Some Real News for a Change

My son stayed over at a classmate's last weekend for a birthday party. On the following Sunday morning they walked across the road to run around in a junior school playground to slide about on the ice and kick chunks of snow at each other. Some teenagers approached them there, pulled out a knife and robbed them of cash, cell phones and iPods!

Chris didn't lose anything and wasn't harmed, he actually seems pretty unaffected by it. He happily took the subway back from the Royal Ontario Museum that evening with a friend.

Toronto has historically been called, often disparagingly, "Toronto the Good". In the last ten years this has been displaced by media hysteria over violent crime, but Toronto is still one of Canada's safer cities and dramatically safer than most American cities. Still, crimes happen and sometimes very close to home...

I discovered a few days ago that the music video I was in has been released and the song, 21st Century Christmas, is on a country music Christmas compilation. It's probably getting airplay on country music stations and on country music video shows. Here's how you can see and/or hear it:

• Jaydee Bixby's single on iTunes.
  
• The country music Christmas compilation Christmas On The Open Road on iTunes.
  
• The video, "featuring" me, on YouTube.

Birthday Boy

Lots of facebook birthday greetings today from friends. Not much celebration of my 48th otherwise. I had a nice lunch with Sheryl at the Senses cafe (spelled "Sen5es"), a family meal on Sunday at my sister's, got a few calls from friends, had a little supermarket cake after dinner with my son.

But it was festive yesterday! I got a last-minute role in a music video for Jaydee Bixby, who has done a country cover of Cliff Richard's song 21st Century Christmas. I only crossed paths with Jaydee briefly, but we heard his takes (catchy...). For some of them he was performing in sync with a sped-up tape; on final playback it would be returned to normal speed. He told me it was a difficult, but the director wanted to accentuate his expression for dramatic effect when slowed back down. My role was "wealthy father", part of a family that was materialistic, distracted, and disappointed by their presents. Another couple had the roles of poor-but-grateful family. I hope I spot the video when it hits TV!

The weekend was spent at a friend's cottage with my fellow Toronto Triathlon Club executives, discussing the past season's activities, planning for next year, and drinking... It looks like I'll be Vice President next year. We did manage to get a run in on Saturday afternoon, although a hearty lunch of chilli made the last 5K "uncomfortable." I left right after breakfast on Sunday to get back into town for Sheryl's granddaughter's first birthday lunch, so I missed the planned bike ride.

Final bit of adventure last week; I drove to Buffalo and back on Friday before heading out to my friend's cottage. My sister-in-law asked me to carry some of her Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods gourmet sauces over the border for a potential distributor to evaluate. 412K round trip, seven hours of sitting in my car (and then two more getting to the cottage). Whew.

Still recovering from my recent marathon. I'm looking forward to a bit of down time before I start scheduling the 2009 training regime!

Listening to: 21st Century Christmas by Cliff Richard from 21st Century Christmas.

Not Your Ordinary Walk in the Park

I spent most of today on location for an American department store TV commercial. Arrived at the requested time of 1:00 PM, finally on set at 7:30 PM, homeward bound at 9:30. That's film work for you... A tremendous amount of attention went into my wardrobe, a bit to my hair and makeup (different story for the women). But I was seated and largely back to camera for most of the shots! Again, that's film work for you. I spent most of the afternoon listening to some of PBS' always thought-provoking This American Life podcasts.

I had a tough yoga class this morning. I haven't been for over a month, so I'm even stiffer than usual. Afterwards I heard an interesting story from one of the students. Her adult daughter had been walking her small white dog in an open park in Rosedale the previous day when an eagle swooped down and tried to snatch it! That must have been a surreal moment in the middle of a big city. She and her daughter are birders so it wasn't just a very large and over-confident hawk, I presume the eagle thought the dog was a rabbit.

Listening to: Three Seed by Silversun Pickups from Carnavas.

Hitting the Streets

This morning saw the ninth running of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and simultaneously the first running of street circuit the new Singapore Grand Prix.

I ran down to City Hall with some friends to watch the race for a bit and to try to spot my friend Brian who was racing in the half marathon. I arrived just in time to catch him running the last 200m and got a couple of snaps. He was digging pretty deep... It was a great day for a race, dry and cool. After chatting with Brian for a minute and with other friends I ran into, I turned around and ran back home. Clicking out my run on gmap-pedometer.com I discovered that my run was just over the half marathon distance! So I ran one too and in about the same time...

