Venus Williams vs ?

Sharapova's reign is over. She was creamed in the second set by Venus, losing 6-1. I'm looking forward to watching the tape later. Mauresmo and Davenport have been neck and neck, going to tiebreakers in the first and second set and by the looks of things they're headed for one in the third.

Williams vs. Mauresmo?

It could happen. Williams is up a set, and is up 5-1 in the second. I obviously didn't predict this one. I've been enjoying Venus' comeback quite a bit, she's been playing really well. And it looks like she's going to be vying for her third Wimbledon title. Nothing is final. More to come..

Air conditioning

Air conditioning is lovely. I've thought of moving into my car because the air conditioning works so well. We have it at work, but the air flow doesn't really reach my desk. I don't have it at home and it's hot. This said, I don't think it's an absolute necessity. My coworkers have spent the last several days talking about how they don't know how people can live without air conditioning. I was also miffed that they leave them on in their homes all day when they go to work, haven't they heard that the province of Ontario is maxing out on hydro usage? They aren't the only ones who think this way, but I listen to it all day. But if there's another blackout we know who to blame.
I get asked at least once a day (sometimes while being called the wrong name) how I live without air conditioning. Simple, I've never had it so I've adapted and I have fans.

Wimbledon

I've been watching Wimbledon for over ten years, and it's all because of Days of our Lives. Back in Calgary, during my summer vacation I would sit down every day at 1pm to watch Days. Every year Days would be pre-empted for a week for Wimbledon so I started watching it. Now I don't get to sit and watch all day long (I tape it and will watch it later) but I can go to the Wimbledon website to find out who just lost.
I was disappointed to see Kim Clijsters lose to Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round. I like Davenport but I love to watch Clijsters play. She's very fast and almost always ends up doing the splits to make a shot - and she does make the shot. Clijsters is very good, she's often referred to as the best player yet to win a major, and she's really entertaining.
On a more catty tone, while watching the matches this weekend I, like many others, was shocked to see how out of shape Serena Williams was. She had a visible gut, her boobs were bigger than they normally are and she didn't have enough energy to chase down a lot of shots. I didn't mind though, I love to watch her lose.
On the men's side I'm officially rooting for a Lleyton Hewitt vs. Andy Roddick final. Hewitt's been a under the radar lately but is ready for a comeback, and well I love Roddick. This also means I get to watch Roger Federer lose. Federer is amazing, he makes tennis look easy and barely breaks a sweat. He doesn't seem to have much attitude with his ever mounting trophy shelf but it's time to mix things up a bit.
I was hoping for a Sharapova vs. Clijsters final because it would've been a great match to watch but I guess that won't happen. Now I'll hope for Davenport vs. Sharapova, to see someone on their way out playing someone on their way up. It would be great to see Amelie Mauresmo in another final to see if she can finally handle the pressure. Hopefully Venus Williams loses in the semis and throws a bit of a temper tantrum, just for fun.
Sports isn't usually my thing, but since tennis is the only sport I know a fair bit about I feel like giving my opinion. It's almost like being Mirtle, but shorter and talking about a different sport.

Ahh summer

Sure I'm melting in my apartment now, but what this was the perfect summer day. I had to do a quick assignment for work this morning and then I sat on the sand dunes beach at Sandbanks and finished reading my book, and took a beach nap (my favourite thing in the world). I came home to watch tennis, ate chips and took another nap (I felt like my dad if you replace tennis with golf) I love tennis. I wandered through town for a bit and stopped in for a margarita. Summer tastes like margaritas.

WTF moment of the day

I've said it before and I'll say it again, people are stupid. Today's stupid people are bitching about all the golf balls they're getting in their yard - they live on a golf course. Why do people who know nothing about the game of golf insist on living near golf courses? Granted, living on a golf course is nice, it makes your backyard feel much bigger. If you live on a golf course you must expect golf balls. Yes there have been a large numbers of golf balls flying into their yard but that's because of the location of the million dollar home. Their house is in the on the right hand side of a long fairway, a great spot for every golfer with even a mediocre slice can hit a long drive or a bad second shot. Oh and this golf course was there for thirty years before they built their house.
They are suing the golf course and think the best course of action would be to close the golf course. I'm sorry but that's not going to happen. They also think that redesigning the hole would be sufficient. Also not going to happen. They have received damage payments from the golf course for anything broken by bad golfers, somethings golf courses begrudgingly do. Why haven't they bitched to get a big mesh fence, that though unsitely would help protect their property.
I would love to argue everything the stupid people of the day have said but I'm sure you're all bored, so one final comment.
This is a funny subject for me, my parents have lived in a house backing onto a golf course for seven years. When they bought the lot they carefully looked at the layout of the hole to see if they were a likely target for lots of bad golfers. One key to buying property on a golf course, know something about golf, or ask someone who does. My family also owned a golf course for a decade and constantly received complaints about golfers. I've heard all this crap before and the answer is simple. If you don't want golf balls in your yard don't live on a golf course. And if you do, stop bitching about it or move.

