Springtime in Saskatoyuktuk

It's somewhere in the realm of 3:00 AM time-wise. I'm writing now as a bit of a mind purge. I've not been able to just simply drift off to sleep because the howling 90 km/hour blizzard wind that is slamming at my outer wall of my bedroom. It's not at the state of being destructive: if you are inside, just an eerily noisy nuisance. We are in the midst of a clipper that is raging throughout the western interior of Canada. We've been through our first full day of the vernal equinox, and conditions are nowhere near appearing close to being spring-like throughout the time since I last posted here.

Did I share this photo to show you the interesting
 geographic info on the sign?. . .No. . .
Did I share this photo to show you the alphabet soup
 that is the Inuvialuktan language? . . .No. . .
I shared this photo out of envy, to show you that even
they have less f****in' snow there than we do! 

A few days ago, I noted that Saskatoon was even colder than the far northern hamlet outpost of Tuktoyaktuk near Inuvik in NWT, close to the Arctic Ocean. I commented on Facebook that we should rename this town Saskatoyuktuk, or something else that sounds more linguistically concordant to an Inuit dialect, given the extended length and snowfall of this miserable winter. I thought it would at least roll off the tongue more rhythmically to match all the other "-uck, -uck" words I've been muttering repeatedly every time I've tuned into the weather report for this region each morning for the last few weeks. After these last hours of the wind packing the snow, we would indeed have the ideal banks around here now to cut out sturdy enough blocks to actually build a few igloos. Given the affordable housing shortage around here, that might not be such a bad thing.

One of the first day of spring 2013 photos, taken here locally.

The most salient question I suppose the locals around this city/part of the province have been asking themselves is: "Why do I live here again?" The only positive answers I can scrape up for now is, at least it's not North Korea, or Iran. I can dress for the cold and snow and be protected. I don't know how to dress for an earthquake, or volcano (Pacific Rim), or for a car bomb (the Middle East) or for a sudden spray of bullets (like what's possible now in Syria, or any American school/movie theatre). These realities don't diminish the fact that this winter has been overly long and depressing for me though, even with the effort to use some of the days that were more ideal for skiing. By this coming Sunday, there will have been a full five months of snow coverage, and still no sign in the forecast for potential good thawing weather, until the maybe the second week of April, which still could potentially throw another couple storms our way.

A pileup scene somewhere between Edmonton and Calgary

I'm definitely not an Inuit, nor do I have the constitution of one. I have this innate urge in me to experience greenery, flowers, or even just simple grass close to this time of the year. The heightened flooding alert is going to delay even that from coming normally. It's becoming even more imperative that I visit Gardenscape this weekend at Prairieland Park. After this brutal season, I would bet my bottom dollar, despite the great delay for planting and sowing stuff, that there will not just a few, but throngs of people there, with near-orgasmic expressions on their faces, paying a ridiculous admission price, to just get a simple long awaited opportunity to smell the heavenly aroma of actual dirt and compost again, and to catch a glimpse of these things long estranged from our memory called "tulips", and "daffodils". The horrid road and highway conditions will not deter them. This picture above of a scene from Alberta won't be a sobering enough reminder for them to take it easy, or to just stay home.

That's how desperate people around here are for spring to come. . . here in Saskatoyuktuk.

Ides of March, Training and Detox, and the Futility of Seeking Serenity

The harsh reality about how unfit I've been rendered by this winter came to me Tuesday. Armed with my new heart monitor, I burned around the track for a five kilometer distance as a trial session for getting to know what my actual peak heart rate is when I run. I shamefully admit that after two and half years of running, I still didn't know what this was yet. I confess that I pushed it a little harder than I should have; my average rate was recorded at a terrible 169 bpm: way too high, and my pace wasn't even anywhere close to my personal best for my high pace five click running. What was even more distressing was when I exited the steam room afterward. I realized that another thing about this winter compared to the others since I lived here is that I haven't found time to make better use of the sauna, or sweat properly. When I walked out of there I was not just looking red, but almost purple as I shocked myself passing a mirror, a worse looking sort of sickly hue than when I come out of a heavily chlorine-saturated swimming pool. 