Brian and I have a decades long tradition of watching Formula One races together. We've missed quite a few this summer, but got back on track this afternoon after we'd both recovered from our exertions. The new Singapore Grand Prix was run this morning, which meant a first-ever night race so the European TV audience could watch in their usual Sunday afternoon time slot. It was an eventful race, even though street circuits are hard to pass on.

The Ferrari's were up front again, with Massa on pole and Kimi in third. Between them was Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren, and notably in 15th place was Fernando Alonso who had been fast in practice but had technical problems during qualifying. The start was smooth, with Massa pulling slowly away from Hamilton. Kimi lost a place and struggled to stay in touch at first; he soon came right though and was closing in on Hamilton. But when mid-fielder Nelson Piquet crashed on lap 15 everything changed.

The safety car brought everyone back together. Several cars running out of fuel had to pit during the attendant pit lane closure, this meant that they had to later take a ten second stop and go penalty. When the pit lane reopened most of the remaining cars dove in to refuel while the safety car was still circulating. Massa pitted from the lead, but accidentally left before the fuel rig had been removed. It snapped off and was dragged like an enormous snake to the end of the pit lane where Massa had to wait for his pit crew to run up and remove it. This left him suddenly at the back of the entire field. Just when he seemed to have the race sewn up he went from hero to zero.

On the other side of the coin was Fernando Alonso, who had started in 15th. He was suddenly in the lead, with only the drivers who had to come back in for pit lane penalties ahead of him! He managed to stay comfortably out front for the rest of the race and had his first victory in over a year. Hamilton lost few places during the same safety car period, but was able to get back up to third by the finish. Kimi also recovered ground, but a brief loss of control in the closing stage of the race led him to bounce of the wall exiting turn ten and put him out.

Big week coming up: shooting two TV commercials and doing another day on The Shopping Channel. If only every week could be like that.

Listening to: Here's Where the Story Ends by The Sundays from Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.

Two Sides to Every Story

I had a TV audition this morning; "husband and wife having a romantic evening." No dialog, we each had a separate back story to have in mind as we pretended to cook together.

My back story: Still madly in love with my wife, not feeling well lately. Got some bad medical test results but not going to tell her just yet.

My audition partner's back story, which I learned after the audition when we compared notes: She's having an affair that he doesn't know about, but tonight's romance convinces her to give him a chance to win her heart back.

Just one word - Yike!

In more mundane news, some of my last running clinic students took me out for a beer last night, immediately after the new class had their first session. Nice to kick back with some new friends... Spacco is a massive single's scene though!

Tonight Sheryl and I are going to try to catch my friend Andy racing in the Toronto Criterium cycling race downtown, on Sunday morning I'll be starting my own racing season in the Milton Triathon. I am just itching to get going!

Listening to: Apologize by OneRepublic from Dreaming Out Loud.

Podium!

Yesterday evening my final CompuTrainer ride at Absolute Endurance was co-opted by an indoor time trial. There were 15 people on their bikes getting ready for a 40K "race", all connected to CompuTrainer stationary bike trainers. I chose to ride along with them.

The ride was a 40.23K flat course, with 16 bikes including mine. I arrived shortly before the race started, but I had biked 4K to the gym so I was warmed up. I didn't know the guy beside me but he was a hell of a rider. We sprinted off together. I discovered that the computer system had "drafting" enabled, so if I stayed in the virtual range of 16 - 6 feet behind him my resistance dropped considerably. We were maintaining 38 kph, but drafting behind him I was only putting out 200 watts compared to his 300. Sweet! I offered to "pull" part of the time, but he was really focussed. I'm not sure what the regulations are in a real time trial. Probably "no drafting" like a typical triathlon.

I drafted the first 20K quite nicely, with a heart rate as low as an amazing 100 bpm. But a moment of inattention led to my being dropped. So sad. I had to up my output to about 250 watts and heart rate to about 160 bpm to keep an average speed of 35 KPH without the draft. I soldiered on and finished about three minutes behind my riding companion, about three minutes ahead of everyone else and in third place overall. Another rider on the other CompuTrainer system was the overall winner, another further couple of minutes ahead.

I was pretty shattered at the end of it, but still had to ride home quickly in order to join up with Sheryl and her family for a little get together.

