Wednesday, December 31, 2008: Birthday
Today was my Birthday so this evening the event was combined with the usual New Years get together. Aunt Audrey and Uncle Ken came by for an excellent meal followed by a cake, as did Marla, Ron and their kids. The snacks were the home made kind that reminded me of Holidays long past with my Mom and Dad.
Snackage
Food of the gods! Rice Krispy marshmellow squares
Zee Balloon!
Cake and candles
Cake and candles and tree
Cake!
It was good
After the cake had been eaten the kids played with Val's old Barbi Dolls. They also got out Val's old Dorthy Hamill doll and posed that in impossible and or painful positions and made her spin on her little toy ice rink. Later we all took a round at Guitar Hero (which I am almost as lame at as a real guitar) until it came time to watch the count down. Dick Clark was in top form considering he's had a stroke and I have to say "respect" to the fellow for not letting it keep him from doing what he does.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008: Kitchener
I stayed around the apartment today only venturing out once with Val to walk the dogs. Fortunately it was a short walk as it was COLD.
COLD!!
Monday, December 29, 2008: To Kitchener
This morning Cousins Rob and Val came down from Kitchener and collected me. I will be staying up here with them for a few days.
Rob & Val's tree
A view of the cold
Another view of the cold
Saturday, December 27, 2008: Shanook
It has suddenly heated up from below zero to well above. The result is rain, fog and all the snow beginning to melt very quickly.
Foggy
Messy
I've spent a great deal of time messing and recording with my Moog. It is truly an amazing piece of kit. I haven't got all the way through the manual yet though...
Thursday, December 25, 2008: Moog Christmas
Last night we went to two of the three Christmas Eve services at Knox. The first was the Christmas Pagent in which Wee Fred was an angel. The tallest angel to be exact with the additional duty as the Tegan wrangler (Tegan being the smallest of the angels).
The we also went to the third service of the evening at 11:00 pm as Jayne and I had to sing in the choir and Jayne had a solo. Afterwards we and the McWilliams Massive headed back to Wyndham Manor and prepared the way for Santa.
A Tree at Knox
Normally the youngsters are up at around 3:30 am however this year they actually didn't get up until nearly 5:30 am. Perhaps a sign of the transition to teenhood. The tree zone was off limits until after eveyone was up and the grown ups had a tea or coffee.
A pre-coffee view of the tree zone at 5:30 am
Another view of the evidence of Santa's visit
The general order of things here on Christmas morn is that presents from Santa are opened first, then after breakfast the rest of the gifts are opened.
Sweet William received a laser tag game (pew pew) from Santa while Wee Fred got a nice new punching bag and gloves. I received an item I've been asking Santa for since I was at least 14 and something I've certainly desired since I was 8. A real Moog synthesizer. The best Christmas present ever.
Thanks Santa. And thanks to Wee Fred for asking Santa to get it for me.
What could this be?
The best Christmas gift ever
After Santa's gifts had been opened we had a nice breakfast of coffee, pastries and jams then headed back in to the tree zone for round two.
Breakfast is ready
Jessie the Dog has been staying over while her owners are away so present opening came with a new challenge this year. Trying to stop Jessie from attacking and eating the wrapping paper.
Jessie wants wrapping paper
Another look at the best gift ever
Once all the gifts were distributed and opened more coffee was had and preparations for dinner sort of began. Some folk napped, the kids and Jessie ran about with their stuff and I tried out the Moog Little Phatty.
Have I mentioned this is the best Christmas gift ever?
This evening was of course the big Christmas dinner which was outstanding. Later we watched the movie "Horton Hears a Who" with the voice of Jim Carrey as Horton. It was quite good.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008: The Quiet Christmas
In 1973 my Father became the pastor in the remote town of Windfield Alberta. The church was located on what was in the 1960’s the Pentecostal Holiness Church’s Western conference Bible School. It was part of a large property in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees, forest, and farms and only accessible by red-dirt roads that turned to a quagmire during summer rain storms. I was familiar with the place due to the many trips to the annual summer Camp Meetings. These were huge gatherings where fire and brimstone was preached and the miraculous happened under the roof of the hanger-like tabernacle. Although leaving my friends and school in BC was difficult the idea of having that entire property to myself was more than appealing.
