One of the things that I was really looking forward to about my move to Canada among many other things was being able to head up to Montreal each June to take in the Montreal Grand Prix. A few months ago I got the bad news that it had been dropped from F1’s calendar but held out hope that it could still be saved. Unfortunately today news broke that it has officially been lost. All I have to hope now is that it will be back again the following season. Regardless, I still find it an absolute disgrace that the race has been lost.

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It was opening night for the latest Bond movie last night here in Canada. I know the U.K. got it a few weeks ago but tonight it arrived here and the cinema’s were packed. The 9:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. showings were sold out so we had to stand in line and wait until 10:30 p.m. for the next showing to begin. Canada was certainly excited about Bond and two hours after it starting I could see why. This was one of the best Bond movies in recent times with pure action from start to finish with outstanding action scenes and a story that really developed Bond’s character into the sophisticated killer that he becomes.

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Wear your poppy with pride. Remember the veterans of the wars and attend a service if you can. I used to go down to Ward park every nearest Sunday to 11th November to watch the wreaths being laid. Back in my BB days I even laid a wreath myself. Unfortunately this year being in Canada they do now do a celebration on the nearest Sunday and with the 11th itself being on a Tuesday and me being in work I couldn’t attend a service. We did have a minutes silence in the office at 11 a.m.

Here is a great story about great footballs that brings back good memories of Number 2 in the list:

2. The Mitre Delta 1000
On the long list of Doodles Done In Class In The Late 80s, the Mitre Delta comes behind only assorted genitalia and that formless thing with the tail and a sort of face. The pre-Premiership ball of choice might now be associated with a dark period of Elton Welsby and Saint & Greavsie, but at the time it was seriously cool: who wouldn’t want the ball that was caressed by the likes of Brian Kilcline, Ian Ormondroyd and Mal Donaghy? Short of swaggering into school with Bronwyn from Neighbours on your arm, there was no surer way to win friends and influence people than by whipping out a Delta at lunchtime. But woe betide the kid who had to go home and tell his parents it had been punted out of the school, never to be found.

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What other way to spend an Indian Summer evening than by heading downtown to watch some top end, high calibre hockey with a bit of high calibre historic politics on the side. Outside it was 20 degrees which surprised a lot of people considering how close to freezing it had been just a week before, but it was heating up in the American Presidential race so the weather I guess followed suit. Had I not been catching the bus and then subway into the heart of the city after work this would have been perfect weather for a cycle home. It was certainly perfect for all them thousands gathered anxiously in Chicago hoping for the good news.

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So now that I’ve had to breathe for a few days following that most dramatic of World Championship endings at the Brazilian Grand Prix all I can say now is that I cannot wait already for the 2009 season. You will never see a climax to a championship in any sport quite like what we seen in the F1 on Sunday but the 2009 season shows no signs of not being an even better season. That for me ranked right up there with Liverpool’s Champions League win in 2005 in terms of pure drama. If you missed it I say you missed the best five minutes in sport.

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So here we go, it is time to start, it is time to find a champion and I am sitting ready to watch. I will do some updates as I watch it as I think it’ll be good to read back on down the line as this could be a pretty historic day. MORE»

I’ve been looking forward to this race ever since the last one that confirmed that the title championship would come down to the final race. Hamilton vs Massa it is all on the line. Hamilton is the big favourite simply because he leads the title into the race and only needs a 5th place or higher finish to ensure himself the championship (any tie breaker favours Massa) but this is F1, this is motor sport and absolutely anything can happen to throw a cat amongst the pigeons. This is going to be exciting. Can Hamilton make history by becoming the youngest ever Formula One World Champion?

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I woke up on Wednesday morning looked in the mirror and was shocked by what I seen. Yes, you might be saying what is unusual about that but this time there was good reason. My cheek had a huge swelling on the side of it and it didn’t look right. I have to say though the Canadian dental system is swift. Within four hours I was in the chair and getting it looked at. The bad news was that the swelling was from an infection that had gotten into the route of my tooth without my knowledge basically because the nerve had died. The upshot was I required a Route Canal surger ASAP. Happy Halloween. MORE»

It is only Tuesday but so far the bike has been resigned to the garage. The temperature has been dropping to mid-single figures and the rain has been falling meaning I am not for cycling home. I have the gear and I suppose yes I could do it and maybe I should but instead I am holding out for the rise in temperature that is expected by around Thursday. I am still hoping to get another week or two out of it before the bike goes into lockdown for the winter. I said when I started this cycling home from work malarky that I would be pleased if I got to the end of October out of it and so long as Thursday and Friday are a-go then I will have succeeded.

A good hockey game on Friday night to go and watch followed up by a two-leg victory over Sheffield in the British Elite League followed by a huge win for Liverpool over Chelsea in the Premier League. Chelsea hadn’t lost at home since early 2004, a pretty incredible record, but Liverpool wiped that out with a great performance on Sunday morning. The win puts Liverpool in sole position at the top of the league and with wins over both Chelsea and Manchester United now, Liverpool genuinely are title contenders for the first time in years. This is going to be exciting.

So I mentioned on Friday about going to my first game of the season and I did just that on Friday night. The OHL game between the home town Mississauga St. Michaels Majors and the Niagara Ice Dogs, the team that used to be based in Mississauga. I have an Ice Dogs jersey from when they played in Mississauga but I was in two minds over who to support. In the end I just looked for a good game and got just that. Sitting in the front row directly behind the penalty boxes allowed us to get up close to the action and in the end it was the Majors who came out with the win. The game finished 3-3 and the Majors won the shootout to take the 4-3 victory. Next up is an upgrade to the N.H.L. — the big time — when I go see the Leafs play Carolina early next month.

The hockey seasons in all leagues are well underway by now. The Giants are flying in the UK, the Flyers are sinking in the NHL and there has been enough to go around for everyone on the televisions. Still for me there is always something missing during hockey season until I actually get to a game. For me the season isn’t properly underway yet. It doesn’t matter what the game is, be in the Elite Ice Hockey League or the National Hockey League, live hockey at the arena/rink is better than live T.V. hockey. Tonight therefore my hockey season gets underway Ontario Hockey League style.

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I’ve been cycling home from work nearly every day now for about four weeks. Unfortunately that wasn’t able to happen yesterday when a Northerly wind belew in at freezing temperatures that forced me into getting the bus home. Today I packed warmer cycling gear but thankfully the weather has picked up some and so I ended up carrying most of the extra gear home on my back. The route home is just shy of 12 miles and I had to believe that although it isn’t a lot in doing it often I must be racking the miles up . . . MORE»

It’s been a busy week/weekend here. This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend so we had the Monday off work and so makes it a four day week. Shouldn’t it always be a four day week? We spent the weekend up near Peterborough with Kim’s family having some excellent food. Thanksgiving requires a Turkey dinner much in the mold of Christmas day so you certainly didn’t find me complaining about that. We went up on the Saturday morning and returned late Sunday evening with filled stomachs. MORE»