It's My Birthday! Let's run down my NFL picks

Yah, I was squeezed out some 32 years ago today. My mother remembers it vividly. Me? not so much.

Yah, that's right, I'm still younger than you.

But what's 32? Nothing major. No milestones there. Still, a week's worth of activities await me. Dinner tonight, dinner with the people who lived with me for 20-some years (also called family) tomorrow, dinner Thursday, was out for dinner with friends last Saturday, and then another friend's birthday party is Friday, and then it's Nuit Blanche on Saturday, which isn't birthday-related, but still fun.

Slow down? Hah!

I called the MGM Player's Club membership line today to set up my online login, once I verified my birthday, Amber wished me a happy one without a missing a beat. I'd forgotten (for the 5th time today).

Anyhoo... let's review my brilliant NFL picks from last week, followed by the winner:

CLE @ BAL - BAL - BAL - DING!
WAS @ DET - WAS - DET - WHA???
JAC @ HOU - HOU - JAC - sigh
GB @ STL - GB - GB - DING!
NYG @ TB - NYG - NYG - DING!
TEN @ NYJ - NYJ - NYJ - DING!
KC @ PHI - KC - PHI - sigh
SF @ MIN - MIN - MIN - DING!
NO @ BUF - BUF - NO - Buffalo hates me
CHI @ SEA - CHI - CHI - DING!
PIT @ CIN - PIT - CIN - WHA???
DEN @ OAK - DEN - DEN - DING!
MIA @ SD - SD - SD - DING!
IND @ ARI - ARI - IND - sigh
CAR @ DAL - CAR - DAL - sigh

8 right. An improvement over last week. The alphabet failed me a few times, and what the hell are the Lions and Bengals doing WINNING GAMES? I mean, the cats they're named after are awesome and all, but aren't they supposed to suck? Not that I know, I hate football.

Have a great birthday! Mine that is.

More In-Depth NFL Picks

Okay, time to improve that shitty record from last week. Less science! More guts!

CLE @ BAL - Baltimore. Alphabetical order comes into play here.

WAS @ DET - Washington. Since Detroit lost last week, proving the universe like Dawn, and Washington won last week, it's proof that the universe likes racists. I still don't, but hey, this is football.

JAC @ HOU - Houston. Danny Huston is a better actor the Joshua Jackson.

ATL @ NE - Atlanta. Can't fight the alphabet forever.

GB @ STL - Greeen Bay. Saint Louis isn't the patron saint of anything affecting the Packers.

NYG @ TB - Noo Yawk. Buccaneers are no match for Giants, and also, alphabet.

TEN @ NYJ - Noo Yawk. Jets could probably take down some Titans. If they're armed with titan-appropriate munitions.

KC @ PHI - Kansas City. Chiefs teach their tribe to respect nature. Therefore the Eagles like them fine and let them win sometimes.

SF @ MIN - Minnesota. HELLLOOOOOO! We're talking about VIKINGS here. Hey, they should sign Brock Lesnar.

NO @ BUF - Buffalo. There is no God in Buffalo. Therefore the Saints are powerless.

CHI @ SEA - Chicago. Alphabet. Da Bears. What the fuck is a seahawk?

PIT @ CIN - Pittsburgh. You see, steelers will keep reaching for that rainbow, and Bengals are a pretty orange.

DEN @ OAK - Denver. Does Homer Simpson still own the Broncos? Doesn't matter, Oakland won last week, so they'll lose this week.

MIA @ SD - San Diego. Why? Because Flutie played there once.

IND @ ARI - Arizona, but just barely. Fuck the Colts and their not letting the CFL use their name back in the day.

CAR @ DAL - Carolina. I maintain that Dallas is an irrelevant city with irrelevant teams. Also, Panthers are pretty awesome.

There you go. How could these NOT be 100% accurate?

Random Babbling

So I went to Israel a few weeks back. I've been sitting down and doing some post-processing (although really, in this digital age shouldn't it just be called processing?) on the photos. Some have lent themselves nicely to HDR in various degrees of visual veracity, but most have involved minor tweaks in colour, contrast, sharpness, etc.. Skies never come out quite as blue as they are, although the ones that seem least real are the untouched ones (but shot via polarizer). This shit takes awhile. I'm halfway through day 1 of 11.