Nadal goes down

Rafael Nadal, the new it boy in tennis has lost in the second round at Wimbledon. Nadal has been getting a lot of buzz in the tennis world, even before he beat Roger Federer and went on to win the French Open. Most analysts were saying that Nadal's game has the potential to be strong on grass, but not yet. And that's OK because Nadal is only 19 (he turned 19 days before winning the French Open) , young even for tennis where the top player (Federer) is 23, and Andy Roddick is 22. No wonder Andre Agassi is looking even older than he is. Federer is expected to win his third championship in a row, only Sampras (I believe) has done that in recent history. I'm still pulling for Roddick, he needs to beat Federer eventually.
Tim Henman also went down. Henman has been Britains only hope at Wimbledon for years and he just can't seem to make the finals. Even the players on the tour think Henman should be doing better than he has been in recent years. If he has any kind of a complex it's no surprise to me.
In other Wimbledon news, defending women's champ Maria Sharapova cut the grass with her opponent Sesil Karatantcheva beating her 6-1, 6-0. Karatantcheva will get over it, she's only 15 but apparently has potential. I like Sharapova, she's young and wickedly good but doesn't have any of the Williams' sisters attitude. I'm surprised that French Open Champ Justine Henin-Hardenne, the best female tennis player, got knocked out in the first round something that got very little coverage. This might leave an opening for Kim Clijsters, who has never won a Grand Slam title, but so far things are looking good for Sharapova.
I love tennis and tv coverage of Wimbledon hits NBC next week, I can't wait. Maybe I'll call in sick for work instead of following it all on Wimbledon.org.

Patrick Evans is my hero

My favourite Toronto Star reporter strikes again. How come I am never this witty? Read, and enjoy this crazy story about going back to high school. If you get a page saying you need to register, just do it. It's free.

Flood Ravaged

I'm a little slow on the uptake here but I'm still in shock over the amount of water that has poured into my hometown lately. Calgary is a very dry city, it rarely rains. I kept ignoring everyone at home who was complaining about how much it had been raining. It must have been denial because I didn't pay too much attention to the initial reports of flooding. This kind of thing often doesn't seem real until it hits close to home. I got an email with a bunch of pictures of flooded areas and the first one was labeled valley ridge. It was a photo of the golf course near my parents live, and where I used to work, with a very flooded fairway. I knew the golf course was on the river so figured it would be flooded but it wasn't until I saw that picture, and all the other shots of flooded Calgary, that I realized how much water there was.
My parents must have damn good luck, the flood waters were less than five minutes away from there house. They also have property in Kelowna, which last summer narrowly avoided being scorched by the forest fires. I hope I inherit their luck.
Not everyone was as lucky as my folks were, though there is some irony that many of the damaged homes were in one of the ritziest areas of Calgary. My favourite quote from the Calgary Herald's flood coverage was from a guy who was renting an apartment on the ground floor and all his stuff was ruined, "I didn't even want riverside property" he said. I just find it strikingly appropriate.

Funniest lead ever

I'm a nerd but this is the lead I just wrote for a weird story. Please enjoy.

Bring your family on Sunday to celebrate summer solstice with a box lunch auction, free strawberries and ice cream, historical tours and live music – at Glenwood Cemetery.

Isn't community news fun?

Baseball and Batman

I hadn't been to a baseball game in years. I went to a Calgary Cannons game at some point before I moved to Fort McMurray in 1992. I also had never watched a sporting event in the Skydome (fine, the Rogers Centre). So a few of us climbed up a very long ramp to sit in the 500 levels and watch a ball game. I don't know what made that game more fun than any I remember but it was. Maybe it's because I wasn't with my parents, or that we were drinking beer, but it definitely helped that I was there with people who actually really like the sport. I found myself cheering and singing along to "Take me out to the ballgame" and of course took part in my favourite part of any sporting event, eating. Baseball food all starts with P- peanuts, pop corn, pretzels, pizza, pop, beer (which makes you pee), and hot dogs no P but a requirement.

