Party All The Time

Yesterday we managed to salvage a BBQ picnic day in Port Moody. The original plan was to assemble with some friends at Buntzen Lake, cook some hot dogs, eat potato salad, swim in the lake, maybe go for a hike, and generally enjoy what I think was the hottest weekend we’ve had this summer. I’d asked everyone to try and get there by noon at the latest, since on all previous sunny day visits to Buntzen, the parking lots fill up by the lunching hour, and once that happens there’s no (decent) way in.

So after some phone-calling panic, we found a spot at nearby Old Orchard Park, which still offered some cool water to swim in (albeit the less-than-pristine but still-not-gonna-kill-you Burrard Inlet) and we didn’t lose any attendees along the way. It was fun to see Ian and Allana, our friends from PG along with their 10 month old son, along with our usual suspects. I also managed to get a friend from work and her hubby to join us, although I’m sure after seeing how we party (you know, that sitting around and blabbing about nothing important, while drinking water) I doubt I manage to fool them a second time into joining our Mundane Parade. After two-thirds of the group left at about 3pm, the rest of us headed to our apartment for a swim in the pool. Strange but true: mid afternoon on a hot day, our pool was totally empty.

Regardless, we had a great day. Overall this has been a pretty good summer. I’m still sporting a fantastic farmer’s tan, but I doubt that will ever change. Also, since it’s Monday, I’m including the greatest song ever recorded that involves the word Party.

Motion Picture Doldrums

Aside from seeing Inception a couple of weeks ago (I seriously recommend it), there haven’t been a lot of movies I’ve been dying to see. Not just in the theatre, but in general. I’m watching perhaps two DVDs from my Zip.ca account per month, and Inception might have been the second theatre movie I’ve seen this year. I don’t think this is due to a lack of interesting movies, but more that I’m just uninterested in them of late.

When I joined Zip, I probably watched 7 or 8 movies a month. I’m pretty positive that when movies weren’t $13 per show I saw more in the theatre as well. On that note, remember when movies were $2.50 on Tuesdays? I remember seeing all kinds of crap in theatres back then: Demolition Man, Bordell of Blood, The Specialist … I’d rather eat a spoonful of broken glass than pay to see movies like that today. Theatres just aren’t impulse activities anymore. Anyway, I’m even not much of a movie downloader. For whatever reason the thought of sitting down for 90 to 120 minutes to watch a story just doesn’t grab me these days.

I hope I learn to like movie-watching again. Movies was one of the deciding factors in buying a widescreen HDTV, but the lack of movie interest has been one of the reasons I haven’t jumped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon. Well, I also don’t believe in the long-term life of Blu-Ray, but that’s another story. I rarely buy DVDs anymore either; I’ve probably added maybe one-tenth of my DVD collection in the last two years, and I haven’t been buying DVDs for much longer than the last six or seven years.

Best weekend in … well, a long time

This past weekend was probably the best on record in quite a while. Saturday I wandered around Ambleside with my cousin before heading to the Lions game at Empire Field. The Lions lost (prediction for the 2010 season: 10 wins, 8 losses) in a show of almost total ineptitude, but as I’ve said to anyone who will listen, the ‘temporary’ field is fantastic. It’s such a shame that they’ll only use it for a season, or season and a half at most. It cost a fraction of the half-billion dollars that’ll be spent putting a new roof on the concrete monstrosity of BC Place, and is a far better sport-watching venue than the dome. Granted it might not be as fantastic once it’s rainy and chilly in late October, but for the next three months, it’s going to be great.

Sunday the ladyfriend, me, and a couple of friends went to Buntzen Lake equipped with barbecue, tubular meat products, and innertubes. Despite some temporary barbecue problems, we had a pretty relaxing time (I was the only one to float in the lake for an extended period of time). That evening we all visited the Richmond Night Market, one of the dozen or so things that Vancouverites are expected to have done that we hadn’t yet. It too was a fun time, seeing all sorts of hats, handbags, socks, cellphone cases, sunglasses, and other assorted straight-from-China knicknacks. No one was brave enough to try some curry fish balls or fried whole squid - the ‘double whammy’ of street vendors, plus food no white person’s body is used to consuming, was a gastrointestinal experiment we weren’t willing to try. No sense ending a good weekend with explosive diarrhea!

Suspicious Minds

You know that saying about vacations and work - it goes something along the lines of ‘when you get back from vacation you’ll feel refreshed and invigorated and re-energized about work’? I’m calling bullhonkey on that. I don’t think I’ve ever got back from somewhere peaceful, tranquil, relaxing, and sunny and thought gosh, I sure am glad I’m back at work instead of hiking through a forest or sitting on a beach. I chalk this lie up to workplace propaganda. The same faceless force that tells me that stock options are good, that my opinions are valued, or that the lunch room coffee isn’t just Folgers Crystals. When I get back from vacation, all I can think about is how much happier I’d be if I could stay in the forest or on the beach for a long, long time. Now I know why people end up traveling to Costa Rica and open up a surf motel and stay there.

TWIG Notes XXVII

Another week, another week without blogging. Here’s the rundown.

- Last Sunday was the first game (preseason) at Empire Field, the new and temporary home of the BC Lions. The weather was a cloudy and somewhat chilly seventeen degrees. The stadium’s certainly going to be fun for the summer months - provided summer actually arrives - and in a way it’s too bad that next year the Lions will be moving back into a cavernous dome. Empire Field holds just under 28,000, which is a perfect size for a CFL game. Our seats are literally about twelve feet from the field, which is a hell of a lot closer than at BC Place. The Lions lost, but whatever, it’s the preseason. For the record I predict a 10-8 record for the Leos this season.

- Also: photos from the Lions game are on Flickr. Includes shots of cheerleader bums. Fair warning.

- I’m in desperate need of a vacation, so I booked a night at Whistler for Canada Day for my ladyfriend and I. I only thought of this because some friends of ours took me to Whistler for an afternoon on Saturday, where we wandered around for a couple hours, ate some delicious fresh pasta, then headed home when the rain started to pour. Again, it sure would be nice if summer came soon, so our two days in Whistler aren’t spoiled by rain.

- After not winning a G.D. thing on Lotto Max tickets the last two weeks, I’ve given up on that lottery. Instead, I spent money on a different lottery! Tax for the stupid, my ass - I’m totally winning the PNE Prize Home this year!

- As soon as I finish writing this blog entry, I’m canceling my subscription to GQ. No more fashion advice, no more articles about the best pub food in America. Somehow I’ll be alright. I hope.

To be The Man, you gotta read The Man

Of all the celebrity look-a-likes you could pick for me (out of, you know, three or so) I’m quite happy to hear I look the most like tennis superstar Andre Agassi. A couple of weeks ago I nabbed his autobiography, Open, from the library. It was a one week loan, since it’s still in high demand, so I polished it off in five days. It was a pretty fascinating read, about a kid who’s forced into a sport that he hates by an overbearing dad, yet is driven to succeed because wanting to be successful is what drives him. And yes, he admits to wearing a hairpiece from about age 18 (his mullet days) and experimenting with crystal meth. But his accomplishments are amazing: the oldest man to be ranked number one in the world; the only man to win a Golden Slam (all four grand slam titles plus a gold medal); he won 26 straight matches at the Australian Open, which still stands as a record; and he opened a tuition-fee private charter school in Las Vegas, in the worst part of the city, for disadvantaged kids. Plus he married both Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf.

The fact that Agassi lives in Vegas has given me another goal to strive for, whenever we end up going: to get my photo taken with my doppleganger.