The common thing about the lungs and the skin are that each have direct contact with both the air in our environment and the body's blood supply simultaneously. It stands to reason that if my lungs are still crappy and full of toxic junk, it's quite likely that it will reflect on my skin that has been exposed to it as well, especially when it's put through even a mild degree of environmental stress, like the steam room. The dryness, plus not being able to expose the skin and open the pores and sweat freely for this especially long winter season probably doesn't do much good for any body. Neither does constantly being indoors, inhaling recirculated air, with the dust and fungal/mould spores, and whatever other viruses, germs and household product chemical residues are in it. I'm sure that the shockingly ghastly and unnatural colour of my skin after that session was a sign that I'm due for some hard core form of spring detoxification.





Some Homemade Sealer Salads for the week
 Energy/Nutrients Value per jar: Calories - 231.3
Total Fat 17.4 g, Cholesterol 0 g, Sodium 272 mg
Potassium 411.3 mg, Total Carbs 18.6 g
Dietary Fiber 7.0 g, Sugars 5.3 g
Protein 5.0 g, Daily Recommended percentage of
Vitamin A 93.2%, Vitamin C 102.3 %
Calcium 13.0 %, Iron 22.0%

I've been already taking measures for such a detox, and commiting to it for least for a couple of weeks. I've started to automate things enough in the kitchen to do the following:

• eat more raw greens/chlorophyll
• eliminate sugar and white flour/starch
• use more leaner simple proteins (fish, chicken, nuts, eggs, and beans)
• limit salt
• increase antioxidants and vitamin C (lemons, grapefruits, onions, ginger, turmeric, garlic, berries, mushrooms)
• increase dosages of vitamin D
• consume more fibre
• gobble up those multivitamins
• limit milk intake (except for cottage cheese, buttermilk/kefir, and yogurt)
• water, water, water, water . . . at least four litres per day
• stop drinking alcohol (Boooo!)

I'll try to steam/sauna everyday throughout, then I should get a massage after the first week of this, and another after the second.

Despite all the good intentions, there was nothing but a road to hell before me, no matter which I turned. I'm talking about yesterday. The ides of March weren't just bad for Caesar. I completed my circuit at the track, only to have my sports watch display crap out on me, rendering it useless: my new monitor, which I was so proud of for getting at a great discount a few days before, also rendered useless. I was beginning to fume with frustration. Walking out of the track building (into more bloody blowing snow) didn't improve my mood any either; but I tell myself to think progressively, baby steps, etc., and I drove to the Future Shop to assess the price of a replacement (not buying anything, nothing in stock, thus wasting my time). I could (should) have opted to use the exit from the parking lot that took me directly home, but I reflected a bit, upon looking at more of this goddamned snow coming, and thought to myself that it might be better instead to go the other way out to Dutch Growers greenhouses. Why this decision? Probably because the core of me was (is) so desperate to see something floral and verdant after this long, dreary, wretched season. I tell myself: "Remember, be progressive man, seek out the better, SERENITY NOW!" As I was driving away from the shopping centre, waiting for my chance to try to cautiously turn onto the road in drifting snow conditions, BAM! An idiot in a truck* rear-ends me.

My day of trying to work progressively for training better and trying to mentally endure ten more new centimeters of this oncoming white hell only resulted in a damaged watch, a wrecked car, and few other unwelcome scenes and issues waiting for me when I arrived home. I should have just stayed in bed. I chose to say "Screw it!" to the detox for rest of the day, and drank wine and feasted on bread and sugary sweet baklava at a function later that evening.

Yesterday for me was only proof that the road to hell is paved with the best intentions. Perhaps I should be observant of the fact that today, according to Mental Floss, is World Sleep Day. A day to stay home, draw the curtains, shut down and go into some kind of coma, and stop the rest of the world from biting at my ass.

*- A stupid big-ass Dodge half-ton. I hate these friggin' trucks, and the most of the typical dimwitted and foolish personity types and demeanor of the young men around this neighbourhood who drive them.




Getting Unstuck, and Bond-ology

I was muddling through Thursday wondering what I was going to do through the weekend. The last dump of snow was so de-motivating. Initially, I was just in no mood to take on any extra home projects, but then I looked in my fridge. I've been trying to eat healthier again, buying more fruits and veggies, but with the neglect because of the long days at work, I discovered that it was looking more and more like a regular bachelor's refrigerator. It was coming close to the point when brown stuff was turning green, and when the green stuff starts turning brown. In another couple of days, I'm sure I'd be able to roll up the lettuce and smoke it. Without intending to do so, I managed to create my most efficient mise en place ever. I created a lot of recipes, some classy ones, for very cheap. It was my first measure for getting unstuck. The fates conspired to push me along through the process further yet in an interesting way.

