Penguins, Pot, and Other Stuff

When I was a kid growing up, my best friend was George.  He lived and not too far away and went to the same grade school as me.  His father was our family doctor.  We went to high school together and got to know many people there.  This included Lorne & Eric.  We knew Eric from grade school and got to know Lorne at Bishop Ryan High School.

 

One of the many things we did was head to Algonquin Park every summer for a couple of weeks of canoeing/portaging/camping/fishing.  Always had a great time.  We even went on a winter camping trip.  Middle of January in the bush around Huntsville.  We were on snowshoes and planned on sleeping in tents.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be the coldest week of the year: -40°C at night.  Even our rum froze!  We ended up breaking into a boarded-up hunting cabin.  Paradise!

 

As happens with many people, we all went our separate ways.  George ended up getting married, becoming a doctor and moving to Victoria British Columbia.  Hardly see the man.  The last time was maybe 10 years ago.  I knew he was coming into town (Niagara Falls really) to get together with some of the boys he went to university with in London.  This included Lorne & Eric.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the get-together.  But-lo & behold, there was a buzz from my lobby on Sunday morning and it was George!  Shortly after he got here, Lorne & Eric arrived.

 

It was so nice to get together again.  Of course we talked about so many things from the old days.  Caught up on things and spent a lovely couple of hours together.  Eventually though, George had to leave to catch his flight back to British Columbia.  I got some contact information on his mother who lives there are also.  Mrs. Urban was always so nice to me.  I’ll have to give her a call!  Thanks George, it was nice to see you.  Now, let’s not let another 10 years go by before we do this again!

 

Got some pictures-check them out.

I have such a good time when Owen & Glory invite me to the house for a barbecue, that I decided it was time for #2!  And this time, I would spring for the steaks.  After all, the lovely Marcy (their daughter) felt left out when she wasn’t invited to the first one this year!

 

Got together with everyone for the festivities.  And I do mean everyone-there were nine of us!  Owen & Glory along with their siblings Kyle & Darcy and their respective spouses, myself, the lovely Lynda and Glory’s other son.  Man, that’s nine steaks!  Good thing I have a connection at the Farmer’s Market.  I explained to him what was going on and he gave me a deal on nine delicious New York steaks.  Owen did a fantastic job at the barbecue and everyone raved about their steak.  Some delicious salads, good drink and a lovely strawberry/rhubarb pie for dessert.

 

Gave everyone a chance to catch up on things.  Even got to watch some football on TV!  Things didn’t get too rowdy, even though Lynda was there!  All in all, a great time.  Who knows, if Indian summer is a long one, we may get to do it again!

 

Got some good pictures-check them out!

The Hamilton chapter of the Maltese Canadian Association has a link on their web site where you can look up the family crest & history of common Maltese names.  I knew Aquilina had something to do with an eagle and when I checked, lo and behold, there it was!  Decided it was time for my next tattoo.

 

Went to see Anita at Aardvark Tattoo.  She has become my regular tattoo lady.  Very nice person; from Chile, long dark hair & amenable to the "good stuff".  Anita took a look at the picture I brought and said it would be no problem.  We set a date, I showed up and 45 minutes later-there it was!

 

Check out the picture.

Yes, about one more week and this season will be in full gear.  Many experts give my Canadiens a good chance of representing the East in the Stanley Cup finals.  We’ll see!  All I know is, the start of the hockey season means the start of the hockey pool season.  I must be in 6 or 7 already.

 

Did my annual early ticket shopping for some games.  I don’t really get heavy into hockey until after Christmas.  My Montréal boys only have one game in Toronto after January.  Tickets for that don’t go on sale until the new year.  I’ll be patient.  Was able to pick up a couple of tickets to watch them in Buffalo in February.  Will be going with Brother Joseph.  Go Habs Go!

Took in a Pink Floyd cover band the other evening.  Went with Brother Joseph and his Lady Kathryn.  It was originally scheduled for the Hamilton Convention Center but the number of tickets sold must have been low-on the night of the event it was moved to the Studio Theater at Hamilton Place.

