I Think Spring May Be On It's Way To Winnipeg

It's still sub zero temperatures in Winnipeg, but as the days get longer and the sun is gets higher in the sky the prospect of spring is coming. You can feel the warmth of the sun. When the heat from the great glowing orb in the sky is unimpeded to earth, snow melts. These are the very early signs of spring.

I like spring. It has often been referred to as an awakening. In Winnipeg it definitely is. We are on the cusp of returning to a habitable climate.

I live in Winnipeg because my job is in Winnipeg. That is usually an important reason to live where you live. However there are times, especially in the winter, I want to pack up and go away, never to return.

Winnipeg winters are brutal. Cold, dark, and dry. The air is dry, we are allowed to buy and drink booze, which is needed to get through some of our winters. It goes pretty good up until Christmas. Once we celebrate the new year, everyone goes into hibernation mode. However, there are signs that we are awakening from our winter nap.

There are some upsides to a Winnipeg winter. There are people who really like winter, they revel in it. They go ice fishing and snowmobiling. They ski and snowboard. I am not one of those people.

There are going to be a few more wintery days. I'm ok with that but I am really looking forward to the first day I do not have to wear a jacket. That day feels like victory. It feels like you have beat old man winter.

It may still be sub zero today but I will relish in the moment when spring arrives.

Olympic Coverage

If you are Canadian and pay for some of your TV you have a lot of Olympic coverage. I know, I have been on vacation since the Vancouver 2010 games began. I have watched a lot of coverage. I have watched coverage of sports I never watch. I have watched coverage is parties. I have watched coverage of an intern waiting in line to ride a zipline. I have watched coverage of the Japadog.

I think I have watched too much coverage.

It must be a gargantuan task to produce that much coverage. It must be even more challenging to keep it fresh and interesting everyday.

Overall the coverage has been good. Some of the guests have been better than others. Some of the interviews have been a lot tougher and some have been cream puffs.

The Winter Olympics is a much smaller event than the summer counterpart. Many things go unnoticed in the Summer Games. Nothing is going unnoticed in this Winter Games. Every parent, every significant other, every celebrity, and every friend is being caught and talked about. The Olympics are about humanity coming together. That is being captured. Are there moments that may be too invasive. Yes I'm sure there are, but it's hard to be perfect and that goes for the media as well.

Capturing those great moments is special. It becomes part of our history and our collective conscious. It creates a record of what happened, not just for the people watching at home but for the friends and family of those who bring everyone these great moments.

I have watched way too much Olympic coverage but I would not have it any other way.

Vancouver 2010 - Other Than The Sport

Vancouver is located in the the last time zone on the planet with any significant amount of population. There are a few places the sun rises after Vancouver but not too many people live there. As such everyone is up before the Olympics. I have been on some vacation this week and have been watching a lot of Olympic coverage, maybe too much. To have something on in the east when people wake up, a lot of filler is produced until the events start.

Some of it is good, some is not so good.

By watching all this coverage I think I'm getting a decent impression of what is going on out west. It looks like there is a lot happening. It looks like a great time is being had by all. It looks like I should have gone to Vancouver.

Even if I didn't have any event tickets I would have thoroughly enjoyed my time. There is so much going on, both sanctioned and unsanctioned. It is a gathering of the world around sport. It looks like what I imagine the Olympics should be. People are having fun, the drinks are flowing, and the memories are being made.

I will not be going to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but I should have

Regular Adventure

I have been lamenting the fact I seem to be lacking some adventure in my my life. I have had a few entries on this blog related to my perceived lack of adventure. Well, since 2005 I have been partaking in a bonspiel every February.

This bonspiel is not about the curling. Yes games are played and winners are declared, but they are really just an excuse for normally responsible adults to get together and go a little crazy.

A drink or two may be consumed.

There may be a person slightly under-dressed at some point.

If you go to sleep you get called a wimp.

Way too much fun is had.

In the world we live in it is easy to get caught up in the rat race. It is easy to worry about work life, home life, bills, and the issue of the day. It is very important to take time for yourself. A regular adventure is a good way to do so and this bonspiel I attend is definitely an adventure. I have way too much fun. I live life with vigour. I don't worry about tomorrow. I get to be the person we all want to be for one week-end.

I know adults have to be grown-ups most of the time, but sometimes it is great to cut loose, act crazy, and throw caution to the wind, if only for one week-end every February.

Award Shows

We are well into award show season. There are the Grammys, the Oscars, the Emmys, the Daytime Emmys, the Golden Globes, the People's Choice Awards, it goes on and on. I don't get it. I don't see why people watch these shows. I don't think you make music, or movies to win awards. You make them to express yourself. You make them to to tell a story. You make them to help people see the world as you do.

Somewhere along the way these awards turned art into a sports competition. It's not. I understand it is important to recognize when people do things well, but the idea of Oscar buzz is ridiculous. Who's going to win. Who cares. I love music and movies. There are a few TV shows I like. It doesn't matter to me who gets a statue to say it was the best. What makes it the best? Is your best the same as my best? It just doesn't matter to me.

If you want to watch competition watch sports. Watch a football game. Watch the Olympics. Watching awards shows doesn't matter. The product is already produced. the ending is known. It sucks all the excitement out.

I realize a lot of people like awards shows. I am not one of.

O Charlie Where Did You Go?

I went to a social on Saturday. If you are from Manitoba that statement makes perfect sense, if you are not it makes no sense. The social was in the Charleswood area of Winnipeg. The Charleswood Hotel has been a fixture in the area forever. The Charlie was the bar in the hotel. A typical neighbourhood bar. Many tales have been told and games have been watched in this place. It had just the right amount of sketchiness. Not too clean but not too dirty either. One of those places you like to go from time to time.

We made good time traveling to the social and were going to be a bit early so the logical decision was to swing by the Charlie for a quick one.

When we got to where the the hallowed building used to be it was replaced by a giant Co-op gas bar.

Is nothing sacred.

I don't know if they were making money. I don't know if the building was in any shape to be standing. These would be my normal arguments for progress but in this case a piece of me disappeared with that establishment.

Glitzy nightclubs come and go but a pub at the end of a street that everyone knows should remain. It's a place where everyone has a story. Its a place where you don't have to pretend. Its a place where people can go since that's where their father and their father's father before have all gone for a drink. It's a place that everyone knows how to get there and no one needs directions. Its a safe haven.

I know we must always look to move forward but sometimes the future will not have the tales that the past did, and that's too bad.