Two Things Today

First - Must get a poker game going some time - perhaps Friday evening after 9pm (I work until then)... Justin is back in town and would like to lose some of his hard earned cash ($5) to a game of tournament hold'em... Respond if you're at all interested. (Sorry Jared - but you slowed played us all one too many times to be invited to this gathering)

Second - I'm sitting at work now, thinking about starting a list for the North American Scavenger Hunt! Here's the deal:

For each Province and State in Canada and the U.S. (I guess the District of Columbia could also be added) - we need an item to gather: It should be something fairly representative of the state (not "in idaho, try to find a 'sidewalk ends' sign")... and it should be fairly cheap (not "in Washington, buy a segway and drive it into the Pacific Ocean")... and it should be fairly difficult to do (not "in Florida, drink a glass of swamp water" - but not "in Florida, wrestle a wild gator after smearing one's self with chicken blood and taunting it with pictures of it's whorish mother being turned into shoes for pimps everywhere")...

I'll add to this list often, but here goes:

Saskatchewan - break into Taylor Field and Piss all over the Roughriders emblem - but save the empty bottle from which the pilsner used to build up the piss was consumed. (personal goal of mine)

Utah - Climb at least five of the stone arches in arches national park...

California - audition for a movie role, commercial, tv show, etc... item to bring back -> either letter of rejection or audio clip of how shitty we were.

You get the point... suggestions welcome!

Life List

Well, as today was the first day of my marathon training (read all about it on my marathon blog) - I decided I'd share other goals with you all in bloggerland.

Here's my life list (so far):

1) Run a Marathon
2) Die happy
3) Climb Kilimanjaro
4) Go to all the continents (except antartica - really though - how much money to see penguins and ice? Not for me... I'll go to South Africa and open up a freezer to grab some jackass penguin steaks)
5) Climb Ayers Rock (Thanks Jackie)
5b) Go to Australia and not get killed by a sting ray
6) Sing "Sam Hall" in an Irish Pub (in Ireland)
7) Get officially screeched in on George Street
8) Drive across Canada
9) Go on a 50 state scavenger hunt
10) Be a great daddy and husband
11) Finish what I started with ATC (this one is too personal to share in more detail)
12) Cycle from Jasper to Banff with the DJS5
13) Learn how to Throat Sing
14) Write at least one good paper in my University career
To Be Continued...

New Marathon Blog

So I'm running the marathon in June - starting to train on Saturday... I've got a blog - check it out...

A Few Things

Reference the last post re: gordie - "Controlled Flight Into Terrain" is not to mean that it was an intentional deviation into the side of a mountain - rather - there were no mechanical errors. This is quite often an explanation in small crashes - when the weather goes down, bad things happen.

MS Bike Tour:
Well I completed my 15th MS Bike Tour yesterday afternoon all alone. I rode into Gimli with Joey on Saturday, but on Sunday he tried to catch up with some girls early on, pushed it a bit too hard, and had to drop out of the tour due to a knee injury. That left me pushing my sorry self for nearly 35 klicks all by my lonesome - oh well, gorgeous weather, good people - and a cold beer in the afternoon.

The only blemish on the weekend was that the MS staff forgot about me.

Background:
Every year they hand out recognition awards at the dinner... the five year riders get a mug that says "I survived five"; ten year riders get a plaque "thanks for riding your ass off for ms research"; and the fifteen year riders get a candy dish. This is the 17th year, so only 14-15 people have their 15 year candy dish recognition thingees... well, this year they gave mugs and plaques away - but skipped the recognition for the fifteen year riders.

I was a bit choked. Not only does this feel like a slap in the face, but it hurts the tour. Out of the 700 people that ride and raise a half million bucks every year, I'm guessing that only a few hundred have a really close association with the disease. The rest do it for the ride, the friendships... and man - going up on stage and getting my five year mug recognition was one of the proudest moments of my life. Ten year was good, and I imagine fifteen would also have been nice - but the thing is - for the five hundred that don't have a close connection... they keep coming back in part for these milestone recognitions... it's not that selfish to say that I wanted my picture taken as part of the fifteen year rider celebrations is it?

Fact of the matter is it doesn't really matter whether I have a silly candy dish or not... my friends and family all know that I do this - they all recognise it, and it is what it is - something nice to be a part of, but it's no great accomplishment. What hurt was that the ms society didn't show their appreciation, and that's going to hurt them next year.

