The Projection Project

Lisboa é linda

When I first set out to create a video of our vacation in Lisbon, I didn't think I had very much video footage. I had about half of the video files that I had from our time in the Algarve region, and DW and I had spent a full week in Lisbon, versus less than four days in the southern areas.

Yet, I plodded on, hoping to put enough together to make the video worthwhile. I hadn't planned to make a day-by-day video, as I had in the Algarve and in Porto, because no one—not even I—was interested in the daily activities of a week-long excursion.

My plan was to show the highlights of our time in Portugal's capital, and as I started creating the storyboard, I realized that fewer files was better. My latest YouTube video shows our walking tour, some of the memorable food, the nightlife, the history, and more.

I did decide to leave the neighbourhood of Belém out of this video because I have enough material to create an independent video of the two times that we ventured out that way.

Have a look at my latest video and let me know what you think.

If you liked the video, I hope you gave it a Thumbs Up. And if you subscribe to my channel, you'll be able to see when my next videos come out. I have material for two more Portugal videos but there's already a kayaking and cycling video in the backlog.

Happy Tuesday!

Third Time's a Charm?

There's less than one week to go and I'm less than halfway there. It's all up to you.

As of writing this post, I've only reached 48 percent of my fundraising goal for the CN Cycle for CHEO on May 7. And my goal is a modest one.

If you can spare $5, $10, $20, $50, or whatever, now's the time to make a difference in cancer research at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Go to my fundraising page and give whatever you can. Help me reach my goal of $250.

Go now.

As a reminder of what goes on at this worthy event, here's the video that I made of last year's ride. My fingers are crossed that we have weather just as good, if not better, this Sunday.

I know that together, we can be part of a worthwhile cause.

Thanks to all who have already generously donated. Cheers!

Distant Past

Over the past couple of months, I've had some friends reach out to me with one question in mind: am I planning to go to my high-school reunion?

To each of them, my answer has been the same: no.

Hanging in the 'Red Room': my bestie, Stu, me, and Kathy K.
Signing a yearbook, apparently. Photo shot with my camera, possibly by David "Sandy" B.

It's been 50 years since J.S. Woodsworth Secondary School opened its doors to teens in the Parkwood Hills/Borden Farm/City View/Country Place/Barrhaven areas. The school closed its doors in the mid-2000s, changing to a school within the Ottawa Catholic School Board shortly thereafter.

There was a mini-reunion, when J.S. closed down, with a school band playing, teachers wandering the halls, slideshows in the cafetorium, and general doors open. A couple of my friends, with whom I had still kept in touch, agreed to meet me there, and I brought my two kids to show them the halls and the places where I used to hang out.

By the time I got to the school, at the arranged time with my friends, some of the teachers that I had wanted to see again had already left: my music teacher, Mr. Linklater 'Link;' my English teacher, Mr. Lemke; one of my science teachers, Mr. Gray; one of my math teachers, Mr. Mullen. There were a couple of other teachers that could still be found but either they were teachers that I recognized but was never in any of their classes, or teachers I had studied under but wasn't interested in saying "hello" to.

My friends also never showed up so I ended up walking around the school with my kids, which took less than an hour to do, including watching some of the slideshow and sitting in the foyer, waiting to catch up with my friends who ended up ghosting me (one forgot; the other changed his mind).

While I sat in the foyer, a couple of students that I recognized from classes but never actually knew saw me and said hi. We exchanged pleasantries but that was about the extent of it.

As I made the decision to to leave, another person that I vaguely recognized approached me and asked if I would sign a form that would be used to keep me in touch with other students and be notified of the next reunion.

"No thanks," I said. Not in a mean-spirited kind of way, but firmly. I already had the contact information of people with whom I already kept in touch. I didn't want to hear from people who, after more than 20 years, I no longer knew.

And almost a year ago, I had heard through DW (who also went to J.S.) and some friends that a reunion was in the works for 2023, the 50th anniversary since the school's opening. Some of my friends were considering going but were still up in the air.

"If enough of you go," I said, "I'll go, too." It would be an excuse for all of us to meet in one place.

But as the date grew near, I went from a weak 'maybe' to a firm 'no.' I didn't want to go. I didn't want to see people that I hadn't seen in decades, people who I really didn't care about.

I don't miss the school: its halls, the classrooms, the gymnasium, nor the cafeteria.

Looking back, I had fun with friends and I still keep in touch with the closest, but I hated high school. And in the months leading up to my high school's 50th anniversary, I have realized just how much I had hated it.

Yeah, it would be nice to see Link again but it's not worth wading through all the other teachers, all the students, that I couldn't care less about. They're ghosts from a past that I'm happy to keep in that distant past.

