Finally Got a Shot of the Elusive Pileated Sunday, January 22, 2005
If you don't know what a Pileated is go to the next article. If you do, you know that you don't see one very often let alone get a chance to get a picture of one. Well on Sunday, by pure luck, I spotted something big fly into our maple tree while working on my laptop which faces the window. It could have been a crow as it was on the other side of the tree but I kept looking on the chance that it wasn't. After a minute it flew into the neighbor's yard. I happened to have my camera ready since I had just been taken pictures of the snow in the backyard. Almost as soon as I took out the the camera it actually flew back towards the house and eventually back into the maple, but this time on the side I could see him. This bird is very impressive, even for a non birdwatcher. Here is a quick montage of the pictures I took.

Newfie Night at the Tartan Friday, January 20, 2006
A piece of the Rock hit Two Mountains last night by the way of a visit to the Tartan. If you remember the 'boys' went to the rock in June and met these girl that brought dive to a local drinking establishment in St John's. As Mike Fitzmorris puts it: When we were with them in NFLD they brought us to their local pub where we did considerable damage to ourselves, so we intend to do the same here with them. After some food and good a warm up session we will be heading down to the Tartan for a good night and to show the Newfs we are just as insane in our own pub as in theirs. The girls are a blast, if you can understand them through their accents.
They were a blast and the night was quite something. Unfortunately, the cameraman vision was mysteriously impaired and many of the historic pictures turned out a little blurry, like the memory of the evening. The Karaoke machine was eventually brought in to add (maybe) to the evening if you are wondering what everybody is looking at in the pictures. Obviously, justice would not have been served had we not closed the Tartan as always happens on these memorable evenings when we win new friends and lose our minds. Click the picture for a short slide show of the clear pictures.

A Great Tradition About to End for the LTHC
We all knew this was coming, but the Laval Teachers Hockey Club is about to play its final North American Cup in Boston. On Friday March 24th of this year, a bus will depart the Patinoire Deux-Montagnes for the last time carrying the players and their fans to Bean Town. For me it's my 23rd trip in row because they told me I was too young for the first 9 trips. We have been bluffing about the last trip since year 25 but we have mutually decided that it was better to pull out of this annual ritual in an 'Everybody Loves Raymond' style while on top rather than let it wither away. Coincidently, rumour has it that Raymond (Lapointe) will be making his second appearance on this historic final voyage. Some people have expressed interest in joining us this year and although the team is filled up as never before (we will be 4 lines and probably more than 3 pairs of defence) there is still some room available to join the entourage. This is your last chance (no BS) to be part of history and experience first hand what it's like to be 18 (and feel like 80) again. Warning: Boston rookies have a history of abusing their free beer on the bus privileges and have paid for it the entire weekend. Remember this is a marathon, not a 100 yard dash. The bus will leave early on Friday morning and return late Sunday evening. Click on the LTHC site to see how we came about deciding to end the debauchery.

Scott Martin's Page - Sony Open Update
As many of you know, 2mo native Scott Martin has been caddying on the PGA tour for a while now. Scotty is happy to give 2mopaul.com readers regular updates on what is happening in his caddying career. Last week he was in Hawaii at the Sony open. He has updated me on me on his first week of 2006. Anytime you want the inside scoop on life as a caddy and some interesting player information, come visit his own corner of my website. You can also contact him through his page. Simply click on the Scotty's Page link on the left.

You May Have Noticed Sunday, January 8, 2006
My new opening page showing a picture of City Hall I took during the Christmas break. It's there for two reasons. You can see in the foreground some lit up snowflakes. These snowflakes and lighted wreaths line Oka road on every post from 5th avenue to 26th. They certainly perk up the street and add a nice touch when the snow falls in the evenings. They kind of integrate with the new old-fashioned lighting that was added to Oka road a few years back. Another nice touch across the street on some of the posts are banners for the holiday season. Some announce the Santa Clause Parade but some just say Merry Christmas / Happy New Year. None of this Season's Greetings crap. Let's all face it, it's Christmas. I can wish you a happy season 3 other times in the year.
The second reason I have included a picture of City Hall is the upcoming Town Meeting on Thursday January 12. There will be all kinds of things voted on by the council. The one that strikes me as a little peculiar appeared in l'Eveil about three weeks ago. One of the things that the new mayor will announce is that he will be a full-time mayor of the city. I am not sure what is considered full-time especially if you are still working at another job, but nevertheless it is Mr. Lauzon's intent to declare him as full-time. What does this mean? The bottom-line, it means that instead of collecting an annual salary of $36,000, the salary becomes $56,000. There is a little problem in the by-laws of Two Mountains that our new mayor was unaware of. That by-law states that this higher salary can only be claimed in subsequent terms of office. In other words, you may have had to prove to the public that you are indeed worthy of being considered a full-time mayor and that you deserve the money. Anyway, it looks like that by-law will be struck down on Thursday. I predict the vote to be 4 to 2 in favour of this change. There is really nothing the citizens of this town can do about it. I am not saying that a supposed full-time mayor doesn't deserve a fair shake, but someone who has put so much effort into getting elected should have probably done his homework and known about this stipulation on the town rules. If he didn't have a majority counsel, what would have happened?

