The Year of Blogging Dangerously!

Well friends and foes, I can’t help but look at the calendar and notice that it’s been just over a year since I wrote my first post.  It’s been a year of excitement, of loss and of deep thought here at Bob’s Place.   I have been applauded and heckled.  I have laughed and cried as I sat writing for you my dedicated and slightly deranged followers.

Just One of My Adoring Fans

84 entries in this last year and if memory serves I need to wish my Mom a very happy birthday again.  “Hmmmm”  Calendar says she’s turning 29 again this year.  Oh well Happy Birthday Mom, Love You!!

Looking back at the year I would have to say that my motivation for blogging remains as strong as it was when I started this little adventure with everyone.  I feel that I have grown as a writer, self-editing is the hardest part for me.  Thanks Karen for kicking me in the ass and making me take a hard look at what I put down on the page.  We may have parted company on the wrong foot but I sure to try to put a little extra care into what gets onto my pages.

My Hunter S Thompson Phase.... I'm Much Better Now!

As I alluded, I have had loss this year.  The passing of my Father first and foremost comes to mind.  It’s going to be hard as hell not to have you around this year Dad.  I am going to miss you not sitting at the kitchen table doing your crosswords at Christmas.   But there have been good times too.  Meeting people and connecting through our love of writing and sharing gut busting laughter is a prime example.

I found out that there is a good possibility that I am actually a 50-year-old woman, and I got the chance to share a look some of the fine cuisine that is driving Winnipeggers crazy!  I got to rant and rage with you.  I left no stone unturned and opened the table to all sorts of topics.  Race relations,  health care, drug use, and environmental awareness to name but a few.

Wayne what have you done to yourself!

But it wasn’t all hard work, we got the chance to share a few laughs along the way too.  I evaded the clutches of Wayne Newton when he started to fill my dreams with dread. We celebrated my 1000th hit and I can assure you that I am well on my way to FINALLY getting 1010 hits. Ya Hooo!

Damn! I'm Going to Need That!

You got to see me jump out of a perfectly good airplane and NOT fall to my profanity laced death.  Savoured the sweet overtime victory on the road to Olympic hockey gold!  We explored the junk that passes for public art on Winnipeg streets and played a prank on lovers of soft cuddly animals everywhere.

You Wouldn't Club Me??

We went toe to toe with the Catholic Church.  Apparently Pope Benedict XVI  is a huge Star Wars fan; but doesn’t care that much for James Cameron’s Avatar.  Seems the environmental epic it hit a little too close to the mark for the Pontiff.  All of that tree hugging  and spiritual mumbo jumbo seemed to be stealing the Church’s spotlight.

Pope or Galactic Emperor??

So what does the new year hold in store for us?  Well, only time will tell.  All I know is that I feel the need for some Bulgarian music videos.   Gotta love that trashy Eastern European beat!

If any one out there speaks Bulgarian, let me know what I am watching.  Stay tuned for more hilarity!  Same Bob time. Same Bob channel.

Saturday Morning Geek Out: Dr. Who Style

For any of you who have read my blog for any amount of time will already know I am an unrepentant and incurable geek.  It’s a sickness I’ve had since I was a grade school boy who grew up with Star Wars (the original un-fucked Han Solo shoots Greedo first version thank you very much George Lucas), Space 1999 and tales of a show called Star Trek that went off the air before I was born.

So it was around that time I first discovered the doctor.  Kids would come to school telling tales of a British program they had seen on TV Ontario, about a man who travelled around to other planets in a phone booth.  Not only could he travel to distant stars he could also go back and forth in time!  He was Dr. Who, a Timelord who would solve mysteries and could not be killed.   What slightly intelligent and socially maladjusted kid wouldn’t love that!

David Tennant as The Doctor standing outside the Tardis.

The Ghost of Osborne Street

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the man I used to call Jesus, years in fact.  When I first moved to Winnipeg in the early 1990’s he was already a fixture on the Osborne Village sidewalks.  He was always dressed for the cold it seemed, ratty old blue parka, beat up winter boots and a heavy beard.

He was always dirty of course, living on the margins of society for so long.  His hair was normally pretty wild and natty.  But for some strange reason I found him to be the most agreeable person on the street those days.  Most panhandlers back then were pretty aggressive.  They would get in your face demanding a smoke or some of the hard-earned change in your pocket.  All the while wearing ratty clothes but somehow the new sneakers gave them away.  They may have experimented with the lifestyle but they sure were not living it the way he did.

Living on the streets for a night or two I think most people could imagine, but this man lived day in and day out on and around Osborne Village for as long as anyone I spoke to could remember.  Rumours abounded that he had a family once, that he had a job, a nice house and a car.  All of those things that society uses to judge us a success or a failure.  Now he just survived.