I also saw the new Batman flick. I don't have any emotional attachment to Batman like I do Star Wars. I will admit to seeing all the other films, even the awful Batman and Robin, and this one was very different. There were definitely a few moments that were a bit slow, and the beginning was a tad confusing but on the whole it was enjoyable. It was great to see how he discovered all the gadgets to become Batman, especially the Batmobile. In this Batmobile it's actually believable that it can do all the things that the Batmobile does, like crush other vehicles, it looks more like a hummer than a sports car. I likened the Batmobile in the other movies to a Ferrari on crack. Sure, Katie (kiss any hope I had at a career goodbye) Holmes is in this movie, but you can almost ignore that it's her, and you can even cheer when she almost dies if you want.

Why is this woman in the news? (WTF moment of the day)

Can someone explain to me why Jennifer Wilbanks is still in the news? I didn't understand why she was there in the first place. Sure she ran out on her wedding, something that happens all the bloody time. Yes she claimed to be kidnapped, but Dar Heatherington did that last year. The story I linked her name to is about the possibility of her selling her life story to become a book and a move. It better be a short book. This stupid woman ran off from her wedding, worried a lot of people, came back, admitted she lied, said she still wanted to get married to her fiance, and now is stil in the news with her really buggy eyes. There's the book. The movie, well maybe they should make it a TV pilot starring someone from a once popular sitcom because it wouldn't last as long a feature film.

Mourn and move on already

I'm no medical expert, I haven't even taken a science class since 1st year undergrad. But it was clear from footage of Terry Schiavo that she was not living a full life, that had been argued to death. When Schaivo was taken off her feeding tube, an awful way to die no doubt, her parents were trying to convince the courts to put her back on because they believed she could be rehabilitated. It had been 15 years since she collapsed, became paralzyed and severely brain damaged. There had been no signs of rehabilitation.
Now, her autopsy results have been released and her parents are still fighting that she could have been rehabilitated. The autopsy showed that her brain was half the weight of a normal brain, her optical centres were dead and there was no way she could have improved. Her parents still do not believe. There were no signs of the abuse that they were alleging occured at the hands of Schiavo's husband. They will not accept any of these claims.
While I feel for the people over the loss of their child, they need to accept that no matter what they do now she is dead. The autopsy could not conclusively decipher why she collapsed, it was not a heart attack as they had believed, it did show that she had no chance for a significant recovery. No amount of disbelief will bring Schiavo back to her parents. They need to accept it, mourn her, celebrate her all too short life, and move on with their lives. If they want to fight for the rights of the critically disabled, good for them but let Schiavo rest in peace. Stop fighting directly for her, she's gone.

WTF moment of the day

Yesterday, Pete reported that Sean Penn had taken a reporting job with the San Francisco Chronicle. I found it odd, but mildly entertaining until I followed the story, and today read in the Toronto Star online that not only is he reporting, he's reporting from Iran. He was given press credentials in 2003 to be a special correspondent from Iraq.
There are several questions that popped into my head. Do they just hand out press credentials in the states? Does Phil Bronstein (publisher of the Chronicle) want to get Sean Penn killed? Does Sean Penn need a better resume? Is he trying to be so anti-Hollywood that he proves he'll take a low paying job like journalism? But the burning question is of course what the fuck?
Naturally I don't understand why Brad Pitt is working with Frank Gehry either, especially when Pitt was studying journalism in university before becoming an actor. And we can't forget that one Olsen twin is interning with Annie Liebowitz (sp?) and the other with a high profile fashion designer. Yes they are students, but does anyone know anyone who interned somewhere that cool?
I would love all these jobs, but I'm not famous. Why is it that people who already have everything, some things they've even earned, get so much for free?

my new mug shot

My Ontario driver's lisence arrived in the mail yesterday. I look like I've just been arrested. It's the kind of pictures that anyone ID-ing me on a day when I look good will not know who I am. I'm convinced it's the kind of picture they'd make fun of on Leno. One time when I had a driver's lisence picture taken in Alberta they let me check the picture to see if I was OK with it. That was nice, I wish they'd done it this time and I wouldn't forever look like a stalker who needs to wash their hair.

