The Love Handlers

Tonight Garrett and I played ultimate with our team - The Love Handlers. While I'm sure all of you can figure out the obvious meaning of the name, as in, we have a little extra on our edges, the name also has a connotation specific to ultimate, because a 'handler' is a position in ultimate. A handler is good at controlling and throwing the disc, is able to throw well around defenders and control the field. This is opposed to other players on the field, who might be strikers (strike deep down the field to catch a long throw to the end zone) or a cutter (generally someone who cuts midfield to receive passes from the handlers and work the disc down the field bit by bit). Well, tonight the weather was great and the sun was shining. We played a fun team, but alas, they also played better than us and won the game. However, the exercise and the love of the game is always worthwhile.

Garrett and I are both quite versatile on the ultimate field. I'm often a handler, but I am fast and often strike deep to catch a long huck (another ultimate term, ie. throwing the disc really far). As a leftie, Garrett is a threat on the field as a handler. This probably won't make much sense to those who haven't played the game, but most defensive strategies assume a player throws right-handed, giving left-handed individuals an innate advantage. In addition, Garrett is great at cutting midfield as well as pulling out the stops when striking deep to the end zone. Very versatile, hey?

Truly, though, only those who have played the game and become addicted to it can really understand what we find appealing about the sport. It's not only a great way to exercise, it's a fun game with great community of players.

Stanley in the clouds.

Just one more entry from our trip to Elk Island! While picnicking at the below lake-side area, we laid back and watched the clouds float by. Notice Garrett's expertise at relaxing - good position.Now, don't tell me you can't see it. This cloud looks JUST like the Stanley Cup. Seriously. Stanely on its side, Stanley in the sky.Oh Stanley, we miss you.

Heracleum mantegazzianum

That's the name of the weed called Hogweed. This blog entry is in honour of my brother Kyle, who had a run-in with this devilish plant. After checking on some 'Invasive Plants' websites, I learned that Hogweed exudes a clear watery sap that sensitizes the skin to ultraviolet radiation. This can result in severe burns where the sap has hit you, as Kyle can attest to. My poor little bro has a lovely rash that unfortunately, won't go away any time soon. Here is a picture of hogweed - beware of it if you decide to weed-whack it!When Garrett and I were at Elk Island on Saturday, I spotted this nasty beast and took a picture to show to Kyle. It's not the nicest picture but you can tell what it is.Get better Kyle!

Bison galore!

Yesterday, Garrett and I drove east of the city to Elk Island National Park. It was great to get outside the city to enjoy the great weather. At a half hour drive outside the city, Elk Island boasts a healthy population of beavers, elk, moose and BISON! There were very very many bison near the park road when we got there and I got a little snap happy. Look, baby bison!! Bison on the road! We had to wait awhile for this big gal to cross the road.And for these bison to cross as well.Then we saw this big daddy. Check out the birds on his back, catching a ride. It's just like on 'The Lion King'.
Next, we walked through the park on 'Beaver Pond Trail'. I wore my new hiking boots!
Sure, I may LOOK happy, but those stupid boots shredded my heels, even with my fancy hiking socks. I think the problem is that the hiking socks are a bit too big for me (small feet! socks are always too big for me) so they could slide around on my foot and create friction.

Anyway, onto our hike: if I could have taken a picture of the mosquitos and horseflies buzzing around us I would have. We soaked ourselves in bug repellent and kept moving continuously. It made it difficult to get some of the pictures below, but I managed.

In the middle of this picture, you can see a green mound in the middle of the lake. This beaver dam in the pond is that which the trail is named after. This beaver dam was awfully far away and we had no chance to even see a beaver. Oh well.
You can also see the swampy marshy conditions in which the millions of mosquitos came to existence.

Here's Garrett on the trail.
A froggie! We saw quite a few of these little dudes, actually. And for some bizarre reason that I fail to understand, they were all crossing the trail from the right to left. Every single one. Some froggie migration?This is just a beautiful flower along the trial that I wanted to take a picture of.Now, I was very excited by the number of butterflies on the trail. There were all sorts - all beautiful. Large, brightly coloured, Monarchs and more. However, try as I might, I could not get a picture of anything except the little blue one below. Apparently I 'thump along too hard' when I'm chasing the butterflies to take a picture.Once done our hike, we went to the picnic area to enjoy the lunch that we packed. However, the wildlife sightings did not stop here. Note the beetle below, stuck on my shirt.
A flock of pelicans, flying about.This silly little bird made her nest on the meridian in the parking lot. You could see her eggs if you got close enough to make her angry and stand up. I felt bad doing this to her, just for the sake of my photo, so what you see if what I got.After the park, we went out to Garrett's grandparent's house and had a nice visit plus some yummy perogies and sausage. So good.

I'm including the picture below to try and give those non-prairie dwellers a feel for the prairies. We are about 30km away from Edmonton in the picture, yet you can see the downtown core quite distinctly. As well, those buildings are the only tall thing around!

Tyrrell lab retreat

On Wednesday, my lab went to the Devon Golf and Country Club on a retreat. This means that we spent most of the day in a conference room, each giving presentations on our projects. We had lunch and dinner in the clubhouse and enjoyed the scenery around us.After a day of talks, we went to the 'driving range' and hit some golf balls. This golf course, unfortunately, did not have a true driving range, just a net about 10m away into which you hit your balls. I tried to teach our summer student, Saleem, how to hold the golf club, describing how my dad taught me back at Easter. However, I don't really know that much about golf, so who knows if I was teaching him right.Jason came along later to give him some more pointers.And then here's me, whacking at the ball. Hey, at least I look like a golfer.

Bye bye Stanley

The Oilers lost. We're sad. Goodnight and goodbye Stanley, until next year perhaps.