Monday afternoon I spent an hour swimming back and forth in the ice-cold waters of Lake Ontario for the Discovery Channel. Can't say anything else until the footage airs, but it was an amusing experience! KT Tunstall, opening for Sheryl Crow, was performing nearby so we had a great soundtrack.

Listening to: Black Horse And The Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall from Eye to the Telescope.

Around the Bay, around the street

I'm babysitting Sheryl's dog Barkley while she's away for the better part of a month. Today I had a t-bone steak for dinner, and as a result Barkley got his first-ever beef bone. He knew just what to do with it... He's been a good house guest so far, with only a few accidents. He finds my development very exciting from a sniffing perspective. but is unsure about the sounds coming out of storm sewer covers. We went on a road trip Monday evening, visiting my mother overnight so I could help her get a new printer installed.

I ran in the 2008 Around the Bay race last Sunday in Hamilton. A cold day, but actually better conditions that usual... There were 4485 participants, I beat 3963 of them! Not that I'm competitive or anything. I ran a 2:22:48, about 2 minutes slower than last year, but I was a ultimately too hot with warm layers that weren't easily adjustable. There was a headwind for the last 3 K which was tough. I traveled out with two friends who were running the race as a relay, 15K each. They were a lot fresher than I was after it was all over. Myself, I had some very sore calves and a small almost-blister on the inner side of my left foot.

At the start I found myself in the porta potty line with one minute to go but was still able to make it up near the front before the gun. I crossed the start line another minute later. That's what 4500 racers will do! It took about 5 K to get some clear road in front of me. Then I just ground it out... I took a few short walking breaks, but generally held to my pace. I love the indoor area finish line. It's great for recovery and spectators and adds some drama. I never manage to make arrangements with my friends to meet in a particular seating section though. That would be such a civilized way to find each other.

Here are my stats:

Bib#	Place	Time	Chip	Pace
4270	522/4485	2:23:55.4	2:22:48.0	4:48/km

Category	Category Place	Gender Place
Men 45 - 49	78/485	457/2394
10km Split	47:06	(46:13)
20km Split	1:34:32	(48:19)
30km Split	2:23:55	(49:23)

I spent a day about a month ago shooting a cheap Brand Power commercial for Dare's Simple Pleasures snack bars. It's already airing! I'm on screen for about five seconds. :-)

Listening to: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk from Discovery.

Private performance by Paul Potts

I spent most of yesterday at The Shopping Channel, on air at midnight, 7:00AM, 10:00 AM, 2:00PM, 4:00PM and 5:00PM. The product we were promoting, portable massage mats, sold out so we didn't have to do the scheduled 7:00PM and 10:00PM shows. It was a long day, but I managed to get to my pool during the lunch hour and do 3.8K in 1:01:00.

The silver lining though was the fact that Paul Potts made an appearance in the studio (not Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who was responsible to the Cambodian genocide of the late 1970's). Paul is the amateur opera singer who was discovered last spring on the TV show Britain's Got Talent. His unheralded performance of Nessun Dorma blew everyone, including Simon Callow, away and he won the contest.

Paul had two thirty minute shows, with live performances and short interviews, to promote his hot-selling debut CD One Chance. Although the set was cleared for the performance I did have a chance to watch him rehearse from very close range. He's a very unassuming and humble fellow with a fantastic voice. Some Opera snobs sniff at his talent, but he's certainly captured the publics imagination.

Listening to: Nessun Dorma by Paul Potts from One Chance.

Yes Officer, I'll Come Quietly

I spent today acting in a police instructional video about domestic violence. I was the violent husband. I'm hoarse from shouting through all the argument scenes and kind of jittery from the residual adrenaline... Didn't feel good.

There was lots of improvised dialog too, so it was all very fluid. I had a small makeup scratch, my "wife" had some more serious makeup effects; choking bruises and a bad cut over her eye.

We went all the way through; arguing in the kitchen, fighting in the living room, me trying to keep the 911-responding police officers out of the house, being interviewed and then "cuffed and stuffed" (arresting and placed in the back of the police cruiser). Hope I never have to re-enact that scenario.

This Friday will be easier... Demonstrating a therapeutic pillow on The Shopping Channel. Yes, I'll be getting paid to sleep!

Listening to: Streets of Your Town by The Go-Betweens from 16 Lovers Lane.

