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Supporting a Dream

A while ago, my roommate Rhonda told me about her co-worker Matt's recent decision to take up hockey. Now before I continue, there are two facts that you should know. First, Matt and Rhonda are very good friends who work together at a school in the Sault. Second, they also like to bug and play jokes on each other constantly. So when Rhonda learned of this new found interest, she decided to go, watch and enjoy this new hockey ability at Matt's first ever hockey game. Rhonda returned from the game with all kinds of pictures, stories of Matt's vast hockey skills and the final score, 9-3 for the other team.

So later on that week, Rhonda was razzing Matt about his hockey ability in the staff room and they got into some sort of debate. Please note, the following text is a recreation of the conversation in question, it was completely fabricated, but probably still sounded like this:

Rhonda: Hey, nice Skills last night Matt. I'm going to bring friends to watch you at your next game. We will support you and cheer along (dripping with heavy (yet most likely upbeat) sarcasm).

Matt: You will not, you don't have any friends.

Rhonda: I do so have friends! I am going to bring tonnes of people and we are going to make signs and cheer every time you trip over the blue line!

It continued like that back and forth all day.

When Rhonda came home and told me about the game on Sunday and the conversation that she had with him, I casually suggested that she set up an event for the game on facebook and invite all her friends to attend. What happened next was pure joy. I saw a happy, yet devious look glaze over her eyes. Rhonda then jumped up and grabbed her camera and set to work. While she was making it, I helped her bounce around ideas and observed and helped her debate and create the proper wording. She choose pictures of Matt training and had captions and then invited everyone she knew to support Matt's Hockey Dream. It was very nicely done. I have copied and pasted the following invite that she sent out for everyone to enjoy:

"Come one, come all to witness a spectacular event. Once upon a time, there was a boy named Matt who had a dream. His dream was to dazzle Sault Ste. Marie with his hockey talents. He now has the opportunity to live his dream on the ice at the J R Arena. Please join us in supporting this once in a lifetime opportunity. Guaranteed to be laughter, beer, talent, beer, hockey, beer, and good times. With your support, we can surely make this a night to remember. THIS IS FOR REAL!"

Within minutes, a few had responded that they would definitely be attending. Within minutes, Matt responded.

Matt D (Sudbury, ON) wrote at 5:58pm on April 12th, 2007
Rhonda has Herpes, I saw her eat cow pooh, She has long curly armpit hair, mold growing from her feet, she was a boy when she was 7 and then had a sex change and she eats dog food...

Alas, no matter what Matt put on the board more people signed up!

Matt (Sudbury, ON) wrote at 10:36pm on April 12th, 2007 Let us stop humouring Rhonda. We know that we are not going to the game!!! Who wants to watch the lowest level of hockey played?? Exactly.

Matt (Sudbury, ON) wrote at 10:52pm on April 12th, 2007 Plus you would have to sit by Rhonda and she has puss coming out of her eyeballs, her feet are all ripped, she has mold in her ears, and very bad flatulence!

I responded in defence...

Jen wrote at 11:04pm on April 12th, 2007 Rhonda's flatulence may be bad, but it's not enough to keep me from the game!

Rhonda (Sudbury, ON) wrote at 11:14pm on April 12th, 2007
I sense some frustration here Matt! Are you feeling a sense of insecurity with all of these people actually confirming that they are coming? You didn't think I could pull it off eh? Ha ha! The joke is on you for once! I am loving every minute of it! Keep trying to pull out your comments to get people not to come, but it's not going to work! We can't wait to come with our noise makers and signs. Every time your feet hit that ice, we are going to cheer! It's going to be great!

The people kept on responding! First 10, then 15, 20, there were over 25 enthusiastic responses on facebook alone and Rhonda put up signs in her staff room inviting everyone to come out and support Matt.

Finally came the big day. By this time, Matt had shown signs of acceptance but also claimed that he had something planned to counter strike the main event! Most people arrived early and had dinner. One of Rhonda's co-workers brought a giant bag of noise makers and passed them out to the participants... They put up numerous signs around the rink and we began to fill the stands.

