Live from WaterlooLive from WaterlooRandom thoughts in English and Spanish about life, people and things I care about Articles
Ace Frehley in Toronto - Report
2008-03-06 13:44:00 Ace is back! It was a spectacular night at The Guvernment in Toronto , in which I got to see the best Ace I could have imagined. Doors opened with a little delay (22 minutes), which allowed us to have more time to appreciate the beautiful winter weather, but the show started on time. The opening band (they were very good, by the way) started their show at 8:03 and played until past 8:30. It was a very good opening that the crowd enjoy (place was sold out).The crew removed all the equipment and re-built the stage in record time; the explosion came at 9:00 PM sharp (Ace is even punctual now!), when the band started off with a demolishing version of "Rip it out", followed by "Hard times" and then "Parasite". There were no breaks in between songs.By that moment it was already obvious that the band was really good. Anthony Esposito (bass), Scot Coogan (drums), and Derrek Hawkins (rhythmic guitar) are younger, but they play with a presence and accuracy that made them a perfect complement ... More About: Report , Ace Frehley
Soccer craziness
2008-03-05 07:25:00 (Please scroll for my Wordless Wednesday post today) Well, it's March already, so the summer soccer season is just around the corner. It promises to be the busiest ever for me. Let's see: After five seasons, Santi finally decided to go and try out for the "A" team. It was a very hard decision for him to make, as he is leaving very good friends behind, but also a necessary step to continue growing as a player. He did make the team, so he's very excited about it. He has been playing the indoor league with them and hasn't missed a game yet (well, he has NEVER missed a game in all these years). The interesting thing is that while Santi will play for the "A" team starting this season, I'm still with the "B" team! This means that I will travelling with my team on Thursdays, whereas Santi will on Fridays. Of course, we will both go to all of the games! Both teams will play in the WOYSL and some of the trips are long! For example, both will have to travel to Windsor (some ... More About: Soccer
WW #12 - Zzzzzz
2008-03-05 06:03:00 Santi (then almost 2) and Carolina (15 days)Now they can barely live in the same city...wordless wednesday
Texas Hold'em
2008-03-04 17:47:00 Santi bought some poker chips at a 'second hand' store here in Waterloo ("Generations"), so the kids have been playing a lot lately. Obviously, they have as much knowledge about poker as I do about the Etruscan culture. But it's still a lot of fun to watch. Santi cheats in order to win most hands (well, it's his job as the older sibling); Juan thinks that having an eight in the hand and a nine on the table is good enough to go 'all in'. Carolina has no idea of what she's playing, which makes the whole thing even funnier. She bet a crazy amount of 'money' in one hand, without even looking at the cards that were being drawn by Santi...because she had a blackjack! :-) I was working, but I was sitting at the same table, so I watched for a while until I decided to join them. But before that, they allowed little Florencia to play. Flor wouldn't even look at the cards, and honour every bet the other three made. The results? She won, of course! :-))) To... More About: Texas
Careless Parking #07
2008-03-04 06:49:00 I will leave Toronto at ease now, and bring some pictures taken here in Waterloo. Specifically, at the Zehrs Supermarket on University and Lincoln (one of my favourite spots). I love the fact that one of the cars is a taxi! Voy a dejar a Toronto en paz por una vez, y mostraré fotos sacadas aquí en Waterloo. Específicamente, en el supermercado Zehrs de la esquina de University y Lincoln (uno de mis lugares favoritos). Me divierte mucho que uno de los autos sea un taxi! Technorati Tags: Careless parking More About: Parking
Top Commentators - February 2008
