LolaWatch: Update

Over the holidays, it became very apparent to The Peach and I that our little bird, Lola, was in desperate need of some companionship. We tried to hand-tame her and give her as much affection as we possibly could, but it just wasn't working given how skittish and paranoid she was. So we went out to get another bird to be her friend. After a few days of searching we finally settled on a blue budgie, which I was initially allowed to name but after 98% of my real suggestions were rejected outright, she settled on Zoe. (I still maintain that Zeppo would be a great name for a bird.)

So as not to pass any unknown diseases or infections between them, we kept them apart on opposite ends of the living room for 3.5 weeks. That's a little less than we were technically supposed to, but The Peach just couldn't wait, and really neither could they. Every time we let Zoe out to wander she immediately went to the other side and tried to figure out a way to get up and into Lola's cage. Once they were put together, though, they became great friends, despite their differences: Lola is quiet and terrified, Zoe is loud and excitable. After a few days they became pretty much inseperable: when one left or accidentally fell out of the cage (from a very low height, don't worry), the other would immediately join them.

Last week, when The Peach was giving them some food, she called me over to look at Zoe's beak. Her sear, which is the area just above the nose, was turning bright blue. "Huh," I said. "I think Zoe's a boy," she said. "You sure?" I asked. "I don't know, but I think so." Later that week, we had NinjaStolz and Fi over, and he took one look at our new bird and said, "Oh yeah, that's a guy." So that explains her loud personality and relatively large size. She's actually a he.

I've tried to suggest a few new names that would fit a male bird better (seriously, what's wrong with Miles?), but in the end, we have a boy named Zoe. And we've been assured that as long as we don't give them any nesting materials, we won't have any baby birds in our future. I'm still a little worried about that, but when I see how happy they are together,
I think it's a risk I'm willing to take.


(photo credit The Peach)

I just wish Zoe had been a better influence on Lola's constant terror. Now they're BOTH jumpy.

LolaWatch: Month One

So, Lola's been around for a month now, and is still a nervous little budgie. And I'm a nervous budgie owner. NinjaStolz tried to get me comfortable holding her, even going so far as to catch her and put her in my hands, and I sat there as still as possible. I didn't move an inch, just cupped my hands and let her freak out to her heart's content. Maybe it'll be better once we get her wings clipped.

I know that there are people out there who say that you shouldn't clip a bird's wings, but Lola, unfortunately, needs it. She's getting more comfortable with exploring the apartment, and can fly REALLY fast from a sitting start. Combine that with her general jitteryness and you have a bird that flies into doors, windows, walls, and mirrors in the attempt to escape the giant humans that are walking nearby. I think when you're looking at the lesser of two evils, making sure she doesn't inadvertently give herself a bird-sized concussion or break a wing beats out making her a little less independent.

We got her a bigger cage than the one she originally came with, as The Peach felt she needed more space and more things to sit on, as having only one size of perch can mess up a bird's feet muscles. So here's a picture of her new home, complete with a new friend. I don't know if she likes him very much, but he's at least a better conversationalist.



Finally, after about a month of observation, I've created a partial list of her likes and dislikes. It's not much, but it at least gives me some references when she's getting upset and I need to calm her down.


Things Lola Likes:
Prodigy's "Everybody In The Place" single
The commercial breaks in House, because it usually gets very frantic: people start yelling, machines start beeping, and there's usually strings. Apparently she likes loudness and mayhem.
The sound of rain and running water
The Beatles
NewsRadio (mostly because of the laugh track)
Outkast - Aquemini
Ben Folds Five - The Autobiography of Reinhold Messner
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta

Things She Seems Not To Like:
Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
Any food that isn't millet
Me


We're still working on it.

My Life Last Week in Links

Or, "Trying to make up for the un-excusable silence."

