I can resist anything ... except temptation...

So, I'm travelling again. This past Monday I flew to Halifax & drove to Trenton, NS. Stayed for a night there and drove to St John, NB the next day. Stayed there for 2 nights and am flying home tonight. This Sunday I fly to Minden, NV and am there for 2 weeks. Yes, I'll be away from my family for almost 3 weeks, but nobody wants to hear me complain about that. Instead I'll make you all listen to me complaining about something else - food!!

Here's my problem. I like food. Good food, crap food, free food - it all goes in mah belly! What's that? I don't have to pay for it? Score!
I've made the resolution to "eat better" and "exercise more" during this time away - and so far it's not going well. It's funny - when I sit down at a restaurant, I'm actually pretty good at ordering a protein and asking for veggies instead of potatoes or rice. And I can do alright without the fried food at that time. But actually on the road or in a rush? That's another story. Tell me, what is there to eat at Tim Horton's that's remotely non-carby?!
Another bump in the road - this past trip has been all about presenting to customers. As such, we've provided lunch and refreshments for them. What was ordered? Lasagna, bread, pie, cookies, muffins, bleh bleh sugary carby bleh! And being "on" all day for the customer is not easy. You want a quick break and a little reward - and the easiest thing at hand is the last thing you should have in your hand. I'm not saying I gorged myself - but I haven't been as "good" as I wanted to be.

I figure that the next trip will be a little better. I'll be in one place and should be able to develop a reasonable routine. There's some good food to be had in Minden, so I'll have to be conscientious about what I order in the evening. But breakfasts are simple (cereal at the hotel) and lunches should be easy to do well too (the cafeteria has lots of healthy options).  The snacking will be what I have to look out for...

And now for exercise. Why is something that feels so good to do, so hard to do consistently? My rationalization is that I'm going hard all day, then relax for a bit, then go for a big dinner with colleagues and/or customers, then I'm full for a while. By the time I'm not full anymore, it's like 9ish - and if I exercise then, I'm jazzed and up until 12 or 1.If I really applied myself, I'm sure I could find some time to do something. But finding excuses is waaaay easier than finding time.
I've tried to do a bit in the morning, but 5 minutes of pushups and situps aren't going to diminish my gut and certainly don't do much to counteract the free cookies at the front desk. urgh... I bring my TRX with me every time I travel - but you'd be surprised how flimsy hotel doors are. And when I can find a decent mount, it's in a narrow hallway with no room to move. I really wish hotels would include a simple chinup bar in their gyms. I'm really not a stationary bike or treadmill kinda guy - surely they could anchor a decent chinup bar somewhere?!
Again, I'm hoping that being in one place for 2 weeks will allow me to set a routine of decent exercise. Head office has a gym, so I figure I'll use it before heading back to the hotel in the evening. The official "company policy" is to share a rental vehicle, but that makes one beholden to someone else's schedule - not much room for gym time when they want to go back to the hotel. So I'm gonna keep my own car - if you don't tell, then I won't.

I'd be interested to hear from others who have travelled for business. Or even just those who are more organized and motivated than I am! When you're not paying for food, what do you eat and still remain healthy? How do you get any meaningful exercise done when you're away from home?

Wanna help motivate me? Public shaming always works - fire me a note on facebook or email me. If I know people are quietly judging me, perhaps I'll git goin' a little harder...

Cheers!

Oscar (definitely Sly's worst film)

Lets talk Oscars. As appears to be somewhat of a habit, I will be in an airplane flying away from my family while the Oscars are on. So much for a party... That however, has no bearing on who's nominated and what I think of them. It's just a bit of trivia for those who may or may not be interested.

Attempting to talk about all the nominees would be an exercise in futility and requires a far higher word count than I have the patience (or time) for. So lets talk Best Picture nominees.
First off, who decided that 10 movies was a good idea?! They tried it last year, it was a farce - enough already. But no, I guess that would be admitting defeat, so they're doing it again this year. My guess is that it's a purely economics thing. Instead of 5 movies being able to claim "Best Picture Nominee" on their DVD boxes, now there are 10. Joe Shmo browsing his local Blockbuster aisles won't be thinking "oh, this was from one of those years when they nominated 10 flicks - so this little tag doesn't mean much". No, he'll just see those 3 words in quotations and figure it must be good. I suppose from that aspect, it's not a horrible thing - these are 10 good movies. If more people see them, that's not a bad thing - but it makes the competition a little silly. Why do 5 nominees in EVERY OTHER category except best picture? Beats me - that's why I'm ranting about it...

As for the actual nominees, they are:

127 Hours

Black Swan *

The Fighter

Inception *

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech *

The Social Network *

Toy Story 3 *

True Grit *

Winter's Bone

* - being ones I've seen

And the real contenders are:

Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kings Speech, The Social Network. Full disclosure - I've seen 4 of these 5 so far. That will be remedied by the time the Oscars roll around. In the mean time, I'll write about what I've seen and what I've read/heard. After all, isn't the internet all about hearsay and speculation? 

