Two-Face's Travelogue (original) (raw)
Two-Face's Travelogue
18th October, 2009. 10:54 pm. PS3 HOCKEY DYNASTY
My brother and I are still playing NHL 09 - we don't want to get into NHL 10 yet (no real need to) - and we officially have a Habs dynasty, winning the Stanley Cup 4 times in the last 6 years.
Check out our most recent season:
Regular season stats:
Record: 71-7-0-6. 148 points
Goals For: 500 or so...I forget. Goals Against: 206
Round 1 - vs. New York Islanders, won in 4 games Round 2 - vs. Carolina Hurricanes, won in 6 games Round 3 - vs. Washington Capitals, won in 5 games Round 4 - vs. Vancouver Canucks, won in 4 games
And here is the line-up for our dynasty-solidifying team. So good they are! Too bad we've already lost most of them to free agency.
FORWARDS
Top Line
Dany Heatley - San Jose Sharks
Mike Cammalleri - Montreal Canadiens
Brian Gionta - Montreal Canadiens
Second Line
Mathieu Lombardi - Phoenix Coyotes
Andy McDonald - St. Louis Blues
Jarome Iginla - Calgary Flames
Third Line
Vyacheslav Trukhno - created specificially for the game
Curtis Morrison - created specifically for the game
Kenndal McArdle - Florida Panthers
Fourth Line
Brett Sterling - Atlanta Thrashers
Michael Zigomanis - UFA, prev. with Pittsburgh Penguins
Kevin Cairns - created specifically for the game
DEFENSE
Top Pair
Scott Niedermeyer - Anaheim Ducks
Jay Bouwmeester - Calgary Flames
Second Pair
Chris Campoli - Ottawa Senators
Paul Ranger - Tampa Bay Lightning
Third Pair
James Boogaard - created specifically for the game
Mario Scalzo - currently in German Hockey League
GOALIES
Sabrina Lahda - 10 year old, 6'6" Indian female player created specifically for the game
Nikko Sulkanen - Character created for the game
Current mood: 
happy.
4th October, 2009. 6:46 pm. Passing Away
Early Saturday morning my eldest aunt, Aunt Berta, passed away after a brief battle with multiple strokes and such. She was only 68. She's been distant from the majority of our family for a good number of years so I wasn't too close any more but it's still sad when a relative dies - and she (and her husband, my uncle by marriage) were the only family members that have ever lived geographically close to my immediate family since I was born.
Only 68...that's ridiculous. That's only a few years older than my own parents. It's the first of my parents' generation (from either side of the family) to pass away - and while everyone else is in better health, you just never know. It scares me sometimes...I suppose I am rather close to my folks, as one preferably should be...and while I know I'd get through it, I don't want to go through that for a long, long time.
I know I'm freaking out over something that is a long, long ways away...but you never know.
I've yet to have a really, truly significant human loss in my life that shook me to the core...I just don't know how I'll deal with it when that day comes.
Current mood: 
nostalgic.
27th September, 2009. 11:45 am. Where has the Tim gone?
Wow, I haven't posted in a month? Must mean that I've been pretty busy here. Yikes!
This is pic heavy I've put it behind a cut ( right here.Collapse )
Current mood: happy.
18th August, 2009. 10:44 pm. Car Wars
My ride back from Kelowna a few weeks back was interesting.
My car stalled on me on the way home - just 15 minutes from Sophie's place. Thankfully I was still in a very populated area and could crash at her place if necessary - but I was very worried about my car for A) I didn't want to pay a huge repair bill, and B) I had to work bright and early the following morning.
That afternoon in Kelowna I called BCAA to get someone to look at the car - they claimed something WAS wrong (though they couldn't pinpoint what) and that I should NOT do any mountrain driving that afternoon. He escorted me back into town, where I promptly took my car to Canadian Tire to get a diagnostic run. After a good 90 minute wait there, I still had no results - they found nothing wrong at all. Nothing. No sign of the transmission going crazy, no signs as to why when my car was given gas, it wouldn't accelerate properly (if at all). Nothing. Thankfully they charged me nothing.
Part of me wished that there WAS something wrong, though, because it would've forced me to hang out with Sophie some more in Kelowna - and that's never a bad thing.
Anyway, since Canadian Tire - apparent professionals - said that the car looked fine, I decided to attempt the treacherous four hour mountain drive home after all - three hours later than originally planned.
I actually made it. It was as if my car was just like before - running perfect. I couldn't believe it, myself - because there were some very, very nasty hills along the way.
I let the car rest until Thursday, 3 days later, when it was beer night. As soon as I started it up again, it was acting up again. And again. And again. Argh.
After taking it around to a number of places for check-ups - a dealer, my friend Mike (who had a part in selling me the car), and a few garages, I finally got a diagonosis - something called a spedometer sensor was out of whack, and, including an oil change, it cost me just under $300 to fix it. Not bad...but I didn't really want to deal with that extra charge on the credit card this month. I kind of wanted to RELIEVE my debt, not stay level with it.