When team Murph (Matt's team) arrived they walked on to a thunderous cheer. They warmed up and the other team took the ice. Meanwhile, we were all wondering what Matt had up his sleeve. When the whistle blew and the teams lined up we all started cheering. It was then that the ref grabbed Matt and threw him out of the game. He claimed it was player misconduct. We all started booing and Matt walked off the ice and to the dressing room. We remained booing until Matt returned to take the ice for the start of the game. We triumphantly cheered his return and stayed to watch the game.

When it was all said and done, it was a great time. Over forty people were in attendance to see Matt's second game. We cheered loudly every time he took the ice. We booed and heckled the coach when Matt would leave the ice. We cheered when they got all five goals and were very happy when they won. In the end, everyone had a great time and Matt's team was thrilled with their first win. They even asked if they could keep the sign that said 'Team Murph'.

T'was fun. Other than that, I haven't been up to much. Just teachin. Hope every one's doing well. And I am posting pics of the event in question. Enjoy. Please note. Our side had forty fans. Their side had 3...

The Cosby Sweater

I was trying to envision pudding pops...

The Cosby Sweater

Barry:

“Rob, I'm telling you this for your own good, that's the worst F@*%ing sweater I've ever seen, that's a Cosby sweater. [Imitating Cosby] A Cosssssssby sweater. Did Laura let you leave the house like that?”

The above dialogue was from one of my favourite movies of all time, High Fidelity. It was part of the underlying reason why I was so amused by the following events.

But before I explain, I thought it would be helpful to provide some background information. I figured at least a couple of you might ask, “What exactly is a Cosby Sweater?” I turned to the only thing within my lazy reach, the Internet. (And remember if it’s on the internet, it must be true!;) During my “researching” I discovered on, TheUrbanDictionary.com that the term ‘Cosby Sweater’ has numerous definitions:

The Cosby Sweater:

A. An oversized, hideous looking sweater with ugly patterns and colours, often worn by old men or hipsters with no taste.
B. A sweater a senile, colour-blind person would pick out.

It has even evolved into what was referred to as a ‘sexual act’. Behold, perhaps a loved one could perform “the Cosby sweater” just for you!

C. The ‘Cosby sweater’ a sexual act of eating Fruit Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Trix, and Boo-Berry or any other 'bright, colorful' breakfast cereals and then vomiting the tacky, dazzling mixture onto your partner’s chest. The result should look similar to the incredible sweaters that Bill Cosby wore during his highly successful 1980's sitcom "The Cosby Show".

As a pure bonus, I found something pertinent to this situation on the website, www.thecosbytheory.com. It mentions:

“During the Cosby show's 8 year run, Bill Cosby wore a variety of multicoloured, Australian Coogi sweaters that fondly became known as the "Cosby Sweater."”

After reading that quote, I got up and checked the label of Nick’s sweater… I’m quite delighted, excited and proud to say that the sweater, low and behold is a genuine, Australian made Coogi Sweater!

So how did I get my hands on such a sweater? Well it all started back in 2002, when I was attending Sheridan College. I used to spend my Saturday nights with my friend Shannon at her boyfriend Nick’s house in Oakville. We’d party with friends on Saturday night and recover on Sunday.

Sundays were usually the same, we’d wake up and lounge around hung over, laughing about the fun drunken time we had the night before. One Sunday, I can’t remember exactly how it came up, but it had something to do with a conversation that went like this:

“Hey Jen, do you want to see a Cosby sweater?”

My response naturally would have been, “of course”.

It was then that Nick went upstairs and came down wearing the sweater displayed in so many pictures above. It was without a doubt one of the least attractive sweaters I’d ever seen. (Notably, this was probably what made it so great.)

After we finished marvelling the wonder of which it was, Nick explained that, one year on his birthday, his family went over to his Grandpa’s house. While they were there, his Grandpa was like, “Nick, it’s your birthday? Ahhh… Just a second.” He went out of the room and came back with “the Cosby sweater”. His Grandpa said, Happy Birthday and gave him the fine Australian Coogi sweater.