Why am I not surprised?

I can't say I was shocked to hear that Michael Jackson was cleared of all charges. I avoided following the case as much as I could but somehow it still leaked into my usual existence. When my coworkers arrived at work they seemed surprised and apalled that he got off. "Shows what you can do if you've got money," one said. I don't know how much it had to do with money. He did have a decent defense, well a lot of character witnesses, and the prosecution were relying on people whose testimony kept changing. The American justice system is far from ideal, and maybe the fact that Jackson had money (please note had, legal fees have swiped him of his money) and an expensive legal team did help him. Does that mean he isn't innocent. Sure he's wierd, very wierd, but that alone doesn't make him a child molestor. Not all criminals are that obvious, in fact most aren't. Ted Bundy seemed to be a nice, normal guy, everybody liked him, and he's one of the most infamous serial killers in recent history. Maybe Jackson being so outwardly wierd should work in his favour. The end of this trial comes down to the fact that the prosecution lacked the evidence it needed, unless Jackson was paying off jurors with autographed copies of Bad.
I'm just happy it's over, we can all go back to dancing to Billie Jean without feeling dirty. Now MJ just needs to make back some of his money. He could follow in the footsteps of Alanis Morisette and make an acoustic version of Thriller. Who wouldn't pay to hear that album free of the synthesizer? Jackson just better stay away from any more Beatles publishing rights or I'll go after him...

Shhh! Don't Tell...

This is a big secret, I'm a bitch. OK so you probably already knew that, and you're still laughing at me keeping it a secret. Here's why I'm a bitch today, all of a sudden this feels like confession.
So the two other women in my office are very nice, but they both speak with awful grammar. This is coming from me, so you know it must be bad. One always says Canada's Day, they both say I seen, and there are a few other examples but it drives me crazy and now I'm posting it on the internet. All I want to do is correct them in a rude way, but I don't. Maybe I'm not such a bitch.
The other bitchy thing I did was buy a really expensive shower head. It wasn't completely intentional, my landlord said to buy a decent one though he asked me not to buy the Cadillac. I think it's the best shower head ever, it should make up for how small my shower is. It has a flexible head and like 10 settings. This is bitchy don't you think?
I took a nap at my desk today, that's not bitchy but very typical of me.

If I were a superhero

I was waiting for this moment. Narcolepsy girl is back. After a brief hiatus from falling asleep at my desk it's happened again. I've been nodding off absolutely all day. I know I'm still recovering from the minimal amounts of sleep I had over convocation and the mild case of sun-stroke I had yesterday, but still I can't make it through a day with plenty of caffeine and 9 hours of sleep? It also doesn't help that I've had a dreadfully boring day where nobody would return my phone calls and I have one easy story to write. I keep hoping that these little naps will help me re-focus so I can get my work done, but apparently not. I guess I do still need that person who will sit beside me and hit me awake.
I wish I were a superhero. Andrew and I could be a team, I would be Narcolepsy Girl and he could be Insomnia Man. I don't know what we would battle, the evils of normal sleep patterns?

I guess the fat lady sang...

It's over. No more can we claim to be Ryerson students. We must hang our heads knowing we are Ryerson grads (which apparently gets me a discount rate for insurance through Monnex). After standing in a polyester robe for over an hour in a non air-conditioned hallways we walked into the Ryerson Theatre - one of many Ryerson buildings I had never been in - and hoping not to fall down the stairs.
I have to admit that I'm glad I went. I was impressed by the amount of people that showed up and I apologize to all the people I had half conversations with. Peter Mansbridge shook my hand and gave an entertaining convocation address. In all honestly it went by fairly quickly until Claude Lajeunesse gave the Ryerson PR speech. Did he forget he was talking to graduates? Hey Claude - we already went to Ryerson, we finished, done, and don't care how great you think this school is! I'm also very happy that I didn't trip or fall, sure I went the wrong way to get my degree but it was a minor screw up by my standards.
My parents got a fairly accurate look at my life out here. They met my friends in an unnatural environment (convocation) and then their natural habitat (anywhere with beer). Apparently they enjoyed themselves and my mom only nagged me a little bit.
I will eventually post photos...

Best Animal Story Ever

I have some experience writing animal stories. But none of mine come close to comparing the utter hilarity of this article by our friend Patrick Evans of the Toronto Star. Read, laugh but please don't bring your dog to this thing or I will disown you as a friend.