The Road to Turning 50.
I had a lot of ‘pondering’ time during the holidays and I thought a lot about 2006. The thing that bothered me most about 2006 is not really the fact that I will be turning 50 (knock wood) but that many people I went to school with also will be doing it. Already, Jan has reached the milestone (Happy belated Jan) and they’ll just keep coming one after another.
Why I am not looking forward to 2006? Other than being the year where I will be losing my ‘virginity’ to the colonoscope, it’s really that I am not looking forward to the ‘Look who’s turning 50’ birthday parties. I think that we should just have one big party for everyone that is becoming a half a century in 2006. It’s not that I don’t like parties, as you probably know; I am usually up for a good party. It just that it seems to be a little much when everybody’s having one, especially the dreaded SURPRISE party. Let’s face it, as soon as anyone is close to turning 50 sees some weird action going on, he/she suspects that a party is being thrown. Worst still would be suspecting one and not getting it.
Anyway, I have decided to chronicle this year for all to read as I have a feeling this year will be somewhat of a crossroads for many of us. Many years ago, my grandmother passed away just short of her 100th birthday and although I have no expectations of reaching the 3 digit age, I am considering this year to be the mid point in my life. So this is the year I will take stock and prepare for the second half of what has already a pretty good life.
Like many other projects I have started, I may not last through the year writing these blurbs which will obviously take many tangents as people know I like to take. Let’s call it a trial for now. And we’ll see where it takes us.
It is my intent to entertain you with all kinds of things although I will issue one final warning: If you can read any of these lines without the aid of corrective lenses, you are too young to enjoy most parts of the ramblings, unless you would rather read about them than listening to your parents talk about their ‘remember when’s’.
I am currently working on the first instalment. If you click on the road sign you can access the beginning of chapter one. The weight challenge is still on for the first 5 months of 2006, I removed the scale as the link but you will see the link 'Weigh In' on the top selection.

A Typical Winter Day in my Backyard
Take a look at some of the critters around my bird feeders yesterday and today. I finally had enough patience to get a picture of two of the many cardinals that mate (figuratively speaking) in my yard. Click the picture for a full screen view.

Record Crowd For Annual Tournament Wednesday December 28, 2005
The annual dart WNDL mixed dart tournament that was held last evening attracted a record number of participants. 38 darters fought their way to the top. I'll put up some pictures later. Melanie Hutchison and Paul Fougere were paired up in the final game and won 1st prize against Lorraine Hutchison and Glenn Thompson.

Things You Can Do Indoors Wednesday December 28, 2005
Other than the darts tonight, there are plenty of things you can do indoors. For example, if you do to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as of December 5, 2005, you can go skiing when it's 25ºC in this place. Closer to home there is golf in the UFO Dome who currently have a broken web site. There is the 'new' Cinema Guzzo 14plex in 2mo that is now showing these movies. If you like bruises, try this place.

WDNL Mixed Darts Tournament
It's that time of year again. On Wednesday December 28 at 7:30 pm the WNDL hosts its annual fun dart night at the Tartan Pub. For a mere $7 per person, you can try to see if your darts can take you into the winner's circle while enjoying music and the company of WNDL members. You can start off the evening at the Decourvertes D'Asie (the old Two Mountains Restaurant) at 5:30. Don't forget, it's bring your own wine.
By mixed, we mean 2 things, first of all, the players can bring their significant others to play but the mixed part is that you change partners for every game. Your are guaranteed at least 6 games and if you are lucky enough to have been paired up with good partners, there is a playoff for the grand prize. So you there.