Winter came much earlier than I was used to in British Columbia. The first snow fall was on Halloween. Snow was always a rare thing on the West Coast so I was quite pleased with the prospect of a white Christmas. I was not disappointed. The amount of snow that came down was unbelievable. Each morning leading up to the Christmas holidays was one of getting up to complete darkness, eating toast and having a tea before bundling up like one of the Apollo Astronauts and leaving the airlock to the frozen surface of the outdoors to wait for the yellow school bus. If the temperature fell below -40 degrees then and only then was school cancelled, but what the perceivable difference between –38 and –40 is I can’t say… It would be so cold that the air would sparkle as the sun came up. The last day of school was one of those weird half-days, ruined in part by some organized “fun” that I was glad to see end. I remember my Parents picking me up and driving back along to our house which was still under preparation for the big day. I was very excited because I knew that Dad had said we were going to get a tree that night.
I was 9 so I was beginning to have some doubts about Santa, but there still remained some strange magical feel to Christmas. That magic was even greater there. The woods around the property where spooky enough in the summer, but in there was another quality to them for me that December. The brightness of the moon reflecting on the snow and the ice, the silence of the place, and that feeling the area seemed to have. In the summer I’d kitted myself up in old surplus military belts and packs, dawned a metal helmet and gone off to fight the imaginary Imperial Japanese Army in the jungles of Burma. With winter the comic-book Japanese charging me with fixed bayonets shouting “iiieeeeeeee’ faded and the woods seemed to be full of Tolkien-like Elves and watchful aliens standing around warbling saucers.
That Friday night my Dad and I set off to get a tree. I had expected to climb in the car and drive to some makeshift “X-mas tree” lot that would spring up in parking lots and at gas stations around Chilliwack. Instead my Dad had me get bundled up and bring my sled. Off we went together to find a tree. The prospect of heading into the spooky woods at night wasn’t so bad with my Father there. I wasn’t afraid of any mystical creatures or aliens with him along. Even the more real threats like bears didn’t scare me since my Brother George had shot a bear that had been intent on eating him, and as Dad was certainly bigger and stronger than George I was certain he could kill it with his bare hands. So there was absolutely nothing to fear.
I remember walking a direction I had never explored on my own, a direction away from what I called “Burma”. We crossed a huge field, went through a wooded area and came out into a less densely wooded patch that might have been cleared ten years earlier and now was made up mostly of young pines. Here we stopped for a moment to look up at the stars. My Father always marveled at them.
“Look at the sky” he’d say and always follow it with a whistle.
His faith was intertwined with things like the night sky. He would look at it and talk to me about how many stars there must be. How many planets must circle them?
We walked around among the pines until we found one that looked just about right for the living room. Dad got his little hatchet out of my sled and took it down, talking to it as he did.
“You’re going to stay in our house for a little while Mr. Tree”.
The tree was laid upon my sled and off we went Dad pulling it when I had grown tired. I remember how beautiful the walk back was; the silver of the moonlight on the frozen surface of the snow, and how we saw a big white owl. I remember the crunch crunch of our boots as we stomped along.
We returned triumphantly to the smell of Mom baking her outstanding and unbeaten short-bread cookies and after shaking all the snow and ice off our tree we set it up in the living room. The box of ornaments which we used as long as I recall was brought up from the basement and the decoration began. Decorating a tree was never as much fun with out my Sister Anne, but I did my best under the circumstances. Once the tree was up, and Mom came in to watch the placing of the star on the top the gifts were put under it. These boxes had been arriving over the last week and most had come from Ontario. There was a growing pile of them marked “To Lorne” from “Uncle” or “Auntie”. I inspected them, looking for the tell-tale signs of the much wanted “toys” and the unwanted and loathed “clothes”. I would then pile them accordingly. The possible toys on the bottom to be opened last.