I remember, in the last days of my final year, when the senior students were ushered into our cafetorium to watch a slideshow/video of images that were captured of our graduating class. Over it was a song that set the theme of the presentation, and it went on to say that these high-school years were the best years of our lives.

How depressing. And how utterly false.

My best years came long after I walked out of the doors of J.S. Woodsworth. I found joy in Journalism School, where I made more friends—some that I still have to this day. Even though I learned, soon after graduating and getting a job at a newspaper, that being a reporter was not a life that I wanted to pursue, I enjoyed the experience much more than my years in high school.

When I fell in love with a woman who would be my soulmate, that was one of the best times of my life. Years of travel have given me life experiences and (hopefully) wisdom. My kids have given me more joy than I can possibly imagine.

I have my health and I'm doing fine in life. I have my family and friends from all stages of life. I don't need to look back at high school, don't need to relive a time that I couldn't wait to be over.

No, I won't be going to my high school reunion. I have better things to do.

Like enjoy my life.

Beer O'Clock: Droit au Cœur

It was really hard to shop for this beer.

One of the bad things about working from home can often be that you don't get to meet face-to-face with your co-workers. You don't get to go for coffee together or have impromptu chats in the corridor.

That's not so bad for me. I tend to shy away from people, in general. I've given up coffee, and when I'm walking along a corridor, it's always to get from A to B. In the office, I'm basically a bit anti-social, just wanting to get my job done and then get the hell out of there, to explore my own interests.

But the bad thing about not going into the office for me has been that since the pandemic changed my work habits, a new building went up on the street where my work is located. And it's a brewery.

I knew Brasserie du Bas-Canada from when the family and I ventured out east, to the Maritime provinces. Passing through Québec, on the south shores of the St. Lawrence River, we stopped at a shop in Drummondville that sold soup, sandwiches, knick-knacks, and craft beer, and I picked up a few cans from this brewery, which I believe originated in Montreal.

There are now two locations in Gatineau: one, as I said, is on the street where my company is located. You have to drive by the brewery to get to work and pass by it again on the way home.

Last week, I did venture to the office. Not to work from there or meet with any co-workers, though I did see one and said 'hi.' I went to the office to collect the last of my personal effects, some pictures that I had, hanging on walls in a gallery that fellow photographers and I had created several years ago.

I timed my visit to be after I had finished work for the day, when I knew that few people would be in the office. I also timed my visit to coincide when Bas-Canada was open.

The brewery has a quaint taproom with low lighting and cozy tables, as well as a bar. Not being familiar with their current lineup and all but having forgotten past brews I have tried, I gave their menu a look, and I was immediately lost.

It was though I got stabbed right in the heart.

The only beer available were several types of IPA and double-IPA. And not knowing one DIPA from another, I blindly chose one IPA and one DIPA. For today's review, I opened the IPA.

Droit au Cœur IPA (6.7% ABV)
Brasserie du Bas-Canada
Gatineau QC

Appearance: a pale, hazy, creamy orangy-yellow, with a thin, white foamy head that almost immediately disappeared and left an effervescent lace on the surface.

Nose: ripe, almost sweet tangerine and grapefruit, with an essence of lime. The aroma is beautifully inviting.

Palate: bitter grapefruit and pine, with a touch of guava in the finish. The piney bitterness burns the back of the throat and leaves a medium finish. Though there's a high amount of alcohol, you can't taste it (trust me, that's a very good thing).

Overall impression: of course, this is not a true IPA. Not in appearance, nor smell, and very little on the taste. It's more of a New England IPA (NEIPA) or east-coast IPA. It's hazy, it's tropical, it's juicy. Yes, like a classic IPA, it's bitter, but that's it.

Did I enjoy it? Yes. Yes I did. Would I drink it again? Yes again.

Would I buy it again? Hmm...

You see, the menu at Brasserie du Bas-Canada was awash in various iterations of IPA. So many that I didn't know which one I should choose. I ended up selecting Droit au Cœur (Straight to the Heart) because I wanted a classic IPA, and now I'm disappointed that this was not one.

If you're going to only label the beer as an IPA, it had better be a classic IPA. I will rate it accordingly.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺 + .5

If you like hazy, juicy ales, this is a good one. Go for it. If you want a true IPA, go elsewhere. Yes, this is a harsh judgement but I rate low when a beer doesn't deliver what it advertises, no matter how good it otherwise is.

Sorry, I don't make the rules (actually, for Beer O'Clock, I do).

I'm almost looking forward to the next time that I have to go into the office. Sometimes, my work involves going in and seeing physical devices, things that can't be shared over a computer or Internet connection.

And when I do go in, I'll time it so that I can pay another visit to Brasserie du Bas-Canada.

Cheers!