As such, I've been saving money by taking the bus to work lately. And what a good time to focus on transit; this past Monday, the Canada Line (Vancouver's new "Skytrain"/subway to the airport) opened up. This route severely changes my commuting route into work and, ultimately, should save a lot of time for me.
The first day for this new ride was free - and the line-ups to get on were four hours long. I refused to wait that long in a line-up just for a ride - what is this, Disneyland? - so I checked it out today. I admit I'm a road geek and tranist geek - little boys love their trains, after all - and it was pretty cool to see the city I grew up with in a whole new light. Sure, much of the ride is a subway so the view is just burrowed concrete and such, but it's new, regardless.
If only it wasn't so packed. It'll be interesting to see how this fares during the Olympics. Less than 6 months and counting!
Current mood: 
contemplative.
10th August, 2009. 10:29 pm. Optimus Speaks the Truth!
So awesome!
-Tim
Current mood: happy.
9th August, 2009. 10:11 am. Long Weekend, Longer Week
It's been a pretty good week to start off the last full month of summer.
Last Friday I drove out to Kelowna to hang with Sophie again. It was something I was hoping to do already but I didn't get full approval until like 8am Friday morning, an hour before work, so I had to pack like crazy - and then drive like crazy - and I was surprised I managed to do that and get to work on time.
The drive up on Friday afternoon felt different than last time. The drive was good - I got up there in under four hours again - but it was smokier. Way smokier. On my way into Merritt (about an hour from my destination) you could see the faint haze in the sky and smell it, too. BC is inundated with forest fires every summer and this is the worst summer yet; in fact, the day after my last trip to Kelowna, a huge fire broke out in town that could have easily affected thousands.
I met up with Sophie at about 10pm or so, and as we'd both had very long days we didn't get up to much but chatting that evening.
The next day (Saturday) Sophie and I (as well as some of her friends) took a trip back up to Enderby to do some tubing. We absolutely loved it last time but it was over far too quickly - so we tubed down a different part of the Shuswap River, further upstream, where the water was faster, the turns were twistier, and the river was deeper. There was also plenty of time to make little pit-stops on the side of the river, which we did three times: on a sandy river beach to have lunch, at a 7m high cliff to do some cliffdiving, and then by a farmer's field so I could disembark and chase some cows.
Later that night Sophie and I would meet up at her friends' place for a barbecue dinner and then head to the OK Corral for a rockin' good time before we crashed. I slept forever that night.
On Sunday, we headed to the south end of the Okanagan Valley - to Osoyoos. It was really smokey around Kelowna that day - ash was on the car, smoke was in the air, and it was still for an hour until we got far enough away. We eventually ended up in Osoyoos, right on the American border. In fact, we crossed the border trying to get in for a quick photoshoot without passports - EPIC FAIL - and it took us about an hour of car line-ups and interrogations to get back into our own country.
Osoyoos was great. I hadn't been there since I was a year old, so I'd never really experienced it before. It is located on another lake in the middle of an actual Canadian desert, and in the summer it's quite a resort city. Sophie and I spent a few hours there, having ice cream and swimming in the lake - the warmest lake in Canada, actually (proven fact). The fact it was 39 degrees that day really helped.
On the way home we picked up a pizza in Penticton and checked out the movie FUNNY PEOPLE in Westbank - which was good, but far longer than it should've been. (2h25? Are you kidding me?)
We had a good night after challenging each other to name all 50 states (I won...I got all 50 she got 45, yay) and had a nice snooze.
The next day was a headache all on its own...I'll save that for the next post.
Current mood: 
content.
2nd August, 2009. 10:10 am. Excercise Time???
What...the...hell...is...this?
My sister posted this on her Facebook. It's just...wrong.
Current mood: 
intimidated.
28th July, 2009. 9:30 pm. My Favourite Butt
It's been a busy weekend.
SHOW ME YOUR PUTTS!
I didn't particularly want to do much - or spend much - so I found a few ways to entertain myself with minimal expenditures and maximized results of fun.
On Sunday, Mike, Jordan, Brad, and myself hit up the Pitch N Putt near Mike's house and played 9 holes. For $6.50 a round it's really cheap fun. I'd like to do it regularly. We also picked up a cheap dozen beer (Cariboo - so nouveau, so delicious, what a bargain) and snuck it onto the course as well. Technically you're not allowed to but this pitch n putt has a definite "Don't look, don't tell" policy. Jordan and I were playing rather competitively; I scored 39 strokes, he scored 42. Par on the course was 27. I was pretty pleased with myself; it would appear that beer is my power.
The fact we played in the evening rather than mid-day also seemed to help. The sun was scorching that day; it has been all week, our highs have all been in the low 30s, which is almost unheard of in Vancouver, especially at this consistant rate.
SHOW ME YOUR BUTTS!
On Monday evening, Mike, Jordan, and myself met up to go to a Vancouver Canadians baseball game. Only $8 to get in! This is fourth-tier professional baseball (MLB would be #1, their farm teams would be #2, etc) so we had no idea who any of the players were. We didn't care, either - it's still always a fun time watching guys play a little ball at the ball park, especially in the evening in such a gorgeous setting.
The view from behind home plate, looking up Little Mountain into Queen Elizabeth Park.
