My 2010 Christmas Message

I skipped last year because we were travelling. But I am proud to present my 2010 Christmas Message, spreading cheer throughout the world.

Big Weekend

Well, I finally got invited on a trip...

I went with my people on a short visit to Toronto. The main purpose was to meet my new human cousins. Turns out I actually didn't get to meet them. Here's what happened...

We drove from Ottawa to Toronto (with a stop for a bite to eat in Brockville) on Thursday evening. After arriving at the hotel in North York, my people kindly decided not to abandon me in the hotel and stayed in for a late night pizza. The hotel itself was OK. It was nice of them to accommodate dogs, but they never did give us the doggy welcome package they promise, and we were on the 7th floor, which made for a long trip to go outside for me. Plus it was cold, and my feet froze quickly.

On Friday, my people went shopping at Vaughn Mills (meh) and Yorkdale. Yorkdale gets good reviews because of Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma, and Pottery Barn. In Canada? They came back to the hotel to spend some quality time with me (who otherwise gets locked in his kennel with the TV on so he doesn't hear a lot of hotel noises that make him bark). Then they went for a nice Chinese dinner (Grand Chinese Cuisine) before heading to the airport.

After a lot of waiting around at the airport (legitimate waiting... immigration to Canada shouldn't necessarily be instantaneous), they got to spend half an hour with their new nephews. Very exciting! (Details on another blog...)

On Saturday, my people dragged me to T&T Supermarket (well, to the parking lot at least). Then they dragged me to Urban Barn (parking lot... abandoned in the cold). And then we went to visit Auntie Gladys in Bowmanville on the way back to Ottawa. It was great for me to meet her and her dogs (as seen below), and my people also enjoyed a chance to see her for the first time in many years.

And no matter what else you hear to the contrary, take my word for it... I was very well behaved and quiet the entire time.

And then today... Wow! After a morning hockey game, one of my people was outside shovelling. A lady walking her dog pointed out to him that there seemed to be a loose and/or stray dog a couple of doors down. And it was cold! So my person and the nice lady went to a couple of neighbourhood houses to see if it was their dog or if they recognized the dog. No one did recognize the dog, so my people brought the dog home and let him warm up inside. They also noticed he was really skinny and his legs were very weak. So they gave him some food and water too. He had a tag with a phone number, but the line was not in service. Hmm. They did what they could to find the dog's owner, but since it was Sunday, not many vets were open. Long story short... There's a happy ending. The dog and his people will soon be re-united (if they haven't been already). It was traumatic for him and a little bit for me too b ut everything worked out in the end.

Update From the Dog: Part II

I don't remember much about November. But in October (and really September and November too), one of my people was travelling all over heck's half acre. Stops on the world tour included Halifax, Quebec City, Toronto, Windsor, Detroit, Vancouver, Washington, Baltimore, and Kuala Lumpur. Possibly some others that have already been forgotten.

KL was probably the most unique. Very hot, very humid, and an extremely interesting place. It's a real mix of cultures, primarily Chinese and Indian, but with significant western influences too. Lots of blog postings here.

My people actually travelled a couple of places together in the summer too.

In early August, they celebrated their 10th anniversary with a trip to New York City. They did all the touristy things to do (many of which were also blogged elsewhere).

In late August, they travelled to the homeland. They spent a few days in Winnipeg, but the real reason for the trip was to surprise Sharon on her (CENSORED)th birthday party at the lake. Safe to say she was surprised. I'm told that when she saw my people, there was a strange combination of excessive hugging and cursing. Later there was polk.

The trips home are always great opportunities to see old friends, and to meet some people that didn't even exist before (like O). And because much of this trip was spent at St. Laurent, it was very nice for my people to spend an extended period of time with family

As per usual, I was not invited on any of these trips.

Radar's 2008 Christmas Message

As seen in your Inbox, or on Facebook, or on YouTube, here is my annual Christmas Message, accompanied by Santa and the barking dog.

Update from the Dog: Part I

Yesterday was my 6th birthday. Nothing quite like waking up and finally realizing you're a middle-aged dog. I've been avoiding blogging for the past few months. I have no real reason for this. However, I've had information passed on to me that some folks want to hear what's going on. So... in reverse chronological order...

1. My birthday: bit of a quiet one to be honest, even by my birthday-right-after-Christmas standards. My people were nice to me in the morning, but then they abandoned me for most of the afternoon and evening. Something about preferring to watch a Kazakh slaughter...

2. Christmas: Not many surprises for me this year. Got some cookies as usual. But I also received a nice Chihuahua calendar, and a Dog-ku book (haikus about a dog... very clever gift for a dog who has a history of writing haiku himself).