Ask me elsewhere (as this is getting too long) what the explanation given to me by the director was... I'll also share my conversation with her (parts may not be appropriate for public viewing).

Gordie

Well folks, terrible news to report - Gordie MacLeod died in a plane crash last week. Gordie was flying a skymaster with 5 others on board when bad weather came in - he flew into the side of a mountain, killing everyone on board.

Sad, sad news.

Condolences to his family...

BUSY TODAY

Well, I'm really busy today - yikes.

I won't be able to get down to the airport for Justin's arrival - but I will be at the camby this evening (hopefully). I just wanted to comment on the post on Jared's blog calling me out - I don't know what to say. Sorry for being an asshole - get used to it though!

I've been listening to two new albums as of late - The Roots "Game Theory" and Jurassic 5 "Feedback" - I'm a little disappointed with the feedback album, a little too poppy - the beats are getting tired. Game Theory is aweseme though (it was released on the internet two weeks before it's supposed to hit stores - I got one of the lucky copies... they've now been removed from the torrent sites - so let me know if you want it... I'm still going to buy it when it gets released - but how do you pass up The Roots?)

My iPod hit the 10,000 song mark recently - then I went and deleted a whole whack of crap I'll never listen to (the soundtrack to dance, dance revolution - come on!) - so now I'm down to 8,800... it's a fraction of what some people have - but that's like a month of music straight.

Later - and a pre-welcome home to Justin!

It's 2:50 in the PM

That's right - 2:50 on Wednesday, August 16th, 2006. I'm trying hard to pretend like I'm doing some work - but I'm more concerned with getting my truck fixed.

I'm dropping the truck off at the mechanic's place tonight, and hopefully I'll have it back before the weekend. It's no big deal - just the brake pads and rotors have to be replaced. Arghh - I shouldn't complain... it's the first issue that has come up in three years and 60K - so I'm not terribly worried... it's been a good truck so far - and should be for a while to come.

FUN SUMMER

Well lads and lassies,

It's been a ridiculous summer for me. I've been too busy for my own good - I can't remember the last time I just laid on the couch and snored away a good afternoon. I've been working full bore with the department of finance as well as the golf dome. Well, things got a bit busier for me... one of the shop guys was let go the other day, so I've had to pick up a few extra shifts... now the only days I have off are: 1) the day that Justin gets home; 2) the weekend of the bike tour.

That's it... no extensive list - nope... from here until labour day - I'm working every fucking day except for two (I'm still working at the department during the day on thursday). Those two day s won't exactly be a holiday either.

I'm just saying that I'm busy - and tired - and feeling a little worn out. I could have sworn that last summer I vowed to not work this summer... what happened? aye, aye, aye Katie - shades of red and blue!

(Note: my truck is fusched - it's in the shop right now - and I may have a cool grand to spend fixing that one up - yay!!!)

PHIL'S BARBER SHOP

Well - It's old news now - but Phil's barber shop is open again... and it looks really nice in there. Mike is no longer cutting hair, his wife is terribly ill (says the new guy) so he's tending to her. The new guy is a short little dude who's as wide as he is tall - but he still gives the 6 dollar cut... although he's much more talkative than Mike ever was. They repainted the place, hung some old 50s and 60s movie posters - laid new flooring, even classed up the sink... the couch is gone, but they've put up a fancy tv. They've still got a few of those pesky magazines hanging around... but the heap of winnipeg sun back issues and reader's disgests are all gone.

In other news - I'm on a ninja kick this morning... don't know why, don't know if it really matters.

MS BIKE TOUR TIME

Just wanted to throw this out here:

I'm riding in my 15th MS Bike Tour in a few weeks and if anyone would like to sponsor me - feel free to email me at seangiesbrecht(at)yahoo(dot)ca.

Information:
Well this is the 17th year the tour has been run (I missed the first two years because I was too young and (funny enough) not in the country))... for the first 13 years I rode with my dad, but he's just not been able to go in recent years - too hard on his back and knees - so I'm goin' it alone! Basically the tour is to raise money and awareness for MS Society programs. MS is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system through destruction of myelin - which interferes in all facets of daily life - muscle coordination, vision, and speech disturbances.

In Manitoba, 900 riders raise a minimum of 250 dollars each - with many going over and above that - we raise around 4-5 hundred thousand per year... after that cash is raised we get on our bikes and cycle 170 kilometers over the last weekend in august. It's a great ride, super well-organised, and because we also pay an entrance fee - each and every dollar raised goes towards the programs the money was intended for.