I should also sit down and do my trip report. That needs to be done from home though, where I have my log. Yah, that's right, I'm blogging from a log.

I'm also trying to fit back into a suit in a month, for the one wedding this fall that I can actually make (it's in Toronto), and then continue to shift this belly somewhere else through the rest of the year. Israel derailed these plans somewhat, and I haven't really lost any weight. But I'm at least maintaining a daily exercise regimen again this week, and that should help things along. After all, my weight (181 lbs) isn't that bad for my height (5'11") - it's on border of normal and overweight, it just happens to all be in one place (my gut). This makes things like buttoning the jacket a bit difficult.

In that pursuit, I'm trying to eat less crap, with some success. I couldn't resist the coffee crisp at work yesterday, but the roast chicken on a bed of vegetables for lunch, while high in salt, couldn't have been that bad... could it? They probably soaked it all in oil.

But dinner was delicious, and I share it here.

As usual, all my meat is frozen, and I'm lazy, and somewhat on a diet. So I decided on salad, because I should really get to my vegetables before they go bad. But simply tossing stuff in a bowl gets boring after a while.

So I roasted.

I cut a couple tomatoes into quarters, seeded them, tossed them lightly in olive oil, laid a single leaf of fresh basil and half a clove of garlic in each piece, and sprinkled with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. I laid them skin-side down on a baking pan. I then cut up a few large piece of red pepper, sprinkled those with salt and pepper, and put them skin-side up on the same pan. I drizzled everything lightly with a bit more olive oil, and put them in a preheated 425F oven for 40 minutes.

While that was going on, I slices up some white onion and tossed it into a non-stick pan over medium-low heat with some butter and vegetable oil. Then I poured some simple syrup on them and stirred them occasionally as they caramelized. Once they were a nice brown, I poured some balsamic vinegar on the whole thing and stirred it up until the balsamic had reduced and become a sticky coating on it all.

While all this continued, I hard boiled an egg.

Out came the roasted vegetables. I peeled the peppers and cut them up, and combined them and the tomatoes in a bowl with the onions. The egg was peeled and crumbled over the veggies. Then I shaved some carrot into the bowl, cut up and added a few sun-dried tomatoes, and mixed up the whole thing. No extra dressing required, as the caramelized balsamic onions, and the oil on the roasted veggies gave all the extra flavour needed.

Before the salad I had a couple cobs of corn. It all turned out to be a filling meal that at least felt like it was healthy.

Of course, I weigh the same today as I did yesterday.

Hmmm... and I just remembered I left my computer on at home. Whoops.

NFL Picks Review

Let's see how I did...

CAR @ ATL - Me: ATL Reality: ATL
MIN @ DET - Me: DET Reality: MIN
CIN @ GB - Me: GB Reality: CIN Really?
ARI @ JAC - Me: JAC Reality: ARI
OAK @ KC - Me: OAK Reality: OAK
NE @ NYJ - Me: NE Reality: NYJ
NO @ PHI - Me: NO Reality: NO
HOU @ TEN - Me: TEN Reality: HOU
STL @ WAS - Me: STL Reality: WAS
TB @ BUF - Me: TB Reality: BUF
SEA @ SF - Me: SEA Reality: SF
PIT @ CHI - Me: CHI Reality: CHI
CLE @ DEN - Me: DEN Reality: DEN
BAL @ SD - Me: SD Reality: BAL
NYG @ DAL - Me: NYG Reality: NYG
IND @ MIA - Me: IND Reality: IND

Sooooo... that's 7 I got right. Not quite 50%. I'll need to refine for this weekend.

ATL, OAK, NO, CHI, DEN, NYG, and IND won. So I'll focus on those winning strategies. Except Oakland's was negated by Tampa's loss (same reasoning), so it will be the outlier.

ATL was picked due to alphabetical order of the city name. But that wouldn't have worked with Denver or the Giants. But if I'd used strictly this criteria, I'd have picked 9 winners. Hrmmm.