Monday – Kow Rehearsal. We do a lot of talking about the upcoming charity show and about the upcoming "Kow Year In Review", not a lot of rehearsing. Then we watch some Angel Season 5 (two more episodes left! It’s coming fast and furious now), and play a game of Gloom with ScottyBomb, which is a game where you have a house full of Edward Gorey-esque characters and you do terrible things to them and then kill them off. For fun!

Tuesday – A quiet dinner at home with The Peach. We have burritos and watch Jeeves & Wooster, Season Two. I deal better with the dissonance that comes from watching early-90s British Hugh Laurie and mid-00s "American" Hugh Laurie concurrently.

Wednesday – First night of Tai Chi class with Morgoid. I am a little nervous about this, seeing as how it's a) something new, which always makes me a little worried, and b) a form of physical activity, which is rarely one of my favourite things to do. However, about ten minutes into the class my fears completely disappear. Doing the Tai Chi moves is relaxing and soothing, and helps me decompress at the end of the day. I leave a little sore but really happy and looking forward to the next class. Then, Morgoid and I talk about comics for half an hour, including how good Dwayne McDuffie is on the Justice League (i.e., very good), how lame Penance is (i.e., so lame, but also so old news), and how awesome the New Warriors were in the 90s (i.e., Night Thrasher).

Thursday – Second choir rehearsal. Still a little leery about joining the choir, as it's run a little more haphazardly than I'd like (not being able to hear the director when he's ten feet away means you need to SHUT IT), but I'm getting along with the other Tenor IIs (all three of them), and am looking forward to performing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the end of the month at the John Williams 75th Birthday Concert. We're singing mostly from his current work (1997 and on), but I hold hold out hope that we will hear the Superman theme from the orchestra.

Friday – NinjaStolz and Fi come over for dinner. The Peach and I make jambalaya (I didn't put in any celery because she doesn't like it, but she admits it was lacking afterwards), cornbread muffins, and blueberry cobbler, which is all heartily eaten. Then, we sit around the living room talking pop culture. Well, he and I do; the ladies sit there and mostly look varying degrees of amused.

Saturday – NoSweat 2007. Astro's brother organized an anti-sweatshop fashion show with the proceeds going to support FUNARTE, a charity that works with children in Nicaragua. Kow is involved in a scene and have to sing a couple of songs, which is changed to three when it is discovered that the crew cannot completely strike and re-set the stage in 30 seconds. The rehearsal is a little scattered and takes much longer than we were originally told, but NinjaStan and I spend the time we're not standing motionless onstage hanging out: we read, play VS, and chat about various things. The show itself goes off splendidly, with beatboxers, fire jugglers, hackey-sacking, handsome people in pretty clothes, Filipino stick dancing, B-Boys, and of course, a Kowpella.

Sunday – NinjaStan and I accompany Jago and one of his co-workers to the k-os show at the Starlite room. The Starlite is HOT and the opening band, Kill the Lights, does not start until nearly 10:00, almost two hours after the doors open. They are pretty good, and although the female vocalist/keyboard dances like a goblin on LSD, I decide they are worth a second listen, because anyone who can rock out on two tambourines unironically gets points in my book. I go outside during the break and talk to Fernando, a gentleman we met inside, about what it was like going to bars and concerts when we were younger men. Then, it was back in to see the k-os rock show, which had a few hiccups but was ultimately a pretty good show. There were a couple of miscommunications between k-os and the rest of the band, and his freestyle rhymes were about 60% on (including three Oilers references and a dyad where he rhymed "salary" with "Calgary"), but it was great to see the way the band re-imagined the songs for a much more Rock & Roll based live show. Also: the guitarist in the band was AMAZING. The anchor of the show for sure.

So, that was my week. Anyone else do anything amazing?

Not a Fringe Update: New Addition To The Family!

No, The Peach isn't pregnant. At least, not as far as I know. But we have adopted. A budgie. Her name is Lola, and she's a yellow budgie who is currently trying to adjust to her new surroundings. We got her from my Future Sister-In-Law (the FSIL); she and G are moving to a new apartment, and their new work and school schedules don't work well with keeping a bird happy and healthy. And The Peach loves birds, so they naturally thought of us when it came to finding new owners for her.

