Current Tunes

Not doing much at the moment, so I thought I'd listen to some tunes and organize my mp3s and perhaps rip a few of more of my cds onto the hard drive I keep exclusively for storing mp3s. I haven't bought much cds this year as there seems to be less and less good music these days. Some of the artists whose mp3s I selected to listen to today are Joe Satriani, Santana, hometown girl Kathleen Edwards, Sarah McLachlan (Rachel's favourite), The Hip & Matt Mays & El Torpedo. Weird selection I know, the artists don't match I know! But it's just that these were the last cds that I had converted into mp3s, so I decided to listened to them.

Going through several tracks in my mp3 list, I came across a couple of bands I haven't listened to in quite a while - Megadeth & Judas Priest! I was a big fan of Megadeth from the early 1990s but somehow they faded away from me. And as for the Priest, I never followed them that much but they do have some killer songs! So I played a few of them as well and my air guitar was out and tuned to perfection. Rachel passed by a few times during the show that I put on and disapproved at my "childish behaviour"! The dogs seemed to be a better audience and I am sure that they would have applauded if they had hands and could applaud! Yes I am sure they would.

Later today, we went out for dinner despite the snow and cold and had a lovely but short evening out. Then it was back home to watch the news and read while Sarah McLachlan serenaded the four of us.

Aideau Dear Friend

I have known Jeff Redekker since I was a little boy. He lived not too far away and was my sister's age and was in some of the same classes as her. Although not one of her close friends (actually I can say that he was more my friend than hers), Jeff was always around the same people we knew. My Goan buddy Nelson was another who was friends with Jeff. He was always a very popular guy among his peers and among the local kids much younger than him. Jeff was always known as a helpful and friendly fellow in my neighbourhood of Nepean. He went off to university in the states (in New Hampshire I guess) but often came back as he was quite homesick at the time. We lost touch with him at that point, until he finally moved back to Ottawa after 6 years of university - that would be 93-94. A bunch of us met him here and there, usually at Sens games or at concerts and stuff. To get an image of him just think of Vancouver Canucks' longtime player Trevor Linden - only with lighter hair!

A few months after he came back, he introduced us to his American girlfriend from university, Lisa, who he had actually broken up with. She was there to visit him for a few days. The visits became once a month for a year or so, until one day Jeff called us to inform that he was getting married to Lisa in Hawaii. The two of them settled in the suburb of Orléans and Jeff got a job in real estate. For several years it seemed like things were going great for them. They both attended my sister's wedding, where Jeff chatted for hours with me, Nelson & Sasha - the three guys in my group who were closest to him. He & Lisa also helped out at the reception party in the evening, staying till late at night. My parents were always fond of Jeff, just like a lot of people their age seemed to. After that, we hardly met until just before I finished university. I ran into Jeff who was taking his dog to the vet and told him about my upcoming trip to India and stuff. He seemed very different then, having put on a lot of weight. But he seemed happy and from what I had heard, very successful as well.

For a long time I didn't hear about Jeff. I tried calling him to come for my wedding but he sent a card instead and the day after Rachel & I came back from our honeymoon, we found an excellent gift waiting for us from him. I still didn't get to hear much from him; as I later found out, he was often in Kingston as part of his work. Then last year I met him. He was a shadow of the Jeff of old - he was a recovering alcoholic and had some trouble with narcotics! His wife and him were going through a rough divorce and all sorts of stories came out. It was also taking a toll on their little girl, their only child. His ex got custody of the child and they would move to the Toronto area. And rather devastatingly, Jeff's parents both passed away last year in a car crash.

I met Jeff, for what seems like the last time two days ago. He was calling up people to say his goodbyes for the last two weeks. He is leaving for the Yukon, having got a job in Whitehorse and purchased a small house there. He is out of the real estate business for good and seems free of his problems. But he seems to have aged a lot, appearing much older than 36 years. He missed his daughter and plans to fly every couple of months to go and see her. When I asked him if he was going to come back, he never answered me. I don't think we will ever see him anytime soon but I'm sure a few of us will email him once in a while.

Fit For A King

Came home last evening to a surprise candle lit dinner prepared by Rachel entirely from scratch except for the wine. We had some kind of spaghetti with a chicken & vegetables dish. There was asparagus & some salad with green peppers & stuff that I like. For dessert we had a pudding & cake that she had got from internet recipes. At the end of the meal I was a content & stuffed man; filled with good food & drink made with the love of my woman. She has obviously gone to great lengths to make us a special dinner that she though I would like and set the mood for a lovely evening. The kind of evening that makes me feel like the luckiest bum in the entire world.

Dinner plates aside, we settled on the couch with glasses & a bottle of red wine and cuddled in front of the tv, our dogs at our feet. Times like these make me feel so alive and peaceful. I just didn't want the feeling to end and just wanted to always have this. And it was a tough day at work with me tearing my hair from my roots as things had gone wrong. I was quite furious about several things and wasn't planning on doing anything other than getting a quick shower and going to bed early. But my wife had other plans. She fell asleep in my arms later that evening.