Argh.

My father's "wake" will be held in Regina this Sunday. I've just finalised my flight out Saturday evening and will book a hotel after a good(?) night's sleep. I've still got to get ready for my next Running Room clinic on Thursday evening, start preparing for a contract job with the Toronto International Film Festival (yea, I've got a job!) and get fitted for a hearing aid.

Hearing aid! Did I hear myself correctly? Yep. I'm going to be doing a TV commercial for just such a product in two weeks. I think I'll either be a "busy chef" or a "commodities trader". Mine will be fake, but it will be created the standard way. This will happen just as I finish moving into my new townhouse and before the Film Festival starts. While Chris is getting settled into his new high school...

I saw Moliere earlier this evening. Sheryl enjoyed it, probably for the 17th century costumes and great French estates. The film imagines that during an undocumented period of Moliere's life he lived the plot of his most famous comedy, Tartuffe. I found it entertaining but spotty and didn't really enjoy Romain Duris' performance as Moliere. Too late for any deep thoughts, so I'll sign out for now.

Listening to: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen from A Night at the Opera.

Storm's a Comin'

This week is going to end with a bang. I have a triathlon race Sunday morning up in Huntsville (two and a half hours north) that I will have to squeeze in between two days of appearances on The Shopping Channel. I'll be working off and on until midnight on Saturday and will have to travel directly to the race site. The race starts at 8:00 AM, so I think I'll just have try to nap in my car for a few hours. After the race I'll be appearing on The Shopping Channel again that afternoon starting at 5:00 PM. I should be able to make it back down in time, but I might be a bit tentative demonstrating whatever exercise equipment is on show...

Here's a photo from our visit to the Corner Gas sound stage in Regina, en route to the airport. We somehow managed to wrangle a last minute private tour of the set and even saw them film a take!

While I was in Regina last weekend I watched part of the Canadian Grand Prix broadcast from Montreal. What an eventful race! All kinds of racing errors, starting with Fernando Alonzo trying to get past his rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton going into the first corner. Circumstances led Fernando to a seventh place finish, while Lewis led from start to finish for his first win and a solid grip on first place in the season standings. Lewis is having an amazing rookie season. There were several other collisions that shook up the race order, including a terrible smashing-into-walls-and-flipping-over-and-over accident for Robert Kubica in his BMW. Fortunately he emerged unscathed. The finishing order behind Lewis Hamilton's McLaren was full of unfamiliar cars. Nick Heidfeld was second in the other BMW and Alexander Wurz drove his Williams to third. Kimi Raikkonen could only manage fifth, while two contenders, Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa were disqualified for leaving the pit lane during a red light. Yes, there are traffic signals in Formula One. The strangest moment came when Anthony Davidson hit a groundhog (!) and had to make an abrupt pit stop to replace his front wing.

Two weeks ago was the Monaco Grand Prix, never very interesting because it's nearly impossible to pass. But lots of glamour! The first four cars (Alonso and Hamilton's McLarens, Massa's Ferrari and Fisichella's Renault) finished in the order they started. Kimi had trouble in qualifying but managed to fight his Ferrari up to eighth after starting sixteenth. There was some question after the race over McLaren issuing "team orders" but it didn't amount to anything.

Listening to: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M. from Document.

Racing News

Another busy weekend for my poor muscles! Saturday was my usual long ride with my triathlon club, Sunday saw my first triathlon race of the season and on Monday I was getting paid to sweat again on The Shopping Channel.

Saturday's workout was a chance to practice all three triathlon legs, with a swim in Lake Wilcox at 7:00 AM, a 45K bike ride on the country roads, and then a 5K run. I took it easy on the swim because a new club member was uneasy in the water. She was wearing a wet suit for the first time and she was asthmatic... I swam back and forth near by to provide a bit of moral support. The bike ride and run were a bit harder and longer than I should have gone, because the next morning I had a race that I should have been saving my energy for. Couldn't do it, had to go hard... Maybe I learn one day.

Sunday was race day, the Milton Triathlon, on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment... My race didn't start until 10:00 AM but because of logistical issues everyone had to be there before 8:30 AM. I got there in good time so I had plenty of opportunities to discover all the things I'd forgotten and needed to replace. Then I relaxed a bit with my friends. We were easy to spot in our new red racing clothes! My race went well and I finished 9th out of 67 in my age group, and 112 out of 613 overall.