The reason we went this night was A) the heat wave made for a great evening outdoors, B) baseball is fun, and C) Cecil Fielder was there signing autographs and such. I didn't know much about the guy but Mike, a Detroit Tigers fan (about on par with my Hab-love in hockey, I'd say) grew up loving this dude so he got his picture taken and a framed photo of the old (and now demolished) Tigers Stadium signed.
Cecil Fielder swingin' for the Tigers.
While he was there, Jordan and I had our own brush with greatness. We spotted Corner Gas great/actor/writer/producer/creator (and local Vancouverite) Brent Butt amble on by on his way to the beer garden. If we weren't stuck in line helping Mike get his pictures taken, we would've followed him to get pictures of our own. We made a mental note of his clothing - a big dude in a blazing red shirt wouldn't be hard to spot - and planned to search the crowd of 5,000 or so for him later.
Brent Butt, whom I dressed up as in 2005 for Hallowe'en at Shell. Good times.
The game was pretty solid - back and forth, crazy hits and catches, and a nail-biter of a finish where the home team came from behind in the bottom of the ninth to pull out the win. In the last few innings, though, as the crowd thinned, Jordan and I scanned the landscape for our local TV hero - and we found him. It had to be him. We even took long distance photos from 100 feet away to make sure - it had to be.
So then we corner him as he leaves the invitation-only beer garden. It wasn't him.
Back off quickly...we don't want to get arrested, do we?
But did out eyes decieve us? They couldn't have...we were both so sure. We must have just lost track as the night wore on. It was a let down at the end of the night but still a good time over all. I'd love to catch another game before the season is over in September.
-Tim
Current mood: nostalgic.
27th July, 2009. 11:30 pm. Sexy Vancouver Timelapse
Check this action - it's from the other night with the sunset from hell, lightning, and fireworks...really awesome stuff.
Current mood: contemplative.
26th July, 2009. 11:41 am. Oh Man...
It's been a crazy couple of days. A good kind of crazy - but as it was crazy, I had to put up with some weird stuff along the way.
I should've seen it coming on Friday afternoon. I don't think there was a full moon or anything but there was something up that really affected one of my customers at the bank on Friday.
After I finished dealing with a kind elderly gentleman, I was scribbling some notes down on a reciept before I helped the next in line. The older man stepped to the side and fumbled with his bags and the paperwork I gave him, preparing to leave the bank with everything in order. With my head still down I spoke up and said, "I can help you right here, sir," indicating the next in line.
Turns out the next in line was a woman.
I looked up and she looked at me - with an iPod earphone in one of her ears - and shouted out "EXCUSE ME!?" I was immediately embarassed - even though quite honestly, her features could've been of either gender from my distance - but I recanted to put her at ease and I said "I apologize, I wasn't looking as I said that. I meant to say, 'I can help you right here, madam." I put an emphasis on the "madam" and with her only half listening, I think she assumed I was mocking her and then as she stepped up to my counter I had to make the comparison between sir and madam in order to prove that I wasn't insulting her.
She was an angry soul and I swear that she looked like she was gonna pop me one for my verbal flub - even though I apologized and reworded things. My face was red and I felt bad about the whole situation.
Be that as it may, I was professional and she had some business to get done. We put my flub behind us and moved forward, with me asking what she wanted to do. It was at that moment that the older man I just helped tried nudging his way back into the line, right in front of the woman that was standing right at my counter. She was offended - and she should've been - and I told him, "Sir, if you need to speak with me just wait until I am done with her, then I can help you." He wasn't being verbally rude - in fact he wasn't saying anything - but he wouldn't stop. I told him again, and my female client was even more aggitated. Then as he was leaving to give her space, she decided to walk off anyway - so he gladly came in and took her place.
I could see her steaming in the line, even though I initially refused to help the older man at that time - and I prayed I wouldn't have to deal with her again. So I took my sweet time with the other man - who had a silly question to begin with anyway - but I waited until someone else helped her so she wouldn't take everything out on me again. I figured she'd be a lot kinder towards a new face and that was correct.
But oy...what a mess. She must've had a burr under her saddle or something. I know it insults some to ID them (though at the bank we have to for security reasons) but to mess up on their gender? There are very few ways to get out of that situation without looking completely foolish.
So then on Saturday, things got even crazier - Vancouver was hit by a lightning storm in the afternoon, and that's a huge rarity in this part of the world. If anything we might get the random strike or two, but no, this continued on for the good part of four hours - right when I was supposed to be going downtown to view the Celebration of Light fireworks with Mike and Jordan.
Team South Africa was on stage tonight for the second of four fireworks nights and it was a good show - but it was made all the better because of the lightning as a backdrop. I've had some trouble finding pics online of what we witnessed last night but here goes. (Note: These pics are not mine...I found them on 
opium's LJ earlier this morning, so I credit her with finding them.
Lightning strikes over the Vancouver West End.
An eerie orange hue dominated the sunset skies, like we've never seen before. This was our viewing location at English Bay Beach.
Lightning! Again!
Lightning and fireworks combined. It was pretty sweet.
( More under the cut, including videos!Collapse )