I started as a pudgy 11 year old - and as a pudgy 25 year old, this has become such an integral part of my summer life - I wouldn't miss it for anything!

All of my questions answered

Hassie: Check out ANSWERS IN GENESIS (DOT) COM - I never knew it was so easy to explain how dinosaurs walked alongside man - and that it was okay to fuck your sister in the early days.

The old "if we're not allowed to marry our sisters, and all people are descendents of adam and eve, who did cain marry?" question is answered quite simply. He married a sister... it was okay for them to marry and fuck their sisters back then because there were no dangers, there was no harm. Now there's harm - sure... now deformities can develop - but that's only because of the years of sin and curse in the world. 6,500 years ago when the earth created and cain was banging the beans out of his sister, there was only a bit of sin - so children of siblings weren't that bad.

They've got a creation museum opening up next year, and darn it if I'm not going to go visit. Consider me converted!

BOMBERS

Quickly: Wow, wow, wow.

After blanking the Ti-Cats 29-0 in Hamilton this past Friday, the Bombers are hosting the dreadful Tabbies this upcoming Friday. My dad's out of town, and while Jenn would gladly take my second season ticket - she'd also be happy if someone else came to the game with me... if you'd like to come - just email me or leave a comment. I'll let you know by wednesday or thursday at the latest.

SKYWALK RUN-INS

I take the skywalk - the one that can keep a person indoors from Portage Place all the way to the Richardson Building - every now and then. I certainly meet my fair share of folks. In the last few months I have run into Brenden Cathcart once, a football friend once, Jenn's dad a few times - but yesterday I saw the ever-elusive ANDREW FORBES. Sure I saw him a few weeks ago at the Round table - but this was certainly odd. He was on his way from picking up some books at the library to get ready for some tv show pilot shoot he was blocking traffic for.

Sporting a faux-hawk, batman shirt and a ridiculously well-crafted "unshaven" look he stopped and chatted with me. It quickly turned to the weather, and as he pointed out "look at us, we've stooped so low to actually discuss the weather." But it's true - the weather has kind of been screwy around these parts - it was 33 above (with the humidex - 39) yesterday - and now it's chilly to go outside with long pants and a golf shirt. I hear it's going to get up to 21 this afternoon - then back to 28, 29 tmrw. I'm happy for the break - but this summer I'm finally getting used to hot weather... oh well - I'm not complaining - because when it's 35 below next January I'll be sure to complain about that!

Other news:
I'm registered for school this year - looks fun:
Honours Micro I & II
Honours Macro I, II & III
Topics in Mathematical Economics I & II
Special Studies Course - Economic History of European Unification
Art of the Film I & II (should I get out now, or are these not completely useless?)

WSOP

I'm playing in the WSOP this year - wow... I never thought I'd make it to the big show - but a little hard work and the right pre-lims got me into the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. I'll be heading south this Saturday morning - wish me luck!

Correction the Winkler Series of Poker may not be the most prestigious in the world - but it's probably the best tourney that southern Manitoba gets to see!

Tyler Wiebe placed second last year in that marathon event... I didn't do so well - a string of bad luck and probably much more poor play than I'd like to admit caused me to go out quickly. I was surprised to see how tired I got, and once I hit a bad run of cards, I went on tilt really fast - losing my cool and my place in Winkler folklore. This year I haven't been playing all that much - so while I hope to get lucky and win a few hands... if I make it into the money, I'll be surprised (and really happy).

SOLID FOODS

Well, day 5 of 21 into this little experiment run by the docs... and I'm feeling fine. I just wish I could chew something.

For those wondering/interested - in the ongoing struggle to help out my tummy, my doctor has taken a slightly radical approach - he cut my stomach out completely... leaving only my intestines to absorb nutrients into the system. Well - not that drastic - I actually don't know if that's even possible without death. Sorry. Nope - I'm going on a three week "diet" of "food through a tube" stuff. It's a lot of boost... as my stomach hasn't been digesting things all that well - they want to see if the problem is in the breakdown of the food matter - or if it's really in the absorbtion of all those wonderful nurtients and calories.

One odd/wonderful side effect is that I've got an incredible amount of energy now... slight headaches in the morning (but we'll get to that one later) - It's as if these 8 hour days with the government followed by 4 at the dome aren't all that bad after all.