new bedding on the beds in her guest rooms.  Since I had some extra time we made a run to the dump to get rid of some excess stuff she had been hanging on to as well I managed to take her car to the car wash.  Nothing major, but all the little things add up and I hope I was able to help her out with the time I had for her.  In between chores we even managed to get in a nice visit!

Did I mention that my mom went out of her way to make me a nice home cooked meal to celebrate my 40th birthday with?  She even provided a nice cake with strawberries and whipped cream for me to!  Delish!  My sister sent up a bunch of gag gifts for me to open (in addition to a few genuine presents too).  Among them was a cane, a pair of "seeing impaired glasses" - ala Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys, and a toque to remind me that I can still be badass even though I'm 40 now.  I've always felt that age was more of an attitude than a number, but saying that I'm 40 outloud, just creeps me out. lol.

I know there is a bunch of stuff still left to tackle, but I plan to go up again in October to spend some more time on the things that I missed.  Hopefully this all helps to sell her place quicker so that she can move closer and the visits won't have to be so far and few between.

Heading up to the Mac

Well, I had originally hoped to visit with my mom in McMurray towards the end of August but unfortunately that trip was cut short when my sunroof exploded on me.  I ended up turning around and coming back to Calgary to get that fixed and of course didn't get a chance to visit my mom.  So this weekend I'm trying again.

I'm heading up to St Albert and then from there making my way up to McMurray to finally get in that visit.  For you potential thieves out there, I should warn you that I have someone looking after my place while I'm away and I have really good neighbors!  *waggles finger at neer-do-wells*

As much as I enjoy visiting my mom, this trip will be primarily a working one.  She needs some help doing some yard maintenance and there is a basement that needs some attention as well.  I'm told she has a long list of things for me to tackle so hopefully I can get a lot of that squared away for her.  Who knows, maybe the little things we accomplish will be the things that help sell her place to a prospective buyer!  I'd love it if my mom were able to move to St Albert by Christmas!

In any case, I'll get to try out my fancy new iPod adapter on the way up.  I picked up a Nissan accessory that will interface my iPod with my truck stereo head unit.  So I can plug in the ipod and change songs using my steering wheel controls and it plays directly through my stereo instead of using an FM transmitter.  The only problem is that it doesn't charge my ipod while playing.  The charging feature will work on some older models so I just have to track down an older ipod to take advantage of that. Should be a nice bonus for my trip in any case! :o)

Now the only thing I have to do is arrange some nice weather with Mother Nature.  The forecast for my travel days looks pretty glum. *sigh*  Hopefully I don't encounter any "frozen precipitate" along the way. ;o)

Back in the groove

Just a quick update today.  Played pool last night for league at our home bar (Coach & Horses) and had a great night!  I made some really great shots, played some tricky safety's when I needed to and made the 8 when it counted.  I played really well.  Out of a possible 40 points I scored 34 and won 3 of 4 games.  I'm pretty happy!  I hope my game keeps getting better and better.

Happy 40th Birthday to Me!!

I have successfully completed another lap around the sun!  It's my 40th trip around and I have to tell you the sights and sounds are always new and exciting.  The great thing is, there's still plenty to see and do!  Unfortunately I don't have any specific plans for today as far as celebrations go.  Tonight I will head out to league night for pool and hopefully shoot the lights out!  I'm going to enjoy a greasy breakfast, maybe leave work early, and I'm going to treat myself to a steak for supper tonight.  I might even get myself a cupcake and throw a candle on it! lol :o)  My good friend Christian always remembers my birthday and despite the fact that our schedules don't mesh this week, he's promised we'd do something next week to mark the occasion.  I can always count on him! ;o) Overall I'd have to say that it's been a pretty good year.  No major train wrecks and I'm still enjoying the green side of the grass so I'm thinking that's a good thing!

A little game of "Freak out the Cats"

It was finally time to do a thorough cleaning of my carpets in my place.  I am your typically bachelor and tend to leave things till it's absolutely necessary to do them.  Oh don't get me wrong, I run a vacuum fairly regularly over my carpets but I hadn't taken a steam cleaner to them since I bought the place over 6 years ago.  I know, I know... I should do it way more often.  