NO won because there's a saint who could talk to animals, and they were playing the Eagles. This seems a sound strategy.

CHI won because I like saying "Da Bears!" but that will grow old, so will depend on my mood.

NYG won because they're freakin' Giants. Also, they were playing Dallas. So they can only lose to teams who could conceivably beat giants.

IND was picked because I was feeling nostalgic for the heady days of 90's CFL and the Baltimore Colts. That won't last either, and also is rarely useful unless Shreveport gets an NFL team (or Birmingham, Las Vegas, Memphis, San Antonio or Baltimore).

So, alphabetical order, powers of persuasion over their opponents, and physical advantage seem to be useful metrics for picking teams.

Now to start my in-depth research into this week's matchups.

Getting Back in the Groove

Played in the Stars $70k last night. Sometimes decisions are made for you.

It was 10pm. I hadn't been at the keyboard all day, and had been meaning to play an MTT all weekend. It had been awhile.

I have about $2 on Full Tilt, and feel little motivation to reload immediately.

I have more on Bodog, and have actually been winning money in their $25 NL cash games, but do I ever hate that software. Every time I play I find something new I dislike. Plus, their tournaments are dead.

So while I had yet another cash game going on the 'dog, I decided to open the Stars client for the first time in a while. I recalled having reloaded a bit a while back. A lo! I had money there.

And the $70k was 30 minutes into late registration. Why the hell not?

And I cashed. It wasn't big, 91st, with 216 paying, for just under double the buy-in. But it felt good to effortlessly go through a game, and not sweat my decisions. I had closed the Bodog window an hour or so in. I turned off the TV towards the end, and I eventually just focused on the game. It was the first time I'd felt anywhere near the Zone for a long, long time. It was a good feeling.

Now to plug the holes I saw last night.

Is burnout finally subsiding? Is the anticipation of the Winter Gathering causing renewed interest? Perhaps. We'll see how it goes.

NFL Picks!

It's week 2! I missed week 1! I don't give a shit about football! Therefore, here are my picks for this week. Use them at your own risk.


CAR @ ATL - Atlanta. A comes before C dumbass.

MIN @ DET - Detroit. Huh? Well, Dawn Summers plans to pick the Vikings in her suicide pool, and I have a feeling the universe hates her this week.

CIN @ GB - Green Bay. C'mon, it's the Bengals. Even *I* know they suck. And I already picked the Lions to win this week.

ARI @ JAC - Jacksonville. Who can take a team of cardinals seriously? Little red noisy birds, pretty to look at, but not football players. Or are they those Popey guys? Hmm... naw, most of them aren't American, so they think football involves a soccer ball.

OAK @ KC - Oakland. It's talk like a pirate day this weekend. Raiders have an eyepatch. QED.

NE @ NYJ - Who cares? Let's go with the Pats.

NO @ PHI - Does Francis of Assisi play on the Saints? If so, he should be able to tame the Eagles.

HOU @ TEN - Tennessee. It has more letters than Houston.

STL @ WAS - Someone's getting rammed. That someone is the team with the racist name. Nobody likes racists.

TB @ BUF - Tampa. See: Talk like a pirate day Buccaneer. Also, Buffalo sucks.

SEA @ SF - I still have no idea what a Seahawk is. Seattle wins.

PIT @ CHI - I feel like saying "Da Bears!" today, so we'll go with Chicago.

CLE @ DEN - Denver. Their stadium has a height advantage.

BAL @ SD - How many fucking teams are there in this league? I hate football. I guess that's not a prediction though, just a statement of fact. San Diego because of Ron Burgundy.

NYG @ DAL - Is Dallas even relevant anymore? At all? In any sport? Besides, how do you beat a team of GIANTS?

IND @ MIA - Thank the Lord, this is the last game. All this typing is a pain in the ass. Well, really, in the wrist and fingers, but it's all connected. Indiana. What? It's Indianapolis? Is that in Indiana? It is? Phew. The Colts, because once there was a CFL team that wanted to be called the Colts, they played in Baltimore, but the NFL was all mean wouldn't let them, so they changed their name to the Stallions eventually. Yah, that's right, the CFL had US teams in the 90's bitches. I care only slightly more about the CFL though.