Swim (11:22, 1:30/100m) - I got a great start, and led my wave to the first turn. I had put a lot of effort into adjusting my wet suit for a good fit and it paid off. Then I got caught up in the traffic from earlier waves (I was in wave five) and lost a bit of ground trying to get past people.

Bike (51:41, 34.8 kph) - The bike leg was pretty good too, but I often had to pick my way through clumps of slower cyclists. This was a problem both going up and down the notorious Sixth Line hill. On the way up I lost momentum a few times waiting for a gap to pass struggling riders, on the way down I had to hold back because of a clump of riders ahead of me. I still managed to hit 82 kph though! The bike leg is always the weakest leg for me. I'm not massively slower, but it's frustrating getting passed by some of the people that I passed in the water. One of my club mates, Paula, blew by me in convincing fashion. That's when I focused on the lovely day and the beautiful countryside...

Run (34:25, 4:36/k) - Coming out of transition, after having to actually tie my laces because I forgot to put elastic laces on my running shoes, I immediately faced a short but steep hill. Yike! It wasn't a problem though, I got up fine and didn't have any leg pain after the bike. I felt good the whole way and only walked a very short section, the top part of the furthest gravel hill. Otherwise I just kept passing people! I gained back a lot of the ground I lost on the bike, and got ahead Paula again pretty quickly. Most triathlon running courses are pretty flat but this one was fairly rolling, so it was an interesting run but often a bit of a challenge.

Wherever possible I like to go for a cool-down swim after my race, to rinse off myself and my clothes. It felt so good on Sunday...

Monday was another long day at The Shopping Channel, demonstrating fitness equipment. The simplest and cheapest device, "Smart Arms" was the hardest! I was still a bit sore from my race the day before, but I found the strength to go shopping between shows. I also found a great public library nearby that will be a good spot to relax between shows in the future.

Listening to: Icky Thump by The White Stripes from Icky Thump.

No time for chit-chat

The last few days have been pretty much flat out. From Friday morning to Sunday afternoon I was at a triathlon training camp up in Collingwood. As soon as I got back I had a "Go See" for a Canadian Tire ad. Later on I met up with my friend Brian to watch the Monaco Grand Prix. I wasn't able to give Sheryl and her family for a "tour" of my house as I'd hope to though. Monday I was a fitness model again at The Shopping Channel, on site from 8:00 AM to midnight. Five hours of that time were spent working out! Today I have two casting calls in the afternoon.

So this post is merely a tease, as there is much to tell and no time to tell it...

Listening to: Forever Autumn by Jeff Wayne from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. Best listened to with the lights out in your college dorm.

Hot Enough for Ya?

Today was a lovely hot sunny day; I spent the afternoon wearing a heavy turtle neck and parka. Ah, the joys of a casting call! I borrowed a t-shirt as soon as possible afterwards. Tomorrow I'll be on set for a Home Depot photo shoot. The weekend will be spent up in Collingwood on a triathlon club training camp. I should be pretty sore come Monday...

I spoke to my father's girlfriend last night, he's apparently "recovering" from his stroke and able to speak much more freely. He's still paralysed on his right side, but is regaining strength on his left side. This is great news for his daily living, but the brain tumour that triggered the stroke is still very much the issue. They're discussing treatments but the time line is just a few months. I'm trying to decide whether I should visit with Chris when school finishes at the very end of June or go earlier and take him out of school for a few days. We just don't know how long Dad will be able to enjoy a visit. Another stroke could strike at any moment, or his health could just deteriorate.

Final thought: Yesterday I saw a father with his young son unsuccessfully try to force a left turn against oncoming traffic. Didn't work, fortunately it was a residential street and there wasn't a collision. On Saturday while driving on the 401 Highway to my workout I was in the passing lane going "pretty darn fast" getting past some slower traffic when another car screamed up behind me going at least 150 kph (the highway speed limit, which I was "comfortably" exceeding, is 100). They swerved onto the shoulder and rocketed by me without pausing, honking as they went. Mein Godt! Everyone just take a chill pill, OK?

Listening to: Soleil Soleil by Lola Dutronic from The World of Lola Dutronic.