What amazes me though, is that despite doing a thorough clean with a Rug Doctor I rented from Safeway, my carpets didn't actually look any cleaner.  I mean, I sucked up tons of dirt with that thing and probably could repeat my efforts again today and still get just as much dirt out of them but they didn't look any brighter as a result.  I'm glad that I rented that heavy contraption though, my rugs definitely needed it.  


My cats however probably wish that I didn't.  As soon as I rev'd up that baby, they disappeared like animals fleeing a wildfire.  They hid in the basement and didn't come out till well after their supper time.  I think their hunger finally overcame their fear and around 7pm they were meowing and rubbing up against my legs as they do whenever they're read to eat.  Plus it helps that I had already been done cleaning for a couple of hours by time they realized they were hungry.  It'll be a few days before they embrace me as their loving master again. 


The only thing that I have to worry about now is make sure I wear my slippers for a day or two.  I've already soaked a couple pairs of socks on the damp (but clean!) carpet. lol.   

Friday Night Aerosmith

Damn that Steven Tyler can still rock it out!  The dude puts on an amazing show and I was lucky enough to be there last night to catch it!  It was a birthday gift to myself and well worth it.  They even had a great opening act - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.  She might be past her prime as far as her rock career goes, but she can still get em to shake their asses in their seats.  It wasn't just the 'seasoned' listener like myself that enjoyed the show last night, the demographic had people enjoying the show from 18 to 60.

I must admit I'm not a regular concert goer, but I have enjoyed some good shows in the past.  I have to come to expect the sights and sounds that go on at a show of this size, even the casual pot smoker is something you'll experience at every show.  I was expecting to see more topless girls but I guess they have their standards and don't flip it up for the aging sixty year olds that were up on stage anymore.  It's either that or security was locking that down pretty good.  However security did miss the antics that were going on right next to me.

There were a couple of very young girls hanging out next to me on my left and they were absolutely hammered.  So that might explain why they were allowing the young boys to grind up against them during the show.  If the girls were blotto, then the boys were just about a couple stages past them. The blonde had taken off with her date to get more to drink leaving her friend in the white shorts to entertain her date.  At one point the girl in the tight white shorts was making out with a slimy kid right next to me.  It wasn't long before they stopped watching the concert completely and sat back in their seats to play some full on tonsil hockey.  When I looked over the next time, the young kid had his hand down her shorts, zipped open to her crotch and was furiously playing with the little man in the canoe.  It wasn't long before she shuddered, zipped up her shorts and then they both got up and left - presumably to find a nice quiet bathroom to finish what they started.  I'm not sure what happened after that but they never returned.

I'm sure Steven Tyler didn't need any of the second hand aroma to help him get his buzz on for the concert.  He brought his own fun with him and was absolutely stoned throughout the concert.  The closeups on the big screen showed him barely able to focus on what was going on around him.  It was funny to watch his band mates look on in amusement, although I'm sure many of them were just as gonzo.

Joey Kramer (the drummer) had a solo at one point during the concert so that the other members of the band could take a quick break. He was stellar and at one point Steven Tyler came out momentarily to bang on the drums with him.  It didn't look like Joey was too impressed that Steve was horning in on his solo though. lol After furiously rocking out on the drums, Joey tossed his sticks out into the audience and proceeded to hammer away at the drums with the back of his hands with just as much skill as he did with the sticks. It was amazing to watch.

Later in the night, Joe Perry did a Guitar Rock off with - himself!  They had his Guitar Hero Avatar up on the screen playing recorded licks for the game while Joe lit up his strings with his stunning answer.  Needless to say Joe won that competition! lol  The band also paid tribute to Joe Perry and helped him  celebrate his birthday in Calgary on the night of this concert.  Some taped messages were played to him from friends and colleagues in the music industry.  I'm not sure anyone understood what Jimmy Page said but it sounded like the boys from Kiss were trying to recruit him into their band.  Even one of the guys from ZZ Top sent a shout out to Perry.  It was pretty awesome to watch.  Then Joan Jett and Tyler brought out a birthday cake for Perry and the entire crowd sang him happy birthday.  Afterwards the band did a number that they almost never do live - a song from a 1976 album called Combination.  Joe Perry did the lead vocals on this song.  It was pretty cool to watch.