O Cousin, Where Art Thou?

I spent most of yesterday evening chatting with & then speaking to M, a cousin of mine. I haven't seen M, in what seems like ages, and it was so good to catch up. The last time I saw him was in 2000 when he lived in Toronto for two months as part of a project with his former company. M is British born and was raised there and, I think lived in India for about 8 years or so and then he went to study and live in Scotland for a few years. He wanted to work in the US and so the move was made to North Carolina in 1999. After I went to see him in 2000 in Toronto, I went to see him in the States and spent a fun week with him in New York but since then I haven't met him. We haven't even spoken much as his work keeps him too busy and then I got involved in my work plus getting married and stuff.

Anyway, we chatted a while and spoke about this and that and I said, what I must have said a few dozen times to several of my cousins. The one & only one regret that my sis and I used to have about being born and raised in Canada, was that we were apart from our many cousins and we wished that they also lived in Canada. I have quite a few cousins who are British, like M and his brother & sister, and they say the same thing - that they wish that all of us lived in the UK. This was especially true when we were younger and every visit to India made that wish grow stronger. University and then the working life and marriage seems to dim such heart-felt sentiments. I barely keep in touch with my cousins since I started working full time. Even less after I got married. I remember when all my cousins got internet access and we all sent e-mails promising of keeping in touch every week and informing each other of the changes that happen in our lives. It seemed so easy to say.

Rachel doesn't have that problem as most of her cousins live in mostly Ottawa, Kingston & Montreal. Theirs is a close knit Romanian family and I have often compared them to my extended family. I have missed several marriages & a few births since 2000. And, in one sad case, a divorce. Amazing what can happen in six years. Since 2001, Rachel & I have been to all 7 weddings of her relatives and I can count 10 babies since that time. It's so east when everyone is a couple of hours drive away. I see the closeness she shares with her cousins, how she takes part in every activity that they require her to do. And since many of them are girls, she goes shopping or to the movies with them. I wish I had that closeness with my cousins. At the moment, I have to make do with my sis (yuck :)), her kids, her husband, his sister & her family!

New Bond

I have not seen the new Bond Movie yet. I didn't see the last one either (but that was kind of more like a slip; I had wanted to see it, just never got round to seeing it). I like Peirce Brosnan as 007, I liked Connery & Moore as the agent with the license to kill. I think I have seen most of the movies, except the last two and a couple of the first ones with Connery in it. The thing is, regarding movies, unless there is one that I just must see - which are few and far between these days - I wait until I can see it on cable or buy a dvd of it later. Like my collection of Star Trek movies. Or Star Wars. So I mite wait for a while and get the last two Bond movies. I did see my dad watching Brosnan's last Bond movie on cable or something a few weeks ago.

So Daniel Craig will have to wait to convince me that he is a good choice for the world's most famous secret agent. I do not fall into the list of people who immediately denounced him as a pariah and threatened to boycott the movie all together. I did not agree to put a man down for no fault of his. I'll reserve my comments for after I see the movie. I have not seen any films of Craig, so I have no clue about him as an actor. My fav bond would have to be Brosnan; I think he fit the role to a T. Better than Connery and better than Moore and better than Tim Dalton.

Winnipeg Beers - Fort Garry Brewing Company

Ah, I waited just a couple of days after my little bout with the flu to try out some beers that I have been waiting to test out. Jason, an old friend from University, who is now settled in Winnipeg, sent me these gems. Fort Garry Pale Ale Fort, Fort Garry Dark & Ale Two Rivers Red from the Fort Garry Brewing Company in Winnipeg. After we both graduated from UOttawa, Jason spent some time in Nova Scotia & New Brunswick, working there and reconnecting with his mother's side of the family. He got a job with Rogers in Halifax and seemed to be happy there. But in 2005 the nomad that he is, moved with his girlfriend to Winnipeg and he plans on staying put there. Which means our meetings are fewer and fewer.

Anyway, Jason has been promising to send me local Winnipeg stuff that will make me wish that I were Manitoban! I bet him that he would fail....and guess what? He won! I used to think that the best Western Canadian beers were limited to Big Rock, Kokanee & Great Western but now I must apologise to the people behind Fort Garry Brewing. Winnipeg beers are great and I have become a huge fan.

The Sens Intro

Monday Blues

Boo hoo! Monday morning blues for Canadian Curry! Well, let me be grown up about it and explain in language that adults will understand....I have a bad fever, cough and cold, so I called in sick. Might also take an extra day off if this is not better by night. I can work a bit from home so it's actually no big deal. I usually don't like working at home, because of the added distractions and what not. Plus there always seems to be something good on tv on days that I decided to work from home. I have actually been offered the option of doing so earlier, like work from home everyday unless it was imperitive that I actually physically be there at the office! But I chose not to. Even if it means spending more time with the dogs. Plus, Rachel can't be there - she does not have the same kind of option at her job. Anyway, it didn't really appeal to me, but I do get to have some days working at home.