2008-03-03 08:02:00 (Please scroll down for my Manic Monday post)This month that has just passed was -once again- the most successful in the short history of this blog so far. Many events contributed to this: first of all, the fact that I won first prize in the the Canadian Blogger Awards, which caused my blog to be visited by hundreds of new readers. That got even crazier when the news about my award were published in the Argentine media ("Clarín" and "Diario Necochea" newspapers). I got over 1,000 page views the day I was featured in Clarín! And stay tuned, that the best is yet to come! ;-)My Wordless Wednesday posts continued to be very successful (especially with all those vintage photos!) guaranteeing me about 200 visits every time; people seemed to continue to like my stories as well, and the new addition to my 'meme' section, Sarcastic Mom's Weekly Winners, has been more than productive!My growth is firm and steady. Look at the numbers according to Sitemeter:MonthVisits / Page ViewsGrowth (... More About: Commentators , February 2008 , February , 2008
Manic Monday #07
2008-03-03 06:54:00 You find that your best friend has stolen money to pay for medical treatment for a seriously ill relative. What would you do? I'm not too good with this kind of hypothetical questions. My brain says 'a theft is a theft, and he broke the law' and my heart says 'how can you even think of such a crazy scenario'?. So I will go with "I don't know" for this one. What three things you regret not learning to do? Play guitar. Play piano. Study to be a journalist or a radio host. Do you know why there is no question #3 this week? Nope. Honestly. No idea. Manic Monday More About: Manic Monday
Desire
2008-03-02 19:08:00 This conversation just took place. Gaby was preparing lunch for all of us, and I showed up in the kitchen wearing my shirt all rolled up as if it were the top part of a bikini. I will spare you the details because you have seen pictures of me already, but let me tell you I do this very often (unfortunately for Gaby's eyes). So this is the conversation that ensued:Me (with a 'sensual' lisp): Hello, Baby... aren't I thexy?Gaby: ...Me: Don't you feel the flameth of pathion engulfing you?Gaby: ...Me: What, aren't you overcome with 'dethire' right now?Gaby: Yes. The desire of running away!Too blunt, eh?Esto acaba de ocurrir. Gaby estaba preparando el almuerzo, y yo me le aparecí con una remera (playera) toda enrollada, simulando la parte de arriba de una bikini. Les obviaré los detalles porque ya han visto fotos mías, pero déjenme decirles que hago cosas como ésta todo el tiempo (desafortunadamente para los ojos de Gaby). Esta es la conversación que siguió:Yo ('ceceando'...
Social Canada - Funerals (1/2)
2008-03-02 06:53:00 I mentioned in a previous post that I had a funeral yesterday, and that evidently caught the interest of some of my few readers. Alejandra Lynch asked me if I could talk about funerals in Canada , as she hasn't had to attend any yet. I've been to many, so I guess I could speak about it a little.But there's one thing: I felt this is something that would fit other blogs better, like Arturo's excellent Cómo es Canadá? ("How's Canada like?). There is no way I can compete with him in this area: nobody does more research and comes up with more original content than him. So I had to find my own way to talk about it; since I haven't technically 'attended' funerals, but participated of them in my role of a singer and member of a church, I will speak about this from that point of view, and my experience as a member of the United Church. I hope I don't digress a lot, I'm not exactly a fan of long posts with not pictures (and I have to blog in two languages!).Unlike my home country (... More About: Social
Weekly Winners #04 - Feb/24 to Mar/01
2008-03-02 06:03:00 I was very busy this week, so I didn't post a lot (and it showed in the number of visits I had). Still...I talked about my grandma Haydée and her passion for card and board games......and about people who shouldn't have a driver's license...I posted some 75 year-old pictures of my grandfather when he was a soccer star... this one was popular!...and I also posted some 2 days old pictures of my beautiful daughter Florencia! (Oh, sorry, I mean Miley).By the way, have you seen her video? I know the sound is too low, but still...Technorati Tags: weekly winners Learn more about *Weekly Winners * here. Get the Code!
