Graduation Day

This evening my son Chris graduated from Grade Eight. Next year he'll be in high school, in their gifted program. Tonight I'm at home waiting for his graduation party to end (or get a phone call from the Fire Department). His class is out on a evening harbour cruise to celebrate and they return to the school at 11:00 PM.

I think Chris accidentally "graduated" last night though... He wanted to see a film so we walked over to the movieplex and chose Knocked Up, which Sheryl had recommended to me, by the director of The 40 Year-Old Virgin. It didn't start out very promisingly, just another slacker buddy flick, but it turned into a reasonable relationship mismatch film. I found the birth scenes moving, although startlingly graphic. The flaw was that Seth Rogen's "Ben" never really stopped being an immature goof ball while Katherine Heigl's "Alison" never convinced me that she'd really have give him a chance. The real problem though was that there was a fair amount of frontal nudity in it! I should have noted the rating before agreeing to see it with my thirteen year-old son...

Update: Chris reports that their harbour cruise encountered a boatload of naked people taking photos of themselves. I guess there's only so much you can do to manage such things!

Listening to: Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann from Baz Luhrmann Presents: Something For Everybody.

High School Beckons

This week my son visited our two local high schools to help him/us decide which school he will attend next year. I wasn't able to go to the parent's night at North Toronto Collegiate Institute, but I did get to Northern Secondary School last night, with Chris reluctantly in tow. Chris' mother met us there; she had been able to get to the North Toronto parent's night.

They're both excellent schools, which makes it hard to pick between them. Northern Secondary is one of the city's largest schools, with 1,900 students vs North Toronto's 1,100. Both have massive music programs, which is a startling contrast to junior and middle school, and lots of course options. "When I were a lad" these two schools were my options as well, although my mother decided to send me to a very small Catholic boy's school called Brebeuf College. At the time North Toronto was the "academic" school and Northern Secondary was the "trade" school. Although Northern Secondary still offers courses such as welding and auto mechanics while North Toronto does not, the academic programs seem to be equivalent.

Chris has expressed a preference for Northern Secondary, so I'll be sending him to North Toronto of course. Actually I was initially leaning toward North Toronto, but now it's an open race.

There were lots of parents I knew at the Northern Secondary parent's night, including Chris' friends and classmates and members of Chris' past hockey teams. I didn't expect to see an old girlfriend there though... Michelle's son Christian will be going to Northern Secondary next year because his father lives in-district. I never did figure out what happened between her and I. Perhaps she met someone more interesting (I think she started dating a Medieval Times performer). The story of my life!

Listening to: Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne from Welcome Interstate Managers.

Traction

I watched the Chinese Grand Prix this morning with my friend Brian. What a great race! Changing conditions meant lots of action as different drivers had the advantage at different times. But first, some local news...

Brian has been taking names and kicking butts lately on two inquiries. The Arar Inquiry published it's conclusions a little while ago and was very critical of the RCMP, which gave incorrect information to the USA that resulted in Maher Arar's unwarranted detention and transfer to a Syrian prison, where he was tortured on America's behalf. Brian is also involved in a new inquiry into the Air India Bombing. This is a sad issue that has been bubbling away for over twenty years now.

My son told me this morning about a school scandal. Four thirteen year-old students got into a parent's liquor cabinet over lunch last week and returned to school drunk! Two of them needed to be taken to the hospital and all four were suspended. I hope Chris has learned from their example.

Back to motor car racing. Qualifying in Shanghai took place in very wet conditions, which favoured cars running on Michelin tires. The two Renaults, on Michelin tires, started from the front row with the two Hondas, also on Michelin tires, following. Michael Schumacher started his Bridgestone-equipped Ferrari back in sixth, sandwiched between the McLarens (yes, on Michelin tires) of Kimi Raikkonen and De la Rosa.

During the race traction proved to be the key issue. Fernando Alonso's Renault sprinted away from the field, but on his first pit stop the decision to put new tires on his front wheels proved unwise. Kimi also had a great start, climbing from fifth to third on the first lap. Unfortunately his engine failed on lap eighteen while he was in a strong second place.

The best tire choice for most of the race proved to be "worn out" intermediate tires. In this state they approximated the performance of ungrooved racing slicks, which are currently banned. New intermediates were too cold and slippery in the damp conditions, as were normal "drys", which have four grooves. For example, Robert Kubica had a great race in his BMW Sauber, fighting up to fifth from ninth until he was the first to try dry weather tires. He slid all over the place and had to return to the pit to change back to intermediates. In the end he finished thirteenth, but it looks like he'll be a driver to watch.

Michael Schumacher, on worn intermediates, was able to catch and pass Alonso, who had slipped behind his teammate, easily. Later in the race Michael, now on drys, took the lead while Fisichella's drys were still warming up. A problem changing Alonso's right rear tire on his second pit stop compounded his troubles. Although he was once again the fastest car he was unable to pass Michael and had to settle for a close second.

On the last few laps things started getting wet again and there was a lot of jockeying. Jenson Button managed to scramble from seventh to fourth in the space of a lap! Michael Schumacher is now tied with Fernando Alonso for first place, with two races left.

Listening to: Wonderful World, Beautiful People by Jimmy Cliff from Jimmy Cliff.

Stars or Starlets?

Chris was away overnight on a two day school trip to Camp Walden. He got back earlier this evening, tired and hoarse from the obligatory shouting back and forth and the late night. There were sixteen boys in his cabin! I've heard all about the meals, the activities and the trip, but what amused me was how much he enjoyed sitting out under the stars before bedtime. He's a chip off the old block I guess.

Sheryl and I took advantage of Chris' trip to get together for a movie last night. We scanned the listings and decided to watch The Black Dahlia. I enjoyed the performances, the cinematography and the sets, even though Brian De Palma couldn't resist adding his trademark gore. The detective novel plot held together pretty well until the final act when the macabre plot twists started piling on until the whole thing fell over. The plot followed two cops, played by Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart, who literally preferred to talk with their fists (they were both boxers). This didn't give them as much scope for character development as their femme fatale opposites. Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank were both solid, but I found Mia Kirshner's near-cameo performance as the title character the most moving. Fiona Shaw did a great job of chewing up the scenery as a drug addicted snob. The Black Dahlia is a bit of a mixed bag, but worth the time.

Quick cinema pet peeve: I am so sick of elaborate production company animatics. You funded the film so you name belongs there, but do we need to see a boy fishing from the moon, or thingies orbiting another thingie and then turning into a logo, or all the other pointless frippery? It's a wank. To counter that outburst I'll report that we saw two interesting trailers. Marie Antoinette looks interesting, although I don't know if Kirsten Dunst can carry it off (Sheryl is dying to see it for all the wrong reasons). Flags of Our Fathers, another Clint Eastwood/Paul Haggis effort, looks pretty gripping too.

Today it was back to earth with a thud as Sheryl and I went to a "job fair" to see if there were any opportunities. Uh-uh. Depressing! Still, I have some real positions to follow up at the moment.

Listening to: If I Could Talk I'd Tell You by The Lemonheads from The Best Of The Lemon Heads - The Atlantic Years.