Like I said, The Peach loves her; cooing to her as she does the dishes, dutifully changing the water and even giving her fresh fruit to eat, and making sure CBC Radio 2 is playing whenever we're out. The FSIL told us that Lola likes soft music, and also The Beatles. Me? I'm scared of her. Not in an "ornithophobia" sort of way, or in a "Melanie Daniels"* kind of way. In a "oh god, oh god, I'm going to kill it" kind of way. The girls keep reassuring me that there's no way I'm going to be able to hurt it, but I disagree: I'm about thirty-seven times taller than her and have probably five hundred and eighty times her mass. I know I'm going to try and change her water, or give her a head scratch, and somehow accidentally break her tiny hollow bones. Also, I don't know what to do with a bird. I feel stupid talking to it, and you can't take her for a walk or pet her or throw things at her. Well, you can throw things at her, but it'd just lead to bone breakage, which I'm already a little nervous about.

However much I'm afraid of her, she's FAR more afraid of me. Every time I walk in the room or get up from the chair I have to announce it ahead of time; if I don't, her wings start flapping and she shuffles as far away from me as possible. She won't eat in front of us, and I honestly think she breathes faster when we're in the room. I don't want her to get an anxiety problem, or have a premature heart attack, so I'm trying to give her a role model. I think she likes him.




Well, it's progress.**



* - Identify this name for 4 geek points. No Googling or anything: just off your brain.
** - Why this role model? 2 geek points.

The Wedding, Through My Recollection

I allowed myself a little time to sleep in on Friday morning. My brothers were over the night before having beer & cigars, but they left at 11:00 to make sure I had lots of sleep that night. So getting up at 8:30 was nice; nine and a half hours sleep is something I don't often get these days. I got stuff ready for breakfast, and had coffee and read, waiting for The Terror to set in. The jittery legs, the sweaty palms (and forehead and chest and everywhere else), the cold blood in the veins: the fight-or-flight response. I had been led to expect it. And by the time the guys and N.S. came over at 10:30, it hadn't arrived. We sat around lazily, listening to Nirvana Unplugged and eating bagels, until the photographer came over and it was time to get dressed. There were a few mishaps (B and G putting on each other's tuxedos, for instance), but we got everything taken care of and packed ourselves into the car by 11:45. Plenty of time to get to the Gardens an hour before the ceremony. G drove and we alternately chatted and sang along to 0+2=1, and I again waited for The Terror. And waited.

We got there at 12:20, still plenty early, and accompanied some choir friends to the site. For an hour and a bit I greeted people, ran some interference with Diego (Usher #1), panicked because Axler (Usher #2) hadn't showed up yet, listened to the choir rehearse, and stay in the shade. I also put one of the frozen gel packs I had prepared in my inside breast pocket. For a few months, whenever I'd mentioned that I was planning on putting an ice pack in my jacket pocket for extra cool on a hot summer's day, the response had generally been, "Huh?" or "Really?" or "That's kind of silly." That day, however, people were all admiring my foresight and ingenuity. Going from an idiot to brilliant over the course of a handful of weeks was a nice touch, I must say. Things were getting a little disjointed ten minutes before showtime the service, with me having to dole out flowers to my side of the family and Axler arriving JUST in the nick of time with ice for the water cooler, and then before I knew it, it was 1:30. Time to get into position. I stood at the front, in the blazing sun, beside my friends, and there was nothing to do but wait. This was the chance for The Terror to rear its ugly head and strike me with the rubber knees and the panic. But it never came.

People were settling down, a little chatter and hushed whispers, glances and waves. Then the clarinet started, and the parents made their way down the aisles, first mine, then Peach's. There were a few seconds between the seating of the parents and any sign of movement behind the trees. And then a few more. And then time slowed down. It was likely only seven or eight seconds, but for me, it felt like minutes. "Oh god," I thought. "Did she get hit by The Terror? Is she not coming? Am I going to be made a fool of?"

