Well here goes... Lots of people wonder what I'm up
to. So read on.
Poem to a Friend
Do not look on the past as a failure
Do infact look on the past as a success
For good times were had and feelings felt.
When you let go of the past
And grab the future with your heart
You learn to be happy every day.
I have moved on and have found that happiness
And wish for you to find your happiness too
And so I send you this poem to a friend.
Auto Racing I
am very passionate about Formula one and Cart. 1997, when Jacques Villeneueve
won was a good year and in 1992 when Michael Addretti dominated Cart
was great. I started watching both series on CBC in 1991 and became
quite fascinated with the sports and the fact that they made money doing
what they liked to do. The fact that money, technology, speed, aggressiveness,
winning, business acumen, desire is all mixed into one is amazing. Once
you get into it, stories like Frank Williams, Jacques Villinueve, Arton
Senna, Alain Prost, Ron Denis, Maclaren, Nigel Mansel, Schumacher, Penske,
Newman-Haas, The Addretti's (the movie SuperSpeedway is astounding on
the Imax screen) are inspiring indeed. I attended the Toronto indy races
in 1994, 1995,1996,& 1997 the Montreal Grand Prix in 1996,1997,
1998 and 1999. In 1998, with Formula Tours of Montreal, went to the
Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francochamps (where Schumacher ran into the
back of David Coulthard hehe). I truly miss the days (pre 1994 regulations)
when the drivers were allowed to race and driver skill and balls dominated,
not the technical and racing regulations that dominates formula one
these days. Today you can put a monkey in a Ferrari and it will do well...
Something is wrong when the cars qualify by constructor almost every
race. Also, since Racing is only available by cable or satillite where
I live, my interest had decreased due to the fact I can't watch it very
often. I once met Diane Hall, the race engineer for Tasman Motorsports
for Andre Robiero . She was in Ottawa doing a Mitel presentation and
had Robieros car there; and I got to talk with her for over 20 Minutes
all to myself (she had worked at Ferrari & Benneton before moving
over to Cart)
Windsurfing
I took up windsurfing when I went looking for a summer activity to beat
the heat and be fun. I remembered watching the 1982 World Windsurfing
Championship in Kingston, and I tried windsurfing back in 1985, and
1986. So in 1999 I decided to get into the sport for real. I met Mike
of Wind Addiction in Kingston, whom is extremely knowledgeable about
the sport. I bought a complete rig from him and have never looked back.
Windsurfing is a pure sport of just you, the wind & water. When
it works all together you get an amazing sense of speed and power that
is unmatched in anything else I've tried. Also, it takes years to really
learn it,which keeps it fresh for you. Once you buy the gear the only
cost you have is getting to the wind. Steve Slaby of Ottawa is the most
passionate windsurfers I've met , and he captures the spirit of windsurfing
in Ottawa on his site here.
Hung Vu is another person whom is dedicated to wind and kite surfing
and his site is here.
My Windsurfing Logs
Cape Hatteras 26 Mar to 31Mar 2002 . I got out at Frisco Woods campground
on both my 6M and 8Meter sails and had a blast. I had to go to the highest
wind settings on both my sails to fully use them. I had great runs at
a full plane on flat water as compared to Ottawa conditions, as the
chop is much less in Hatteras. I also used my new 42cm maui pointer
fin for the first time which made a big improvement on my board. As
this was the first time I was on my board since August of last year,
I was tetative and worried about my conditioning. I was happy to find
out my skill was still there and I was able to improve my tuning of
the sail to the conditions and commit to the footstraps and harness
much more completely than ever before.
Authors I have read
Issac Asimov (all of his foundation and robot stories), Tom Clancy (All),
Robert Heinlein (all - the only author that can do a time travel story
properly), Robert Ludlum (all), John LeCarre (all), Farley Mowat (his
sea faring stories), Robert Bolt (A Man for All Seasons), JRR Tolkien,
CS Friedman (in Conquest Born - amazing), Hal Lawrance (Theres a Goddam
Bullet for Everyone) This is a short list. I read many more but these
stand out due to their skill as thinkers and story tellers. Issac Asimov
wrote science fiction in which technology is good, the future is good
and not to be feared and the fact that he expanded the Foundation series
25 years after he started the books - He was an amazing thinker. I like
Tom Clancy as he is very detailed and has great plots. Except I disagree
with his ending of Debt of Honor - the biological terrorists could have
easily have escaped the Jungle by faking that they had released the
virus and selling themselves as the only people whom can find a cure
in time - that would have forced the military to return them back to
the USA, where they would be protected by due process of law. Toms ending,
of leaving them in jungle with nothing, was too easy and convenient.
Robert Heinlein - well the most advanced and out there writer. He is
one of the few that created stories that are truly beyond our experience
and boundaries - very thought provoking. Robert Ludlum - My uncle got
me reading him. Most gripping and page turning. His plots are almost
James Bondish but are they fun! John LeCarre - His stories of George
Smiley really got me. John takes a longtime.. to develop his plots and
characters but the endings are worth it! Farley Mowat - Grey Seas Under
and The Serpents Coil Both amazing stories of the Foundation Company
making deep Sea Rescues out of Halifax during both world wars - a very
powerful story of heroism and sacrifice, not from the soldier side,
but from everyday people working in very difficult times. Robert Bolt
- A Man for all seasons - all about Sir Thomas Moore and King Henry
the Eight. Robert Bolt has written a powerful play of a man whom stays
true to himself. All the way to his death. JRR Tolken - well the Lord
of the Rings of course! The world he created is so rich and detailed
and true to its own mythology that its an amazing read. The current
movie does not do the books justice as it focuses on the evil side too
much (the movie does that well) and not enough on the good wholesome
parts. The book was written to capture the sense of adventure and quest
and to do good in the world, and does not fit the current Hollywood
script trend of shock, horror, in-your-face, the-world-is-coming-to-the-end,
the bad guy is the good guy bullshit. CS Friedman - I've only read In
Conquest Born if there are other books by him I'll read them all! In
conquest born he sets up two opposing societies - One Patriarchal, the
other Matriarchal -and they are at war - Except one individual whom
decides to bind them together into one. What a read! Hal Lawrance -
Theres a Goddam Bullet for Everyone - one of the best Canadian war stories
out there - Its a true story of a Canadian regiment landing in Normady
and fighting its way through Europe. Its tough, its funny, its sobering,
its pogniant. It makes you very proud of what our grandfathers did for
us. Its also much better than Farley Mowats own war story.
On the Future
