Middle School Graduation

I didn't know they have graduation ceremonies for Middle School. Sarah's was today, at the nearby Rocky Point Park on a lovely summer afternoon (I worked from home and was able to attend), and here are pictures.

Margo and our lovely surroundings ...

Sarah shaking hands with her principal ...

Sarah chose the fabric for the dress. Margo found a design for it and made it fabulous.

Citizens

On Monday we participated in our Canadian citizenship ceremony. 74 other new Canadians took the oath with us.

It's taken us nearly ten years to become citizens. It's great to have finally achieved it.

Awesomeness

Me, on the phone with Sarah, after asking her opinions on pizza toppings for dinner: 

Oh, and by the way, you're a spanking head.

Me, in a subsequent email:

Subject: I should also mention ...

You are a smelly pants booger bottom stinky head.

Sarah's reply:

who rides a tyrannosaurus rex with laser cannons for arms controlled by a polar bear from the compass book thing with all the armour and stuff, who carries a double side lightsaber like the one darth maul had and it's not purple or blue or anything it's rainbow and the t rex is on a chariot and dragging the chariot is a unicorn who was born under the sea and raised by narwhals, and the unicorns uncle was the rock combined with the guy from old spice, and the oldspice guy had this shark as a pet, and the shark was holographic, and made of lollipops and the shark invented the typewriter which was passed on to thomas edison who is actually my great great uncle and thomas edison married da vinci so he was my great uncle too and then da vinci invented the ninja sword and became a ninja and while he was a ninja he met this wizard and he turned into a cat like in the youtube videos, like one of the sleeping angel cats, but then the wizard he met was actually david tennant and matt smiths daughter and she was awesome a taught this other person who ended up being flo from those insurance commercials who formed of monsters and men and then they passed on all the raw awesomeness to me and none to any parents and you should probably forward this because I spent like half an hour writing it have fun love you.

Fall Colours

I brought a camera with me today on a neighbourhood walk to capture some of the fall colours.

Dephoned

The other morning I booted my phone after my shower, holding down the power button and waiting for the little bump telling me it was starting up. The bump didn't come.

Lots of retries and it was still the same. Was my smartphone bricked? I did a bit of searching for solutions. I went to my service provider's site looking for warranty information and was reminded how unhelpful these can be - tons of answers about buying and adding services, but not a lot of information on solving problems.

I was feeling frustrated - I have to go to work soon; I don't have time for this. Also a bit of betrayal - how could this phone stop working after just two years? I considered that perhaps it's time for a new phone, and part of me enjoyed fantasizing about new gadgetry and features.

At any rate, after getting on with my morning, I later thought to try popping the battery out and in. I'd never opened the case so I had to search for instructions, but ... it booted right up afterwards.

I had two takeaways from the experience.

One was how quickly we're willing to forgive when technology we come to rely on suddenly works again.

Another was, on the train that morning, looking around at every other face turned down toward a glass rectangle of varying size, how naked I'd feel without one myself.

Margo's Graduation

Yesterday was Margo's graduation ceremony at UBC. Some of you saw the live webcast but here are some photo highlights.

Margo needed to get there well ahead of the ceremony, so with extra time to kill, Dave, Sarah and I visited the Museum of Anthropology. I'd not been before and it was quite impressive.

Here's Sarah doing the "I'm crushing your head!" with a totem.

Then we walked about a block to the lovely Chan Centre for the ceremony.

Margo was the very first graduate to be named. It kind of made an early climax for us as we had to sit through the procession of about a hundred other graduates. Here she is being awarded by the Vice Chancellor. The Chancellor herself is on the far right. On the far left is Margo's advisor, Richard, who also performed the duty of Macebearer, shouldering a massive ceremonial ... metal thing.

Dave meets Richard; they'd heard much of each other.

Richard and Margo.

Sarah tries on the funny hat.

And here's the paper.

School's out for the summer (For MARGO!)

Now that I have submitted my final grades, finished corresponding with students who were displeased with their grades and now, especially, that the horrible dissertation is behind me. I find myself, for the first time in a long time, with time on my hands. I have been spending it on a few different projects.

First a few photos of our early spring garden ... the bulbs are all spent by now, so yesterday I started planting some annual flowers to fill in.

Here is a view of the front garden patch, looking up towards our front door. The cherry tree in this picture is just about at full bloom. You know what is lovely? Our street, full of cherry trees, all in full bloom. Also enjoyed the swirling blizzard of blossoms a week or so later during a wind storm. You know what is not lovely? Mounds and drifts of fallen, spent, cherry blossoms EVERYWHERE for a few weeks after the blooming season.

