Fewer Updates Due To Weather 27-06-2004
Sorry that there are few updates recently to my homepage. I am on vacation and have been pretty busy and the weather has been nice. For example, today I played golf, mowed the lawn, put together a new BBQ and watched the elections results. I am ashamed to say that I did not have time to vote. This is the first election I have not voted in since I have been allowed to vote. This includes Federal, Provincial and Municipal (and referendi). I would have if I would have known that the polls closed at 9:30. Nevertheless, if the Bloc gets in by one vote, I will personally take the blame. BTW, I shot my best golf game ever although it was from the white tees at Deux-Montagnes. My score is posted as usual.

Yahoo Mail Upgraded 18-06-2004
Last week, much to my surprise, Yahoo upgraded their mail service. It's been good to me for the last 4 years but you can only do so much with 6 megs of mail storage. I would keep important messages on file but everytime someone sent me a large e-mail I would instantly get to almost 100% usage. When I got my notification of increased storage space last week, I thought they had made a typo. The new maximum space for e-mail is now 100 meg. Yes 100, that is twice as much space as work e-mail in which I keep over 1000 messages on file. I don't know how Yahoo can do it, because if every Yahoo user decides to use that space, that's a lot of disk drives. Of course, all this is free. They say there a lot of competition between free e-mail providers like Hotmail but with this move Yahoo just went ahead of the pack. Now all they have to do is let me have more space for this homepage. With my 15 meg limit, everytime I want to show more pictures, I have to clean up some old stuff.
Ps. excuse the lack of updates again. Summer seems to be taking a toll on the time I spend on the computer. My favorites page has been updated with a link to a cool site of mini games called fingertime.com.

Ear Plugs Required? 12-06-2004
This weekend, Montreal hosted two events. Which one do you think requires ear-plugs. If you guessed the Moody Blues concert you are wrong. On Saturday June 12, the Moody Blues came to the Bell Centre to play to about 5,000 fans. It was a great concert that really delivered. I guess I am getting old because one of the parts I enjoyed was that the sound was at an amazing low level for a rock band. Although Justin Hayward looked like he had a hard time getting his voice into gear, by the third song, everything was on track. 63 year old Graeme Edge (drummer) really got things going with an old cut from an early album, Higher and Higher. Of course, they performed all of their greatest hits. On the flute, was a young girl who was fantastic. She could easily have been Graeme's grand-daughter but looked like she was having a great time hangin' with the old boys. This concert did not disappoint.
If you guessed Grand-Prix for the ear-plugs you were right. You really needed ear-plugs at the Mercedes-Benz stage in Place Ville-Marie square.

Snap Vote Ends in a Tie 07-06-2004
The vote for the new Snap ended in a tie. This was due to the flurry of votes that came in at the last minute. The chief electoral officer was swamped with votes that seem to all originate from the same source. The vote is now over and the winner(s) is: Click on the right most box below to find out..
 

Almost the Golf Game of my Life 02-06-2004
Tonight on my way home, I decided to call Cardinal to see if there was room to play a round of golf. They had room at 4:30 so I dropped in. I started with a birdie and a bogey but then something took over when I sank a 25 foot putt to save par on 3. I one putted the 6 of the first 7 holes to be at - under at the turn with a 34. I was possessed and went 1 under for the next 7 holes to be -2 after 16. I was now looking at a 69 (on a golf course). Then, I was repossessed. I bogeyed 17 with a drive in the other fairway and tripled bogeyed 18 with a drive behind a tree, a wasted shot coming out, missed 150 approach, a short chip and my worst putt of the day to make my first 3-putt. I ended with a 2-over 73 (again, third time ever that I shoot 73). Maybe one day I will shoot par and not come up short on the last two holes.
My game is posted on the right, if you are interested.

25 Years and Getting Stronger 26-05-2004
Some of you may have heard the announcement this morning on Q92 courtesy of Rick Fougere and family. Myrna and I have been married 25 years today. On a cold and rainy day, 25 years ago, my uncle Romeo presided over our wedding ceremony at St Rita's church in Ahuntsic. We then headed off to the Airport Hilton for a memorable reception where my father Dave actively tried to recruit players to the newly formed Ziggy Butz softball team. Here we are 25 years later with many things changed and yet many things have remained the same. Click here for our Anniversary page.