A while ago I changed my cell phone service provider from Bell to Telus. Many collegues and friends have been using Telus and found it great, so I decided to give it a try. I joined up in one their business solutions and signed a two year contract with a Blackberry 7100i where the customer rep tried hard to get me to take the three year contract and the knockdown price of $149.99 was hard to resist. But I decided to stick to my policy of only signing up for a year or two, nothing more. So as tempting as it was, I took a two year contract for $449.99 and they threw in a beautiful, original camel leather puch for free. The phone features 64 MB flash memory, 8 MB SRAM, 240 x 260 colour screen, displaying over 65,000 colours, Instant Messaging: Yahoo Messenger, BlackBerry Messenger, GPS enabled & Digital talk time - up to 180 minutes. You can read a detailed specs report from the link above.

Alone On A Sunday

Well, wrapped up the presents that we have bought and Rachel will get the cards all signed and ready to go when she gets back. You know, I think that it is enough to say that these are New Year's gifts and not really X'mas stuff. Our Christmas celebrations are pretty lame. We didn't even get a Christmas tree the last three years. I remember my folks getting my sister and I a tree every year, for as long as I can remember, since that seemed to be the thing that families around us did. And at that age me & my sis really wanted one. Course I knew that Santa didn't exist!

Since I am alone at home on Sunday, I decided to do nothing! Put my feet up and watch hockey, drink beer and eat lots of stuff. I had two huge burgers for lunch and pizza ordered in for dinner. In between it was Sleeman's all the way. Rachel does not really like beer and she normally does not approve of me having it. She wrinkles her nose and makes all kinds of revolting noises if I offer some to her. She prefers wine and that is pretty much the only alcoholic stuff she drinks and she has it in such meager quantities. Ice wine is her favourite and one of mine too. I was missing her in the afternoon as we normally watch tv or read while sipping some Ice Wine on Sunday afternoons if we are at home.

I'm a little worried about the Sens and their position. Usually we are in the top 3 in the NHL by now. The last few games have made that worry disipate somewhat but we are still only 9th in the East. Here's hoping that there will be more goals to come but we need to get another top forward. Any suggestions?

Shopping

I normally hate shopping, but we were out searching for gifts for Christmas. My wife and I had recently moved into our new house, along with the dogs ofcourse, and we were just settling in. My new computer arrived and I am currently entering this post from it and not my usual laptop (which will now be relegated only for work). Wify and me started out with a leisurly hour spent at the nearest Second cup - we both had moccaccinos and a sandwich each. The coffees felt great with the chill in the air.

Next we were off to purchase a few gifts for the upcoming holidays (although my family is not Christian) and need I say that it is getting more & more difficult to think of an appropriate gift as the years roll on. I decided to get my sister a new laptop (and I am getting a huge discount from a friend who owns a dealership downtown) since I know she has mentioned it as an item to buy once she gets out of the house after delivering her daughter, my neice! I needed to get the baby G some cool baby clothes although Rachel seems to be more adept in chosing them and did! I'm sure my neice is gonna look adorable in them. My nephews, ages 6 & 8, will be getting some new toys that I'm sure they'll love. For my brother-in-law, a new desk for his work place at their home.

How to chose a good gift for you mom & dad? I usually suck at this and for the past 4 years have left it to Rachel to select the gift for mom. For dad...let's see! Last year I got him a new dvd player, the year before that a computer (that discount friend again) and I remeber getting him some designer shaving kit a few years back! After which he started growing his beard!!! I'll probably get him a new suit or something like that later.

That done, it was almost 6:00 pm and I dropped Rachel off at her folk's; she was going to stay there for the weekend. I headed back downtown and visited a couple of friends from my old job and we hung out at a bar for a while. I tried a couple of Natural Blonde Lagers from Amsterdam Brewery for the first time and I loved it! They come highly recommended from a friend and is made in Toronto (why the Amsterdam part in the name?). I strongly suggest any readers to try them out if you haven't already! They aren't something that would force me to shift my allegiance from my favs, but they are good alternatives. Hmmm, natural blonds!

Well, Hello

I have finally decided to re-enter the blogging world after reading quite a few blogs and enjoying so many of them. You see I used to blog quite often from 2002 till 2005 and then I stopped cold turkey when my archives got deleted somehow. I was quite devastated and had turned my back on blogs and didn't even read any blogs for a long time.
A few months ago when I got sick and was out of comission for days at a strech, I would aimlessly wander through various websites on my laptop. Then I accidently discovered many wonderful personal blogs and found myself liking the prospect of starting all over again so much.....and here I am.
This blog will be about my life, my thoughts, things that happen to me, about my wife and our two beloved dogs, music, BEER, wine, vodka, hockey and all things Canadian! I am very pro-Canadian and most of my favourites are Canadian as you will soon find out. In the meanwhile, I will put up links to various Canadian stuff on the side wrapper of this blog so stay tuned.
Wishing you a warm hello from me and hope to catch you soon, eh?