Dear Alex

Jack Daniels and Chocolate cake. You tried it at Dan's. Make this when you're not busy with fencing lessons.

Love,

Alex (and Jamie by proxy)

Happy Birthday Canada 2011.

We had drinks in the physics department at work to celebrate the end of term. In addition to making me adore my job even more, the circumstances led to us only having to work half a day so I was allowed to leave early to partake in Canada Day festivities in Trafalgar Square.

The traditional ball hockey tournament. The only element missing were someone yelling 'CAR!' and Wayne Gretzky, who was in attendance presenting the winning teams with their hard earned awards. Full goalie equipment in that summer heat? That takes devotion.

I partook in a massive impromptu Flip Cup game in one of the sponsor tents with some fellow softballers. An event which contributed to us, as a crowd, finishing all the Canadian beer on premises, prompting the organizers to panic buy massive amounts of Red Stripe (evidently because of the colouring of the can).

Someone bought me a poutine. The cheese and gravy weren't quite right but it was a poutine nonetheless.

Blue Rodeo headlining the concert lineup was absolutely perfect. I've said it before, I will never tire of seeing them live. They played nearly half of the 5 Days in July album among other classics and closed off with Lost Together, which was so fitting. And for all the years I've been listening to their music, Canada Day abroad coupled with events of the night resulted in the first time I could really find myself relating to just about every song. Side note: I've wanted my own photograph of Jim Cuddy since I was about 7 years old. I now have one. I will never grow up. Not for as long as the middle-age guitarists I adore keep rocking my world. And while Cuddy did not have his own mic while all the performers sang the Canadian national anthem to close off the night, I could read his lips, he was singing in French. Be still my French Canadian heart.

Chance encounters and a sleepless night later, and I was at Heathrow Terminal 5, which was evidently conceptualized by someone who played with a lot of Lego and Technic sets in their childhood.

The Weighted Companion Cube (please take care of it)

At MCM Expo 2011 with some idolized fictional men.

I can finally check it off my to-do list. I made myself a relatively life-size Weighted Companion Cube; as a costume for MCM Expo London no less!

It was one of the most entertaining craft projects I’ve undertaken, and the second most time consuming after my Rubik’s Cube pumpkin carving expedition last Halloween.

I’d debated whether to make it primarily out of Styrofoam or cardboard but opted for the latter on a budget. Cardboard, papier maché, a tube of super glue, duct tape and a whole lot of love went into making my companion a reality. I suppose I should also factor in wine and the Drive-by Truckers into my budget as they also made for good company throughout a fair chunk of the process.

After some awkward measuring of screen captures of Portal gameplay to work out proportions, I began the process by making templates of the pieces I would use to layer the raised corner edges of the cube. Here is where I don’t lie and admit that about 10 hours of work went into the cube by the point that all of said layering was done.

I then went old school and used papier maché to cover the edges. I would have liked to cover the whole thing to smooth out some of the rougher edges of the cardboard but I was worried it would be too heavy since I’d planned to strap it to myself with nothing but suspenders. Two layering and drying sessions later, it was ready for paint. And overall, I am so happy with the way it came out in terms of rough proportions and colouring. And it was so well received at Expo. I felt like a priest offering forgiveness to all those who confessed to incinerating me over the years. It was truly beautiful, that bond.

And now comes the point that I am trying to pawn it off online because I sadly do not have the floorspace for it and ironically, I just cannot bear to throw it away; it has been a faithful companion

O Captain, my Captain, how you still my heart...

"...With the starting teams lined up at their blue lines, Koivu was off to one side of the visitors' side of the arena during the last few words of Canada's national anthem he had heard hundreds upon hundreds of times during his 13 seasons with the Canadiens, 10 as captain.

It was then that his teammates skated to the boards and so did Canadiens skaters Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Max Pacioretty, Roman Hamrlik and James Wisniewski.

It was a lovely display of respect for one of the great names in the franchise's history because now the big stage belonged only to Koivu.

Picture, if you can, 21,273 fans on their feet showing what this brave man meant to them with wave after wave of thunderous applause. Koivu skated in little circles, raising his stick repeatedly and tapping his heart with his free, gloved hand to all sections of the sellout crowd. Several times, he motioned with his head to the Ducks to join him for the start of the game, but they refused. And all the while, the noise grew louder and louder, just as it had exploded when a quick photo of Koivu, his hair lost to his battle with cancer, was shown returning to the team after missing the first 79 games of the 2001-02 season.

The ovation ended only after Selanne skated to where Koivu stood alone and tapped him gently on the back of his leg in a gesture of respect only hockey players understand. As expected, it was repeated after the game when Koivu was announced as the second star....

What you got from Koivu during his years with the Canadiens was everything he had - on and off the ice, including the many millions the Saku Koivu Foundation raised to combat the killer disease he conquered.

What you also got was someone born to wear the C."

- Red Fisher, Montreal Gazette




The crowd erupted at the end of the anthems as the jumbotron cut from an old clip of Koivu to one of him live on the ice in a Ducks jersey. Cue the emotion and the first of two thunderous ovations that night.

After nearly two whole seasons without him, seeing him play twice in one week has been good for my sanity (not to mention getting to see him play with a fellow Finn because oh, the chemistry). I didn't think I needed any closure with the city of Montreal, but it did reaffirm how deeply rooted my adoration of this man is. I love his constant domination in the faceoff circles, his deke that almost always lands him a goal in shootouts, I've missed his particular and recognizable way of skating into the offensive zone on his heels and hell, I even miss his notoriety for taking ill-timed slashing penalties. And then, after the match, they announced his name as the second star of the game with such booming grandeur and familiarity as though he really was playing on home ice. And for those few hours on Saturday January 22nd, 2011, when he was skating yet again on Bell Centre ice, everything felt right again.

I took it for love, or at least something beautiful out there in the spotlight