Dave Laws Take Tartan Spring Open 24-05-2004
Once again, against all weather forecasts, the sun cooperated on Sunday to give the chance for 80 odd golfers to vie for the John Dunne Memorial trophy. At the end of the day, Dave Laws came in with the lowest score, a 3-over, 75 to capture the cup. It was a fine day with many people coming in from Toronto and Ottawa to participate in this 56th annual edition of this traditional tournament. About 10 other golfers managed to break 80, so it was a close one. In our foursome, Mike O took the honours and the money with a 77. Scorecard here.
I don't know if the weather was a factor in this statistic, but everyone went around in 5 hours. This tournament has seen many 6 hour rounds and everyone should be congratulated on their speed of play. For the second year, Rob Clarkson, captured the action by videotaping and adding his colour commentary to the on-course activities as well as some off-course antics.
Garold, Rick and Gilles served up a good load of meat and homemade pea-soup and everyone partied till the wee hours as usual. See you in the Fall for the Sean Magill Memorial. Click here for a few more stats and pictures of the tournament.


Sad News Once Again from the Tartan 20-05-2004
Long time Tartan patron and avid sportsman Ron Maranda passed away suddenly on Tuesday May 18. It was shocking news to everyone who found out about when they dropped in at the Pub for their regular after work pint.
Ron leaves behind a daughter Sherrie and three sons Gordon, Brian and Gary along with 6 grandchildren. He will be sadly missed by all 'Tartaners' as he was always ready to share a good joke and play a quick game of cribbage. He was 63.
There will be a private, family service held at a later date. Cheers Ron. The picture shows Ron and his good friend Dave Upton in one of the many games of crib.


The Plough and Stars Maybe Passé for the LTHC's Boston Trip 18-05-2004
If I read between the lines correctly, our annual trip to Boston may have a new twist next year as the Bag Boys look like they are moving to The Burren in Somerville.
The shocking news comes after the just as shocking announcement of Barry's retirement after 30 years behind the bar at the Plough & Stars in Cambridge, Mass. He was an instrumental force in bringing the Bag Boys to the Plough 15 years ago. It looks like they have played their last gig at P&S and will be restarting their regular season (in September) at the Burren. This will be a somewhat bigger venue as the nothing could be smaller than the Plough.
A big bash is planned on Saturday (May 22) at the Burren to celebrate Barry's new life away from the P&S.
Good luck Barry!
Check out The Burren site by clicking the Burren link above. And checkout the Bag Boys page here.

Golf Season Has Arrived - Tartan Pub Golf Tournament Around the Corner 16-05-2004
You have until today (May 17) to register for the Annual Spring Open. This tournament, which has been played every year since the late 40's (I think this is the 56th edition) is once again been played at the Deux-Montagnes golf course on Sunday May 23rd. Around 80 golfers will be competing for the John Dunne Trophy.
Kenny Searle and Clary Potter started this tournament at the St Andrews golf course over 50 years ago. It was then the Legion tournament, which then became the Marquise Tournament and finally the Tartan continued the tradition 15 years ago. Clary will be tee-ing up once again this year. Look here for tee-off times and results. This tournament has traditionally been the first golf outing of the year for many of the more casual players. So it is considered the official opening of the golf season for the Two Mountains gang.

Congratulations to Brad Denis and the Verdun Dragons 15-05-2004
The Verdun Dragons won the Futura Cup on Tuesday night by defeating the Garaga de St-Georges with a come from behind, seventh game overtime win in St-Georges. It was the first time in the 7 year history of the Futura Cup that Verdun has captured it. Our hometown Brad Denis had great playoff and the party continues. Saturday night at the Tartan Pub, Brad friends came and celebrated with him. It will continue as the whole team heads off to Cancun for a week, courtesy of the Dragons owner. Good luck Cancun and may the Cup come back in 1 piece. The cup has already gone through some trauma on the bus back from St-Georges and Brad was the first custodian. If you want to see the cup in its former glory click here for the article about the win on rds.ca. If someone has a picture of the current state, please send it to me and I will post it.

I Want to Wake Up in a City That Never Sleeps. 12-05-2004
Last weekend, my better half and I went to the Big Apple. It was sort of our 25th wedding anniversary trip. Myrna had never been to NYC and I had spent two days there 15 years ago on a computer course. It was a great weekend all around but the wallet takes a hit in this city. It all started with cashing in Air Miles for a free flight. The free flights cost $284cdn. That was supposedly for taxes and fuel surcharges. We could only fly in to JFK so the taxi to the hotel was $49 + $6 tip and the limo back to the airport was $60 + 5. That $166cdn. So far, the bill is $450 + 27 to park at Dorval airport. Here are a couple of other expenses in cdn dollars:

• 2 Tickets to Mamma Mia $297cdn
• 2 CityPass $136
• 2 MetroCards (1 day fun pass) for Subway $19.50
• One Hansom Cab ride through Central Park without the Beefarino (*$85us because it was Mother's day) $118
• Two nights in Millenium Broadway Hotel with continental breakfast $586
• Butterfly are free exhibit at the museum of Natural History $22
• Total $1655 and this does not include food, drink and anything else bought there. It was well worth it but we won't be visiting NYC every weekend.
• Click here to take a look at this little slide show of our trip

We went to the Guggenheim Museum. Beautiful buidling (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) but some of the art needs work. If you saw my slide show you saw this.

