Binary Boy turns two for the first time

In a few days my son will be two-years old. He was born a few weeks early, so posting this a few days before his actual birthday kind of makes sense — his original due date was 01.10.10, so his middle name would have been Binary.

He was born on December 12 (twelve twelve), so we went with “Coolio Cooler McCoolalot Super Awesome” instead.

His first name is Victor. When he’s not playing Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare six hours a day he’s learning new words, having fun eating snow, chasing the cat (also named Cooler), stacking random objects on top of other random objects, and staring pensively out windows at downtown Vankleek Hill like he’s writing epic poetry.

When I get a chance — between diaper changes — I’ll put up a few more of my favourite photos of Coolio Cooler McCoolalot Super Awesome.

My 100th post is dedicated to all the people who have Liked me so far

Yay you!

This photo has nothing to do with Vankleek Hill. I’m as disappointed as everyone else. I took this shot at the 1998 Lilith Fair concert extravaganza in Ottawa. I managed to convince Nettwerk Music, Sarah McLachlan’s label, that my little magazine was worth two all access passes.

Technically the friend I brought was acting as the photographer, so he had the big lens. Once all of us shooters were in the photo pit they laid out the limitations. Like we could only stay for one song, and no flashing Sarah. So, stuck with only my wee lens, and with my friend shooting Sarah, I decided to flash the crowd.

Which was made up of 15,000 young women who, when Sarah came out, all screamed at once. It was like getting punched with a truck.

So… this is my 100th post, and almost the first anniversary of this blog. I thought the least I could do would be to thank everyone who came by and Liked me…

Thanks! Each of these links will take you to a fantastic photo blog…

elmediat [link: here] Liked me two times… thanks, and thanks for helping the kids in Northern Ontario. Emad [link: here] was awesome enough to Like me three times, thanks Emad, and thanks for the comments. the wuc [link: here], still working for The Man down under, thanks for Liking me three times. imonthebandwagon [link: here], he’s with the band, liked me five times. Thanks dude. The only other person to Like me so much was thebigbookofdating [link: here], thank you very much, and I’m looking forward to reading the book as you write it.

Polly Hoyt Nance [link: here] was kind enough to Like three of my posts, only two more and she gets a free coffee. Nature and travel photographer, Philip Vergeylen [link: here], Liked one of my posts, thanks Philip. Aaron Leaman [link: here], a fantastic artist, also Liked me once, thank you Aaron. And thank you, Michelle Alzola [link: here], for Liking me.

Lesley Carter [link: here], who Liked me twice, has almost 2,700 followers… which, I think, qualifies her for tax exemption status. RCbunny [link: here] was also kind enough to Like me, as was xandreverkes [link: here], who has a fantastic blog. idiotphotographer [link: here] liked me once, but we’ve also had lots of interesting conversations. Ashley Jillian [link: here] is more of a blogger blogger than a photo blogger, and she Liked me three times. And then there’s Kitty [link: here], at The Cuckoos Nest, who has been patient enough to comment and Like my blogs, no matter how many I start up.

Thanks again, without the feedback blogging would be no fun at all… without Likes and Comments and Hits I guess blogging would be more like using your mother’s nail clippers to scrawl your thoughts across the walls of your bedroom closet while you’re hopped up on lithium carbonate and Kahlua. So… yeah, thanks. Really.

Frozen trees

There are moments during the year, in Vankleek Hill like most places in Canada, when it gets too cold to have genitals — lets say below -30C. But sometimes, when we’re out searching for our crystallized, and somewhat shattered genitals, we come across beautiful landscapes that almost make it all worthwhile.

Thankfully this year, at least so far, we haven’t had one of those moments because, lets be honest, beautiful landscapes are great, but genitals are genitals.

Vankleek Hill’s first snowfall of the season

It’s all gone now, but for at least two days we had snow on the ground. The first real snowfall of the season dropped five centimetres on Vankleek Hill or, in layman’s terms, just enough so it became obvious that, once again, my neighbour has no intention this year of cleaning our shared 24-stair staircase.

Which means, in an effort to save myself from major back pain in my old age, once again I’ll spend this winter with my windows up and my gas furnace on high in order to hurry along this global warming thing… don’t blame the player, hate the game.

Taking Andrew to his first hockey game

Andrew, my girlfriend’s oldest son, just turned six-years old, so I figured that’s the perfect age for something big. And there’s not much bigger than a kids first NHL hockey game, especially if it’s the first one.

And I figured right. We took him to see the Ottawa Senators take on the New York Rangers and he had a blast. On the way in we told our usher it was Andrew’s birthday, so during the second intermission one of the rink people came over and gave Andrew an envelope stuffed with stickers, balloons and a card signed from “The Senators”.

His mom also bought him a Senators Santa-style hat, a foam finger, popcorn, a Senators puck and a 20th Anniversary Senators cup. Andrew also got a huge hug and an autographed photo from Spartacat, the team mascot.

All I got from my first game was a ticket stub. But I did get to sit in the Montreal Forum, right behind Ken Dryden, and Guy Lafleur scored a goal. So… I win.

To be honest, I was impressed he actually watched the game. I wasn’t expecting that, I was expecting the exact opposite. Mostly that he’d want to sprint through the halls, or he’d get bored and start poking the people in front of us with his foam finger, or that he’d pull out some firecrackers and set a player on fire.

But when the Senators scored their two goals, Andrew popped out of his seat as quickly as I did, and even gave a little yell with his arms straight up.

He even said “oh man” each time the Rangers scored their three goals. He even, bless his heart, gave me a play-by-play of how each goal happened.

In all of the excitement of not having to chase him around the arena, I totally forgot to take pictures of the game. I really wanted one of Andrew with the players (not on fire) in the background.

The best thing about having a first of anything, of course, is there’s always a next time.

Behind occupied lines in Vankleek Hill

The Canadian military, specifically a small piece of the army part, came to Vankleek Hill recently for an exercise lasting a few days. Mostly it was small communications vehicles and fast support vehicles, which are heavily modified Mercedes-Benz “G-Wagons”.

The heavy modifications are mostly limited to green paint, a CD player and a hole in the roof for a top gunner. But they could be painted up as clown whores with square tires and they’d still be a huge improvement over the super ridiculous Iltis jeeps the Canadian forces were forced to use until ten years ago. That thing was barely one step up from a carnival bumper car.

Anyway. That’s all fixed now. So I figure there must be something about the topography of the area around Vankleek Hill that the Army anticipates needing some expertise in the future. Like, maybe some trouble in Eastern Europe or, more likely, all of Europe thanks to Greece and Italy defaulting on their debts.

Of course, given the inevitable worldwide spill over from the swiftly approaching Europocalypse, it’s entirely possible the training exercise was really about learning the various places the people of Vankleek Hill could form a resistance cell.

The soldiers were very nice. They gave my girlfriend and Andrew, her oldest son, a tour of the G-Wagons and posed for her photos. I showed up about an hour earlier, while the exercise was still going on, and the sentry at the fairgrounds gate wouldn’t let me in.

He did tell me all about his paintball hobby though. Apparently his paintball gun is nearly identical to the standard issue C7AI/C8A1 Army rifle. Which just seems weird. But I figure it’s information that could prove useful later on. I think my resistance code name will be Pierre Berton.