Been A Busy Two Weeks

I realized today that it's been a while since I've entered in my blog. There's a reason for that. On the road back from Big White, I got a phone call from a director with World Curling TV. They were looking for someone to fill a last minute position as a Technical Director for the world feed of The World Women's Curling Championships in Grande Prairie and they wanted me to leave in four days.

So off I went (what the jetsetter I've become) to the booming metropolis of Grande Prairie, Alberta. Metropolis it isn't, but booming it is. The oil industry is causing that city to burst at the seams. The vacancy rate is 0% and the rent is expensive. Real estate is too. But if you work in the service industry, it's the place to be. Most restaurants (including fast food) are hiring at $15 an hour, to start. There's more jobs than people.

With that event in town, they were out of hotel rooms too. We ended up staying at the only inn in town that had some vacancy. It wasn't the greatest hotel, but it did the job. I managed to find some free internet in my room and that made it better.

But I digress, my job there was my first real sports switching job in a long time and talk about throwing a guy into the fire. The truck we had was old and still had analog equipment. Most of the TV trucks now have at least digital cameras and tape machines. This one had mismatched cameras and they had to add an EVS (hard drive-based instant replay system) but didn't have any analog to digital converters. To basically sum it up: it wasn't fit to be used on air.

The word is, this truck had been sitting in a farmer's field for the last two years and was snatched up by a guy who wants to put it back into service again. Unfortunately, it's going to need a lot of upgrades. It might now be worth it.

Director Rick Davis and I in production in the truck in Grande Prairie.

Anyway, after a few days we got most of the bugs ironed out and the show went on. I personally wasn't happy with my performance, but Rick asked for my card afterwards. I suppose this means that I'll be at the bottom of the list if they need someone.

Upon my return to Vancouver, I've been working on my screenwriter's website vancouverscreenwriters.com over the last three days. It's occupied most of my quality TV viewing time. But then again, I haven't really watched a lot of TV since I got back from Italy. My PVR decided it was bloated and deleted all my episodes of 24, Lost and Desperate Housewives; all shows you can't miss an episode without getting 'lost.' I've given up on them for now.

So I hope this leads to more work in TV sports. I'm getting tired of the daily grind of TV News.

OK, So I Don't Mind Skiing

Made it back from Big White in one piece. I honestly thought I'd leave that place with some broken bones. Luckily it was a bruise on one arm and my ass.

Monday, the day after I arrived, I went to the main centre in the Village and signed up for some beginner's lessons. It had been 18 years (I recalculated it) since I had last been on skis and the only thing I could remember was how to walk up the hill sideways with your skis. It was a beautiful day for it, that's for sure. Sunny and 0 degrees! They taught us the basics of skiing. Walking in skis, turning and stopping. Stopping with a snowplow is how they were teaching us and for some reason, it was the part I had the most problems with. Turning was a piece of cake, but turning my ankles inwards to make a snowplow was proving to be a challenge. It got easier when I threw away the poles. Damn things get in the way.

After my lesson we ate lunch and I went back out in the afternoon to practice on the training hill. After an hour of that, Karen and her parents took me on the Hummingbird which is basically the easiest hill at Big White. I managed to get through it three times only falling twice.

Tuesday, Dave (Karen's dad) and I did two runs on the Hummingbird and they said I was doing quite well. So they thought I was ready for a hill with more of a challenge, "Serwa's". Still a green level hill but longer and more steep hills. I did that run three times and fell just as many times. But they still thought I was doing well for someone who had just learned from scratch (basically) the previous day. I think I was getting a little cocky on the last run. I kept trying to pick up some speed but then I'd panic and I'd wipe out. Click Here to see a movie of me wiping out on the last hill of "Serwa's" What a dork!


Tuesday night we went on the tubing hill for a few hours. All in all a fun trip. I didn't think I could actually have fun in the snow. In the past I've always associated snow with shoveling it in Edmonton in -20¡ blizzards and not having the option of using a snow blower because it was too frozen to start. Well I've changed my attitude and I think I will take up skiing on a more regular basis. I wonder what Whistler is like? I live so close and haven't actually been there.

What I think I'm going to do is get some practice on the local Vancouver hills - Grouse, Seymour, Cypress - before I go to Whistler and invest $75 on a lift ticket.

The Drive to Big White

Well I made it. Five hours out of Vancouver on the highway to Big White. It was sunny and the roads were bare the whole way. I thought I moved to Vancouver to escape the snow. What do I do? Drive 5 hours to go to the snow.

Karen and her dad took me on a little tour of the village tonight. Walking around in snow with a -16 temperature exploring some of the runs and some of the other buildings in the village. We ended up in a bar in Happy Valley where some guy was being fed alcohol through a tube. They had a tray with a half dozen shots and a pitcher of beer. They managed to get three shots into him (he was already pretty wrecked) and he was running to the bathroom...pretty funny.

We walked over to the tube run watching people jet down a hill on a tube. That looks like fun. But I think first thing in the morning I will be signing up for a beginner's ski class. I'm a little worried about getting on skis again after a 15 year absence and minimal ski experience. We'll see how that goes.

Skiing Next Week

So I'm braving it and I'm going skiing on Monday. My friend Karen has invited me to her family's condo at Big White, near Kelowna. She insisted, I swear!

In any case, she's convinced me to do the 4 to 6 hour drive there on Sunday to make me go on skis again. The last time I skied was 15 years ago. This should be interesting. I'm sure that I will actually like skiing again by the time I get back to Vancouver on Wednesday.

Aw well, there's a hot tub; so if I fall too much I can fire the jets on my back to ease the pain. But after the hard work I did in Italy, I deserve a vacation.

On The Hunt for Wine and Vinegar

It seems like a stupid thing to really search for. Today I went in search of proper Italian Balsamic Vinegar. While most Balsamic Vinegar is actually made in Italy and just sold under a brand name. I wanted to get it in a bottle that came from Italy.

In Vancouver, the Commercial Drive area is the place to go for anything Italian. There Cindy, James (friends & colleagues of mine) and I found two little Italian food stores. I walked in expecting to pay $20 for some vinegar. Not only was the selection great, but it was cheap too! (Although, if you wanted to shell out for a 25 year old bottle of vinegar, it was $32)

What I don't understand is this: proper Balsamic vinegar is at least 12 years old. So what is the 4 year old vinegar I actually bought?

I just got back from Italy and brought back a bottle of Barolo (Red Piedmontese Italian Wine) for my friend James. I didn't pay a whole lot for it in Italy. I thought it was a reasonably priced bottle of wine. When I gave it to him, I researched it and found out that in Canada a bottle of Barolo is worth $35 - $150. The one I gave him is a 1999 vintage and probably worth $70. Holy Shit!

I searched the BC Liquor Stores in my area and found that they have various bottles of Barolo for sale. Now I'll have to shell out and actually taste the wine I brought him.