Fitness Model

I just got home a little while ago from another way point in my journey toward being model of the year. Joking! Today I spent three hours on live TV (Canada's The Shopping Channel) helping to demonstrate fitness products. All I had to do was smile and sweat (but not too much of either). The three hours were spread out over ten hours time, so it was a long day. Which was OK because for most of the day I was banned from my house because of real estate viewings.

There were three cameras (one fixed and two mobile) and lots of monitors showing us the live feed and a preview feed so we could check that we looked OK before a cut happened. It felt oddly voyeuristic watching myself that way... The sound stage had four different areas, many of which were setting up or being torn down while the broadcast was going on. The atmosphere was one of "calm confusion". The hour after ours was devoted to selling Wolfgang Puck's counter top ovens.

The "Guest", who is the product expert, was Rosalie Brown. The other fitness model was Kelly, a TSC staffer. Rosalie's a super-toned fitness researcher and personal trainer. By a twist of fate our lives almost overlapped back in the Eighties. I started studying Recreation (I'll explain how important and intricate that subject is if you ask nicely) at the University of Waterloo a year before she started the same program! I switched to Geology at the University of Toronto, she switched to the same faculty's Kinesiology program.

Tomorrow is another day of real estate banishment. I'll fill part of the time going on a long ride with my triathlon club, if my over-worked abs will let me.

Listening to: Something So Strong by Crowded House from Crowded House.

I'm Ready for my Closeup, Mr. DeMille

All the hard work is finished and my house now looks like something out of Architectural Digest. Well, sort of. Most of my accumulated life debris has either been packed and put in storage or has found new homes. (I think there are full-time garbage pickers that cruise my neighbourhood looking for interesting "trash". Nothing lingered on my lawn for more than an hour or two.) My office has moved from a messy corner of the dining room to a tidy corner of the basement. Upstairs we've followed the policy of army recruits: "If it moves, salute it. If not, paint it!"

I invited Sheryl over last night to have a look at my new improved home and she was amazed. Here's the listing. My neighbours got an actual "reveal" as the painters draped the front porch in traps while outside work was done because of wet weather only removed it when the work was complete. Today was the first day of the listing. I was out of the house at 9:00 AM and couldn't return until 9:00 PM! Luckily I was able to keep busy with errands and a sudden job interview.

In the midst of all the packing Chris and I went to see Hot Fuzz on Sunday evening. By the creative team behind Shaun of the Dead, it was a similar loving collection of cop flick cliches. Some good laughs and fun editing, quite enjoyable.

I spoke to my brother in Regina today as well, apparently my Dad has been moved to the rehabilitation centre and has finally been able to stay still long enough to an MRI to be taken. His speach also seems to be improving. All good signs, a great relief to hear about.

So my house is ready for its closeup, but am I? Tomorrow I will be taping three live airings of some kind of fitness product on The Shopping Channel. I'm also on the short list to appear in a Time/Life commercial for their Sixties music collection. My reluctant acting career takes another lurch forward...

Listening to: Les Cheveux de mon Amour by Lola Dutronic from The World of Lola Dutronic.

51% Exhilaration, 49% Exhalation

Another busy day of packing. Boxes piled to the ceiling everywhere. My painter can't come until the 22nd now, so I have a few weeks to process the daunting areas, like the basement. It's been a great experience watching three boxes of "stuff" turn into one box of "good stuff." Hard work though, especially letting go of things you once considered precious...

Last Thursday I had a casting call that I was told had no lines but turned out to have lots... Tomorrow I have a casting call with a script that is seven words long!

Listening to: Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush from Hounds of Love.

Getting Back Up to Speed

This week has been, literally, a recovery week. I've been slowly getting back into running and spinning. Today got pretty busy though. I spend the day on set for a Sleep Country television commercial (I'll be in the background wandering between the mattresses if I make it into to final edit). Of course being on set is rarely busy, the talent just sat around chatting and waiting in a very cold lobby. We were all from the same agency, so it was my chance to meet some of my "co-workers" for the first time. I think I was on set for about twenty minutes although I was there from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The shoot finished just in time to rush home and take Chris and his grandmother to the airport. They're off for a week in England with my cousin Paul. Chris is looking forward to all the historical sites around London. They'll also make trips to Cambridge, where Paul is a Don, and to Stone Henge. I've been fussing over Chris' travel, printing off little sheets with contact numbers and addresses for him... I hope he brings back some interesting photos, and memories of course.