Nick was like, “uhhhh… thanks…Grandpa…”

According to Nick, a short while after his Grandpa gave him the sweater, he asked for it back so that he could wear out to a function. Sometime later, Nick’s Grandpa gave the sweater back to Nick and told him that he wore the sweater out and no one would talk to him at the event. He blamed the sweater and told Nick to keep it. Thus, it has been in Nick’s possession ever since.

During my recent TO trip, the night I arrived in Oakville, we ate dinner and had some wine and I enquired about the sweater. After some prompting, Nick went and grabbed it, dusted it off and we put it to good use. By this I mean, we took glam shots around Shannon and Nick’s house.

In my less than sober state I thought it would be brilliant to bring it to the shag (stag and doe) in Oakville and see who we could get to put it on. They were less than optimistic about people willing to wear it. I found this shocking because I imagined that if a Cosby sweater was brought out in tbay, under the circumstances, it would be quite easy to get people to wear it. Naturally, I would just present the sweater, once people saw it and possibly heard the background story they would be fighting over who got to pose with it first…

Not the case in Oakville. People at the shag seemed quite scared of the sweater. I sported it for a while and I got a lot of what I interpreted as, confused, embarrassed for me and scared looks. It was almost as if no one understood the sweater and thought that I really liked it. I asked numerous people to put it on and they all refused! The only time I got people to wear it who weren’t at Nick and Shannon’s was when I approached two of Nick’s friends who were playing video games. They couldn’t stop playing and even though they nicely said, “please…no… stop…” they didn’t pause their game or put up a fight. So I managed to drape the sweater over them Carlton style and snapped some pics.

After that Pete put on the sweater for the remainder of the evening. I took numerous shots of the sweater in action… Well Done Pete!

After that glorious night, I spent the remainder of the week in the GTA and TO region. (It was written about in detail in a previous post.) On my final day, I stopped off at Nick and Shannon’s and borrowed the sweater.

I then headed back to the Sault. On my way through Barrie, I met up with Adam and Carys and explained to them the situation. Adam was more than willing to sport the Sweater. (Yay Adam!)

From there it was on to the Sault. I explained the sweater to my roommate who has since spoken to others about the sweater and they’re all quite pumped about it. Perhaps it’s easier to grasp with a northern mentality and a certain kind of sense of humour? Who knows? Regardless, I am going to see how many people I can get to wear it. I figure it’ll be making a trip across the river to be posed with in various bars in the states. Other places it will definitely be making an appearance include the Sault, Birch Beach and various location in Tbay.

So please, take the time to think of where you would like to be photographed in the Cosby sweater. More than likely, you’ll have an opportunity to wear it. Famous landmarks, favourite places, the possibilities are endless! Imagine this fine austrialian Coogi Cosby sweater will be making an appearance in Northern Ontario.

I personally would rather wear this sweater than one that’s made up of regurgitated breakfast cereal, but that's just me.

More Trip Pics

Just a few more pics from TO. Five just wasn't enough. And I will try and get on that cosby write up... This I think will be a pic of me blowing bubbles. (It took a long time to actually capture.) Fun times at the shag eh... A couple shots from the Cooper/Kirkland residence avec Ella, and Gerry and Laura.

Trip

I'm going to do this in two parts. This will be part one. This section I will give a quick explanation about who I visited and what I did. And the second will be important for everyone to read. For those in my life it will affect to some degree... (In a fun and completely useless way). I just need time to do a proper write up.

My Toronto trip was great! I left on the Thursday and spent a night at My Aunt and Uncles in Sudbury. Then it was on to Oakville to stay with Shannon and Nick. Nick being the gourmet cook, made us chicken cordon bleu from scratch! Impressive. Jen Stewart, Pete and Bob came. We wined and dined and then found the cosby sweater and put it to good use. (A detailed explanation will follow, via next post. )

We went to a shag in Oakville that cost 15 dollars to get in and the drinks were 5 for 20 dollars! I think if someone in tbay tried to do that, they'd get beat up.