Black Swan - brilliant and disturbing. Natalie Portman's a lock for Best Actress - I think it's a pretty brave move to get that psychological AND that physical for a role. As for the movie, the general story isn't that new (it's a basic sports movie - so&so's worked hard to be the best but they're not super confident, when they finally get "their chance to shine" a newbie comes along that threatens their dominance, drama ensues) - but the approach taken is very interesting. Instead of manufacturing drama through plot contrivances, it's almost all internal. Plus, it's Darren Aronofsky - so you know it's going to be f'ed up in some way...

The Fighter - haven't seen it yet, but from what I've read, this could easily switch places with True Grit in my secondary list below. So it boils down to which director (David O Russell or The Coen Bros) Academy voters prefer. The Coens have more credibility, but got all their Oscar lovin with No Country For Old Men - so I'm guessing David will get some love this year. But he won't win (and neither will his movie).

Inception - boy, do I love this movie. It's not perfect - I'll admit it up front. There are great swaths of exposition for the first half and the rules that are established/broken over the course of the movie aren't always consistent. But hotdamn if it ain't a helluva movie. You're never bored & you're never quite sure where it'll go - but you definitely want to see where it WILL go. The effects are stunning and actually serve the story instead of the other way around (George Lucas/Michael Bay/etc, are you listening?!?!).

The King's Speech - such a simple movie and such a great one. It's wonderful to see a whole complement of craftsmen/women at the top of their game. From the writing to the acting to the directing to the set design - everything is very well done in this movie. I'm not overly surprised at the accolades being heaped on this movie. That being said, it doesn't do much to waver from the typical sports movie and buddy movie cliches. The fact that it's real helps - but you're never in doubt as to how it'll end.

The Social Network - here's where I deviate from my wife. I thought this was a really good movie. It took what could potentially be a fairly dry movie with people talking and made it engaging. The characters are all interesting (though not particularly likeable), the editing is interesting & creative and the writing is very well done. Like the King's Speech, everyone is on their A Game here. However, the non-linear editing and current subject matter puts this one a smidge higher on my list.

As for the others:

127 Hours - haven't seen it yet, but from what I've read, it's not Best Picture material. Sure, Danny Boyle managed to take one guy trapped with his arm under a rock and make it a riveting movie. But it's too bizarre & too niche to win.

The Kids Are Alright - getting acknowledged for some acting by Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo, but the story isn't interesting enough to make it a Best picture. And if you listen to my wife, it's just a melodrama about lesbians arguing over a guy, blah blah blah...

Toy Story 3 - sure, it's an amazing movie and it's nice that they put an animated movie in a Best Picture category. But it's nominated for Best Animated as well - which is where it'll win. If nominating it twice dilutes the votes to the point where it wins neither, that'll be a damn shame. It's a brilliant movie and it deserves to stand among the Best (animated or not) - but there's no chance it'll actually win.

True Grit - as with all the others, it's a Good movie with a capital G. But there's nothing really outstanding about it. The 3 lead performances are very entertaining and it stands as the finest entry in the Western genre in many years. But I'd be surprised if it won.

Winter's Bone - truly the underdog here. Again, I haven't seen it, so I can't comment for sure. But from what I've read/heard, it's a good independent movie that deserves some recognition. Hopefully this nomination will get it watched and will get the talented people involved some more work. But that's about all it'll accomplish.

After all's said & done - who do I think SHOULD win?

Inception or Black Swan

Who do I think WILL win? 

The Social Network

I guess we'll see in a week!

Low Fidelity

Did we write blogs because we had something to say? Or did we come up with something to say because we had a blog?

Why do I have a blog? I'm not working my way through a cookbook of Julia Child's. I'm not sharing my adventures in dating (that would be awkward for Heather to read). I'm not sharing super deep insights about fatherhood. I suppose I could, but I'm not sure I have a whole blog's worth of insights...
So, what do I have to write about? I suppose I'll probably write about pop culture. I have a strange affinity for all things hollywood and whatnot. I haven't seen more movies than my friends. I don't listen to more music. And yet somehow I have a great awareness of what's going on where. Name an actor or two, maybe a notable scene - and I'll probably be able to at least tell you the name of the movie and possibly an odd bit of trivia about it. I'd probably be much better off if I put the same effort and focus on world events. Take Egypt - sure they just had an uprising  in which the people overthrew a government. So, why is the idea of the government switching off the internet a bigger blip on my radar than WHY they're revolting in the first place? Should I be ashamed? Probably. Am I? Only if asked about it... :)

So yes, this blog will likely be filled with inane blathering. I'll try to make it amusing at least. And there may be the occasional self-reflective gem about parenthood or life in general. But you'll be more likely to see a Top 5 Movies To Watch Just Cuz than Top 5 Reasons Lebanon Is On The Edge...