If you pick these teams, I guarantee* you that you'll win.



*guarantee not valid on any planets located within the Milky Way galaxy or anywhere else in the first 10 theoretical dimensions of reality.

Cashing

So I've been playing a bit on Bodog. Still hate the client, the table layout, and the obvious lack of extensive usability testing. If it wasn't for the upcoming blogger series, I'd do a Bodog-Full Tilt cash swap with someone the software is so terrible.

BUT - I have a bonus to try and achieve at least SOME of. Since I tend to fail miserably at these pursuits (I rarely multitable, don't play much cash, and don't put in nearly enough hours), I'm curious as to how much I can actually achieve. Although the fact I haven't seen the "instant" 15% sign-up bonus bothers me...

Anyway, the point to all this is that I've been playing whatever quick single-table games I can find that are almost full, since I'm getting in late these days from films and such. And I've been cashing on a fairly consistent basis. These are TINY stakes mind you, but winning anything poker-wise these days feels good. It helps that the tables are stupidly soft, as reported.

Maybe I should start wearing my Bodog hat and shirt when I play...

Heeeeere We Go

This is about hockey.

Part of the Film Fest this year are short clips from the Toronto archives and National Film Board celebrating Toronto's 175th birthday. One of these clips is of the 1967 Stanley Cup parade, the last one this city has seen. I like this clip because I get to yell out "OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" when the cup appears on the screen.

Which brings me to today. Tonight is exhibition game #1 - the Bruins are in town. For the next few weeks, the coaching and management staff get to assess their talent in a game situation. The Leafs don't have a ton of talent, so this will make it difficult.

There's talk of making of the playoffs this year. It's remotely possible. The team's toughened up the defense a ton, and bulked up the team as a whole. Garnet Exelby, Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Colton Orr, and Wayne Primeau (I still don't get that one) have all been brought on board. They'll be side-by-side with Jamal Mayers, Ben Ondrus, Luke Schenn, and others in the agitator and brick wall departments. It should help Tomas Kaberle and a now healthy Mike Van Ryn get into the play for some quarterbacking.

Throw in Gustavsson as the fire being lit under Toskala's ass in net and everything behind the blue line looks solid. If the opposition gets in the Leafs end, they should be punished for it, and if they still get the puck on the net, there should be some admirable minders between the pipes.

Which is all great, and will address the worst penalty killers in the league and one of the worst goals-against numbers. But what about up front?

Yah, goaltending, like pitching in baseball, wins you games and playoffs, but you still need to get some points on the board. Jason Blake? Mikhail Grabovski? Alexi Ponikarovsky? Matt Stajan? These are our big point getters? Maybe John Mitchell steps it up and becomes a star this year. Maybe Phil Kessel finds his way into a Leafs uniform and has a great season. Maybe we end up with another season with 4 20-goal scorers and not much else.

In short, we have half a team. There is no bona fide star on this team, and not enough "character" players up front to make it one of those hard-working, grinding teams that goes deep without a hot-selling jersey. This is the year for the young guys to step it up and impress. This is where talent is assessed in year 2 of the 5 year plan. Who's good enough to stay? Who's good enough to be traded? One thing's for sure, the front end of this team isn't going to remain stable.

Playoffs? Maybe. Boring, defensive hockey can take you far, even in a faster, more wide-open NHL. The Leafs seem to have the size and speed defending their end to effectively hobble other teams. The downside of the gritty and rough game they're gunning for is that injuries tend to pile up, which means there will be definite slumps, and probably running out of gas earlier than they'd like. Let's say they'll finish somewhere between 7th and 11th in their division.

I have no problem with this. The team needs to stick to a rebuilding philosophy, and doing too well this year will cripple those efforts. Next year - year 3 - is when they're supposed to start surprising people.

I Used to Play Poker

I used to play poker.

These days? I try to clear bonuses that I never succeed at, and lose more than I'd gain anyway.