The show wrapped up with a 2 song encore and the crowd stood on its feet for the entire show.  It was a great way to celebrate my 40th birthday!

Here's the set list for the concert:

1. Same Old Song and Dance 
2. Train Kept A-Rollin' (Tiny Bradshaw cover) 
3. No More No More 
4. Love in an Elevator 
5. Jaded 
6. Livin' on the Edge 
7. What It Takes 
8. Pink 
9. Last Child 
10. Cryin' 
11. Drum Solo by Joey Kramer (fricken awesome!)
12. Rag Doll 
13. Joe Perry Guitar Battle (after which they celebrated Joe’s Birthday)
14. Combination (Joe Perry did the vocals on this one) 
15. I Don't Want To Miss a Thing 
16. Come Together (The Beatles cover) 
17. Sweet Emotion 
18. Draw the Line 
19. Encore:

19. Dream On 
20. Walk This Way 

Also a link to some more highlights from the concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0-0KXBc2M

TGIF

Well, my 40th birthday is coming up.  Yup - Sept 14. Hard to believe I'm already at 40.  It's going to be a low key event.  I'll probably come home, flop on the couch and order myself some pizza and a cupcake. :o) lol.  I usually don't make a big deal of my birthday so not many people realize when it comes and goes.  Business as usual. meh. I'm not fazed by it.  On the plus side, tonight I am going to go see Aerosmith.  My first time seeing them in concert!  It may even be the last time they tour as the Aerosmith we know today.  I'm guessing after this tour is done, Steven Tyler will move onto other things and the band will have to replace him with another singer.  If that happens the band will no longer be the same.  They're too old for a reunion concert so this is it!  A Friday night concert will be my birthday treat to myself. ;o)

As far as the Softub goes, no news is good news I guess.  I did get a hold of the condo manager yesterday and she didn't give a reason for the lack of an invite to the meeting.  She seemed upbeat about the potential outcome though and suggested that they are still investigating liability.  We'll have to see how this turns out.  I've got my fingers crossed but the anxiety is really taking it's toll.

Softub drama continues

Well, last night was the condo board meeting to decide the fate of my Softub.  I had requested an invitation to attend the meeting last Thursday but did not hear anything back from the management company with regards to their decision to let me attend.  In fact they had my cell number and I was available to go on a moments notice if they had opened up the meeting for me to be there.  I'm not sure if the fact that I didn't get an invite is good or bad news.

On the one hand, they may have felt that they were going to rule against me no matter what, and having me there would have made them uncomfortable making that decision right in front of me.  They may not have wanted me there to 'cause trouble' and so it might have been better to deny my request to attend.  On the other hand, perhaps they had already decided that they were going to allow my Softub and the meeting would just be a formality.  Allowing me to attend would have been a waste of my time in that case.

Either way I personally find it unprofessional to not respond to my request.  They could have given me some advance notice so that I would not be waiting around for a phone call on a Wednesday night.  I would not have spent my evening wondering whether or not I would get a chance to contribute to my cause and speak to support my case for keeping my hot tub.  Certainly this board lacks the finer touches of consideration at times.

In any case, I still don't know if I get to keep my Softub or not.  I wait for the reply and perhaps this afternoon I will call the condo management company to see how things turned out and if nothing else get an explanation for why I was not allowed to attend the meeting last night.  *sigh*  The stress continues.

1st League night of the year

Well, our team - "Under the Influence" - played our first league night for the new 8-ball pool season.  I was pretty stoked to get out there and show off all the practice I had been doing over the summer.  I had been playing pool fairly regularly on Friday nights during the last 4 months and my game had been steadily coming up. Sadly it was all for naught last night.  I played dismally. :o(   Out of a possible 40 points I only captured 22.  I got blown out in one game 10-2.  yikes!  In my last bid to win a game I accidentally pocketed the 8 ball before it was supposed to go down.  *sigh*.  It looks like I need more practice.  I think my excitement and nerves got the best of me.  I know I'm a better pool player than that I just have to show it!  Ok. Next week will be better.  At least I got that crappy shooting out of the way and no one really cares what you do in your first game of the year anyway.  It's the last games of the year, when you're in playoffs that really matter.