To kick things off (in no particular order), the Just Cuz list:
1) The Mummy - mock it if you must, but this is our Indiana Jones. Brendan Fraser is no Harrison Ford, but until Indy is out on blu-ray, this'll most likely be the movie Heather and I go to for a night of mindless dashing adventure and derring do.
2) The Rundown - again, mindless and enjoyable action. You can throw it on in the background and be rest assured that whenever you choose to pay attention to it, The Rock will likely be doing something awesome or Sean William Scott will be doing something funny.
3) High Fidelity - not sure why I love this movie so much. I'm not as hip or emotional as Rob, and yet I like to pretend I am. Had I never met Heather, I'd like to imagine I'd be the movie store version of his record store owner. I'm far too normal and practical to do so, but that's why movies rock - they let you live vicariously. And Laura has got to rank WAY up there on my Most Desirable Movie Chick list (but more on that some other time).
4) Best In Show - cuz sometimes you just gotta laugh. Being a 'dog person' just makes this movie even funnier. Toss in the best mockumentary crew around and you have a recipe for laid back, laugh-out-loud humor.
5) Serenity - one of the most entertaining all-round movies. It's got sci-fi, boatloads of humor, sass and action - and just a kickass movie all around.

Honorable Mentions:
- S.W.A.T. - Colin Farrell being charming. Awesome people being awesome. Guns n stuff - it's heavy on the cheese, but still a good time. The training sequences are the reason to watch the movie. The actual plot is take-it-or-leave-it, but the plane assault sequence is just cool. Tough to bring this one up in public without being mocked mercilessly though...
- Princess Bride - this used to be number one on this list. It still holds a special place in my heart, but isn't as high any more. I suspect it'll gain rotation again once Fynn is old enough to appreciate it.
- Evolution - I'll freely admit that the acting is horrendous (everyone sounds like they're mocking the movie as they're making it), the effects goofy (competent, but ludicrous CGI) and the story mind-bogglingly stupid. But yet, this movie was watched so often in our household that we actually got tired of it. It's been a while. Maybe I'll break it out again this weekend...

Dennis Quaid, we hardly knew ye...

So .... that's it?! Two days of end-o-the-world predictions and this is what we get? A couple inches of snow and some wind? Quite amusing to turn on the morning news and watch them still try to squeeze a story out of it:

"The streets are empty!!!" (yes, because you reported nothing but snowpocalypse the last 2 days)
"There roads are a mess!!" (yes, they're a mess every time we get snow - be it several inches or a light dusting)
"The schoooools are cloooooosed!!" (they were probably closed last night before a snowflake had fallen, based on your dire predictions)

Okay, I'll grant you that wind is nasty. It'll make being outside seriously uncomfortable today. But it's no doomsday. Did we hear Edmonton making a big fuss over their snow?! Okay, bad example - we (as Torontonians) wouldn't pay much attention to Edmonton even if they did make a fuss... :)

Anyhow, to anyone looking for information on how bad it is here? It's not that bad.

I made it to work.

Until next time ... cheers!

**Edit: much respect to all the snowplow drivers out there! By being on top of it early, they made this morning FAR more bearable, for sure!

One more addition: Snow ... in Toronto

Good Knight and good luck...

Interesting. So, turns out adding photos isn't that hard after all... Perhaps this is where you'll see new and exciting things coming! In the mean time, I'll leave you with a taste of some fun I had with a chess board and the macro lens on my camera...

Until next time ... cheers!

So, this is blogging

Okay, I'll grant you - not exactly the most original way to start a blog. "Oooo, check me out - I'm referencing the fact that I'm writing a blog ... in my blog!". Problem is, I don't really have anything to write about. Well, to be precise, I don't have a grand theme for my blog. Some of my friends write (very eloquently) about their dating life. Others write (very knowledgably) about their experiences in motherhood. Me, I'm just me. Chances are you'll catch me ranting about the latest news in entertainment. Other times I may share experiences about fatherhood. If I can figure out how, I'll even throw some photos on here! But for now, this is just an introduction to me.

So, who am I? I'm a husband (have been since July, 2004). I'm a father (have been since December 2009). I'm an engineer (have been since 1996 - if you count enrolling in the Engineering program in University as the day you become an engineer. Or 2001, if you start counting from when I started working...). I'm a photographer (have been since ... I picked up my dad's camera and insisted he show me how it works). I'm a nerd (have been since I discovered Star Wars, Star Trek and all that jazz). I'm a movie geek (have been since my sister snuck me into Pulp Fiction when I was 15). I'm a Christian (have been since I can remember). And apparently now I'm a blogger...

So, follow me if you wish. Comment if you may. Disregard if you must.

Until next time ... cheers!