 

All in all a good show.  Unlike the last Pink Floyd cover band I went to see, there was not very much "artistic fluctuation" in the songs.  One problem however: no saxophone player.  Pink Floyd aficionados are well aware of the significance the saxophone plays in many Pink Floyd songs.  Instead, a synthetically created instrument was used.  Not quite right.

 

Over the years I have seen many Pink Floyd cover bands.  By far, the best was the one I went to see a couple of years ago in Niagara Falls.  So good, I went to see them twice.  They had everything-female singers, all the sound effects & a fantastic saxophone player.  Hopefully they’ll be around again soon!

Got together for the annual Malta Day Dinner/Dance the other day.  Went along with Brother Joseph & Lady Kathryn, Sister Dianne & Jim and Jeannine & Paulo.  It was held at Michelangelo’s, probably Hamilton’s #1 banquet facility.  Had a chance to meet some of the older Maltese crowd that my parents associated with.  Also saw some of the "kids" I used to either play with or babysit.  Ah, the memories!

 

Great food & great people.  What more could you want?  Got a few pictures before the batteries in my camera died out.  Don’t forget Dianne, you have a picture or two you promised to send me.  In the meantime, check out what I put up!

As with last year, the start of this football season came with a lot of hope for fans of the Hamilton Tiger Cats.  Well, halfway through the season and the coach gets fired!  Doesn’t take a genius to realize things aren’t going well.  Funny thing is though, the playoffs are still within reach.  Wouldn’t that be something!?!

 

All I can say is Oskee Wee Wee!

It’s becoming another yearly tradition.  The March of Dimes hires a summer student who organizes activities for people in the building.  One of these is a trip to the CNE.  A bunch of us loaded up and off we went.  As I did last year, I brought the lovely Caitlind along to enjoy the day.  Good food, some rides and of course lots of shopping.

 

Check out the pictures.  Caitlind got a new tattoo.  Even though everyone split up when we got there, we still managed to bump into Danielle and the rest of the March of Dimes gang.  Danielle is the summer student who organized the trip.  Thank you Danielle!

Danielle & Nicole came over the other day to spend an afternoon with Uncle Tony.  First, off to Jackson Square for some lunch.  Nicole went a chicken sub from Mr. Sub (thank goodness, no tainted meat) while Danielle & I both chowed down on a Toasted Twister from KFC.  Delicious!  We still had lots of time to kill before the movie so we started our hunt for a particular gym bag Nicole wanted for school.  Although we checked every store, no luck.  For those of you wondering it’s the Aritzia TNA Rainbow Bag she is looking for.

 

We still had more time so it was the Farmer’s Market next.  I picked up some green grapes, cherries & date squares.  Simply delicious!  Finally, it was now time for the movie.  The girls wanted to see The Mummy, which was fine by me.  Lots of action & noise (I did manage to fall asleep for five minutes)-really quite entertaining!

 

Movie done, we made our way back home and waited for Sister Dianne to pick the girls up.  She was right on time and even managed to bring over some delicious leftovers for me to enjoy.  A very nice afternoon.  The girls are growing up to be beautiful young ladies.  Well, that shouldn’t surprise anyone.  Their uncle was the most beautiful baby in Hamilton!

While it looked like our trip wasn’t going to happen for a while (right Trishy Pooh?), Trish & I made our annual visit to the CNE.  Once we got there, straight to the food building.  Eventually I had my traditional goat roti while Trish decided to chow down on the Philly Cheessteak Sandwich.  Both excellent choices.

 

After that, we made our way around the park several times.  We of course hit the International Building where I managed to pick up some track pants, sunglasses and even a new Teflon frying pan!  Trish did well herself, snatching some spiffy clothing articles.  I must say, we are both going to be the best dressed people around!

 

Midway, games of chance, the food building again-we hit everything.  Even got to the Farm Animal Building where we were surprised to see that Dickhead was one of the prime exhibits.  Check out his picture!