I of course wasn’t the only one waiting for the big day. My G.I. Joe was as well. I had received him the previous year, and although I forget his name now, I do remember him clearly. He was one of the early 12 inch tall 1970’s G.I. Joes, no longer officially a “soldier” but a member of “The Adventure Team”. He was the blond “Air Adventure” featuring “life-like” hair and a beard although he predated “Kung-Fu Grip”. Joe had been alone since we’d arrived in Alberta. Over the course of the year he had lost much of his kit, including most sadly, his boots. Those were hard times for Joe. He was stranded, alone in the harsh artic conditions of Northern Russia. The Soviets had downed his jet and were at that moment searching for him. He had to hang in though. Using his survival training he constructed an ice fortress and using a make-shift radio comprised of a spool of thread and some bits of plastic he called for help… Help was on its way but not until December 25th! He had to hold on until then… armed with only a tiny plastic Luger that came with a detachable stock and rifle extension for the barrel and with feet wrapped in make-shift survival boots made of toilet paper, he held the Reds at bay. The cold war indeed!
Christmas Eve after my parents had gone to bed I crept downstairs. My Father was an expert in covert Christmas present distribution and I was disappointed not to find anything new under the tree. I remember looking out across our front yard towards the Church, secretly hoping to see something magical; maybe Santa, or an Angel or at least a UFO. Then I went back upstairs to my room and fell asleep.
The next morning I was not disappointed. I had asked for three things, a second G.I. Joe, a 6 wheel ATV for him, and the G.I. Joe Command Center. I was thrilled to find that with the ATV came another G.I. Joe, and with the Command Center came two more Joes! Now Air Adventure Joe had some reinforcements and plenty of kit; uniforms and best of all several rifles including some M-16s. More than enough gear to keep the expansion of the Soviet Union well out of our back yard.
My Mother always called that Christmas “The Quiet Christmas” because she hadn’t enjoyed the solitude and distance from her Grandchildren. I however consider that year one of the most amazing Christmas of all. No matter how meager or difficult any Christmas has been since, no matter how far away from home or how lonely I have been during this time of year, the memory of that Christmas has held me through. Even if my circumstances prevented me from celebrating Christmas at all, that Christmas would more than make up for it.
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008: The Best Short Bread Ever
Here's a little Christmas treat for all to make. Sorry, it's not in Metric. This may be the reason it tastes better.
Nanny Thomson's Short Bread
cream
1 lb Butter
1 cup sifted icing sugar
add
4 cups flour & pitch of salt (add 1 cup at a time)
when well mixed, turn out dough on a floured cutting board & knead for 5 minutes.
Roll flat & cut into shapes or make into long rolls and put in the fridge to cut later.
Bake at 325 F until edges pale golden NOT brown
Monday, December 22, 2008: Into the City
We got more snow last night and combined with what we already had the various modes of getting into the City were less than reliable this morning. The Lazy Town transit eventually arrived. The 9:00 am GO Train was 20 minutes late and the TTC was almost at a stand still.
Freezing at the GO Station
Waiting for the GO Train
I managed to get much of the Christmas shopping done that I'd intended however there are still some items to be picked up. I was down town and walked from Yonge and Dundas all the way up to Bathurst and Bloor which was a challenging walk with the snow and slush. I had hoped to meet Bobo at the GFM but the GFM was closed, Bo wasn't around and I was feeling sort of knackered and not feeling 100% still. So I headed back to Union.
Bloor St. sunset
Bloor St. sunset
London St. Sunset
I got to Union and managed to just catch the Lazy Town express. It was already snowing when I got on and by the time I got back and caught the bus home it was snowing nicely.
Sunday, December 21, 2008: Cold & Clear
Cold
Wintery
Lots of snow
Frozen Bug
The snows have stopped for the time being. This morning it was clear but cold. We went to our usual for Sunday Breakfast then over to Knox. I sang with the Choir this morning.
Friday, December 19, 2008: Snow Storm
There was a huge storm that started off at around 7:00 am this morning. It started out as just more snow but by the time we were supposed to go over to Wee Fred's school for the Christmas Play it was a full on blizzard. We opted to walk instead of drive as it seemed "easier" at the time but we were all wishing we were inside something warm after about a block. The walk was a challenge.
