Hey Canada!

what's going on at home? Anything interesting?

dude, somebody got a dell...

Just read some Toronto Star/Vancouver Province articles. Mad Cow fears in Alberta and West Nile (in a dead bird)...add to that SARS.

Damn, Canada looks like it's got a license to ill.

been missing the hell out of the CBC. The run Vancouver Canucks were on sounded like a blast.

Actually, it's funny that SARS and that Laci Peterson case are dominating the news down here as of late. Last year, people were just freaking out (in the media) tracking known cases of West Nile. Then poof, it disappeared.

Canadian Idol. Sounds like pain.

eh?

So much for erasing stereotypes and preconceptions. I handed the phone to my wife, so she could talk with my parents the other day...years of telling her people don't use the word 'eh' at the end of the sentence was nullified after that conversation.

I am now a liar.

Anything new going on Canada? Me, not much. It's heating up here south of Mumford. Damn hot.

I have to wonder though. Are people born into a certain climate? That they can live in such an enviroment that would be off putting for others, aliens?

With time, can I learn to love the sunshine?

Again, not much is going on, but thank god there's AC.

I certainly hope our Salmon and Oolichan stocks on the west coast don't disappear too. Of course they've been fished bone dry thanks to big corporations, so making money commercially isn't viable...but my family depends on catching them in the river for food, snacks, and in some cases natural medicines.

Nice to see there are chewers here from Newfoundland...

Hey Canada,

I miss the shit out of the overcast skies of coastal BC. Sun is good but in moderation. Rain would be cool too, although it has a nasty habit of making my mustang spin out/fish-tail at intersections when I press on the gas.

My grandfather had his birthday the other day. Really want to be home right now. Not only because of that, but my brother's soccer team is going on the road hitting some tournaments. Those were always fun trips to be on.

Being here has its advantages though. DSL, a fully functional battle...um, media room with games, dvd's, and a healthy stack of books and mags to read. Not to mention the wife, but I'm sure Canada would let her in if we decided to relocate in a few years.

Damn. I'm sweating buckets here. It's very sick and disturbing.

Hey, when you canadians went abroad, did anyone ever mistake your ethnicity?

People cannot for the life of them pinpoint what I am exactly. I've been accused of being mexican, philipino, east indian, british (with my so called accent), and now after this mornings dvd run...Chow Yun-Fat. Hair needs to be cut. Been mistaken for him is a tell-tale sign that I need to have it trimmed. I'm tempted to give out a fake autograph if this keeps up...or, maybe partake in some Catch Me If You Can inspired hijinx.

Better get back to work now, nice chatting with you Canada.

-mongy

so, now I'm wondering if it is true that canadian men like licking womens toes. I've been asked on 3 occasions by friends down here if that's true. Where the hell did that come from? I know for a fact, that I do not get off on toe licking. That's just ill.

More importantly though, I was looking online, and seeing that god dammit. Vancouver is interested in hosting the winter olympics in 2010. Now. I have to say. Have they ever been to Vancouver in the winter? Calgary is winter, Toronto is winter, Ottawa is winter...Vancouver is rain, rain, more rain, and the Daredevils private playground.

I can see a lot of cool events happening in GM Place...figure skating, hockey, and maybe speed skating too. But where the hell are they going to do the downhill stuff. Like the luge/bobsledding. Is Grouse Mountain a great place for downhill skiing. Will BC/Vancouver risk the potential fatalities of commuting competitors to Whistler where their resorts/hills are definitely better?

I can't picture it being all wintery there. I'm sure that'll be pointed out soon enough.

What da ya canucks think?

btw, happy birthday Canada

(July 1st being the equivilent of July 4th, or something like that)

I got woken up by my parents phoning me this went through. Geezus...I was all freaked out that somebody had died or got hurt.

Again, is Vancouver a wintery city?

I mean, it would be like LA getting the winter bid, and them having the games in Denver...that is, if they opted to utilize Whistler.

if you should ever drive north away from the gangland streets of Vancouver, past the methane poison that is Chilliwack, and up on through the fraser canyon...you will find snow on our side of the coast.

Lovely stuff it is, if you have good tires, made better with occasional bursts of rain making sledding down our unused logging roads a complete blast.

God. My posts make it look like I don't want Vancouver to get the honors of hosting in 2010. How uncanadian of me. I'm happy for it, and probably will be (if possible) lining up to see some hockey games in GM place when the games start.

I still worry though that the Sea To Sky highway is going to be bad for some people if they don't widen or improve some of the quirky sections of road you encounter on your drive to Whistler. It would be bad publicity should any competitors or fans get into any horrible wrecks on the way to the games.

1 more month canada and I'm coming home. (and it's about friggin' time)

sorry grave, I don't think the flock of geese I captured would be in the mood to divert our flight as I can only coerce the suckers into carrying 2 pieces of luggage in addition to my carry on bag.

It will be interesting to see if I can find any Movie Insiders' on my trip through Vancouver as SJR noted in his Scooby-Doo2.log They'd make great gifts for some friends who are into movies...as I'm too cheap a bastard to give away the sole mint copy I have stored away.

What else, damn, it's been a slow week to note anything interesting Canada.

Smarties is one of the bonus advantages of moving to canada. Can't help you with what to expect with Halifax/NS, sorry.

However, with the thought of junk food still going on here. Once you get a taste of Hawkins Cheezies. You. Will. Never. Go. Back. To. Cheetos. They are that good.