Split personality
2008-03-02 00:51:00 Gaby had to teach on Thursday night, and I had choir rehearsal, so we had a problem leaving the kids home alone. I mean, not really a problem because Santi normally takes good care of them, but we were going out again on Friday, and that meant that the kids would be alone two nights in a row.So I decided to take Florencia to rehearsal with me. She was an angel, as usual (perfect girl, I call her), and she even sat with the sopranos! Kim and Jen, the two soloists (and what wonderful voices they have) put Florencia right in between and even gave her her own set of music scores. Jen would even turn pages for her, so Flor would be able to 'read'... Florencia gave both of them a big hug when we left, and well deserved it was! :-)But that wasn't all! Since we got there very early, I took Flor to the room where the kids go to Sunday School, and we played there for about 45 minutes. Once there, we got into our game: I was a businessman (with hat and everything), and Flor would play the r... More About: Personality , Split
Friday's Feast #11
2008-02-29 06:05:00 Appetizer - Who was the last person you hugged? Alan, a dear friend -and my former choir director- who came back to Waterloo unexpectedly, due to the death of a friend (the funeral we'll have this Saturday). We just met -and hugged- about two hours ago! Soup - Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us. I have no tricks or tips! Haven't you seen me? :-) I *could* say that I have a goatee, and I'm terrible at 'maintaining' it. It always end looking uneven or asymmetrical, and then I have to go to the barber. Salad - What does the colour yellow make you think of? Envy and yolks (though yolks should be orange, if the chicken were fed real food like corn). But mostly envy. Don't know why. And I know that there are people out there who envy me. Don't know why either. Main Course - If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around? I guess my 'thing' would be pictures of kids, because I love kid... More About: Feast
I'm speechless
2008-02-28 14:08:00 No, really. I got up this morning, and I had no voice. I can barely be heard. My throat has been bothering me for the last couple of days, but I wasn't expecting this. And the timing couldn't have been worse: I have a rehearsal tonight, a funeral on Saturday in which I'm supposed to sing (maybe even a solo) and then service on Sunday (which is the first Sunday of the month, so there will be 15 minutes of congregational hymn singing, led by ... me). I feel terribly, and my throat really hurts, but there's nothing I can do. And that bothers me. The kids were ecstatic, though; they don't get to hear my voice for a while. What bothers me the most is that the funeral is of the wife of a beloved person, a fantastic 90 year old youngster with whom I sing in the choir. I will be very disappointed if I can't sing on Saturday. I'm off to work now; we'll see if I make it till the end of the day, or if I come back to go to bed by noon. No tengo palabras hoy. No, de verdad. Esta mañana ... More About: Speechless
WW#11 - Soccer stars
2008-02-27 06:00:00 My grandfather Pepe, in 1932The roster of Sportivo Necochea.Pepe is the second from the left (standing); my great uncle Tito Roqués is the second from the right (kneeling). Club Atlético Huracán from Necochea, 1933 Pepe is standing, third from the left; Tito is kneeling, also third from the left.wordless wednesday More About: Stars , Soccer
Careless Parking #06 - Rouge Valley Hospital
2008-02-26 20:37:00 I went to Toronto (once again!) a week ago last Friday, to work at Rouge Valley Hospital (well, then I was in Scarborough, not Toronto...). The first thing that caught my attention was -of course- the parking lot. I know there was snow, but there's a limit! See the pictures...Hace diez días fui a Toronto (otra vez!), a trabajar en el hospital Rouge Valley (bueno, entonces fui a Scarborough, no a Toronto...).Lo primero que me llamó la atención fue -por supuesto- el estacionamiento. Yo sé que hubo nieve, pero todo tiene un límite! Miren las fotos...Yup, those are two spots he's taking...This one is my favourite! Technorati Tags: Careless parking More About: Parking
Things my kids say