With the return of warmer weather, I had to take advantage of trying to put some effort into getting more physically active. Motivation to move though has still been lacking. My performance in both running and skiing has been erratic and more taxing on me than usual. My lung capacity is still greatly diminished, and it's putting more strain on my breathing and circulation than I find comfortably acceptable. I decided that I needed to get the compatible heart rate monitor that transmits the reading to my GPS sports watch for biofeedback. It seems like I have to outsource my willpower in the form of gadgets and apps. I went to three different stores before I finally found it. At the place I found it at, the price tag listed it at $79.99 before taxes, I paid with plastic. When I collected the receipt, I saw that I was charged only $21.99 after tax. Either there was a flyer discount I wasn't aware of, or some scanning error that perhaps rang in the wholesale price instead; whatever the case I didn't argue about it. CoincidentalIy, I have to note that I checked my lotto tickets earlier and won twenty two dollars. It was a fluke that it covered almost the exact cost of the monitor. This bit of serendipitous luck was as if karma was dictating and making it such that I had to have this unit. All in all, my heart monitor really only cost me three bucks, the price of the lotto ticket. As it has been though, nothing else was mentally making it anymore inspiring to run harder, and while I was skiing this weekend, imagery of machine gun toting henchmen pursuing me didn't make me move any faster, which leads me to the next subject.

The final thing that has been giving me a bit more inspiration to move more is the 50th anniversary set of the 007 movies on loan to me, and watching my more favoured of the action-packed series all weekend. Thus comes the list part of my entry:

Top 10 Favourite Bond Films

1. Skyfall
2. Casino Royale
3. Goldfinger
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. Dr. No
6. Quantum of Solace
7. Goldeneye
8. Die Another Day
9. The Living Daylights
10. View to a Kill

My Choices for the Five Worst Bond Films

1. Never Say Never Again*
2. Live and Let Die
3. Moonraker
4. Licensed to Kill
5. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

My Five Favourite Bond Villians

1. Le Chifre (Mads Mikkelson)
2. Silva (Javier Bardem)
3. Jaws (Richard Kiel)
4. Max Zorin (Christopher Walken)
5. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence)

My 15 Favourite Bond Girls

1. Melina Havelock, For your Eyes Only (Carole Bouquet)
2. Jill Masterson, Goldfinger (Shirley Eaton)
3. Major Asimova/XXX, The Spy Who Loved Me, (Barbara Bach)
4. Honey Rider, Dr. No (Ursula Anders)
5. Severine, Skyfall (Berenice Marlohe)
6. The Cigar Girl/Assassin, The World is Not Enough (Maria Grazia Cucinotta)
7. Christmas Jones, The World Is Not Enough (Denise Richards)
8. Pussy Galore, Goldfinger (Honor Blackman)
9. Xenia Onatopp, Goldeneye (Famke Janssen)
10. Domino, Thunderball (Claudine Auger)
11. Solange, Casino Royale (Carterina Murino)
12. Elektra King, The World Is Not Enough (Sophie Marceau)
13. Miranda Frost, Die Another Day (Rosamund Pike)
14. Plenty O'Toole, Diamonds Are Forever (Lara Wood0
15. Naomi, The Spy Who Love Me (Caroline Munro)

My 10 Favourite Action Scenes

1. The showdown at Skyfall Manor (Skyfall)
2. The little yellow car chase (For Your Eyes Only)
3. The Tank in Moscow Scene (Goldeneye)
4. The Parkour Chase in the Madagascar Construction Site (Casino Royale)
5. The Miami Airplane Fuel Truck Ride (Casino Royale)
6. The ski jump parachute scene (The Spy Who Loved Me)
7. The Ski/Motorcycle Chase (For Your Eyes Only)
8. The Thailand Canal Boat Chase (The Man with the Golden Gun)
9. The Fencing Club Dual (Die Another Day)
10. The Port au Prince Boat Chase (Quantum of Solace)