September Long weekend at the Lake

Long weekends during the summer are my favourite!  This past weekend I was out at Buffalo Lake with friends again and despite the weather we had a great time.  For me it was particularly enjoyable since it was the first time out with my new (to me) tent trailer! :o) Man what a treat compared to setting up my old tent.  I'm really looking forward to camping next summer.    We had a blast playing cards, poker, dice.  Some of the guys ended up going golfing and Dezzy picked up this funky hat with the frosted hair.  Doesn't he look like Guy Fieri from the "Minute to Win It" show?

Now that September is here I don't imagine that I'll be doing much more camping, but it was still nice to get out in my tent trailer at least once this year.  I think I'll have to make a couple more modifications to it too.  I foresee an additional rack bar getting mounted on top so that I can accommodate some kayaks on top.  I'll probably end up getting a new water pump to replace the manual one, and I may investigate the cost of replacing the ice box with an actual refrigerator too. I'm really looking forward to next year now. :o)

Here's Dez with the cool hat/hair combo












And here's Guy Fieri from "Minute to Win It".

A bit of catch up!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything on here and I've been getting some feedback that people actually do read my blog and are interested in what I've been up to!  Huh?  Go figure! :o) So with that in mind I guess it's time to play catch up and give a bit of an update!

Camping:

The weather has been pretty crappy this summer so I've only been out a couple of times.  I managed to head out to Kananaskis with some good friends of mine - Dez and Steph.  It was awesome being in the mountains and I even managed to take my Kayak out to do a little paddling around on the upper lakes. :o)

Then at the beginning of August I was invited out with my friends Darren and Lori to go out to Buffalo lake and spend some time at the cottage that Ken and Michelle have there.  I did a bit more Kayaking and even managed to get a fish up to the side of my boat too!  Finally some success!

This weekend I'm heading out again (Sept Long) and will be going out to the cottage again, but this time I'll be rocking my new tent trailer!  Finally, no more sleeping on the ground.  I'm happy with the time I've spent tenting and it was a great time, but I'll be so happy not to have to shuffle camping gear in and out of my house any more and to be able to sleep off the ground for a change.  Awesome!






Motorcycle Trips:

None.  Shitty weather. Nuff said.

Kayaking:

I've actually managed to get out quite a bit on the kayak this year.  I took it out July Long Weekend out to the Upper Lakes in Kananaskis.  Then I spent a few days out on it enjoying a leisurely float down the Bow River.  Man there is nothing like floating in the sun with your fishing rod hanging off the side, and good friends next to you and the occasional bite on the line.  Did I mention that I took the Yak up to Buffalo Lake for the August long weekend too?  Yup.  Love my Kayak.



Expenses:

Well, I was on my way up to the Mac to visit my mom and help her with the house when disaster struck!  Yes, my sunroof exploded!  Wow.  I was in shock when it happened.  Sounded like a huge rock thrown by a big hay truck coming the other way.  I think it ricocheted off my roof rack cross bar and down into the sun roof.  A huge bang and then shattered glass and a hole in my roof.  *sigh*  Luckily I wasn't hurt but it did punch me in my bank account.  It felt like someone hauled off and kicked me in the nards.  $800.00 bucks to replace it.  ouch.  So I decided to get my windshield done at the same time and of course an oil change just to put the cherry on top.  A thousand bucks later and I'm crying myself to sleep.  Darn it.  Needless to say I didn't make it up to McMurray to visit my mom since it was supposed to rain on the weekend (big surprise) and they didn't have anyone up there that could fix it for me.  Grrrr.

Also decided to sell my tonneau cover and get myself a nice little roll-n-lock cover instead.  That was a few bucks too.  I only snagged a couple hundred for the old fiber glass cover and the new roll-n-lock cost me close to a grand.  At least that was an investment I was happy to make.