I sit at a real desk and play at a virtual table, but don't actually apply anything that could be called sense. I play the cards I see in front of me, ignoring the notes I've taken on those around me.

I let a known bluffer chase me off on the river just because I don't have a hand, even though my non-hand is better than his missed flush.

In short, I still don't really care. And my reduced play time shows it.

Perhaps as the days grow shorter and colder up here in the Great White North (note: not that white, not that north, but still great), I'll find myself drawn to it. But if it wasn't for the fact I'm filling my evenings with TIFF films these days, I'd be more inclined to watch some DVDs, play some video games, or read a book or 17. Somehow, those all seem like nobler pursuits.

I think I need to stare down an MTT with focus and determination and actually go deep in the fucker to get the groove back. I think I've forgotten what it's like to win, and to feel the adrenaline of putting it all on the line and caring about it.

Because dammit, I want to be in the zone come December.

TIFFing It Up

Four movies down, six to go.

Reviews of everything I've seen are over at FilmChaw.

Antichrist - Disturbing, brilliant, and graphic. You leave this one loving or hating it. They hated it in Cannes. We love it in Toronto.

Suck - Canadian vampire band road movie comedy. 'Nuff said.

Daybreakers - Most original take on Vamps I've seen in a while. Intelligent for a vampire movie, with the expected social commentary hidden between bloodbaths.

The Road - The end of the world has never felt so brutally realistic. Best of the fest so far for me.

Tonight is Bitch Slap. I've heard it disappoints. How can a movie where all I expect is cleavage, legs, cleavage, guns, and shit blowing up disappoint? Did I mention cleavage? What? I'm supposed to be high-brow? Fuck that.

Organizing

11 days in the Middle East is fun.

Okay, that statement really depends on WHERE. In my case, it was Israel. During Ramadan. Therefore, not much going on on the negative side of the coin.

I'll have my usual exhaustive day-by-day trip report up eventually, but right now I need to organize my thoughts, my pictures, and my feelings.

I'll be going back a 3rd time. I missed too much this time, and repeated too much from last time.

Traveling with 5 other people will usually carry stress with it. This was no different. Tensions were definitely high at certain points, and there were a handful of times I stopped myself from smacking people upside the head.

But on the whole it was a solid trip. Much done. A great wedding. Good friends that I didn't end up killing. Oh, and temperatures that qualified as way too fucking hot. 45? 50? Celsius mind you. That's what? 1000000 F? Oh... 120F. Maybe my t-shirts can be saved.

More for Me

This is pretty much a list of what the fuck I need to get done before Wednesday. Really, it's for me.

- Buy shit - hat, sunscreen, and whatever else I lack enough of for 11 days in the middle east
- Assemble papers - passport, IDP, wedding invite, maps, e-tickets, confirmations, etc.
- Produce DVD of well-wishes for groom - took a bunch of videos at a party on Friday, need to edit them and burn 'em. Will add more (and photos) if time
- Rough out a schedule for the trip
- Laundry, laundry, laundry - probably 24 or 35 loads need to be done before I leave
- Stock up food for house/cat-sitter. If I fail to do this, I'll just leave money behind
- Charge various batteries and assemble electronics - DS? Archos? Burn some music and movies for the flight or stick with in-flight options?
- Pack
- Figure out communication situation. Rent a cell? Pay exorbitant roaming charges? I'm less concerned with contact back home as I am with local between friends and the groom
- Figure out where the wedding is and how to get there.
- Figure out what's open when. Getting on Thursday means our second full day is on Shabbat, which means some stuff will be closed. It also means early closures on the 1st full day.
- Make sure I have an adaptor. Stupid plugs.

I'll get this figured out eventually...

Coming Together

5 days left before I head to the land of non-stop sun and heat known as Israel.

Sheckels in hand. Car rented. Apartment ready.

Tonight? Haircut and RAM for the desktop need to be bought.

Tomorrow will involve some clothes shopping. Hat, shirts, shorts, longer swimsuit (holy sites like your knees covered... there's a joke in there I think), sunglasses, and probably a few other things I'm not thinking of.

Sunday? Regular poker home game. There's a small voice telling me this is a foolish what with the trip looming and all. But I'll be picking up my desktop from my brother on the way home, so it's a wash.

