Friday was a busy day for me. I worked at the Naismith Basketball Tournament in the afternoon and then went to help with security for our Oktoberfest night at the Aud.

I never got to check out the inside, but organized the entrance line from about ten onwards.

After closing we directed people to the line between the barricades and coordinated the loading fo the buses. It is hard work keeping more than a thousand Oktoberfest patrons in order at the end fo the night. With help from professional security from ISM, we got them on the buses in a few trips with little mishap.

I helped direct the buses in and helped direct the front of the line and entry to the buses. Having the numbers of people helping was important.

The Waterloo football team will miss playoffs again this year. Saturday they faced a team with the same record to compete for a playoff spot. Both Warriors and Western had a 3-4 record.

The only differences were that Waterloo started the season with three wins and the Mustangs started with four losses. Oh that and that Western was better. The score was  37-3.

Since Western snapped their losing streak at the end of September, they haven’t conceded a touchdown. Now Warriors just have to wait for next year.

Waterloo other teams had more success like women’s and men’s rugby who won.

I enjoyed this quotation from Kristen a cross-country runner at a local high school. When talking about what she thinks about when she is running she said:

Another thing I think about is that after the race I can eat lunch. . . .

I think that is great, but of course that isn’t the whole quotation:

“Sometimes I just sing songs in my head,” the upbeat St. Mary’s student said. “A whole bunch of songs. Random stuff. Whatever comes in.

“Another thing I think about is that after the race I can eat lunch. I can drink as much water as I want. They’re just things that motivate me and keep my mind out of the race.”

Rain can’t stop District 8 runners 19 Oct 2007

Last month I took a beginner voice over course to learn about auditiioning for and working as a voice actor for radio commercials and TV voiceovers.

(more…)

Well the referendum failed as predicted and mostly Liberals were elected with about 42% of the vote.

So, while the Liberals got a majority of the seats, they did not get a majority of the vote. The CanWest story about the referendum screwed that fact up.

CBC told me these things:

• 36.8% voted for MMP; 63.2% voted for single member plurality, the status quo.Five Toronto ridings were the only ones to support the new system. (Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum 11 Oct 2007 12:20)
• There was a record low turnout of 52.6% beating both 1923’s 54.7% and 2003’s 56.9%. (Ontario voter turnout a record low 11 Oct 2007 06:55)

Anyway, BC will probably pass BC STV when it comes up again next election and I don’t know what’s going to happen here. Is there going to be any appetite for going through making another proposal? Who cares? Only 53 per cent, heh.

Tuesday morning Lenks came by and we walked to the gelato place for a sandwich. I had a grilled panini with salami, roasted red chlies monterey jack cheese, and dijon mustard, She also had a sandwich. We also went to a grocery fruitstand and got an apple and an orange.

On the way back we spotted a car stopped at a stop sign and not moving. The people were lost. When we got near an elderly lady got out and asked us for help. She and her husband were looking for a church. A particular one and she told us she what thought  the denomination was.

There are two of those churches nearby, we said and started to describe their locations. She got confused by our directions. I offered to get in the car and we would find their church. Lenks had to go, so she left and I hopped in.

We went to the nearest church. That wasn’t it.

Then we turned to the other nearby one. That wasn’t it either.

We came in from a nearby town she told me. On your main street.

This one I asked. Our main street? Not that one. She eventually came up with the name. It wasn’t the main street.

Let’s go down to that street and we can retrace your steps.

They were coming into town to the church to play duplicate bridge. The venue had moved from the regular one.

There’s a park and I think a church by the park where we turn. I thought I knew where she meant now. It wasn’t a park, but a company. We turned down the street and passed where we first met them. By then I had learned their names, Audrey and Don. Now I knew which church they were going to too.

We just continued past where got in the car about 500 metres and got to the church.

Audrey stopped on the road and asked if I needed a ride back. I declined and said I only had a short walk.

Let us buy you a coffee then, everyone like coffee, she said. Maybe you should pull into the parking lot, I said.
I didn’t argue further and took the four dollars. I will put it in my RRSP.