Toys!:

Well, I had to do it.  I had been planning and saving for a long time.  I replaced my iPhone 3G with a new 'factory unlocked' iPhone 4 from Apple.  Wow what an improvement.  Lightening fast, awesome screen resolution, and full iOS 4.02 functionality.  I love it. I sold my old phone for 200 bucks believe it or not.  Amazing.

Also just picked up a new ipod connector for my truck.  This fun little toy will let me control my ipod music right from my steering whee controls and the display track and song title via my radio.  This is going to be a handy little toy!

Trauma.

Well it looks like the "powers that be" at my condo board want to take away my Softub.  I've had it for 2 years now and they have decided it has to go.  The by-laws recently changed and they now state that a hot tub is not allowed anywhere on condo property.  The new by-laws came into effect in May.  They sent me the letter at the end of August and I've had my softub since Aug 2008.  I think I have a good chance of keeping in some sort of grandfather clause but we'll see.  The board meets on Wednesday to decide.  I'll keep you posted.

Ok.  That's most of the good stuff.  If I think of more I'll let you know.  Until then here's a recent picture of me.

Ciao!

PS: don't forget to follow me on twitter:  http://twitter.com/Smudged :o)

Apple's WWDC June 7

Apple WWDC, or as it's spelled out - Apple World Wide Developer's Conference - is coming up and scheduled for early June.  Just a little over a week and a half away, we'll get to see what Steve Jobs (or Stevie as I like to call him) is going to unleash upon the world this time.

Unfortunately for Stevie, someone let one of his cats out of the bag.  Have you ever tried putting the cat back in the bag? No?  Well I'm sure you can guess that you'll look like if you try.  You'll likely need some iodine by the time you're done.  Not fun.

Well, someone got their hands on the latest prototype for the next generation iPhone and leaked all the juicy details to the world.  They kinda stole Stevie's thunder.  I'm guessing he's all kinds of pissed about that.  As a result he no longer has a big announcement to unveil at WWDC.  Oh sure he'll still talk about it but it's not going to have the same impact that it would have had otherwise.

Now, if you're not familiar with the WWDC, let me fill in some background info for you.  Since the iPhone's inception, good old Stevie has been telling people about the next generation of his phone at every WWDC since the first one.  We're at the point now, that everyone kind of expects news of the next gen iPhone to be announced each year in June at the WWDC.  So the fact that Steve Jobs isn't going to surprise anyone with news of a another coveted version of the  iPhone is rather a moot point.  Even if the 4th generation iPhone hadn't been leaked, everyone was still expecting some sort of news to be announced at the conference this year (just like every other year).

Ok, to be fair, Mr Jobs would still have had the fun of showing off all the flashy new features.  The same features that pundits have been speculating and guessing about for months now are the ones that Stevie would have had the chance to gloat over.  Do you suppose that the leaked information of the new iPhone will affect sales at all?  Nope.  At least not if you ask me.  I think sales will be just as robust as when the 3GS was released.  The Apple stock will climb after WWDC and everyone will make piles of money from their stock!  Steve Jobs wins again!

So what would make the conference exciting despite a loose cat roaming the halls of the WWDC?  Well, there has been some speculation that Apple will announce the availability of the iPhone on another competing carrier to AT&T.  The good money is on Verizon, but others have also suggested that T-Mobile and their GSM network could be a contender.  News of a competitor to AT&T at this conference would definitely help restore Steve's thunder.

Now, I am not a Mac owner but I understand that the Mac OS X is due for an update.  I've heard speculation that Apple might be looking to emulate the success they've had with their iPhone and iPad by adapting touch screen technologies into the next release.  If that should happen, I might actually be more inclined to pick up a Macbook then.  

Shhhh don't tell Yvonne, she'll likely do some twirling and not be able to stop.  There's no telling what will happen if she can't find a way to stop. ;o)

A touch screen interface and an O/S that that is very similar to that of the iPad would indeed be big news.  Now that would be cool to see a demo of that in action!  I wonder if it's too late to get an invite to this years WWDC?

