This morning I was checking my RSS feeds when I noticed that the Metro had a story about Darrell Dexter playing in an upcoming charity basketball game. The important sentence in the story is:
The Nova Scotia premier/longtime baller is playing in the Legends of Basketball game Saturday as part of the Premier Basketball League all-star weekend at the Halifax Metro Centre.
What is of note is their use of the word 'baller,' which also means something quite different than what they likely meant.
A thug that has "made it" to the big time. Originally refered ball players that made it out of the streets to make millions as a pro ball player, but now is used to describe any thug that is living large.
It seems to me that the Metro staff should consider being a little more careful the next time they think about dropping some slang in their articles (unless, of course, this was they effect they were going for).
-Today seems to have been largely overcast and cool, though it hasn't rained and it hasn't been cold, so I guess it gets a passing grade. That being said, it feels as though we are now definitely in fall and not just experiencing a cold spell.
-On Tuesday night Neil and I attended the Rex Murphy book a launch that I mentioned a few posts ago. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but the talk was much more entertaining and exciting than I expected. It is likely that Neil and I were so drawn in because Rex spent a good portion of his time recounting his experiences working for Newfoundland Liberal party in the 1980s.
I should also give Rex credit for being a particularly capable public speaker. As far as I could tell, aside from a brief section at the end of his talk, he managed to speak for 45 minutes without notes and without a microphone (and with only a few sips of water). More impressive than just the fact that he accomplished such a feat was that the content, if wandering at times, was well presented and managed to draw out a number of connections that I hadn't previously made. So I guess I am recommending Rex as a speaker if you ever have the opportunity to hear him.
After the talk he signed a few books. As neither Neil nor I purchased a book we did not stick around for the signing, though I did try to snap a few photos (the quality of which were hampered by light and distance).
-Last night I joined the matheletes on a booze cruise on the Halifax harbour. It turns out that most of us weren't really prepared for what we eventually experienced, though I think that once we started to get a sense of things we were at least able to deal with the experience.
I am not sure what it says about me, but I was glad to get the chance to go under both bridges. One thing that I found strange is that only the Souther bridge (I can't remember which is which) was properly illuminated.
At one point two of us were looking at the wheelhouse and were a little bit surprised to see this.
As you might have guessed, the crew was obscured by the wheel. Sadly, they didn't try to ghost ride the Harbour Queen (as unique an experience as that might have been).
-On Wednesday it was quite wet and windy so we decided not to play our Ultimate game, though we only made this decision at the field. As we were all there and free for a few hours most of us decided to hit the closest bar, the Rodeo Lounge in Burnside.
Once in the bar we learned that not only were we basically the only customers but that they had an indoor basketball net as well as Nintendo Wii that we were able to use (and did use). Unfortunately, the mechanical bull was not in use while we were there, though now that I know it exists I have some motivation to head back at some point in the future.
I should also say that the prices were reasonable and the service was great. It was incredibly fun to play a few games of HORSE/take a few shots while hanging out and drinking some beer. It would be great if more bars had such facilities.
-I harvested quite a number of tomatoes today. I think it is safe to say that this was my biggest single harvest yet, though I hope to be able surpass this record next year.
Hopefully Neil will be able to eat them all before they go bad.
-Well today was a bit of a bust as far as the predicted snowfall was concerned. By the time 5:00 PM rolled around we did manage to get a little snow, though things seem to have largely wrapped up before 7:30. I guess we will wait and see, but I don't imagine that we will get too much more snow this evening, though who knows, maybe I will be way off.
-Given that we did get a little snow, I thought that I would try to make a time-lapse video of it accumulating. What I found interesting in the resulting video is that it seems that the snow is starting to melt near the end of the clip, though this could just be the result of changing light conditions.
[Embedded video]
-A few years ago I broke my collar bone in a rather ill-advised, planned sledding collision. Since then, on occasion, my shoulder has made some strange grinding noises when moved. I was reminded of this phenomenon again today when I heard some noise coming from my shoulder as I was lifting my left arm. Fortunately these noises don't yet seem to be connected to a reduction of mobility, though I can only imagine what time and age my do to my shoulder.
-Yesterday, Neil, Rebecca, and I went to the apartment of their friends' to play a few board games. I was introduced to a game called Power Grid, which was pretty good. I also managed to get a game of Condotierre in, and somehow managed to win.
-For dinner we ended up going to a local Chinese restaurant called Mr. Chang's. All three of us were quite impressed with the food and the prices. Though I don't imagine that we will make weekly trips, I do imagine that we will return at some point in the future. It is nice to know that there is an inexpensive, quality food option nearby.
-The more I have been listening to the The Moth podcast the more I have been sensing its connection to This American Life. This week's episode of the The Moth podcast was the re-telling of a story that appeared on This American Life several years ago. A story by Mike Birbiglia was also recently on both shows. I guess this connection shouldn't surprise me as I learned about the The Moth podcast because one of its stories was featured on a This American Life episode.
-A few days ago my sister was kind enough to send Neil and I a link to Highlights'online joke repository. Boy do they ever have some gold material. Neil and I have been laughing about a number of these jokes since getting the email. Definitely check this link out if you are interested in quality internet content.
-I was shocked to learn today that the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals do not have the same owners. I wonder how they share the revenues? I also wonder how it feels to be on the Washington Generals, and how long people tend to stay on the team?
-Though I had to do in my living room scarlet runner bean population my bedroom plants seem to be doing quite well. Shortly after taking this picture I installed the preliminary string set-up to allow them to climb to my bedroom window. Eventually I hope to get these plants to climb across my bedroom window, and then back (though this latter trek may be wishful thinking on my behalf).
The other plants in my bedroom seem to be doing relatively well, though aside from the new corn and the thyme none have put on too much additional height in the past few days (though most have shown some form of growth)