Nirvana though is mixing a box of smarties with a bag of Cheezies and having the sugar coated chocolate accentuate the crunchy-ness of the chips.

I guess my only other suggestion would be to bring a rain coat.

God damn, the bus is utter pain. My coworker from Maine did that cross country thing and he was utterly miserable. I did the same thing two summers ago busing it from here to Canada. 2 and a half days of agony, especially in the balmy hub of Sacremento.

Bring a gameboy, a magazine, some wipes, and spending money for food. As well, keep an eye out for the driver and prepare to tackle any idiot brazen enough to assault the driver, as it seems its becoming a common occurence.

Other than that, take in the sights, it sounds like an interesting way to see the continent, going from Oregon to Halifax.

While in the process of recycling newspapers last night I shuffled through one of the sections and read an article about "11000 people evacuated" from a small bc town called Kamloops. This struck me as damn, what the fuck.

So, is there any real meat to the massive amounts of press devoted to the fires in the Okanagen area? Is it overblown fluff a-la West Nile/Mad Cow? Will I be able to see the inferno as I arrive home next thursday?

I haven't heard a peep from family about this, weird considering a lot of them are volunteer fire-fighters who do 'merc' work when big assed blazes appear throughout the summer. Guess I should phone home sometime after work tonight.

So canada, are you on fire?

Well then, the time has finally, finally, come that I can call a taxi, be dropped off at the airporter bus thingy, and in a few short hours be on my way home.

I wonder still if I can see the massive blaze from below on the plane. Though I think I reserved the window seat completely opposite of the direction of the fire to see anything except for the gorgeous white capped mountains below.

Here's hoping it'll be a productive motherfucker of a vacation. If there ever was such a thing. Not that any body would give a damn, I'll be internetless in the canadian wild, away from these addicting boards. So, I will see you all in a bit (give or take 2 weeks).

take it easy chud,
mongycore

It was a nice trip home. Now I'm back. It kind of sucks not being on vacation anymore. Really, I still wish I had more time to spend with the grandparents eating salmon and potatoes.

Never saw any trace of the fire on the plane. I reserved seats that gave me a view westward. Absolutely stunning mountains and snow caps. I really wished there were some access roads to do some skiing or sledding. Of course, who knows if it's safe. With avalanches and all. Back to the fires. I hope all those people who lost their homes make it through this situation as best as they can. It made me sad to think so many people lost their houses, belongings, and any personal treasures that are unreplaceable. As our house burned down when I was 11, that left us as roaming gypsies for a brief period. I can't imagine whole neighborhoods being in that same situation. It's good though to see some people organizing relief funds, like that car dealership getting support from all the big manufacturers. Hopefully that'll help out some people.

As for the main event of my trip home, the renewal of my parents vows. That was cool seeing nearly everyone I grew up with again. Even cooler when I dropped the bomb that I secretly got married last year.

Yep, I'm a fucking bastard for not telling anyone that me and Lia had a private wedding. If we'd done things the normal way, we'd have to deal with the headaches my parents and family went through organizing a big assed shindig. We're talking a good 400-500 people - who for the most part are family and relatives, with a fraction being friends. In the end it's rather fun, but the two of us are very private and hermit-like, big parties aren't our thing. Hell, even trips to Best Buy are a pain in the ass because of the zoo-like atmosphere.

It was tricky keeping this underwraps for so long. Though I've let it slip here on the boards, knowing nobody I know back in BC surfs much. Now, I have a good 9 months to convince Lia to return to canada next summer and have a 'proper' native american wedding, and my family are not accepting any excuses for us not to.

So Canada, I miss you, but its nice to be back CHUD.

fuck moose.

Shoot the whole lot of them while they're at it. Nuke Canada. Burn the trees. Smoke them out and watch at a Bruckheimer-esque angle as rocket propelled grenades blow the lot of them up. To pieces.

Or, at the very most, Canada should institute a program where those collars from The Running Man are attached to wild-life brazen enough to go roaming onto the highways, and when they cross that white line, kaboom bitches.

I doubt I'll be getting any sleep tonight. Shit, I should be on an airplane. The short of it all is that my dad had a car accident involving a moose that pretty much, from what I've been vaguely told, destroyed the car he was driving. I still don't know how serious the situation is, I was told not to worry, but how can you not?

Even if it isn't serious, financially it's going to effect the family for a couple of months if he isn't able to go to work. This is all playing out so screwily like those hokey emergencies in Spencer's Mountain.

Finally back from the great white north. Turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. The car is completely fucked up, must have been a big moose. Thanks grave, raiza, and rivers for the concern. He's doing alright, no serious damage outside of a whiplash. Though there's concern about pinched nerves.

The insurance company was great about the affair, the car is being replaced, with nobody being at fault. When I heard the news, I knew exactly which stretch/corner of road it might have happened at. Just one of those things that happen and can't be prevented, save for my running man recommendation.

Glad to be back here, look forward to cathcing up on reading the main site and boards.

today is the first step in becoming another turncoat to the great white north...the day began with some overcast skies, but cleared up beautifully by 11 am. Just around then I got a call from home asking what the hell I'm up to. As the call goes on, they comment on how painfully cold it has become up there. How deep the snow is, how miserable it is to have your lower pants wet and uncomfortable. All the while, I sat in my office looking out our backyard at the green, the flowers, and the same stupid deer I mentioned in the Lair review. I briefly thought, damn, I'm glad I'm not in canada right now.