Tulips

Tulips and bleeding hearts

I have also gotten very busy with home maintenance tasks. This week I have just about completed refinishing all of the patio furniture: 8 foot table, 6 chairs, 2 reclining armchairs, one side table. I have also begun getting the deck and porch ready for re-staining - a hideous job that involves a lot of me on my hands and knees wielding a scrub brush.  It looks like the rental of a belt sander is my immediate future.

Next up: Repainting interior trim, and stripping and repainting deck railings.

I have also been busy in the kitchen. Inspired by the Cook's Illustrated DIY cookbook, I have been dabbling in charcuterie. This week I started curing bacon, pancetta, and some duck breast prosciutto. Here are some pics:

This is the pork belly I purchased from our Italian butcher - 4.4 kilos and awaiting my inept trimming of the belly skin.

Here are the duck breasts, fat scored and ready to be cured

I toasted juniper berries, fennel, coriander, red and black peppercorns, and bay leaves

Then ground the toasted spices and blended them with salt and sugar for the duck breast cure

The duck breasts will be covered on all sides with the curing mix and chilled for 4 days, then rinsed, wrapped in cheesecloth, and hung to dry in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. Then, lots of yummy proscuitto for me! I have made this once before, and it is really, really, delicious.

This is the cure mix for the pancetta. Brown sugar, thyme, rosemary, crushed pepper, garlic, salt, curing salt. This is pretty simple - just spread the meat with the cure, refrigerate for 10 days, flipping every other day, and then rinse it, roll it up and tie it, and let it cure in the fridge for a few weeks. I will let you know how it tastes when we finally get to eat it!

  This is the pancetta, covered with the curing mix, in a glass dish, ready to be covered and refrigerated.

Here is the bacon, also in its cure, in a ziploc bag. Once it is done curing (in 10 days) I will smoke it on the grill and then portion and freeze most of it, and cook up a batch of home cured bacon!

Sarah on the Red Carpet

I know it's a rubbish picture, but here's the story.

Last Saturday was the final, gala show of The Bullying Games, the play Sarah's been rehearsing for months in. As the time for the evening show approached, Margo told me it was a black tie affair. I thought she was joking - wasn't this just a play for kids? But I put on my suit anyway - the first time ever in Canada - and even wore a bow tie. Margo (also in the picture) is wearing a little black dress.

I knew the three mayors of the Tri-Cities were to be in attendance, but as we approached the theatre I was surprised to see an actual red carpet and lights.

Pictures during the performance were forbidden, so I tried to get a shot of Sarah afterwards. She of course wouldn't stand still, hence the hastiness of the shot. But ... there you have it.

Sarah in Local Play

Sarah made one of our newspapers! She's in the cast of a local play, The Bullying Games, inspired by the recent (and local) tragedy of Amanada Todd. Here's a link to the article; Sarah's in the picture at the front right: http://www.tricitynews.com/community/201114061.html.

Sarah has been putting in many hours at practise over the past few months. We look forward to attending the production later in April.

Seattle Visit

I was getting antsy for a trip out of town. Fortunately, last year, British Columbia created a brand new holiday called Family Day. It nicely breaks up the long slog between New Year's Day and Easter. So on our first Family Day weekend, I found myself abandoning my family for two nights of fun in Seattle.

Ah, Seattle, my former home. I tried to think of how long it had been since I'd visited - I'd driven through many times, but when was the last time I'd come to visit the city itself?

Seeing the city again was like revisiting an old friend. Or an old girlfriend, maybe, seeing as I left her. Oh, she has her charms, but she was always more ambitious than me, more interested in looks and money. But we had some great times together.

Getting off the Amtrak bus at King Street Station, I got a new Orca card and gave it a bit of funding for my transportation needs. Then it was down International Station to the bus tunnels. The stations were just as I remembered them from the 90s. Getting off at Pike/Pine, I checked into my hotel, then set off on my first destination, the new downtown library. Designed by Rem Koolhaas, I'd been eager to see it for quite a while.

The upstairs floors are not level but slightly tilted, enabling a single spiraling ramp to traverse those floors. It's a bit disorienting but very fun.

Next it was over to Westlake Center to ride the classic monorail to Seattle Center to see the Experience Music Project. (As long as I'm mentioning architects, this one's was Frank Gehry.)

I'd been to EMP before, but since I'd been last, the Science Fiction Museum had opened, which was what I most wanted to see. It's small but very nicely curated, and serves to house some of Paul Allen's collection. The man has great taste. I got to gaze upon ...