3. December: John came to visit, which was awesome. Driving to Cornwall and back twice was the price my people had to pay for a short weekend visit. Worth it.

4. Ottawa's Winter: OK, so last year's brutal winter weather was well documented (here and here). The previous year, while very different, was also noted. This year, we may not get as much snow in total as last year, but the weather has been pretty bizarre. We're at about 100 cm of snow for the season. Fortunately, it has been interspersed with the occasional day of relatively warm weather with rain. This has helped keep the snowbanks to a manageable height so far. This past Saturday, freezing rain took over. My people didn't have to go anywhere, so we stuck around at home. But there were literally hundreds of accidents on the highways in Eastern Ontario. Saturday night, the freezing rain turned to rain as the weather warmed up a bit more, then yesterday it was well above freezing, but the wind took over. We had gusts up to 80 km/h. If you watch NFL football, you know it was even worse in Buffalo, where the gusts were up to 60 mph.

5. My people got a Wii Fit in October-ish. They've been pretty good at using it on a consistent basis. Although they also insist on picking me up to see how much I weigh too.

I'll have to write down some other things that require updating... I'll be back.

Oh... one more thing... I will add my Christmas Message right away.

Cornwall, ON and Massena, NY

My people went on a little road trip this past Sunday to Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York. The impetus was the combination of a recently opened Steve and Barry's in Massena, and the recent news that Steve and Barry's has entered bankruptcy protection. With the very real fear that they may be bought, forced out of business, or forced to liquidate, my people followed Jerry's advice and bought now.

There's two ways to get to Massena from Ottawa. According to Google Maps, the fast way takes 1 hour and 46 minutes; the slow way takes 1 hour and 53 minutes. But they use two different bridges to cross the St. Lawrence Seaway (and the border). So they went down through Cornwall, and back through Ogdensburg/Prescott.

Cornwall... The highlights of Cornwall were threefold... First, they saw the place where John spent 4 (4 right?) months training with Nav Canada. It's now called the Nav Canada Training and Conference Centre.


Then, on the way through town, they came across the Cornwall Civic Complex. Presumably, this was where Hall of Famer, and greatest Winnipeg Jet ever Dale Hawerchuk played his junior hockey for the Cornwall Royals. They even won the Memorial Cup twice while Ducky was there.

Then it was off to the Bridge to USA for my people, once they were able to navigate the crazy roundabout. The bridge, like all the others that cross the Seaway, is narrow, high and intimidating. This one was also in very rough shape, as though the Quebec department of transportation were responsible for maintaining it.

After a bit of a wait (half an hour-ish) at the border, my people were served by -- get this -- a very friendly CBP agent. She asked them where they were from and where they were going and why. When she heard that my people were going to Massena from Ottawa for shopping, she asked them: "How high were your expectations?". This is easily the funniest thing any customs officer has ever said. She was honestly surprised and disappointed to hear the bad news about Steve and Barry's though.

Pretty sure the people who run the St. Lawrence Centre mall in Massena don't want to lose S&B's either. It's a big mall, but there are a lot of spaces that are closed where there should be stores. Seriously, there are stretches of several consecutive stores that have the big grill doors shut. (Also note the Canadian spelling in the mall's name.) It reminded my people of Columbia Mall, but deader. Like Columbia Mall, SLC has Maurice's. Not sure my people have seen those anywhere else. And they've been at a lot of malls.

After the mall, my people dropped into Massena's Wal-Mart SuperCenter to pick up those delectable grocery items that can only be bought south of the border. Apparently all the people were there at Wal-Mart, not in the mall.

They went home through Ogdensburg and had zero wait time at the border. Might be a good idea to use that crossing in the future.

Whopper Freakout

Birthday Boy

It wasn't my birthday this past week, but it was the birthday of one of my people. He (and she) did a few neat things to mark the occasion. They went for dinner in Rockport, Ontario. Nothing "fancy", or even particularly "good", but a new experience dining overlooking the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands. It was a very nice setting.

After dinner, my people went on a boat cruise in the Thousand Islands. Many of those islands are in fact inhabited and sport very nice cottages and boathouses, like the one below. No photo, but there was also one cottage that had collapsed into the water.

The boat cruise was to take my people out in the water near Heart Island. On Heart Island sits Boldt Castle, now owned by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority. It was the site of a fireworks show to celebrate the 4th of July. On the way there though, my people had a long distance view of a boat catching on fire and burning. The fire boat and police boat rushed over and were able to put out the flames. Pretty dramatic though. No word of any injuries, but there was definitely damage to someone's boat. Too bad Knight Boat wasn't anywhere nearby.