2008-02-26 02:57:00 We were trying to come up with a new 'meme' for us to share as a family (since both Juan and Santi are bloggers too). My idea was "Colour me Saturday", in which we will have to write, put pictures, videos or whatever comes to our minds, but they all must have a predominant colour. Santi proposed "French Friday" and "Soccer Saturday" (which we all liked).But the first idea that came of his mind was... "Turd Tuesday". I won't go into more details, don't worry.-----As I was coming to the computer to write about it, Juan noticed that my visit counter was at 9,979, so he said:"Wow, Dad. Almost a million!":-)Estábamos abocados a la búsqueda de un nuevo 'meme' que pudiésemos compartir entre nosotros (ya que tanto Juan como Santi también son bloggers). Mi idea se llamaba "Colour me Saturday", y consistía en escribir, poner fotos, videos o lo que fuera, siempre con la condición de que hubiese un color predominante. Santi propuso "French Friday" y "Soccer Saturday" (que a todos no... More About: Kids , Things
Manic Monday #06
2008-02-25 06:43:00 How did you celebrate your last birthday? Very quietly, actually. It fell on a Wednesday, so Gaby was teaching that evening; I took the kids and my mother-in-law to Benny's for dinner. Nothing compared to my 40th birthday bash last year! What's the last thing you bought yourself, just for fun? I believe that would be the blue tooth headset I bought for my cell phone. I accept it, it's really useful when I have to attend teleconferences while I'm driving (and that's been happening a lot!), but it was mostly for two reasons: To pretend that I'm cool, at least in my mind. To put it on whenever Gaby is around, and pretend I have been wearing it all day, because she hates that thing! :-) What would the child you once were think of the adult you have become? I think he would be amazed, because I never thought I would accomplish anything important as an adult. And look at me now! Manic Monday More About: Manic Monday
You call "knowing how to play" luck?
2008-02-24 23:30:00 My grandmother Haydée loved to play games. It didn't really make a difference if they were cards, dice, board games, bingo, roulette, she loved them all. She would preferred to play cards, though, and she knew of every possible card game you could think of; in the event of a doubt or a dispute, you could bet that the little "Rules and regulations" booklet was in the drawers behind her. She would sit in there and play for hours, from dusk to dawn. Since we weren't around during the winter, she would mostly play with my grandfather Pepe, who couldn't be less interested (hence she would win 95% of the times). The problem with that is that she never really mastered the games that required her to: a) play with a partner (she would try to do everything by herself) and b) fool or trick the opponents (she would always count with the complicity of 'absent minded professor Pepe'). Whenever we (her grandchildren) were around, that would mean she would stay up six nights per week, becau... More About: Play , Call , Knowing , Luck
Weekly Winners #03 - Feb/17 to Feb/23
2008-02-24 06:48:00 It was an excellent week! (thanks to Mariposa)I talked about food......and also about the weather. Look at that icicle!I continued to show pictures from my childhood(yes, with the matching outfits and the questionable hairdos)Did you get to see the lunar eclipse?They wrote about me in a news portal from my hometown.I got lots of visits from there!We went tobogganing last night, did you see the videos?Technorati Tags: weekly winners Learn more about *Weekly Winners * here. Get the Code!
Tobogganing
2008-02-24 03:38:00 Once we came back from Toronto today (Santi had a game and they lost 0-1), we went to Bechtel Park (very close from home) to do some tobogganing. It was getting dark already, but we still got to have fun for a while. The pictures are not too good but the videos are OK. Enjoy!Una vez que volvimos de Toronto (Santi tuvo un partido en el que perdieron 0-1), nos fuimos al vecino Bechtel Park a tirarnos en trineo. Se estaba poniendo un poco oscuro, pero igual tuvimos tiempo para divertirnos un rato. Las fotos no salieron muy bien, pero los videos están buenos. Disfrútenlos!Getting ready to go...Preparándose para bajar...Santi and Florencia went first!Santi y Florencia fueron primeros!Gaby and Caro's ride didn't end well...for Gaby's rear end! :-)La bajada de Gaby y Caro no terminó bien...para el trasero de Gaby! :-)"Victory shall be mine!" says Stew...Juan"La victoria será mía!" dice Stewie...digo JuanIt's Juan who goes downhill this time...with similar resultsEsta vez es el tu...
OK, now I'm famous...