Monday - work, panic about half a dozen things I need to do.

Tuesday - work, panic about a new half a dozen things. Also, pick up TIFF schedule, pick films, and drop off passes. Hope that my picks get through so I don't get stuck with the leftovers.

Wednesday - Wake up, enjoy the fact I'm now officially on vacation. Rush around doing everything I still haven't done, panic about packing, deal with phone calls from travelling companions, make sure best friend has everything they need for house and cat-sitting duties, and get to airport a couple hours early. Fly to Frankfurt.

Thursday - Get to Frankfurt, leave Frankfurt, get to Tel Aviv. Meet friend, give him a huge hug followed by chastising him for not visiting more. Realize I sound like his mother, but don't apologize for it. Rent car, gather friends, find apartment, collapse in heap. Eat. Blog about the whole thing (assuming there's Internets, otherwise, not so much).

Rest of the time? See country again, have a blast with good friends that I don't see enough, get drunk at a Jewish wedding, surrounded by people who may not be as fluent in English as I am, but are definitely more fluent in English than I am in Hebrew, see more of the country, and eventually come home, probably 12 shades darker of skin (or redder), exhausted, and ready for my last 3 days of vacation before heading back to work.

Should be good times. Then I can focus on that Vegas thing in December.

A Thought

A while back, Canada had 3 major airlines. Air Canada, CP Air, and Wardair.

Air Canada was government owned, CP Air (formerly Canadian Pacific, later Canadian Airlines) was your everyday publicly owned company with stocks and such, as was Wardair.

Wardair had fantastic service, great meals, and was the smallest of the three. They were eventually bought by CP Air (leading to the change to Canadian Airlines). There were two big players in the market.

Canadian had struggled throughout their existence, like most airlines do. Air Canada, being owned by the government, was "debt-free", and the bigger dog.

Then the government decided to sell Air Canada off. It became a public corporation just like Canadian. Then the usual airline downswings happened, and competition between two large airlines in a country with fairly low population density was looking unfeasible. They merged, with Air Canada taking over Canadian by government decree. Why? Because Air Canada was the one in the better position. To speak to Air Canada employees, it was because they were the better company and that their competition was never good at running a business. Woe be they who reminded them that they were born, raised, and matured as a wholly-owned government agency. So when they finally became public, they were debt-free. It had nothing to do with running a business and everything to do with taxpayers footing the bill for decades.

Soon enough, they went bankrupt too, then again, then almost again a few weeks ago before refinancing like mad.

The point? That government corporations have built-in safety net with the taxpayers. The reason private companies can effectively compete with them is because they are so INefficient that if it wasn't for this net, they'd be dead.

I can't imagine a parallel that could be drawn in the US right now...

A Photographic Turning Point?

An interesting day so far, camera-wise.

Canon announced some new camera. The G11 and the S90. A new camera announcement is generally nothing big, becuase there are hundreds of models out there across a dozen brands.

But these are interesting, to me at least.

The G11 is the successor to the G10, a rather popular semi-pro point-and-shoot. This would be your standard upgrade to a series, new image processing software, some ergonomic changes, etc.. The return of a flip-screen is nice, but the big change is that they DROPPED the megapixel count from 14.7MP to 10MP. This is fantastic news in the digital camera realm.

MP became the focus of camera manufacturers years ago. You only have a 3MP? You need to get 5MP camera. 5? Why not 6? The problem is, that as you increase the MP count, you need to increase the sensor size accordingly, and this wasn't being done. This is why your 10MP point-and-shoot takes incredibly noisy pictures if you're not outside on a sunny day, and why people dropping $3k on a high-end SLR get such crisp shots at higher ISO settigns (among other reasons).

14.7 MP on a a standard P&S sensor size is ridiculous. Most photographers have known this for a while, but the wider market finds these things out too late, when they enter "why are my pictures so noisy?" in Google.

So Canon pulling back on MP with a new model is impressive. It shows that the leader in the camera market is doing what's right for the user, not the marketing department. In the end, most people won't even notice the drop, but will notice the improved quality of their photos in lower light.