• The skull of the Terminator T-800
• Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet
• Captain Kirk's chair from the Enterprise bridge
• The UFO toy used in Plan 9 from Outer Space
• Space guns from Mars Attacks!, Men In Black, and many others
• Neo's cloak
• A Dalek
• Darth Vader's lightsaber
• Data's uniform from Star Trek: The Next Generation
• The xenomorph and the facehugger from Alien
• The bloodstained shirt worn by Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead

Then it was on to the rest of the museum. In the guitar hall, I stood before Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat.

Not to mention Jimi Hendrix's Stratocaster, Nirvana's gear, and lots more.

Back at the hotel, I popped up to the 35th floor swimming pool to get some night shots of the skyline. Unfortunately they were all rubbish as the interior lighting was too overpowering. Except for this sort of amusing one.

Then it was off to dinner up the hill at Elysian Brewing. I'd become an admirer after having several of their craft beers up north, and consider them one of the most interesting brewers in the Northwest. Like Rogue and Central City, whatever they brew, even if I don't personally like it, it will certainly be interesting to me. I enjoyed a bratwurst special with a very tasty sample of specialty beers including an imperial IPA, "golden treacle pale", winter ale, Belgian IPA, and an "experimental ale". I was bummed to hear the Death Star Black Wheat Wine was out, but got a brown instead.

On the way back I visited another Everyday Music store. We don't have many good music stores up north, so when I visit one, it's an oasis in the desert. I hadn't intended to get much, but when I see used (and perfectly playable) CDs for $4-8.50, uncompressed of course and cheaper than online albums, well, opportunity cost drove me to get more than I thought I would. Besides a few others, I indulged in some very low-priced Steely Dan and Donald Fagen that I haven't seen much anywhere, ending up with a good chunk of their catalogue for no more than $6 each. (Hey, you can spend that much on a coffee!) It wasn't so much scratching an itch, as gouging a tear.

Further downhill I decided for one more stop at the McMenamins pub for a special Belgian Dark and some dessert. Then it was to my room and to sleep.

In the morning I had time to hoof it to the Pike Place Market for some Market Spice Tea and hot chocolate for Sarah. Then I checked out and hoofed it to a nearby coffee shop to meet Todd, an old friend and resident. For the next few hours, Todd and I caught up as he gave me a tour of the city.

We started with a proper breakfast at a diner inside a record store in West Seattle, the dishes named with admirable musical puns. (Mine was the Hank Williams Western omelette; his the James Browns potatoes.) While waiting for a table, one more Steely Dan catalogue item joined my collection for another $4. Should I feel guilty, or proud of my bargain-hunting?

Then it was downhill to Alki Beach and perhaps the best view of Seattle.

The skyline is mostly the same as when I lived there. The major components (the tallest Columbia tower on the southern/rightmost edge, Seafirst, Washington Mutual, Two Union Square, US Bank Centre, the stubby black Darth Vader building on the left), but there was lots of new infill, especially in Belltown on the left.

Todd took me back through to Ballard, our old neighbourhood and where he and his wife Maureen live. My first residence was blocks away, and we have a huge amount of history there. On the way I kept noticing new buildings, but could never remember what was there before. But it was also fun to see what hadn't changed, like the cheesy older businesses, and the beat-up concrete streets.

After dropping bags at their house, we took a walking tour of the neighbourhood, taking in a farmer's market as well as several unique indie businesses, reflecting a vibrance and culture that is so sadly missing in Vancouver.

We picked up some dinner, ate it at their house, and afterwards Todd and I caught up on shared interests like music and hifi and audio production, auto racing and Top Gear, politics, and Northwest culture and Portlandia. We also shared some favourite musics on his hi-fi, taking notes on new bands to investigate.

In the morning we made breakfast and lounged, then Todd drove me to catch my late morning bus, giving us a bit more time to visit over coffee in Pioneer Square before leaving, ending a great visit.

Pinch Me

I'm still grokking that news of the newest Depeche Mode single came to me NOT from one of my UK magazines, nor from alternative press, but from my own daughter ... in a derisive email ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy7FzXLin7o

New View

Last week my company moved into a new office. We used to be closer to the centre of downtown but now we're a few minutes' walk west. It wasn't until this week that we got some sun.

Today's autumn colours really wowed me, so here's the view of our 11th floor office (facing west), with Stanley Park, some sea, and distant mountains.

Movember

You've heard of Movember, right? Where guys volunteer to grow a moustache for the month of November to promote mens' health issues? (If not, go here for more.)

