On Friday bdot and I celebrated our *gasp* ninth year together. It was a beautiful day and she thought it would be nice to venture over to Kleinburg. Nine years ago we had our first date in Kleinburg. So we walked around the very busy Bindertwine Park. You probably know we are getting married in the fall. You probably didn’t know that I had not proposed to bdot. Well I had the idea to wait until our anniversary to do it. As I said the park was stupid busy. It was damn near impossible to find privacy anywhere. Eventually we decided to take a sidetrail up a hill and into a wide open field. Here I took her hand and proposed. I think she was a little surprised. She actually jokingly said no first, then of course, we have stuff booked. Yes the proposal is out of order, but that is how we seem to roll. It was a lovely afternoon. In the evening we had bdot’s Badass BBQed Shrimp for dinner. So good….we some BBQed brussel sprouts and Pesto pasta as well. Mmm.

In the evening we chilled out and watched The Help. It was an intriguing look at racial issue in the South from the ‘Black’ point of view. Blacks were segregated and denied access to numerous aspects of society. The primary job Black women could get was as ‘help’ for White families. How ‘the Help’ was treated seemed to vary from house to house. It was easy for Whites to blackmail or threaten Blacks since segregation was legal at the time, and Black weren’t treated equally at all in the South. The movie brought back many memories of my trip to New Orleans. Bleck. There is still a strong undercurrent of racism there. Anyway… the movie wove in and out of various ‘Helper’s’ lives. It showed the Help caring for White children, maintaining White houses while White wives were off playing cards and neglecting all their responsibilities. They were living the life of Riley. One White character, the curious Skeeter befriends several Helpers and eventually documents their side of things in a book entitled ‘the Help’. I think the movie glossed over the seriousness of the racial tension and violence of the time…it was allured too, but never really shown. The acting was really good and the housewives do a wonderful job evoking anger. ⭐⭐⭐½

Later in the evening I was poking around Rogers on Demand on my 360 when I came across Manufacturing Dissent. The film was a documentary about Michael Moore and the facts and fiction within his films. I was going to crash but it was quite enlightening so I watched the entire movie. It made me question a lot of my opinions about politics and the media. Lo and behold… just like the Right wing whackos that twist and distort information, Moore does the same for the Left. I guess because I want to believe Moore and because he shoots documentaries that his films are all factual. We’ll they aren’t. Moore takes liberties where ever it suits his message in his films. That said, I would prefer them not called documentaries. When I hear a film is a documentary, I assume it is factual. Aren’t they?! The two Canadian film makers seem try to track down Moore for a interview the entire film. He dodges them (much like Moore implies the GM President did him in Moore’s film Roger and Me) and doesn’t answer their questions. Brutal. I certainly lost a lot of respect for Moore. I think he could made a convincing anti-Bush film without lies, distortions and omissions… surely there is enough content there. Thought provoking for sure. I’m not sure the end justifies the means. Well worth a look regardless what side of the political scale you are on. ⭐⭐⭐

Yesterday we had a family dinner at my sister’s place North of Barrie. We stopped in Barrie on the drive up to get a coffee at Starbucks. What a mistake. I’m convinced that the busiest section of road in Canada is commercial section of Mapleview just off the 400. What a fracking zoo. Merging cars, double turning lanes, honking and hysterics… I think it is one of most poorly designed sections of road in the country. The plan for the sunny but cool afternoon was to hit nine holes, best ball at Shanty Bay. I think everyone was playing for the first time this season except my parents. We played Men v. Women three on each team. The Men ended up shooting a +2, the ladies a +8. It was a fun afternoon. I recall how horrible my ‘driver’ shots were the last time we played Settlers Ghost. In spite of shooting cold I shot quite straight with my driver. Often along the ground, but straight. I find golf is often about small victories, such as dropping a 20ft putt. *grin* Once we got back to my sister’s everyone was hungry. We dug into ham, potato casserole and salad. JP (my brother in law) had also made garlic bread. I think I had four pieces. *grin* It was an enjoyable day with family.

I got an e-mail today from KK saying he had a bunch of guys that were looking to play ball hockey. I quickly made myself as presentable as I get and met him for some game. The guys were friends of KK’s Brother in law. They were a great bunch of guys… Who apologizes to you after you block their shot? *grin* We all seemed to tire quickly. We played 3 on 3 since we only had one goalie. I played well considering I was likely the old man of the bunch. I think I netted four or five goals… KK said he ripped three or four in. It was a good time, lots of running, I’d play hockey with them again. Afterwards, I asked KK to be my best man. He accepted. Thank you sir. Interestingly this is the second time I’ve asked KK to be my best one. I’m think there is a better chance this time you’ll actually have to go through with it. *cheers mate!*

Now that I’ve sat down for a bit after playing hockey my back feels like I fell off a ladder onto it. Jesus. Aging sucks. I’ve soaked in Epsom salts and still feel like I was runover by a full clown car. Gah. I think I’m going to take it easy the rest of tonight.