Ten Stupid/Sucky Things of the Bond Films

1. For Your Eyes Only - A glaring technical mistake about the oxygen/helium respirator mixture. If their tanks were full of  helium, they would have been speaking like Munchkins.
2. Diamonds Are Forever - Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint. Enough said.
3. Never Say Never Again - Not being able to classify Kim Basinger as a Bond girl, because this movie can't be ever thought of as a Bond film
4. Man With the Golden Gun - The midget Nick Nack, and funhouse props juxtaposed to a state of the art solar energy converter, WTF??!!
5. Moonraker - Mr. Drax, like come on. . . if you are going to be a bat shit crazy megalomaniacal villain, at least try to have a personality that varies a bit from that of a brown sock.
6. The Living Daylights/License to Kill - Locking Timothy Dalton's place as the "spazzy" Bond.
7. Thunderball - The underwater battlefield scene was rather slow for an action scene, the bubbles do a lot to obscure the shots. The "airlift" ending was pretty cheesy too.
8. Sean Connery - Hey, I like the guy; but is it just me, or do other people find it as freaky and distracting upon noting how the far ends of his eyebrows almost appear to be trying wrap themselves around to the back of his head? I guess tweezing wasn't a popular option back in the sixties.
9. Octopussy - I think you've lost more than a bit of screenwriting talent when you are trying to introduce a rotary saw yo-yo thing as a legitimate possibility for an assassin's weapon. 
10. Live and Let Die - I hated this instance and effort on the part of the franchise to mess around with Blaxploitation, no matter how cool they thought it was to do at the time.

*- Never will this be ever considered a proper Bond film.

Future Thinking and Running Again

I'm so glad that February is finally over, but it didn't end without strain. I spent the last two nights of it, each one until around 3:00 AM, immersed in paperwork; preparing stuff for deadlines due on March 1st. It's like gambling under duress. The resulting headaches from all the analysis and reorganizing of things have been so brutal, and didn't fully disappear until today. My head has been made too numb with fatigue. Dealing with stuff for investments inevitably leads me to think of questions and speculations about the future. Not really financial or economic ones per se, but ones leaning more toward possible social, environmental, and geo-political changes, and ramifications*. It is from this where some of my current angst and unrest probably comes from: in not being able to foresee much in the years and decades ahead beyond something bleak and dystopian, on several levels ranging from the local to the global. No matter what avenue of investment I take, it would be seemingly pointless in the long run if it ultimately will be lost some way, or doesn't garner me any means of future happiness, or any protection from socio-economic and environmental factors and failures that are beyond my control. Thus, being engaged with such decisions becomes draining, and mentally taxing for me.

I finally began running outside this morning: for my first outdoor run of the year 2013. It was only two kilometers, but enough to reintroduce my leg muscles to such rigour now that there is enough ice free street surface to stride out across, and just long enough to re-acclimate my lungs properly, and to trigger them and my sinuses to rid themselves of a winter's worth of respiratory stagnancy. The skiing has been helpful, but it's not an accurate physical substitute, or facsimile, compared to running. With a reminder from my friend, it has struck me that my half-marathon that I signed up for is less than three months away. I'm trying to be mindful to temper my regenerating sciatic nerve slowly and properly.

*- Things like disturbing facts regarding: Education - Almost 70% of this globe's population believes in the ridiculous meme of creationism instead of the scientific evidence supporting evolution; Resource Management - It has been estimated that the energy equivalent of 4-6 barrels of oil is used to draw out just one barrel of it out of the Earth (If I said that I was paying 4-6 dollars to work for every one dollar I earned, I would be called crazy); Social Justice - This past exposure of the ignorance, corruption, and racist agendas on both sides of the fence of the "Idle No More" movement is probably a small glimpse of the unrest that's coming ahead in this nation; Agriculture - Farming is done by only (an aging) 2% of the growing global population, on increasingly depleted land, and yet the amount of industrial scale food production/processing waste is alarmingly increasing; Population - There are seven billion people living on a planet with, given our current rate of wasteful/inefficient resource usage, a carrying capacity of less than four billion, while at the same time, some religious institutions are still maintaining political influence/lobbying in many nations for preaching against and outright forbidding of family planning/birth control. These are only a few of the things that bother me about mankind. With such ignorance, impending limits and shortages, and uncontrolled growth, we are due for a worldwide collapse of civilization very soon. I can only hope that some definitely major paradigm shift is happening ahead to intercede.