2008-02-22 19:42:00 ...and that's because now I've been featured in my hometown's news! DiarioNecochea.com, a news portal from Necochea, has published a note about me having won the Canadian Blog Awards today. They also included an e-mail I sent them telling a little more about the award (and my blog).A very nice gesture, but I think maybe a little exaggerated. Yes, I did win an Canadian award and another from the US. But the headline says something like "One of our readers wins awards with his blog all around the world".What about Saturn?! :-)Thank you very much, DiarioNecochea. As I said, I might not agree with their editorial line most of the times, but I still read the portal every day, and I thank them for the mention.If there's one thing you can say about me, it is that I'm a grateful person.Ahora sí que soy famoso... y es porque me han mencionado el los medios de mi ciudad! DiarioNecochea.com, un portal de noticias Necochea, ha publicado una nota acerca de cuando gané el Canadian Blog Awa... More About: Famous
Friday's Feast #10
2008-02-22 06:11:00 Appetizer - Have you ever played a practical joke on anyone? If so, what did you do and who was your victim?I don't think I have, it's not the kind of humour I like. My father use to tell a story from when he was a kid; he found a dead snake and sent a little stick inside of it. Then hid under the kitchen window and slowly made it appear while my grandmother was doing the dishes... I don't think he ever went any further with the story, he left everything else to our imagination!Soup - What do your salt and pepper shakers look like?Oh, I have two beautiful ones coming all the way from San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. They are made of ceramic (sold at the "Burton" factory), and they are just gorgeous.We also have the sugar bowl and maybe other items coming from the same set.Sorry for the terrible cellphone-quality picture...UPDATE: My brother Paco is whining because I didn't mention that the salt and pepper shakers were a gift from him. Like I would have remembered that!!! Tha... More About: Feast
Just what I was looking for!
2008-02-21 17:19:00 While looking for data so I could join Alejandra in a 'virtual soccer fight' against my friend Mike, I stumbled upon this excellent blog from England called "Hasta El Gol Siempre", that is fully dedicated to Argentine soccer.I highly recommend it, it's the best source of information in English about the Argentine League that I've seen so far. Another one to add to my 'must read' sites every morning before coming to work (or late at night!).I also recommend you take a look at "Mundo Albiceleste" (also in English).Santi, Juan, these links are especially for you two.Technorati Tags: soccer, Argentina
It's cold gin time again!
2008-02-21 14:54:00 I mentioned this as a joke last Monday, saying that "I like music, but I can listen to Kiss too". The truth is that I've been a Kiss fan since around 1978 when I heard "Hotter than hell" for the first time, and then "Alive II". I claim to have every single Kiss record (with the exception of Symphony), and I also have every record that Peter Criss, Ace Frehley and even Bruce Kulick have in their post-Kiss era. Bruce and his band (Union) even autographed my "Union live at the Galaxy" when they played in Argentina on December 11th, 1999. That being said, I had a favourite Kiss member, like every kid. Mine was Ace Frehley, the space man. I love the way he plays guitar, and his solo record was my favourite by far (I still listen to it regularly). Living in Argentina, I never thought I would get to see them play, especially after they had to cancel their show in 1982 due to the threats of some idiots that claimed they were going to blow up the Boca Juniors stadium. I even went to Brazi... More About: Time , Cold
Eclipse
2008-02-21 04:03:00 (Please scroll down for my Wordless Wednesday post)There's a moon eclipse tonight, and I went outside to take some pictures of it. It was -14C and I was only wearing an undershirt. A stupid mistake for which I will pay tomorrow...I took several pictures, but the camera moved a lot due to me not having a tripod. Here are a few decent ones; there are a couple more at Santi's blog.Hoy hay eclipse de luna, por lo que salí afuera a tomar fotos. Hacía -14C y yo sólo tenía puesta una camiseta. Un error estúpido por el que seguramente pagaré mañana...Saqué varias fotos, pero la cámara se movía mucho porque yo no tenía trípode. Aquí hay un par de fotos más o menos decentes; algunas más pueden ser vistas en el blog de Santi.Technorati Tags: moon, eclipse More About: Eclipse
Wordless Wednesday #10 - VROOOM!