Then, the fireworks show... The video below cuts off just a few seconds before the show ended (sorry). But our American friends sure know how to throw a fireworks party. Hundreds of boats of all shapes and sizes were in the water all around the castle. Again, another neat experience.

So that was Friday night... Then on Saturday, my people went to the CHEO Teddy Bears Picnic at Rideau Hall, where the Governor General lives. The grounds of Rideau Hall by the way, are much bigger than they appear when you see it from Sussex Drive. They went there to see the taping of the TV show Road Grill, which is hosted by Canadian Football Hall of Famer Matt Dunigan. The audience coordinator happens to be our next door neighbour, Stanley's mom. She was so nice that she helped arrange a meeting with Matt Dunigan, plus a signed copy of his barbecue cookbook.

Then on the way out of Rideau Hall, my people stmbled across the changing of the guard. It was about 31C that day. And the poor guards who were being releived were boiling hot. They were sweating through their red uniforms.

The Murphster

Guess whose house is up for sale? That's right... my arch-rival. My nemesis. I'll miss him a lot. He was never really the problem.

Ottawa Swans on Australia's Today Show

The Today Show is a national breakfast TV show in Australia. They were filming weather segments in Ottawa yesterday, including a couple of pieces with the Ottawa Swans Australian Football Club (where one of my people volunteers... in fact, if you squint real hard you can see him in the background of the first piece... to the right of the weather presenter, in a red shirt against the windows, near the people in a yellow shirt and a blue shirt... squint real real hard).

This Saturday, the Swans play the Central Blues in a double-header at the stadium at Rideau-Carleton Raceway. The other game is a friendly featuring the debut of the Quebec Saints vs the Blues Reserves. One of my people is expecting to be a goal umpire again.

[Edit: new link for video below... sorry if it didn't work for you.]

OK, One More Set

More Logos Separated at Birth

By popular demand (well, one person mentioned it, but she is very popular, so...) a new series of logos that look kinda like each other. Starting with our good friends at Winnipeg Airport. Remember, this isn't a critique of these logos or anything like that.


An extra up and down in the laces for the Walk for Miracles...

And same letters as the above, but different colours...

Logos Separated at Birth

I have blogged several times in the past about doppelgangers and the danger they present to our society, as you may recall. Here's a new twist... a pair of logos that are doppelgangers. If it sparks a lawsuit, I don't mind receiving a small sum as a finder's fee.

Rogers Centre Logo:

Manitoba Pork Council Logo:

Indiana Jones May be Old, but He's Still Good

Some of you may have read the movie review posted at this normally respectable blog. (Who am I kidding? There's at most two people who have read both that blog and this one.)

In case you're one of the other 6 billion people, here's the review. Essentially, the reviewer (who has no movie critic qualifications as far as I can tell) thinks the movie lacked plot and action. Umm... was it Jacob who fell asleep, or was it you Jim? Did you not see the chase through the jungle? The "ants" scene?

Or maybe you've forgotten what the other three movies were like? In my opinion, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was pretty much exactly what I expected. It will not win any Oscars. And you've got a pretty good idea that whatever Indy's doing, he'll prevail. And that's what happens. There are chases. There are escapes and re-capturings. There are completely unrealistic stunts (down three waterfalls? Come on...). There are really big stretches in the plot. But these are precisely the same characteristics that made the first three movies great. (Jim, did you ever see the mine-car scene, or the rope bridge scene in Temple of Doom?) In fact, according to the world's most reliable web site, the film deliberately used many of the same stunt techniques as the first three movies, rather than CGI work, to ensure continuity.

The homages to the other three movies were good, especially the obvious one with the Ark of the Covenant. Shia LeBoeuf was OK.

In summary, I liked it. My people liked it. Jim, you can go sulk with the Russians (Indiana Angers Russian Communists) and the archaeologists (Raiders of My Lost Ark).

Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge

There's still some sort of plan for a bridge to cross the Rideau River very close to our house... joining Earl Armstrong Road with Strandherd Drive. Also joining Riverside South and Barrhaven.

I'm not sure what it'll do to help the commuter crunch at Riverside and Hunt Club, which is bad in both the morning and afternoon peak. But it will do good things in terms of making stuff in Barrhaven accessible to those of us in Riverside South.

Among the places we go that would be closer (by a longshot) with the bridge:

• Loeb
• WalMart
• Home Depot
• Starbucks
• Shoppers Drug Mart
• The place my people get their cars fixed
• My vet
• Loblaw's
• Canadian Tire
• The pho place
• The skate sharpening place

Let's go city council.

