On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 15:21:48 -0500 (EST), wendy beard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I sent this yesterday but it didn't show up. > > Thought Frank might have posted about his trip to > Ottawa by now. Maybe he did and that didn't appear > either :-) > Anyway, I popped down to look at the ice sculptures in > Confederation > Park. Very disappointing this year. The weather was so > warm at the weekend > that the sculptures had already begun to melt and > break off. I like to go > down in the evening to see them lit up. Ideally I > would have had a tripod > with me but I didn't take one out of consideration for > the other visitors. > Had to make do with IS ;-) > One of the sculptures was completely in bits, but they > lit the tombstone > anyway :-) > http://www.pbase.com/wendybeard/image/39566999 > http://www.pbase.com/wendybeard/image/39567000 > This was part of the tableau > http://www.pbase.com/wendybeard/image/39566998 > > there was even some mad reporter from the local TV > station interviewing the > sculptures > http://www.pbase.com/wendybeard/image/39567008 > > You can see what the sculptures were supposed to look > like here: > http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/winterlude/index.asp?bhcp=1 > > Wendy
Hi, Wendy, I was going to post, and tell everyone what a great weekend I had, but a few things got in the way. I did get up to Ottawa on Saturday, and we skated from about 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. It was a gorgeous day - just above freezing, but the ice was still nice and hard. We skated about 2/3 way down the canal starting from the Snowbowl (?) and back again. By the time we got back the ice surface was getting a teeny bit mushy from the warm sun, so it was a good time to stop. It really is a lot of fun to skate all that distance without turning around (we figured we skated around 10 km, total). There were things to do along the way, and a few "warming stations" that would have been good a few weeks ago during the cold-snap: open air fireplaces (surrounded by a grid) for warming hands and bums, although we certainly didn't need them on Saturday. Still, the burning wood smelled good. As far as the snow sculptures, well, most of them hadn't even been started when we were there on Saturday afternoon. They were, for the most part, covered by cardboard to prevent melting, and were still in blocks (ie: unsculpted) when we were there. So, being the good Canadians we are, we went to the War Memorial, then over to the Parliament Buildings to test out the fisheye. I wanted to have a chat with the PM, but apparently one needs an appointment. We saw the Old Guy Who Feeds the Stray Cats (pretty cool), and even saw a Ridiculous Political Protest: some guy named Rick (he even signed his "work") wandered out onto the Ottawa River right behind the Parliament Buildings and spelled out the words "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" in the virgin snow on the river surface. You could see where he then hightailed it across the river to Hull. Sadly, no hole in the ice where he might have fallen through <vbg>. For those of you who don't know (which would be, like, the Rest of the World), our Members of Parliament are about to vote on a bill which would specifically allow gay marriage. Or to be more precise, in the Marriage Act, the words "man and wife" will be removed, and it will be specified that homosexual marriages are to be allowed. It's going to be a "free vote" (ie: MP's won't be tied to party lines), and it's expected to pass, much to the apparent chagrine to Rick (see above) and his ilk. So, that was our trip to Ottawa. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier. I kind of threw my back out on Friday, and although I skated and walked, I wasn't too comfortable. It got worse on Sunday, so I stayed in Kingston with the kids on Monday (they had the day off school anyway), and although I got home on Monday pm, I didn't work Tuesday either, due to the back. It seems that I have lower back spasms, and it hurts like a bugger. So, since I didn't have a chance to post until Tuesday, I thought it was a bit late for weekend stuff. But, since you mention it, Wendy, I figured I might as well. I worked these last two days, but in considerable pain. It's not getting any worse, though, so I figure I'm okay. It's actually better on the bike; it hurts to walk or bend over, but cycling is okay. The joys of getting old... <vbg> cheers, frank ps: took several rolls, but of course, won't be ready for some time. it's times like this that I yearn for digital <g> -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