After the visit at Shannon's I went and stayed with Christine, Simon and Ella. It was awesome. I loved hanging out with Ella (and those parents of hers). I took quite a few pics and videos. Simon posted them on their site for Ella. I have provided a link, in my sites I like section. The pics of the baby are super cute and Simon's writing cracks me up.

After that it was on to Toronto where I stayed with Liana. We met up with Bob Commandador from High school and had some pints. The next day I had lunch with Donald Scott in Kensington Market.

Now while I was in Toronto, I made very few purchases... I found an art store to help with my pastel addiction and Simon introduced me to a dangerous place for music lovers of my kind, 'Rotate this' on Queen. Loved it, but won't be buying cd's anytime soon.

From there it was on to Gerry and Laura's where I had another amazing meal and got to hang out with Laurie Woodall (friend from Sheridan C). Something that I found very amusing was that Gerry and Laura recently finished redoing their basement. While they were in the planning stages, Laura was mentioning to Gerry that it was too bad they couldn't put in a bathroom downstairs for him and his drinking buddies to use. This was when Gerry pointed out that there was a laundry bin that they could pee in... Once Laura kiboshed that idea she suggested that they put in a urinal beside the laundry tub that him and his friends could use. The picture says it all.

After that night I headed home. I managed to stop off in Barrie and had coffee with Adam and Carys. It was great to see them and they seem to be doing very well in Barrie so that was cool.

After that, it was a night in Sudbury where I was so tired on St. Patty's Day that I went to bed at 10:00. Pretty sad eh.

Anyway, I am tired and this is more of a detailed journal entry. I am going to post some pics of the events... I will try and post the second half as soon as my laziness is overcome...

Unemployed in Tbay

Hey Kids

The above pictures are ones I did a while back. The top picture I entitled 'unemployed in tbay'. It is a picture I drew back in 2003/2004. The other pictures are fishes, full rainbow of lines and windows of stuff.

I recently entered 'unemployed in tbay' into the Bon Soo Juried Art Exhibition. They had an artist professor from the university come and jury the exhibit. So I went there a few times this week to see my artwork hanging in an actual museum. I was quite proud...

Anyway, I was also curious about the whole juried art exhibit and what that meant exactly. (Aside from the ideas I had in my head of accepting my award for greatest picture ever) Since there was no indication of art winners, I nonchalantly asked a lady who worked at the art gallery how exactly the juried exhibit worked. She informed me that they went through the art that was submitted and decided which ones were acceptable and which ones weren't. She told me that they accepted about a third of the works submitted. So I was satisfied with that response and took it as a win. My art is 'good enough' to be in an exhibit at a gallery. So I thought I would display my award winning juried art for the masses.

One thing though, they miss read what I wrote down for the title and instead labeled it 'unemployment in tbay'. I was slightly disappointed for I think unemployment seems kind of bleak. Alas, I guess if it represents unemployment it seems like it could be a good time... This is in contrast to the fact that I was unemployed and created it in tbay but whatever.

Yee Haw eh.

So I'm still here in the Sault. Not much is new. I am working occasionally which is good. It snows here ever day and we've received a metre of snow since last Monday. It's been quite crazy, I was at a school this week and the first floor windows were entirely obscured by snowdrifts!

Aside from this, I've posted some lists of books, music, movies etc. If anyone wants to comment on any books, movies, or music or whatever, please feel free. And if you feel I should or anyone should check something great that would be cool. Perhaps a discussion would ensue...

Anyway, I hope everyone is peachy. I am looking forward to visiting people in southern Ontario for the march break. (pending finances, weather and any other unforeseeable road blocks that may hamper a visit) It should be a blast. And I'll keep you... posted... ahhh ha ha ha. I will hang my head in shame.

Hope everyone is doing well. I will try to post periodically and keep this updated.

Cheers, Love Jen