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

I don't have permission to post actual pictures (or better yet, videos) of anyone beyond the BBQer below, so here are some non-person-specific pictures.

This is another real, non-photoshopped, non tourism brochure picture of tulips and the Peace Tower.

More tulips...
The last ride (seriously) of the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield steam train.

Hog's Back Park

The new BBQ...

Official May Blog Post

Wow. It's been over a month (closer to two) since my last posting here. Sorry. A lot of reasons I suppose... Grandma and Grandpa were here for a while, there's the other blog that's been keeping some people busy, and there's been lots of other stuff going on.

I'll add some photos of various Ottawa tourist attractions, museums, etc. soon. In particular, watch out for a video of Grandma doing Wii boxing. It's worth watching!

NHL Playoffs

Everyone's a little worried about the Senators. Fisher, Kelly and Alfredsson are all out. Yes, that's some serious offence out of the lineup, but worse, it's a lot of defence out of he lineup. That's three of the top penalty killers. And the actual defencemen haven't been as sharp as they were last year. And the goaltending... well...

And they're playing the Penguins, who will have a hot Malkin and a healthy-ish Crosby and a healthy-ish Roberts. Hopefully their D plays worse than Ottawa's. And as scary as the Pens are, the Canadiens could have been worse. They would have had huge crowds of supporters even for road games here in Ottawa. That would be depressing.

Go Sens go!

Fun at the Chinese Grocery Store

My people went to the Chinese grocery store on Ogilvie Road yesterday. Maybe someday there will be a Chinese grocery store in closer proximity to home. Anyway, it seems that the translation proofreaders had the day off at a couple of factories.

A sack of what?

And you thought duck eggs were gross.

Greatest Quadrilogy Ever

You Kill Me

This will be a double posting on two blogs, as it fits both themes.

Enjoyed watching the movie You Kill Me tonight. It was cool to see many familiar places from the old country... the movie was shot in Winnipeg.

We identified the train station, the Forks, McGregor Street, Chinatown, Adecco, The Round Table Restaurant, Bailey's Restaurant (we think), the Exchange District, some City of Winnipeg snow clearing equipment, and a couple of Manitoba license plates.

The best parts of course, were the airport scenes. At the beginning, on the way from BUF to SFO, Frank is sitting near (I believe) the play structure. Later, when he's going back to BUF, he's dropped off at the AC end of the terminal... you can see the skywalk behind them. The scene in the security line also (sort of) showed the Exchange Restaurant, the Virgin Books and Music store, and the post-security Relay store. I also liked the "Airport Security" uniforms.

Snow Business

A few photos to show just how ugly the last snowfall was.

This first one is the view out the back door. If you're not familiar with our house, this is normally the door I would use to go outside to take care of bidness. As you can see, there were some issues on this day. The snow against the door was higher than me. Eventually it got cleared away, but I had to make a few emergency trips out the front door.

This next one is the view out into the back yard. The hedge at the back (barely visible) is about 5 feet high. So that gives an indication of how high the snow is. You-know-who lives in the house on the right.

This is the view out the front door... approximately. The snowbanks beside the driveway got even higher later this day when more shovelling took place. But even still the driveway remained a trapezoid (two cars wide at the entrance to the garage, one car wide adjacent to the street).

This one is the same place -- the front yard -- but taken from the second floor. That's a lot of snow.

And finally, a look down the street the morning after the big storm. We're fortunate to live on a bus route. It's a relatively quiet bus route, so it's never bothersome, but the street always gets plowed quickly.

An egg, a sock, and an empty Coke bottle

No one is quite sure how, or why, but in the past couple of weeks, the above items have each ended up on our front doorstep. All in separate incidents. Clearly someone is trying to send us a message... but what? We can't decipher it. Any sleuths out there?

Near Record Snowfall

Jasper

Yesterday I heard that my good buddy Jasper was not doing so well back in Winnipeg. Jasper is the brother of Piper. Their people came out to visit us in Ottawa last summer. Remember Savannah? She was one of my favourite guests. She dropped lots of tasty things on the floor.

But apparently the toll she and Piper took on Jasper was getting to him. Early in the new year, he developed a back problem. (You may also remember that I had my own back problems a little over a year ago.) But Jasper's back got worse despite the drugs he was taking. So his people -- who are clearly the right kind of people to take care of a dog like Jasper -- took him all the way to Saskatoon so he could get the surgery he needed on his back.

Jasper, I really hope you're recovering OK at your Grandma's place and that you'll be fully recovered in time for vole-eating season.