Oh look. It's snowing
Wintery
Snow Beetle
Walking to the Christmas Play in a storm
The plow in heavy snow
Almost there
The play was good as far as these things go. Christmas is now of course this unspeakable term that no one dare name in fear of offending somebody. Which is utterly ridiculous considering the reason for the holidays, like it or not, is Christmas not some other more recently imported or conjured up event. The play did feature Wee Fred sang an outstanding a capella song which was outstanding . Afterwards we bundled back up and headed back home.
Back at the house
Sweet William was back when we arrived also having a half day. The kids of course bundled up and went out and played in the storm. I chose to watch from the window.
The tree
The kids don't mind the storm
Tonight was Tegan's Birthday (There was a storm for last years as well) so at around 6:00 pm we drove over and enjoyed that.
Thursday, December 18, 2008: Choir
I had to go into the City during the early early. Needless to say it was cold. The GO Train was surprisingly empty today though. Perhaps many folk have begun their holidays.
Early Snow
I got back to Lazy Town early enough and had a wee nap before going to Choir with Jayne. After Choir the many of us walked over to a local English pub for a Christmas pint (and a heaping plate of Christmas spicy beef nachos).
Tuesday, December 16, 2008: Second Tree
The snow came back tonight. It had actually all been washed away with a rain and today it actually looked like I might be able to go for a run. However. The snows came after dinner and some time between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm the outdoors had completely changed into a winter wonderland.
Tonight was mostly spent decorating the tree in the den.
lights!
Monday, December 15, 2008: Tree
I continue to be rather ill. Today was a total write off, having slept from early Sunday evening until about 7:30 am then from 9:00 am or so until nearly 4:00 pm.
Chris C came over at around 5:00 pm and gave Wee Fred a guitar lesson. Jayne and I drove him back over to the GO Station then dropped off some movies before returning for dinner.
Tonight was the setting up of the main Christmas tree, which took was very much a joyous and silly event. Only one or two items were broken in the assembling and placement of the decorations.
Decorations!
Lights!
Friday, December 12, 2008: Harolding
Although I am still somewhat sickly I headed into the City later this afternoon with a stop in Port Credit along the way. It was once again rather cold.
A view from the station
The train
Waiting at Port Credit
The train arrives in Port Credit
I got into Union Station at around 4:00 pm and took the Spadina streetcar up to Pho Hung where I met Richard F and Chris C for some food. Afterwards I had to make the chilly trip to Chez Harold for the first rehearsing since the gig.
The blue tree
When I got to Chez Harold tThe house was nicely decorated with Holiday stuff and Jeff was setting up a camera to run a live transmission of the rehearsal on the Harold TV channel. I set up my stuff while we waited for the other Harolds to arrive.
Christmasy
Another view
Just for fun I brought the Korg Microkorg synth/vocoder tonight instead of the Xio. I wanted to see how it would fit into the Harold situation and what affect some slighty different patches might have on us. Once Phil and Matt arrived and set up we rehearsed until about 9:45 pm.
The Microkorg
I caught the 10:30 pm train back to Lazytown and cabbed it home. I doubt I'll go out at all this weekend. I must get over what ever this is.
Heading home
Wednesday, December 10, 2008: Still Sickly
The weather continues to be cold and awful and I continue to be sickly and sick. I had forgotten this particular aspect of living here.
Cold morning - no wonder I'm sick
COLD
There is really only one place to be on a day like this and that's in bed. Or better yet in bed in a tropical country. And best of all well... never mind.
I went through this in Prague. I was taken from the tropical joys and dropped into the cold cobblestoned misery and it did not sit well. I ended up setting the TV in my little apartment to the German "Vacation" channel that ran endless promos for places like Koh Chang and Koh Samui.
But it is getting to look a lot like Christmas as the song says.
If I had not returned in the summer I would be landing this week for my annual six week stay. Bizarre.
A view from Union Station
No day is as cold as a clear day
New condos and new trains
A better view of the new locamotive
Heading back to Lazytown
More freezing required
Friday, December 5, 2008: Friday Freeze
Cold morning
The Early Early bus
No Harold tonight, which considering how awful I've felt all week is probably a good thing. I did meet up with Richard F at his work before heading over to Pho Hung where we met Chris C.
The view from Richard F's office
Another view
It was cold. Too cold.
The Spadina streetcar