Cruel Summer No More

Normally summer doesn't mean much to me. For the past six summers I've spent both my days and nights serving beer and greasy food. I had less time off than I did during any semester at school and I rarely had a chance to enjoy daylight activities due to either sleep or work. Trust me, a patio is nowhere near the same when your serving the beer instead of drinking it. As I took a walk on the beach Sunday afternoon I realized this year will be different. The only beer I see is the beer I drink, I will not miss "eau de Keiths and fries," and I have regular days off where I can enjoy the sunshine. I believe this is known as a weekend, and I'm happy to say that maybe, just maybe, for the first time in six years I will have a summer tan. Wish me luck and come visit on these marvelous things called weekends.

In a land far far away...

I felt a funny sense of comfort as I saw those words drift across a movie screen tonight. When the first light sabre made it's famous sound a there was a dorky smile on my face (fine it was the first few times). I'm not ashamed to admit that R2-D2 and C3P0 made me laugh more than once, oh those crazy robots. And when Hayden Christianson finally sounded like James Earl Jones I wanted to scream YA! Feel free to to judge me, I don't care.
Everybody has an opinion on Star Wars, some have ranted on how awful it is, and some on how great it is. For me, it feels like home and I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. I grew up in a house where the dissing of Star Wars was not, and still isn't, welcome. When I was little I loved playing with my brothers Star Wars toys, I always wanted to be Boba Fet (however the hell you spell it), and though watching the movies over and over got a bit tedius over the years I always felt an unwavering appreciation for it. It's the only fantasy series I've ever been able to become immersed in, apparently Darcy has great brainwashing techniques. Now that I'm older and have opinions of my own that's one I still can't shake.
Revenge of the Sith entertained me the way it was supposed to. It provided a sense of closure coupled with an overwhelming urge to re-watch the original trilogy, Darcy would be so proud. It made me feel like a kid again to sit there and hear Yoda talk backwards and then kick some ass. It may not be cinematic brilliance, and yes there is a lot of wooden dialogue especially during any scenes with Anakin and Padme, but it's not supposed to be.
I don't think I could ever provide an accurate criticism of it, but to sit in that theatre and hear the music and sound effects that dominated my childhood was exactly what I needed. Disagree if you will and may the force be with you.

Rural Observations

If you've missed my always charming bloggin lately, I apologize but it's really all Bell Canada's fault. If I were a true Italian I'd have put a hit out on them by now, but we lost our mob connections decades ago. I still have no phone, and thus, no internet at home. Damnit. At least it's "desk cleaning day" as my editor describes it, and since I have nothing on my desk I have chosen to blog.

Working and living in a small community is an intersting experience. But the strangest thing I've encountered is editing my editor. It's a wierd process, when your editor hand you his copy and I'm supposed to check it over. Yikes! As many of you know my grammatical skills are far from perfect, especially when it comes to the use of a comma. I'm slowly getting better but I don't want my boss to know what a comma idiot I am. And he loves the M-dash. That confuses me even more than a comma, but I think he was using them wrong but I don't know what else to do - sometimes I just replaced the dash with a comma! Some of my suggestions were completely ignored, as expected, like a suggestion on rearranging the lead (it was like a three sentance lead). Any grammatical tips are welcome at this point.

I had forgotten that in a sick way I love production day. I just get to sit and yell at my computer all day long. I enjoy Quark, but it's hard to figure out what style to use for what when you've never been shown. At least I know that even if I'm no quark-master I'm fairly fast. The only thing missing from production day here is the post-production beer and cheeseburger. That was the light at the end of the tunnel on a Tuesday at the Ryersonian, Andrew and I would do a dorky dance and then we would eat grease and drink beer. I went home to watch Canadian Idol drink water and eat left-overs, with a few two-bite brownies for dessert. Not the same.

Other wierd things I've noticed here in rural Ontario; Ontario morning - the morning program on the CBC - is even more annoying than Metro Morning. The CBC TV station I get out here is also crappy, a plea to all broadcasters out there, move out here and fix it. And I can't explain how wierd it is to live in a land without a daily newspaper. It's a very odd experience for me since I've had a daily paper with my coffee every day since I was 15 and as a creature of habit this throws a huge kink in my morning and makes it that much harder to get out of bed and into my ridiculously small shower. Seriously my shower is tiny, I'm 5'4 and think it's small and I apoligize in advance for anyone bigger than me who comes to visit.