Max Headroom falls asleep on stage

Hi! All, here's a little ditty in continuation from the previous post - where I harped on about being at the summit at Lake Louise and having to give a bit of patter on stage to the audience and scary t.v. cameras. Well.... Mike at work happened to send me this shot he took of my already enormous noggin, looking even more overwhelmingly block like than usual, as it is beamed across the globe, cast upon the big t.v. screens just incase the people at the back of the audotorium couldn't see my balding hairline! You'll notice that the piccie also captures me me glancing downwards (at my notes - wasn't brave enough to do this completely on the fly!), and with my sunken, skull like eye cavities, it would appear that I am asleep - I assure you I was not dozing off up there! (Apparently Brina couldn't look at the screen when I was talking - she claims it was because she was nervous for me - although I suspect she's seen enough close ups of my ugly mug to last her a lifetime already!).

Anyhow, the crux of this brief post is that I reminded Mike very much of a superstar of the 80's- with my monotonic drone and repetitive head twitch I am by all accounts the spitting image of the one and only Max Headroom!!! (if you don't remember him, you're not missing much!).

Well, clearly the resemblence is striking, although you probably had to be there!
Next post I hope to have some outdoor fun (although it looks like the first mtb race of the season might be cancelled for a second time this coming weekend too - winter really isn't letting go, it's minus 7 right now, and that certainly isn't lycra weather!).
Hope you're all finding the animated character in yourselves,
Now where did I put my Atari?
S&S.

World Summit, Snow and Cancelled Races

Hi! All. Having spent Sunday to Wednesday up at Lake Louise, the working week hasn't been all too bad this week. School was hosting the 'World Summit on Learning Disabilities' a rather pompous sounding grandeoise title for a conference, but it was actually very good. Lots of very clever people came from all around the globe. They even had a prof from Sheffield University's psychology department - so it must have been good in order to entice the Yorkshire folk over. The result of the conference is that a governmental paper is being written up to convince the politicians that learning disabilities are the real deal (although I think that they'll put it to them a little more elegantly than that!).
Things all became a bit pressurized though when I had to get up on stage and give a bit of a speel to a chuffin' big audience with two bloody huge t.v screens casting my ugly mug across the audotorium. (The piccies wont go any bigger, but you can make up a miniscule speaker in the middle of the stage - which incidently isn't me, but you get the picture!!! literally).

And

there were even more sweaty palms when the three big t.v cameras were staring you in the face (as this thing is being part of some t.v documentary and is being broadcast across the English speaking world....) I think the one of the editors (below) dumbed down my northern tones to make me sound less abrasive and more understandable for the dvd version (I introduced myself as Simon Williams from Foothills Academy - and one lady later on came up to me who had heard me speak to ask me what I did for Foothills Energy - an electricity company by all accounts - so there you have it, Academy sounds like Energy when I say it! - God help those kids with learning disabilities who I speak to on a daily basis - there's no hope!!!).

It was a bitter pill to swallow to be up at Lake Louise and be confined to the chateau for most of the time and not being allowed out to play.

Although I did get to ride out to Lake Louise on the Sunday - and got nowhere near to getting to Lake Louise - a 10.30am start plus one of the years strongest westerly winds hindered my progress, and if I wanted to get to the conference before it ended on the Wednesday I had to concede defeat to mother nature and piss poor planning and jump into the car when Brina passed me on the Trans Canada! I did get out for a few hill reps up and down the Lake Louise hill to the village on the Monday night - but the snow made for a killer wind chill on each decent!!!
The weather was shaping up nicely last weekend for a good first race of the season this Sunday, However...... It has been snowing like buggery today (10cm fell in Calgaray today), another 10cm are due to fall on Saturday, continue into Sunday and Monday and Tuesday... With a high on Sunday of minus 8 with 35mph winds.... Needless to say, the race in Lethbridge is cancelled and will hopefully run next weekend instead - if not, then we're into May and thwarted once more by this weather that I can't fail to be dumbstruck by!
I lost a couple of piccies on this post, so am still struggling to get things running smoothly on the blog - but it's slowly coming back together. Also, the course I whined and bitched about finishes this weekend!!! Yahoo!!! And then I start another on Tuesday (not so much Yahoo!).
Hoping that all of your palms aren't clammy,
Looking forward to blizzards into July,
S&S.

One day I'll work this computer interweb stuff out.

Well I'm still having glitches with this new system and with the last post that went on about a trip to Lake Louise, I thought I'd pop in a summery piccie to warm the cycling soul. Here's a bit o' Crested Butte - single track is just around the corner (well, next month when all the snow's gone anyway!).

Working at Lake Louise

Well summer arrived today. After having about 5 inches of snow fall on Thursday morning, it looked pretty ominous for anything but indoor sulking, however, Alberta's fine weather pulled it out of the hat and boosted the temperatures up to 20 degrees today, kept the wind down (making for lovely biking), and more of the same for tomorrow! I'm riding to Lake Louise in the morning, feeling the need for a big ride. Having taken Friday off to go out for a bite to eat in Cochrane at the Blue Dog with Brad and Julie, I'm needing a few miles in the legs. We're actually having a work conference at the Chateau (the world summit for learning disabilities) and are there until Wednesday, so it should be an interesting working week. Brina's coming as a guest (paid for courtesy of school) and it looks like she's just going there for a holiday (and to drive the car to scrape me off the road when I collapse just the other side of Banff for not having anticipated arduous nature of my intended bike ride).
I'm still struggling to find my feet with this new blogger picture posting thing, so we're image free again!
My brain is on the verge of melting down with all this work I have to do for the on-line Uni course and the panic of VP ship next year (morning breakfast meetings are a minor plus to the job, but I've got a lot to learn!!!!!). Anyhow, that's work, and my mind is much more on two wheels and sunshine.
Hope you're all dusting off the lycra,
Happy spinning,
S&S.