Backpacking, here I come!

Yesterday Garrett and I went shopping! First we went to MEC, where I tried on hiking boots of many varieties. I ended up finding a pair on clearance that fit me really well, so I totally scored a bargain. Here they are:
I also got fancy hiking socks, which should prevent me from getting blisters in my new boots, and gaiters, which are worn over your legs and boots to help keep water out.Next we went to Coast Mountain Sports, where Garrett found a snazzy new day pack. I was also successful and bought an awesome hiking pack. It's a 65L Osprey Ariel. Check it out: I got this bag on sale (15% off) plus I was able to use a bunch of gift certificates that I had, so it hardly cost me at all. I can't wait to go on a hike with it this summer!

Oilers Frenzy!!

That's right folks, the Oilers are still alive! Game 7 here we come! SHUTOUT!! 4-0 for the good guys!
Nancy, one of my good friends from UBC, is out in Edmonton for a wedding and is staying at my place this weekend. She got to experience the frenzy and fervor of Oilers fans. We took her out to Whyte Ave after the game and took pictures of the highlights. This is Garrett, Li and Nancy (green jacket). Some guys in a car with a Stanley Cup mock-up. The traffic was gridlocked. Shortly after this photo they shut down the street to traffic. See the traffic. All backed up. I am on the right, wearing the Pronger shirt. This particular Oilers fan has strapped a giant stuffed moose to his back. Why? I have no idea. But Garrett and I have seen him and his moose around before. Just one of the Whyte Avenue sights, I suppose. This man in the white shirt and snappy hat is the Edmonton Police Chief. He walked by us to the command center (a curling rink a few blocks from the action). After he passed us we realized we should have asked for a picture with him, but he was walking too fast and got too far away, so we just took a picture of his back. Figured a group of us running after the Police Chief might look bad. Whyte Avenue crowds. You can see the back of my head in the middle of the above picture. The cops won't let you step off the curb at all so we all just pack onto the sidewalk until you can't go anywhere. One of Edmonton's finest...riot policemen. These guys were scary - big men, with lots of body protection, bobby sticks (are they called this in Canada? Riot sticks? hmm) and Zap-Strap handcuffs galore. We tried to get a good picture of the riot guys, but since they were scary, we didn't want to anger them. We tried to get one in the background of the next picture: You still can't see very well, and after 3 or 4 tries we were told to 'Move along now folks'. Because apparently you're not allowed to stand around on Whyte Ave now. And take pictures of riot police. Hmmm. (Sorry about the picture Sarah, eyes are closed, but it's all I had).Oh yea, they brought in the dogs too. What are they going to do? Sick them on us??!! The doggies are so cute, but you know what they can do - chew on your arm!! Scary. Is this really what it takes to control Edmonton crowds? Geez, Time to head home. We took the side street to avoid the crowd. Home safe! Phew! No tickets for jaywalking or arrests for open alcohol for us. Just good clean documentation via digital camera.

Dragonboating begins

This week we began our training as a dragonboating team. 'We' means a number of people from my department at the University of Alberta. I don't know that much about the history of dragonboating, but it involves 20 paddlers, 1 steersperson, 1 coach and 1 drummer. We went onto the North Saskatchewan River for an hour and were taught the basics of paddling and water safety by a lady from our department who has paddled for several years. We will be practicing once a week until we race in a big tournament in August. It was really quite fun and very pleasant on the water, but it's definately a task to coordinate 20 people with paddles and strokes. We simulated our race day with a practice sprint, which is surprisingly demanding aerobically. I was a little sore the next day, but not too bad. Here's our team, plus or minus a few people.
I'm in the front on the right and Joelle is sitting next to me. Joelle is responsible for organizing the whole team.
Next time we practice, I will be learning to be the steersperson. This means that not only do I steer the boat, but I also yell commands to the paddlers and they HAVE to listen to me - a perfect job for me! As well, since I have the best view of the water (I stand at the back of the boat) I am in charge of keeping us from crashing into the shore or other boats, and thus am responsible for the safety of us all. Important task, but I'm up to the job.

Elevator Antics

Why do people need to take the elevator up one floor? Why can't they just walk? Or even worse, I've seen people take the elevator DOWN one flight. Now, perhaps they are injured somehow, or have a medical reason for not taking the stairs, but I like to think that walking that one flight would do them more good than harm. Let's just keep this in mind - walking one flight of stairs will not kill you. Other people do notice and comment on it, so take the stairs!

Oilers keep it alive!

Well, tonight the Oilers were faced with an elimination game in the Stanley Cup finals. We played a great game and ended up heading to overtime with a 3-3 tie. Within minutes, the Oilers took another penalty and went on the penalty kill. We were all sitting on the edge of our seats until superstar Pisani caught a lucky bounce of the puck to breakaway shorthanded. A shot to the top right corner beat the goalie and BLAMO! OILERS WON THE GAME! We were so excited! Whyte Avenue was pumping within 10 minutes and even now I can hear the crowd and cars from my apartment 10 blocks away from the action. Garrett and I headed home but decided to take some pictures to show how excited and happy we are about the outcome of the game.
Pumpkin celebrated with us too, albeit reluctantly. I pretended she was Stanley and paraded around with her.
Other than that, I finally finished working on that TV stand I bought at the garage sale last weekend. I stripped the old stain, sanded it, stained it and varnished it. Tonight I moved it back into my house and took some pictures to show you how it looks now. Here is the old picture, pre-improvements:
And here it is now!

It might actually be tricky to see the difference, but the scratches are gone and the stain is now a nice fresh colour. I really like it. I will post more pictures of my living room once I have rearranged everything to my liking. And to finish, here's a picture of Garrett being goofy underneath the TV stand.