I ran in the Guelph Mercury Thanksgiving Day 10km race on Monday. I was concerned about it because I had recently overstrained my biceps femoris and didn’t want to further injure it.

It was a hot, hot day, not just hot for October, but absolutely hot, which makes it super hot for October. The race started in downtown Guelph we north near the Eramosa river, turned past Exhibition park and through some neighbourhoods and then back in.

It was just a 5 kilometre loop though so after the first time we had to keep going. That part was the hardest for me. I was worried about my leg and the heat was getting to me. Once I got to 8 kilometres I felt better and knew I could make it.

I came in just under 55 minutes, which is slower than I ran in the Sun Run, but people say it’s okay.

These pictures are me in the final stretch.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Hiro and Dave’s. It was great.

Hiro, Dave, Dan, Ahmed, Morgan, Jordan, Erica, Mubi, and Melba, (and me, of course) were there. Mariano came by later when he got back from his Preston luncheon.

We had a 22 lb turkey, brussel sprouts, tomato salad, cheesy scalloped potatoes, gravy, country harvest bread, semolina artisan bread, apple pie, pumpkin pie, vanilla ice cream, and another pumpkin pie.

Melba told me on the hpone she would get an apple pie. When Jordan or someone heard that we wouldn’t have pumpkin pie some of the guys went to get one, or at least ingredients. They came back with a pumpkin pie and Melba eneded up bringing a pumpkin pie. The pies were okay, but I find store pumpkin pies way oversweetened.

Morgan brought two bottles of vin blanc: Yellow Tail and Little Penguin. We also had the Mission Hill cabernet merlot, that I brought.

We cooked and ate and talked.

At nine I had to take a conference call for an hour. Then I came back downstairs and the guys were playing some adventure video game that start6s with Z.

I started telling the guys some logic puzzles that I read recently and we solved them and talked.

The Globe and Mail has a story today based on a poll about the upcoming MMP referendum. The poll compares awareness of and opinion on the MMP question from a few days in September to this past Thanksgiving weekend.

The poll results show that over that time awareness increased as well as opposition (support increased but less so).

What’s really intriguing about the Strategic Counsel survey is the finding that the more Ontarians know about the proposed change, the more inclined they are to vote against it, Mr. Woolstencroft said.

Polls conducted in British Columbia during a 2005 referendum on electoral reform suggest that voters who know little about the issue or are undecided will end up voting against the proposal.

They have a chart to present some of the numbers, but it doesn’t really make sense. The earlier numbers come second and it is difficult to see how proportions might have moved from undecided to one side or the other.

I remade the chart to try to better illustrate the information and the change in opinion. The grey bars show the growing reported awareness of the “proposed electoral system. The second half shows the undecided group shrinking and the against growing, with the for side also growing but to a lesser extent.

Click on the chart to go to a larger version.

• More voters understand proposed electoral changes, but fewer support them TGAM On-line 9 Oct 2007 05:50 AM
• More voters understand proposed electoral changes, but fewer support them TGAM Print Edition 9 Oct 2007 Page A10

• imack on Ontario MMP 9 Oct 2007
• Where’s the referendal reform? 30 Sep 2007

After going 3-0 to begin the season, Warrior football has lost three. Now after Saturday’s 39-23 loss to Mac, with two games left in the regular schedule, Warriors are fighting for their first winning season since 1998 (unless you count 4-3-1 in 2001 a winning season).

After the game ended and the teams shook hand. Schaming played a Chili Peppers ballad and each Warrior player ran over to the 30-yardline and kneeled in a round huddle. Thay waited for coach McPhee and had a team talk.

It is an interesting thing for me, because things you say and do after, before, and generally outside of matches can have a big affect on what happens on the field.

I wonder what coach said to them.

This coming Saturday Warriors travel to Kingston to face 9th-ranked Queen’s (4-2) and the following weekend host Western (currently 3-2-0 OTL-1).

• Hawks pummel Warriors in Battle 24 Sep 2007
• Sparklines and Unbeaten teams in Battle of Waterloo 19 Sep 2007