Congrats to Liz and Bob Tuesday December 20, 2005
A new addition to the Svendsen family! A boy, Connor James Svendsen entered the world at 8lbs 3 1/4 oz - 20 inches on December 20th at 9:04 am. Both Mom and Connor are doing well. Apparently Bob had something to do with it too. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Most Snow Since 1971 Saturday December 17, 2005
They say yesterday was the most snowfall since the March 1971 storm. 41 centimetres of the white stuff fell between 4am and 2pm as compared to the 43cm that took 2 two days to fall in 71. Somehow this seemed like nothing compared to 71, but it changed the landscape considerably. Most schools were closed but I trekked into to work on the 5:53(am) train and was surprised that more than half of the people showed up at work. The stores were more or less empty in the morning but started to get going again in the afternoon. By the time I parked my car at the train station, about 20 cm had already fallen, but this picture and this picture will show you why I was a bit late for hockey when I got back to my car at 4:30pm. If any one saw that commercial where the guy brushes off the wrong car, it could have happened to me. I thought I would share these pictures with the people who will not be fortunate enough to have a white Christmas. You know who you are, you sun-loving expatriates.

Highest Full Moons in 18 Years
The following text is a cut & paste from another site, excuse some of the language: Has the moon seemed to be all over the sky lately? It's not your imagination. Orbital precession, a slight periodic wobble in the Moon's orbit, sometimes brings the Moon to its extreme declinations (Earth latitudes) of 28.72 degrees north and south.
Full moons near the winter solstice are always striking, but this month's moon is special. The full moons of December 2005 and December 2006 will be the lowest in 18 years for Southern Hemisphere observers. For viewers in the Northern Hemisphere, north of the tropics, these full moons will be the highest until 2024, with the full moon appearing directly overhead as far north as The Bahamas, Iran, Nepal, Delhi, and the southern ends of Morocco, Kuwait, and Tibet. In the US, the moon will be overhead in Florida (Cape Kennedy) and southern Texas, and not quite as far north as the Louisiana Delta. Observers below 60 south will see a very low full moon or none at all. At all locations, the moon will rise and set near its extreme northeast and northwest azimuths (unusually far NE/NW on the horizon); look for this at sunrise and sunset. (For technical reasons, full moons do not occur at declinations more extreme than 28.40 degrees.)
To enjoy this rare phenomenon, go outside around local midnight the night of December 15-16, and notice how long (or short!) the shadows are or your shadow is. I managed to get a glimpse of the moon before the midnight and before the snow started. It seemed almost directly overhead.

Good News From The Cascades
I'll be HOME for Christmas, Diana Jean (McHarg) reports that most people will be moving back into the Cascades apartment building by Christmas. The only floor not being repopulated yet is the 1st floor. Residents of the 1st are being offered apartment on the other floors. Only 5 are not coming back. In Diana Jean's words: The building is safe. Both elevators are working ,one from first to fourth floor, the other at my end of the building is available from second to fifth floor, which means four floors can return....My apt. is clean, absolutely no fire smell.
Great job to whoever got this done by Christmas and Santa might want to ease off on flammable gifts this year. Thanks Diana Jean for the update and have a great Christmas!

Mysterious Apparition on Tartan Stool
A mysterious shape has appeared on one of the Tartan Pub bar stools. It was noticed on Friday night by a few keen observers. The shape which somewhat resembles something almost human has unknown origins but seems to be a natural occurrence not drawn or etched by anyone. It may be the result of a nearby 'volcanic' eruption. Next time you are at the Tartan, you may want to ask someone, 'May I see your stool?'. Here and here are a couple of pictures of the amazing phenomenon.

Click here for a slide show of the Santa Claus Parade

25th? Annual PGA Golf Pool Picking Party Perfect Saturday December 4, 2005
The tradition continues as the boys got together to pick their PGA tour players for the 2006 season. The atmosphere was intense as the 8 teams jockeyed to get the better picks. This year we adopted a new earnings cap rule which limits any player from winning more  the equivalent of 4 tournament. This evens out the field a bit more a stops any one team from running away with it just by picking Tiger Woods (see last year's results).
Thanks to Stan for hosting the event and Norma for some of the food including the hot wings which have not made their exit yet. Here are some pictures of this year's draft and the final teams. The results are usually updated weekly on the Pools link on the left starting with the Sony on the first weekend in January.