Andrew introduced this to me: http://www.freerice.com/index.php. Pretty neat, try out some of the quizzes and donate rice to some poor country.

1st golf game of the year

Played golf today for the first time this year with some guys from the office. We had a great time, the rain held out (as I predicted) and we all had fun. Golf St-Jerome http://www.golfstjerome.com/ is a very nice course. I guess that my score of 97 with 38 putts makes me more apprciative. In fact, the layout was interesting, the brook that ran through most of the course was very soothing, but I did loose 2 balls in the water. It's definitely a place to go during the week, it's much cheaper.

Jing

Played with Jing today, created my first ad-hoc help document and sent it out to the concerned party. Took less than 5-minutes to set it up and I reocred my content. Quality was pretty good. Graphics are the screen's resolution and I had a cheap Labtec AM-232 microphone which I clipped to my lapel.

Jing is produced by TechSmith, the makers of SnagIt and Camtasia. I guess it is a derivative of those products as it includes screen capture / annotation capabilities with screen video recording with voice over. Quite neat.

SHS Cabaret

If you weren't at Selwyn House this evening, you missed a great show. Once again the music program shows that being small is not a hindrance. The bands from grade 7 to the Senior Jazz Band were all very good to great and the numbers that included ECS' Jazz Storm were sensational. I was hoping for an encore of the Celtic number Riversong. All of the pieces seemed to get better as the night went on. Congratulations to Jaime McMillan , Ms. Janice Ewanyshyn and Alex Becker. Last, but not least congratulations to the Senior Jazz Band and Jazz Storm for the many awards that they picked up on their spring break at Disney.

My Mom's 90th birthday

Had a fine time at dinner with the family to celebrate my mom's 90th birthday. The real date is April 18, but as Joan was busy that date, she flew in later and we went out to Chez Chine in the Holiday Inn in Chinatown on the 25th. The food was very different, but it was all great. Thanks to M. Bonin and his staff.

Routes and Reroutes

Andrew and Vincent are on their way, you can follow them at http://routesandre-routes.blogspot.com/2009/04/two-days.html. Should be in Paris now, touring the city or maybe getting settled. I don't mind saying that I am excited and nervous at the same time.

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

I bought this disc based on the review in this morning's Montreal Gazette. Warning: I am not a Dylan expert, just more random thoughts.

New Dylan - Together Through Life
Track 1 - Beyond Here Lies Nothin' - Quite good
Track 2 - Life is Hard - Yuck
Track 3 - My Wife's Home Town - Good blues, I can fell your pain
Track 4 - If you Ever go to Houston - I like the feel of this one, accordian no less, I wonder if Frank Pavane would like this one, he'd say it was too easy
Track 5 - Forgetful Heart - This is much more like old Dylan, solid
Track 6 - Jolene - Old fashioned blues, Dylan style. Very good.
Track 7 - This Dream of You - Leonard Cohen comes to mind, must be a flashback. A smokey bar, cigarette burns on the piano and a glass of single malt on the side. It might be Rick's café or some place in the deep south. You might want to slow dance to this one. I really like this track.
Track 8 - Shake Shake Mama - Great track, you can almost understand the lyrics. With this song it feels as if we've moved further north, not quite Chicago.
Track 9 - I Feel a Change Comin' On - Reminiscent of the 60's, I don't know what it is, but retro.
Track 10 - It's All Good - and it is all good. This might be the best track on the disc.

On balance this is a pretty good album, not as good as his previous effort Hard Times but still worth the purchase. I wonder what would happen if Bob Dylan could really sing. I'd bet he wouldn't be as popular.

Maurice Richard - the Rocket

Finally got around to watching the Maurice Richard movie with Roy Dupuis and Vincent Lecavalier. Great movie. Both Roy and Vincent played the role of Richard very well. Amazing to think that someone so great had it so tough as well. Makes me proud of the Canadiens and makes me proud to be a fan. The film also helps to understand the cultural / racial issues that permeate life in Montreal and Quebec. A must see for all hockey fans, especially Canadiens fans.

Nadine: Thanks for the loan. You were right, it was well worth it.

Beginnings

These will be random thoughts. Sometimes intelligent, sometimes not. That's random. No?