Ok... so those are a couple of thoughts that I had about the upcoming conference, now it's your turn to chime in and share what you know.  Feel free to comment below. ;o)

My Picks for UFC 114

Ok, here is the Card for Saturday's fights with my picks in brackets.  Most of these are just Wild Ass Guesses so we'll see how far my hunches go this time around.  For the record, if you're a betting man, you'd probably win lots of money if you picked the opposite of what I jotted down as my track record is terrible as far as fight predictions go.

Main card

Light Heavyweight bout:  Quinton Jackson vs.  Rashad Evans (Rashad Evans by TKO in the 2nd round)

Middleweight bout:  Michael Bisping vs.  Dan Miller (Bisping over Miller split decision)

Heavyweight bout:  Todd Duffee vs.  Mike Russow (Duffe over Russow by KO - 1st round)

Light Heavyweight bout:  Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs.  Jason Brilz (Little Nog over Brilz unanimous decision)

Welterweight bout:  Diego Sanchez vs.  John Hathaway (Sanchez over Hathaway via submission in 2nd round)

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Welterweight bout:  Amir Sadollah vs.  Dong Hyun Kim (Sadollah over Kim via decision)

Lightweight bout:  Efrain Escudero vs.  Dan Lauzon (Lauzon over Escudero via decision)

Preliminary card

Lightweight bout:  Melvin Guillard vs.  Waylon Lowe (Guillard over Lowe - KO in 2nd round)

Light Heavyweight bout:  Luiz Cane vs.  Cyrille Diabaté (Cane over Diabate - TKO 1st round)

Lightweight bout:  Aaron Riley vs.  Joe Brammer (Riley over Brammer via decision)

Middleweight bout:  Ryan Jensen vs.  Jesse Forbes (Forbes over Jensen via split decision)

When it comes to the Main Bout with Quinton Jackson vs Rashad Evans, I picked Evans mainly because he still has a fighter mentality.  He might have been knocked out once but I think MMA is his first choice as a career.  His mind is still in the game and I think he really has something to prove.  As far as his skill goes, I think he matches up pretty evenly with Rampage.  Unfortunately for Rampage, he's had a taste of the movie business.  Why not earn your living doing something significantly less self destructive than to keep pushing a fight career.  For this reason I don't think his head will be in the fight to win it.  He'll have jumped into the ring to shut up the nay sayers that trash him for dodging a fight with Rashad, but I think he knows his fight days are numbered.  Win or loose he's probably going to try for another gig in the film industry.  His biggest motivation to beat Rashad is purely the trash talking and mutual disrespect they share for each other.  There's nothing really on the line for him but his pride and considering how evenly they are matched I don't think that will even be questioned if he looses.  Rashad on the other hand, only has fighting to rely on for his grocery money.  Beating Rampage gives him a shot at the title and a chance at redemption.  He'll be the hungrier of the two fighters and in my opinion the clear winner.  I pick Rashad by TKO in the 2nd round.

And the winner is...

Ok... don't read on if you haven't watched the results for American Idol yet.  I'm about to tell you who won! :o)  Are you still reading?  Ok I guess I can spill the beans then.

Looks like I called it in my last post.  Yup, Lee DeWyze wins American Idol.  Are you shocked?  Nope?  Not even a little bit?  Ok, me neither.  I wasn't shocked at all.  At least he's a humble winner and certainly comes across as a nice guy.  I still think that Crystal should have won though.  I'm sure she'll be fine though.  The talk show circuit is just beginning and they are going to get tons of exposure.  Both will produce top selling records and we'll be enjoying their music for years to come.  


I'm not sure the show was all that spectacular tonight.  Honestly though, I was busy shutting down parts of my Facebook account that I wasn't really paying all that much attention to it.  The gushy moment when they paid tribute to Simon was really dorky in my opinion.  They had some top notch performers on the show though, but I just couldn't seem to get excited about any of it.  Janet Jackson was incredible.  The Chicago tribute was rather lame.  Lee was just not on his game tonight.  Loved the Simply Red song(s) though!  Do you have nay favorite moments from the final?  Anything you really hated?  Feel free to sound off in the comments! :o)

So now what?  Looks like I need to reset my pvr and start recording Wipe Out! :o)  Ahhhh the summer replacements....