1st Holy Family Car Rally a Success 05-05-2004
With a turnout of 39 cars and a good evening supper, the first ever Holy Family car rally was a overall success. An unlikely pair won the rally in Car 20. Driver Lynne Mattson and navigator Tara Grant managed to manoeuvre the 2 hour and 2 minute circuit with only 6 penalty points, two of them from arriving at a checkpoint too early. They made a point of never passing Car 19 piloted by yours truly and directed by Myrna, the unlabeled girl in the picture we came in with 12 penalty points (5th place).
Only one car had to be retrieved from the ditch as the young driver was distracted by counting overhead wires (Question 12). The CAA eventually pull him out and I don't believe he made the awards ceremony in his new Mazda 3.
The door prizes were great. A 27 inch Panasonic TV, $1000 towards Toyo Tires, and a Lincoln Aviator long weekend rental from ViaRoute were the big ones. Thanks to all the volunteers who manned the registration and checkpoints and served up the meal. Hopefully this will be a repeated event.

 Tournament of the Icons IV at the Olympia 01-05-2004
On Friday May 21, Commissioner Joe is bringing back the Tournament of the Icons Wrestling to the Olympia in Two-Mo. Tickets are $15. I would have a poster here except that I saved a picture of a crib instead of the poster. Click here for a temporary poster. Ask Mike 'the Crib' Fitzmorris for more info.

Snap of Kellogg's Rice Krispies Fame Fired 25-04-2004
I don't know how many of you know this, but Kellogg's is having a contest to replace Snap (friend of Crackle and Pop).
Snap was let go last week after an alleged clandestine relationship with the Pillsbury Doughboy. It had nothing to do with the actual relationship but Kellogg's was afraid that the Rice Krispies secret recipe would leak into General Mills. The doughboy remains employed but Kellogg's is looking for a new Snap. There are three local boys that want the job.
Vote on your favorite here.

My April Whine Is This 25-04-2004
The ringing in my ears has just stopped. What was the best part about last night's April Wine concert? It was a mini high school reunion. Many people came in from out of town to relive 1970 at LTM. The show was pretty good but VERY LOUD. The first four songs were pretty well inaudible and probably 'new' material or the C side of some old album. Here  is my list of the Good and Bad parts of last night.
Good:
- Great to see everybody come out of the woodwork.
- Tartan Pub - Pre show and Post Show
- The boys serving (and cleaning up) the pre game supper at the Tartan
- Gerry Mercer looks like a wrestler but still plays means drums.
- Best song - Ironically  it was 21st Century Schizoid Man, a 1969 King Crimson classic from in the Court of the Crimson King.
Beer is only $3.50 at the Olympia unlike the $8.25 at the Bell Centre
- Oowatanite - as an encore
Bad
- The sound, although it did get better as the show progressed or as our eardrums were numbing.
- Too short. The show was over at 10:15 - It started at 8:20 with a 20 minute break. These guys are old!
- They didn't play any of these softer hits except Just Between You and Me
- Only Labatt products at the bar
   
LTHC Tournament Pictures Available 21-04-04
I am back. We went to Ottawa last night on the outside chance that the Sens would actually win against Toronto. Alas, there was no celebration and the game was almost a blow-out. The Sens flags were still waving this morning but some people in Ottawa are getting impatient. Anyway, I have had time to post 32 pictures from the LTHC tournament last Saturday. Here they are. By the way, the air in the arena this year seemed fine.

Gary Campbell - Newest Wyder Cup Member  20-04-04
On the weekend, another member of last year's Wyder Cup made enough points to qualify for this year's team. Gary Campbell, captain on the Oka Golf Course is the newest addition to the team. We now have 8 confirmed players for the August 20-21 Wyder Cup. Click on the Wyder Cup link on the right for the team picture and news.

Golf Season Opens 19-04-2004
The golf season opened today and we managed to finish the round by getting just a little drenched. The game started well with absolutely no wind. By the 7th hole the wind started to pick up. By 16, there were a few branches dropping out of trees. We managed to finish, a little wet and tired. Other than the score is was a good day.
Looking at last year's stats, my first game of 2003 was also on Quatre Domaine #2 and I shot the same score. This year's game April 19, last year April 20. Last year's price $60, this year $20 thanks to Golf Signature. As last year, my latest scorecard will be posted through a link on the right side of this page. Of course I will may post the bad ones except for today's.