The S90 is another interesting foray for Canon. They dropped the S-line 4 years ago as it fell between their other P&S lines. But the recent popularity of Panasonic's LX3 - a compact camera with some pretty professional features - has seemingly revived this line from Canon.

It's a very compact camera with a professional-quality lens, and relatively large sensor. This, as stated above, means lower noise, and a much higher image quality. There are all kinds of manual settings, and Canon has moved some control to a lens ring that mimics your standard SLR use. Initial reviews are positive on this interface change. The S90 is a huge entry into a growing area of digital cameras - the professional compact. There are times when your SLR just isn't practical, is too cumbersome, is at risk (say, a hike over rough terrain, or visiting the UK) or frankly, just too much camera. The LX3 has been the current favourite for this range, but Canon coming back into the game is huge.

Finally, not new, but impressive, was this link to a wedding video. The wedding itself isn't important, but the quality of the video itself is. The whole thing was shot with Canon 5D Mark II's. Granted, there's a lot of other equipment being used to keep cameras steady, focused, etc.., but the actual filming device is a consumer SLR that can picked up in any camera shop. High def video of this quality, for a fraction of the cost of professional high def equipment is a HUGE game-changer. Digital video brought a new era of indie films, where the quality was no longer "Canadian" quality video, but clear images that didn't look like they were done on the cheap. Inexpensive high def will bring an even higher quality of image to filmmakers that don't have access to the big studios. Think the current digital photography boom, but in movies. A couple more interations in the firmware realm for these cameras, and there will be more 12-year olds making zombie films before you know it.

Hey, I'm excited.

Mutli-Tripping

I'm currently in the process of planning two trips.

1.- Israel next week. Assembling cash, figuring out a rough schedule, renting the car, and generally guiding the rest of the crew of people coming along.

2.- Vegas. Getting golf info from a few friends who will be playing in the scramble that Bam and CK have set up. Still need to book flights, hotel, car, etc, but that can wait a little bit.

Yah, if you travel with me, I become your travel agent. It's something I inherited from my mother, who would plan our numerous worldly travels most efficiently. I'm talking "Hey, should we go to France next week?" followed by a family of 5 getting on a plane a week later for 9 days of travelling Paris and its environs in what a Kontiki tour would take 14 days for. I try to go a little easier on my friends.

I'm someone's favourite commentor. I think they're being sarcastic.

Why Aren't You Reading Over There?

Go head over to FilmChaw right now. I SAID NOW!

The Goat's assembled a pretty varied list of writers, and you can join too! I've already got two posts up, so I think I'm winning. Go read them. DO IT!

A Cheerier Side of the Weekend

Okay, so traffic-related individuals caused me no shortage of annoyance on the weekend, but it wasn't a total wash.

I finally got out to The Black Hoof, a charcuterie place in my fine city.

Delicious.

A charcuterie plate with various meats and pâté (all made in-house) was absolutely solid. The drinks are naturally fantastic when the bartendress eschews artificially flavoured liqueurs for her own infusions and fresh juices.

Gin, ginger syrup, ginger beer, and ginger ale? Gingery. Manhattan with macerated sour cherries? Best Manhattan ever. Tokyo Mojito? Sweet and light.

The main course of a duck confit sandwich that was great, but sadly not as interesting as the beef tongue on brioche, which was thinly sliced and cured heaven. Next time? Nothing but the stuff that scares me. Calf brains ravioli. Beef heart. Sweetbreads. The man behind the counter knows his meats.

They're closed for a few weeks now, but I'll be going back in the fall.

Now if Caplansky could just get his new spot open already so I can get fatter on Toronto Smoked Meat.

It Can't Be Monday

That was my thought as I went to bed last night and set my alarms. Half of me still believed the weekend couldn't possibly be over. It was the same thought as the alarms went off this morning. I lay in bed debating if it really WAS Monday or not. When I finally determined it was, I still refused to accept it. Sitting now at my desk, this still seems a remote possibility.

But, it's Monday. The weekend flew by, despite my nearly 6 hours in traffic on Saturday.