I decided to take the plunge this year, as much as I dislike mo's. After the month turned, I let my beard grow a few days, then Sunday morning I shaved, having to remind myself to leave that upper lip alone. (I was, and still am, afraid I'd shave it off accidentally due to a lifetime of habit.) This is me Sunday afternoon.

If you want to track my follicular progress, or maybe donate a few bucks, visit http://mobro.co/michaelnelson3. Me, I can't wait until December to get this itchy lip scarf off of my face.

Lock Down at Sarah's School

Sarah phoned me from school this week, (an unusual occurrence, because the students are not allowed to use their cell phones during the school day), to inform me that she wouldn't be home on time because there was a lock-down at the school. My immediate reaction was to wonder "Why? Was there somebody violent on or near the campus? What was happening?" Sarah seemed just fine and not worried, so I didn't actually feel panicky, but still.

Turns out there was a bear treed in the creek adjacent to the school. The salmon are spawning in many of our local creeks and rivers right now, and lots of dead salmon in shallow water constitutes bear paradise during the time of year when the bruins are all trying to put on some fat in anticipation of a long nap over the winter. I on the other hand am trying to get RID of some fat in anticipation of the winter, but I digress...

Anyway, I sent Mike out this morning with the camera to get some shots of the salmon in our local creeks and here is one picture of a fish that has made its way upstream, presumably fulfilled its evolutionary destiny by spawning, and is now bear bait:

Sarah says she was able to see lots of fish jumping and swimming on their way upstream. She also says that when she runs laps in PE around that side of the school, it is pretty odorous, with all of the dead and dying fish.

Here is a photo taken a few years ago (not by us) of a bear feeding in the Coquitlam River.

Have to say, I LIKE living someplace where I can see the salmon and have to keep an eye out for the bears. Last year, the school had a resident coyote for a few months. It is easy to forget, living so close to the mall, shopping centres, etc, that we are actually living right on the edge of a wilderness that extends for hundreds of miles to the north of us, with only a few cities and towns in the midst of it all.

Nagging

As parents, we've gotten pretty used to nagging Sarah to do things we don't really think about doing ourselves. I don't mean to suggest that Sarah is unique; all children require lots of nagging. But I recently realised just how extensive it can be.

• We nag her to wake up.
• We nag her to go to bed.
• We nag her to eat.
• We nag her to get dressed.
• We nag her to clean her clothes.
• We nag her to clean her body.
• We nag her to brush her teeth.

I mean, it's a pretty comprehensive list, isn't it? Pretty much all of life's basic functions are there.  On further thought, I had to think about what we don't have to nag Sarah about.

• We don't have to nag her to use the washroom. When she has to go, she's pretty good about finding the washroom on her own. Flushing afterwards, she could still use some work on.
• We don't have to nag her to breathe. "Sarah, have you been respirating?" Not really needed.
• We don't have to nag her to speak. We aren't complaining, "Sarah, we wonder what you're thinking right now." That just doesn't seem to happen.

More Improv from Sarah

Sarah just finished another weeklong comedy improvisation camp at Second Storey Theatre. She really enjoyed it. This time she grew her ability to get into a character.

Friday was the show for parents. I didn't take as many pictures this time as my phone insisted on using a flash and I didn't want to be too distracting.

My Island Getaway

I haven't been out of the Vancouver area in a long time ... maybe over a year? So this week I took a few days to enjoy the end of our summer by taking a trip to Vancouver Island.

I started with a day in Nanaimo, staying once again at the lovely Copper Kettle bed and breakfast. I planned to visit my usual haunts, but I started by taking in some of Newcastle Island, which is just opposite much of the city of Nanaimo. It was once a coal mining operation, and the name echoes the coal mining of the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. Since the 60's it's been a wildlife park. There's a regular ferry service to the island.

It's about 7.5 km to walk around the entire island, so I skipped some of it, heading straight to the lake, then around about 2/3 of the exterior. A highlight for me was Kanaka Bay. The water was really warm there, like Hawaii warm, I'm guessing due to the shallow water and the rock underneath, which must soak up the sun. Several others were enjoying dips, and I got a bit wet myself.

After two hours of hiking on Newcastle Island, I returned to the harbour and walked through downtown. I made my obligatory visit to Fascinating Rhythm, the music store that has such an amazing collection; I keep finding albums I've never found elsewhere, or even knew about (the day's catch: Widescreen by Rupert Holmes).