2008-02-20 06:03:00 Me and my older brother Guillermo, circa 1973 (Necochea, Argentina) I know, the matching outfits... Come on!!! It was the seventies!!!Oh, I just realized I mentioned this mustard coloured bike in one of my stories! wordless wednesday More About: Wednesday
It's cold out there!
2008-02-19 16:19:00 The University of Waterloo weather widget to the right says: "Temperature: -10.6C; Wind chill: -17.7"Indeed! I went out for a coffee, and forgot to put on my gloves (which happens to me all the time). I could put one hand in my pocket on my way back, but the other one was holding the coffee mug... The wind was strong, and even my face felt like it was freezing. It's been 20 minutes, and my hand is still a little numb...With the only exception of the last two days, in which the temperature climbed to single digits above zero, we've had very cold days, with strong winds that made it feel like it was -30... But it was sunny, so icicles started to form on the roof of my house. Look at this one, right outside my bedroom...El weather widget de la Universidad de Waterloo que tengo a la derecha dice: "Temperatura: -10.6C; Sensación térmica: -17.7"Ya lo creo! Salí a buscarme un café, y me olvidé de ponerme los guantes (cosa que siempre me pasa). Pude poner una mano en el bolsillo a la... More About: Cold
Taste memory
2008-02-19 06:26:00 My grandmother Haydée was a great cook, and her specialty were cakes and cookies. She would spend the whole afternoon preparing some sweet delicacies while the five vultures (me, my two brothers and two cousins) were flying around. There was no way we could touch anything before it was all ready, because she liked to count how many of each of her treats she had prepared; then she would spend the next few days retelling "I made 142 pancakes" or "I baked 189 doughnuts" (yes, the numbers are right!). Those pancakes or doughnuts, however, would rarely make it through their second day of 'life'. We had a few favourites, things that we would always ask her to cook. The first place, without a doubt, would go to the 'American doughnuts', which were just fantastic. Then, in no particular order, we would find her pancakes (I hold the family's record with 18 in one night), empanadas filled with sweet potato jam (my record, 11), and some dry anise-flavoured cookies which we called ... More About: Memory , Taste
Yet another award!
2008-02-19 04:00:00 I just found out. I got a new award, coming all the way from Philippines (like my last one!) :-)This time it was Mariposa who presented me with the "E for Excellent" award. I liked what she wrote when justifying her picks to pass it on:"All blogs I'm visiting are WORTH reading and are excellent... yet, the BLOGS I passing this ward to are blogs which I find SO striking to me. These are BLOGS that had me at "hello"! These are blogs which post I first READ either left me teary eyed or made me swore TODAY to be different from that of yesterday. These are BLOGS that wreck my brain...leaving me INSPIRED for the rest of the day if not week."Based on her premises, I will name five blogs to pass this award on (check the bottom of this post) And I will repeat winners this time! :-) Acabo de enterarme. Me dieron un nuevo premio, que viene desde Filipinas (como el último!) :-)Esta vez fue Mariposa que me otorgó el premio "E for Excellent". Me gustó lo que escribió para justificar sus elec... More About: Award
Manic Monday #05
More articles from this author:2008-02-18 06:12:00 What do you order when you eat Chinese food? Now this is a question I like! :-) There's a Chinese restaurant next to where I work (Ming's), and the food there is just excellent. I used to go there very often (like 3 times a week), to the point that the lady would recognize my voice when I made my order by phone. Even now, that I'm not going there more than once or twice per month, she still knows that I want a combo #6 (fried rice, Hunan beef and chicken balls) with no vegetables and no sweet and sour sauce. Whenever I order Chinese food somewhere else, I go with the same kind of dishes: rice, chicken balls, Hunan or Szechwan beef or chicken, and if possible, breaded shrimp. Not that I order all of those at the same time! Well, sometimes I actually have. :-) How much have you controlled the course your life has taken? Very much. Just read my story... Whose opinion do you value when deciding how to vote? Mine only. I will discuss ... More About: Monday , Manic Monday , Manic 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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