From the west end of Toronto to Niagara Falls is around a 1.5 hour drive. An hour on a good day. It took me 3.5 hours to get to the Seneca Casino on the other side of the Canada-US border. Traffic for miles for no apparent reason. Moron after moron on the road, driving slowly on the left side, a wide-open right lane, drifting into my lane without checking a blind spot or using a blinker (since I was often passing them at the time). Many were also deaf as the guy leaning on his horn (me) alongside them didn't seem to make them realize they WERE ABOUT TO HIT ME. It was absolutely no surprise to me when there was a 5-car accident on the way back.

The border wait didn't improve my mood. The trunk search (it's completely empty) only aggravated me more. The families of 12 crossing ON A RED FUCKING LIGHT WHILE I WAS DRIVING TOWARDS THE INTERSECTION nearly pushed me to a vehicular killing spree, but I had no desire to end up in one of those filthy US prisons I've heard so much about. The card death at the table seemed fitting. Up $35 after 2.5 hours (and what should have been around 5).

VinNay had a much better time. Next time - he comes across the border.

But, I picked up my DVDs from our Buffalonian friend and made it back across without incident (which annoyed me because I spent 10 minutes hiding DVDs around my car, but better to not be searched than searched and found out I suppose). I was looking to be just a little late for a friend's birthday dinner, until I discovered that all lanes on the highway were closed at about the halfway point home. So I turned off, grabbed some fast food (a donut will not sustain you for a whole day, not even if it's boston cream), and debated on detours. You'd think a tourist office would have a decent map available.

Detour determined, the ride home wasn't too bad, but took about half an hour longer than hoped, which meant I completely missed the dinner. I felt bad. But I did make it for post-dinner festivities.

Sunday was much more relaxed, brunch with the family for my brother's birthday, chilling out at home watching movies with my best friend, and then driving them home afterwards.

I could have hit 5 different cyclists on that drive and been exonerated of all charges on each of them. People on bikes in the big city are FUCKING MORONS. There are LAWS for bike riding, FOLLOW THEM YOU STUPID FUCKS. Instead of flipping me the bird when I honk at you for running a stop sign and turning left from the right side IN FRONT OF MY MOVING CAR without giving any sort of signal on your bikes without any reflective surfaces and then taking up the whole road - why don't you realize that I could have crushed you under my wheels and slept soundly that night without fear of prosecution because you'd be 100% at fault?

I love biking. I think the city needs more people on bikes. I also think they need to be licensed and held responsible for following the rules like any other vehicle-user. This has been a shitty summer for bike behaviour here.

So yah, it can't be Monday, because the weekend was far too aggravating for it to be over.

Because I Don't Blog Enough

Here's a paraphrased version of a conversation I had with Julius_Goat last night.

JG: You seem to like movies.
Me: I do.
JG: Remember Filmchaw?
Me: Filmwha? Is that still on the Internets?
JG: Forget I asked.
Me: Nonono! I'm kidding baby. Here, have some flowers. I'm sorry.
JG: Yah right, I've heard that before.
Me: I mean it this time. I'm sorry I made fun of your dead film blog.
JG: UN-dead film blog. I'm resurrecting it!
Me: Oh?
JG: Yah, you want to write for it? PLEEEEEEEEEEASE?
Me: If I say yes, what's my commitment?
JG: None.
Me: I can work with that. How much does it pay?
JG: Nothing.
Me: Seems fair for the commitment involved.
JG: I agree.
Me: I also agree.
JG: Do you know how to make soap?
Me: Did YOU know that soap-making can be used as a cover to topple the credit card system?
JG: It's almost like we're the same person.
Me: Except we're totally not.
JG: Right.
Me: Any rules about Filmchaw?
JG: Well, the first rule of Filmchaw is: Talk to EVERYONE ABOUT FILMCHAW. I WANT HITS!

So, in my neverending (it's over) quest to compete with Dawn Summer's blogcount, I'm now writing over at Filmchaw with the Goat. Well, I haven't written anything YET, but I will.

I've got me some 25 Criterion DVDs to pick up tomorrow. Seem a good place to start.