Nostagia High On Reunion Tours 19-04-04
For those of you who don't know this, April Wine is making its way back to Two Mountains after over 30 years away from their LTM concert in the early 70's. They are playing the Olympia this Saturday (April 24). It should be a good one as Myles and the gang entertain us, but she still won't dance with me. She won't even hold hands with me and we all know that's not the way it should be. See you there. We in section 220, Row A seat 2&3.
Speaking of Two Mountains and reunion tours, the following Saturday (May 1st) will see another reunion concert at Gananoque's Playhouse. The Bells are on a mini tour that brings them to within 2 and half hour drive from here. Unfortunately I have something that day but I probably would have made the trip since I am a big Gananoque fan and I wouldn't mind seeing The Bells one more time. For those of you who don't know, Cliff Edwards and Dennis Wills are originally from Two Mountains.
One last nostalgic trip into the past will be happening in June. I've got my tickets for the Moody Blues at the Bell Centre on June 12. That should do it for old music ... except for Friday nights at the Bar Billiard.

Chapeau Captures Fourth Championship in 8 Years 18-04-04 09:00
The Chapeau Renegades swept the opposition Yesterday at the 8th annual LTHC hockey tournament. They beat Boston 4-2, LTHC 2-1 and Two Mountains 3-2 to regain the cup that they hadn't won since 2000. Last year's winner, Two Mountains managed to only get one point by tying Boston 3-3.
All teams partied to the great music of Johnny Jetblack and a great time was had by all. More info and pictures will be available soon but I have to clean up my web space to make room.  Click on the picture to enlarge.

Google This! Ask.com is Where it's At  13-04-04
Until about a month ago, Google was my only search engine. I had tried others but didn't like the results. Then someone from Texas found my web site using ask.com. I wrote her to ask how she had found my page. Then I started testing the ask.com search. The results were unbelievable. My homepage was the first hit on all kinds of searches where Google would not give me one hit. It's strange because my homepage resides in Yahoo yet its own search engine could not find it. I've added ask on my task bar and find myself using it about 75% of the time with better results than Google by far. Try it. After you have found something, you should press the red x (remove frame), otherwise everything is filtered through ask and you can't really bookmark things. Other than that it works great.

LTHC Ready to Welcome Their Visitors  13-04-04
The Laval Teachers Hockey Club are ready to host their 8th annual hockey tournament welcoming a team from Boston and a team from Chapeau as well as a local Two Mountains (last year's champions. It all happens Saturday April 17th at the Patinoire Deux-Montagnes. It will be followed by a party with the band Johnny Jetblack and the Comebacks. I am sure many of you will remember Johnny from the Montlieu in Ste-Marthe. They are back from a two year stint in California. It will be a challenge to rock after playing three games within 8 hours. Hopefully, the arena has cleaned up their act and the ventilation system. If you remeber last year, more than half of the players got sick from Nitrogen Dioxide poisoning. They have a new (old) Zamboni, so we may be OK. For the schedule, click on the LTHC Hockey link on the right.

Hat Tricks Win WNDL Dart Finals 04-04-04
The HatTricks led by captain Glenn Thompson squeaked by the Celtics yesterday in the final to win 3 games to 2. They had taken the first two games but the Celtics came back to 2-2 with closes by Alan Riddell and Gary Mac. Peter Svendsen came back to close the final game. In the consolation round (or the boo-hoo round as I call it), the Bob and Boys won. The banquet was put on by Garold and Dianne of the Tartan Pub. It was another great year of darts. See you in September. Click here for some pictures of the day's activities.

The Winter Sports Season Slowly Coming to a Close 01-04-2004
This is it. This is the month that always winter sports equipment get put away. The first being my darts. Saturday (April 3rd) is our big playoff and banquet for the WNDL which turns into the SADL for one day each year. Good luck to everyone, but as my dart flights say: Second Sucks.
As for the hockey season, it ends April 17 with a 3 game tournament against 2 Mountains, Chapeau and Boston. Keep posted on the LTHC link for further news. 8 Games to go before hanging up the skates for the summer.
As one season dies, another one comes alive. On Masters Sunday, (also Easter Sunday) the boys are getting together for the now annual driving range visit followed by the full round coverage of the Masters in HDTV. Almost like being there. Better than watching it on TV is our friend Scott who got a bag for the Masters as Jay Williamson was not 'invited'. Watch for Craig Perks and cheer him on so that we can see Scott on Sunday in the final group. Good luck Scott and Craig and Mike Weir as the defending champion.

LTHC 30th Anniversary Boston Trip a Blast 30-03-04
Once again, for the 28th time in 30 years, the Laval Teachers bring home the North American Cup. It was a close one for a while but the LTHC got the lead at 6-5, the final score was 8-5 when Bernie finally hit the open net. The hard fought game was attended by our usual array of spectators plus special guest Gretchen, Rebecca and Harvey (and Sally) from the Bagboys. I will try to put up a small slide show in here for Tuesday night because I am still recovering. Click here for some pictures from the weekend.

Meanwhile, if you want a little chuckle click here. This is a supposed real item being sold. The idea seems to work.