Last Wednesday was a busy evening too, I went to the Drake Hotel with a friend to see his friend's promotion of a new line of clothes from a jean company. It's lots of fun hanging out with pretty young girls, but not much fun when you realise that you're literally the same age as their fathers...

Listening to: Man in a Suitcase by The Police from Zenyatta Mondatta.

Project Health

I had a casting call this afternoon, called "Project Health". No idea who the client was, but it sounded like a great concept given my physical condition. So I crawled into the shower, scraped my face with a razor blade and tossed back a few acetaminophens. That revived me enough to declare "Mission Accomplished" and hit the streets with a new bounce in my step.

On the way back I had to scout pretty hard for a gas station. Several stations I regularly use were closed because they had run out of gas. A fire at an Esso refinery has reduced our local supplies and all the chains are feeling the pinch. It should all be resolved in a few days but it's an interesting demonstration of how delicate the balance is even in a prosperous economy such as Canada's. I got my gas; I only put in a half tank as that will last me until well after this crisis is over.

By this evening my temperature had risen again, but only bit, so it's at least one more evening of ill-health for me. I guess my "mission accomplished" is no better the President Bushes.

Listening to: Claire by Rheostatics from Introducing Happiness.

Valentine's Day Blizzard

We got a substantial snowfall last night, resulting in slippery roads and slow traffic today. Too bad I had a million things to do in the car! I knew I had a casting call in the morning, but then Sheryl called from her daughter's house in Rosedale, where they were "stranded" without a car. I agreed to swing by en route to the casting, drop Sheryl at her condo and take Tamara to her office. Then another call from my agent added a "go see" to the end of my morning.

So the day started with a quick trip to a neighbourhood chocolatier for two boxes truffles and then down to pick up the girls. Trying to find a side street route to Sheryl's I managed to do an illegal right turn in front of a police officer and buy myself an expensive ten minute time out. I got to the audition late, but so did everyone else. Later in the day I got word that I'm on "hold" for the part. Lines and everything! Fingers are crossed...

Next I slipped and slid over to the "go see". Met the art directors in their lobby, shook their hands enthusiastically and showed them my portfolio. Waiting to hear about that one. Next stop was my agent, to pick up my first big cheque from the work I did back in December and leave them the first box of truffles so they don't forget me. The second box of truffles were for Sheryl as we were heading out for a celebratory lunch over the pay cheque.

Since it was Valentine's Day I had a card for her to go with the truffles. The card was actually a carefully planned practical joke... She's been complaining that since we "broke up" I've been spending more time with a mutual friend (Adrian the photographer) than I do with her. She's also been teasing that she suspects there is more to my friendship than meets the eye. So her envelope actually contained a pretend Valentine written to Adrian with lots of references to how much he has "taught me", has "opened my eyes" and how I look forward to "learning more." As she began reading the card with a puzzled look on her face I quickly pulled it away from her and told her I'd put the wrong card in the her envelope. I had her going for about ten seconds...

A quick technology "ha ha": Last week while Bill Gates was promoting the launch of Microsoft's new version of Windows (Vista) he stated that there is a new exploit of Mac OS X "every single day" but no one will be able to exploit Vista. Well first of all the slight against Mac OS X was blatantly incorrect, as Bill undoubtedly knew. There have only been a handful of exploits reported in five years and none of them have ever been used to actually compromise a Mac. Secondly, Microsoft has already released it's first security patch for Vista, a critical vulnerability in Vista's security tools! Microsoft has also admitted that they made a number of deliberate and significant security compromises in the name of user convenience. It's also clear that a sound file, played over a Vista computer's speakers and "heard" by its speech recognition can, under the right conditions, execute commands to delete files, go to dangerous web sites, or mail user's documents to a third party. Oops.

Politics: Prime Minister Harper admitted today that he intends to pick judges that support his ideology. That's an unsettling first for Canada, love 'em or hate 'em the Liberals did a pretty good job of keeping the judiciary qualified and apolitical. Also weasel words today from Environment Minister John Baird; in spite of Al Gore's explicit statement to the contrary Baird claims he is still justified in quoting Gore as supporting the Conservative government's do-nothing environmental agenda.

By the way, the worst snowfall this week has been across Lake Ontario in the town of Oswego. They've had 12 feet of snow!

Listening to: In the Beginning by K'naan from The Dusty Foot Philosopher.