Third time of asking...

What a shambles these last three posts have been in the last ten minutes. It would seem my new system can't cope with more than four piccies.... so this actually carries on from the previous post - but you'll be seeing it first. It's not rocket science to work out, but it's a pain in the asp.
... Seeing as though it was Disney, this old lion didn't seem to think he had to look ferocious at all when we drove by. No growl, snarl or toothy grin. He didn't even see a need to get up from his very feline sunbathing pose to have a look what was going on. Cats eh!?

The pool at the house Brina's parents had was a very welcome relief for serious afternoon relaxing. Brina couldn't even be bother to float on her own accord and stole all the tubey things.

And I'll leave you with a pasty, very skinny man with one ball - I've heard that before somewhere!

Hoping Florida's weather is seeking you out somewhere,
Pedaling myself away to nothing
S&S.

Oops, still learning the new photo thing

Yikes, the previous post took me by surprise. I was getting a little to confident with my new found interweb skills and picture posting abilities. Looks like I buggered up the last post and could only put one picture on there. I think I've got things sussed out now though (ruddy technology).
In continum from the mountaineering adventures in Disneyland's Animal Kingdom that had us on a train heading up Everest, it looks like the Yeti has broken up the tracks!! Oh No!!!

Hurtling backwards, forwards and upsidedownwards, I completely lost all sense of direction and bladder control, but managed to snap a giddy shot of the manic Mrs. W all excited that the Yeti was chasing us.

The Expedition Everest is the new ride at this park, and it may all sound a bit hokey. but Disney send experts out to Nepal to research all the environments and habitats around that part of the Himalayas, so as to get it as authentic as possible. I worked with somebody whose husband was an entomologist (bugs people) who was sent to Nepal for 4 weeks just to study bugs, so that they could have the right species sitting along the queue (line) for that real Everest feel!!!! (and I'm not taking the piss!).
Anyhow, after a stint trying to keep my breakfast down, we took a sedate safari in a jeep through Disney's African Adventure. A 15 minute drive through a safari park (just like Knowsely in the land of the Scouse). Again they have all the real vegetation and critters - like this upsidedown tree (can't remember its real name - jobjob?).

The hippos weren't too concerned with our presence on the zebra skin jeep...

And I was hoping that there were more piccies here, but my new system has failed me again..... hang on a minute.....

Phototastic

Hi! All,
the last couple of posts have had scant evidence of photography due to computer malfunction, website meltdown and operator impatience. Well I've just been procrastinating (not like me!) from completing an online assignment I have due, and have downloaded a funky new photo organizer that should let me put up some piccies and bypass the frustrations of blogger. I do recall that I'd prattled on about seeing mountains in the flat, sweltering swamp that is Florida, and so here it is... Everest - and an authentic Everest express train to take us to the summit!!!

Where's it all going to end?

Hi all, I'm writing from a snow covered Cochrane in a somewhat climatologically frustrated mood. I had been anticipating an early morning ride today (Saturday), but on looking out of the window at 6.30am, the few cms of snow on the ground were enough to send me back to bed and have a couple more nightmares about sitting on the windtrainer again for the weekend. However, a bit of early morning sun melted all the snow off the road, so I have just put my new tires onto the road bike, it's 3pm now, the roads looked good. I got all kitted up and excitied for a stint out to Horse Creek Rd, and opened the door to.... more bloody snow!!!! It's April for goodness sake, there are fellers in Vancouver who've been out riding on the road all winter, guys in Manchester who don't comprehend the idea of not being able to ride out over the winter months due to inclement weather (although they do brave some really crappy rain) - so as I'm getting excited about road riding again (very belatedly by the standards of 'normal' places), it's a real pain the the proverbial to be clambering back onto the wind trainer this afternoon, thinking that my first race is only two weeks away and I could do with some more fresh air down my lungs.
Brina is downtown Cochrane today selling outdoor gear in the local shop - she's working Saturdays there from today, in case she doesn't get many days sub teaching over in Morely (although she has had full weeks for the past few weeks) - hopefully her work at the outdoor shop in Cochrane means a few pro deals on cheap gear.
I'm getting to grips with the notion of the promotion at work - and rather enjoy the Friday morning meetings with admin which are held over breakfast at a local diner place.
School is shut for three days next week and is sending us all to Chateau Lake Louise for a conference on learning disabilities - although it's work, it's going to be nice to hang out in the chateau for a few days away from the kids. (I'm currently planning on riding out there, but with this current weather we'll have to wait and see). Brina's been invited too, and school are paying for her to come along, despite her not working there anymore - nice!
To add to my frustrations here I still can't post pictures!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!
Right then, I'm off to the brink of instanity as I go and sit on the trainer,
If any of you know how to fix the picture posting problem, do let me know,
Avoiding the blizzard,
S&S.