A Few Quick Notes 336

-We had another beautiful day in Halifax. If I allowed myself to be a little picky I would point out that it was maybe a little hot and certainly a little humid, but as I am not allowing myself to take such a stance I won't make these complaints.

-Fortunately things cooled down a little by the time we had to play our Ultimate game. Much to my surprise, even after the McCartney and KISS shows the field was in relatively good shape (by Newfoundland standards). Unfortunately, while the field was a little better than I expected, our team was not. It seems we just didn't have it today. From almost the beginning of the game it was clear that we were unlikely to win. The only up-side of all of this was that the opposing team were a pleasure to play, even on fouls everything worked out wonderfully.

-A few days ago Neil and Rebecca took advantage of a movie rental deal and rented The Watchmen. There were two aspects of the viewing experience that I found particularly surprising. Firstly, I just couldn't wait for the movie to end. I really didn't care about any of the characters or the story, or how the whole thing resolved itself. Secondly, I couldn't believe how campy many of the special effects looked, particularly when others looked pretty good. The really cheesy looking blue guy just didn't do it for me. Also, I am pretty sure that I have finally come to the conclusion that I tend to actively dislike movies based on comic books, they just don't work for me (kind of like the materials they're based on). Of course this likely doesn't matter as those who feel similarly were likely wise enough to avoid the film and thus don't need my rushed opinion on the topic while those of tend to like comic book movies probably enjoyed the experience (but I guess this is likely everything else on this blog, here whether there is an audience or not).

Edit: I am pretty sure that I mean 'superhero stories' instead of 'comic books.'

-Due to a sale at one of the local grocery stores last week Neil and I have been eating quite a number of barbecued sausages these past few days. While it has been a generally pleasant experience so far, I imagine that by the time we finish our supply I will be fine without similar sausages for at least a few days, if not a few weeks.

A Few Quick Notes 334

-Well, we seem to be back to the gray and rainy weather of June. I guess I am glad that we had a least a few days of sun, but it would have been nice if it had lasted at least a few more days.

-Neil and I have another Ultimate game tomorrow. I am really hoping that the rain doesn't make the field too wet and unpleasant. Though I haven't yet discussed it with her, I wouldn't be surprised if Kirsten came along with us to see us play (assuming our game isn't rained out).

-Though I haven't purchased them yet, I am thinking that we might have burgers for dinner tonight. I hope this is alright with everyone else.

-Last night Kirsten and I, along with a friend of mine, made our way down to the waterfront to check out some of the tall ships that are in town for the Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival 2009. We timed our visit so that we could see some of the ships during and then hang around for the nightly fireworks show, which Kirsten was particularly interested in seeing.



The show started with a literal bang, though the figurative bang seemed to be missing. For about the first five minutes they kept sending up lone fireworks, all of the same variety, about every 45 seconds. This was less than enthralling, certainly when you have been hanging around just to see the fireworks show. Eventually things really picked up and the show turned out to be one of the best fireworks displays that I have seen. They did some neat things so that there were roman candle type things that went up to just below where the shells were exploding, which was a very nice effect. The other neat thing they did was have multiple shells explode in quick succession so that it seems smaller explosions were filling the ball created by a larger explosion. (It seems that tonight's show has been pushed to tomorrow because of the poor weather.)

After the show we met up with my friend's sister. As Kirsten wouldn't have been able to join us at a bar we all made our way back to our apartment where we had a few drinks, talked, and consumed a few pounds of turnip sticks. I like to think a good time was had by all, minimally, I exposed three people to the pleasure of raw turnip sticks.

-This morning Kirsten and I made our way to the Halifax Farmers' Market for a brief visit. Before heading to the waterfront to check out a few more of the tall ships we stopped for breakfast a local coffee and donut shop. We each had a beverage and I ordered a half-dozen donuts for us to split. It seems Kirsten was only willing to eat one of the donuts, which meant that there were five for me to eat. While I was able to cruise through the first four pretty quickly, I simply couldn't make it through the fifth. So while I am disgusted with myself for not being able to finish, I am pretty sure it wasn't worth powering through just so that I could say that I had completed the task. If you are interested, this is what was left of the final donut.



(Edit: Last night we spotted Newfoundland cabinet minister Tom Hedderson along the waterfront, and this morning we spotted our local MLA, and former political science prof, Leonard Preyra.)

-After 'breakfast' we made our way back to the waterfront, where quite a bit of fog had rolled in since the night before. I was quite impressed with the fog effect, it made things look a little more piratical, even the Coast Guard ships.



Unfortunately, the fog and moisture didn't really do much for the bouncy apparatuses. I really can't imagine that these could be any fun in such conditions.



-Last week we had the Paul McCartney concert, this week we have a KISS concert. While the Paul McCartney concert was fortunate enough to have near perfect weather, the Kiss crowd won't be so lucky. It is presently raining and there is a chance that there might be a thunderstorm this evening. I am also wondering who, and how many, will be attending this show. I just can't imagine that many people have much of their ticket budget left given the number of large shows that have already taken place (Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, and the country thing in PEI), or are about to take place (AC/DC) in the region. Hopefully they make a go of it tonight. Whether it is a success or not, we are likely to all go for a walk by the concert site to see how things are going, and so that we can claim to have heard KISS in concert.

A Few Quick Note 333

-Finally, after a month of overcast weather, we have had a few days of nice weather. This change has been quite welcome and seems to have brought out the tourists, though this last part doesn't really make all that much sense. Anyway, if things keep going like this it may be possible for us to salvage summer.

-It seems that (Sir) Paul McCartney is performing/performed in Halifax this evening. Aside from this bringing in all kinds of tourist dollars and whatnot, it also means that the Commons will be out of commission for much of the rest of the summer (as the gear is staying in place for the Kiss show in a few weeks). The show also meant that the portion of the Commons that was supposed to be available for our Ultimate game last night was fenced in and inaccessible. This turn of events was rather frustrating, particularly as Halifax confirmed the field availability just days before.

As much as I was disappointed by the extra fencing, I can't say I was all that surprised, nor was it all bad. The game being cancelled meant that we were able to start our team barbecue a little earlier than expected. It was quite nice to spend a little while getting to know some of our teammates and just relaxing. Unfortunately, my cold seems to still be lingering so it wasn't quite as pleasant an event for me as it could have been.

-As we were returning from the aforementioned barbecue we drove past the aforementioned concert site. As we were passing the stage area we heard what we all thought was a pretty atrocious rendition of a Beatles song. Turns out what we heard was Paul McCartney doing his soundcheck. So I guess I can now claim to have heard at least one of the Beatles live, even if it was just for a few lines of a song (and given the quality, that was more than enough).

-As I just mentioned, I still have this summer cold. While I initially thought I caught it from Neil, I am now somewhat inclined to believe that it might be something different as we had a rather different array of symptoms. On the other hand, if it is the same cold I am in a position to feel pretty macho as I didn't need to make a visit to the doctor.

-Kirsten is set to arrive on Monday and I am getting ever more excited about her arrival. I am really looking forward to get a chance to just hang out with her, and maybe play a few games of something or other.