Then it was off to explore a pub I'd been reading about for over a year, Fibber Magee's, owned by the same people who run another favourite of mine, Fox and Hounds. This occupies the former rail station (I was sad to see that VIA Rail no longer runs trains on Vancouver Island) and just may have the most taps of any pub on the Island. The four taps of Fullers (from London!) are real long-handle pulls - I believe the first time I've seen these outside of England.

Before and during my fish and chips, I enjoyed the Red Brick IPA from Nanaimo's Wolf Brewing, then the Bengal Lancer IPA from Fullers (which I'd never known existed!), and the Heritage Brown Session Ale from Nanaimo's Longwood Brewery, brewed especially for these pubs.

Later I had some Delerium Tremens strong ale from Belgium ... because who knows how long it will be before I see it on tap again?

The next morning I walked back to the ferry terminal and boarded a bus for Tofino, on the western shore of the island. I'd never visited before and was eager to see it.

Travel brings me joy, especially the slow kind, where you don't have to wear a seatbelt. Trains, ferries, and comfy buses like this are a pleasure for me. I plug in my earbuds, sit back and watch the scenery go by. And wow, what scenery. I'd never explored the island beyond Nanaimo and Victoria (and one lovely wintertime train ride between the two), so it was great to get out of the city, to see smaller towns, and to go down a road that's just a thin strip of civilisation in the sheer wilderness.

We passed the village of Coombs and its famous market building with the grass roof and munching goats. We went through Cathedral Grove. We had a rest stop at Port Alberni, which I'd been curious to see some of. And I thought Kennedy Lake was awesome:

The road through this mountainous area was quite narrow and wind-y, with lots of dips and rises. It might be fun in a little sports car, but in a big coach it was a little frightening at times.

Soon we reached the coast, and after a quick stop south to Ucluelet, were arrived in Tofino. The town is at the end of a peninsula, so most places you look, there's ocean and mountains nearby. This is the view from one of the piers.

Here's the mobile visitor information centre.

I had booked a room further back down the peninsula, near Chesterman Beach, about 5k from town. (Apparently the serious surfing is done at Long Beach, about 20k from town.) I'd done some research when planning the trip, and was happy to discover that, though there's just one road (highway, really) up the peninsula, it's paralleled by a multi use path, so I rented a bike in town, and that's how I got around for the rest of my stay.

My first stop was to check out Tofino Brewing and sample their beers. My favourite was their IPA, tasty and strong at 7.5%. Unfortunately they do not sell bottles or cans, only growlers and kegs, so I contented myself with tastes.

Next I went down to my home for the night, the enchanting Emerald Forest bed and breakfast. It's in the forested interior but is a short walk to the beach. I had a nice chat with the hosts, left my bags, and prepared for a visit to the beach itself ...

Chesterman Beach is two crescents of beach with a little island on the tip in between. (I was surprised to find private residences on this little island ... what a bother it must be to bring groceries home!)

I took a few panoramas also ... here's one of one of the two cresents.

I got a good fill of sun and sand, then biked up-peninsula a bit to collect provisions for dinner. Back at Tofino Brewing I got a "growlito", a smaller version of the two-much-beer-for-even-me growler bottle, filled with their IPA. Next I visited a cluster of shops, many selling food without indoor seating: one can eat there on picnic tables, or take it home. At the Wildside Grill I ordered fish tacos, then when asked if I wanted anything else, I paused, looked, asked for a half order of poutine, then changed it to a full order. (Sometimes when I'm traveling, ordering food is like playing blackjack - I keep asking the dealer to hit me until I fold.) Then I got a few chocolates from Chocolate Tofino. Then, back to my room to feast!

After I was done with my imitation of a boa constrictor, I walked back to the beach to stroll and sit and ponder and stroll some more until it was nearly sunset. Back at my room, as darkness fell, I had no trouble falling asleep.

It was a highlight to wake up the next morning, watching the forest gradually lighten around me through the room's big windows. I particularly enjoyed watching a slug slowly traversing the glass roof of the patio just outside. I showered under the outdoor tap - why not? Nadine brought me a tasty breakfast at 7, which I enjoyed while reading news. Then I packed and started booking up-peninsula to return the bike and catch the 8:00 bus - which I made with less time to spare than I'd have liked (should have started earlier!).

The rest of the day was in transit ... a long day that didn't see me getting home until 4. I did have a bit of misfortune as, on part of the bus back to Nanaimo, the parents of a screeching toddler decided to sit with her next to me. (But with my Shure 535s deep in my ear canals, the world disappears.) The trip was filled with beautiful scenery, and with my private soundtrack playing, it was pretty blissfull to watch it go by. I'm continually reminded of the beauty of the region we live in, and consider myself fortunate to be here.