But no. She came out with her brother, and walked down the aisle, and took my hand, and it was all great. I can't remember the details, but I can remember moments. My mom read an excerpt from The Little Prince I had prepared; Peach's mom read something from The Prophet that she liked. People were allowed to speak or forever hold their peace, and I shot a panicked glance at the crowd, which drew out a few laughs. We repeated a lot of words after the Justice of the Peace. Rings were given and exchanged. I smiled so hard my face hurt. And then, finally, it was time for the kiss. I enjoyed that part very much.


(The ceremony from far away. By Allan.)

We signed the register as the choir sang. I watched my friends sing and felt warm and satisfied. We met in the choir, and I knew I needed to have them there. It just felt right. We went back and did our Rose Ceremony, which we'd tailored to our particular idiosyncracies. And then we walked out through the crowd, out to the rear of the garden, and were whisked away on golf kars to the Japanese Gardens, where we took even more pictures and had sandwiches that Peach's mom had prepared. The difference between our two families were perfectly illustrated in that ten minute lunch break. Peach and her brothers found a little note that their mom had written, and were trying to explain/figure out which sandwiches had cheese, mustard, mayo, and Miracle Whip, and in what combinations. My brothers and I looked at the bag of sandwiches, said "Food!" and grabbed the first available sandwich. So different in so many ways.

We got back to the reception a little later than we wanted, but it was no big deal, as our guests were having a good time entertaining themselves and having a few cocktails. We did our own little "Recieving Diad" and welcomed everyone to the hall, then made our way to the head table to get ready for dinner. Astro had snuck a Batman figurine on my chair, which made me laugh out loud and caused most of the guests to look at me like I had just snapped, but I waved it off and they went back to their conversation.

Dinner was delicious, although I could barely eat because I was so nervous. We did away with the tinkling of glasses (because it's tacky AND because of potential breakage) and had a trivia challenge instead, which only two people took advantage of. I was fine with it, although Peach was disappointed that more people didn't try, as we'd had a lot of fun making up the questions. Then it was time for the speeches. NS read a telegram from Gwyn, who couldn't make it, which was lovely. Then followed another perfect illustration of the differences between our families. My brothers did a toast to me that was jocular and slightly-off-the-cuff, and played to the crowd a lot; Peach's brothers was perfectly scripted, quiet, and eloquent. Each one was perfect. Peach's mom welcomed me to their family (and got the biggest laugh of the night: "We hope one day that The Doc will overcome his shyness."), and my dad welcomed Peach to ours. He also broke down in tears when he tried to read a letter from my Grandma in Montreal, causing all three of us guys at the head table to start crying too. Apparently, we were quite the sight.

Our thank-yous were next, which were (I felt) mercifully short, and then there was a slideshow prepared by G and his lovely lady, which was great. The cake-cutting was well-attended, and it was a GORGEOUS CAKE that tasted even better than it looked. We have so many leftovers that we'll have to have a giant party when we break it out of the freezer for our first anniversary. Then, Kow sang a song that I had hastily arranged and Astro had made lovely, and the DJ insisted we sing another. I was happy to oblige, as I had tons of family out from Montreal who'd never seen me sing before, but it was a little embarassing. I didn't want Kow to take over the reception, and mercifully we didn't.

The dance was good, full of crazy escapades from my family & friends. G was an unstoppable dancing machine, and even my Nana danced to the "YMCA". Every wedding I go to, YMCA is played, which I think is hilarious. Dozens of people on the dance floor, celebrating the union of two newly-married people by dancing to a song about men having sex at the gym. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for same-sex relationships, I just think it's funny how so many people are oblivious to the painfully obvious meaning behind the song. We eschewed the boquet and garter toss in favour of a piñata and The Shoe Game, which I think were a lot more fun. I danced a little, snacked a little, and talked a whole lot, and before I knew it, it was time to shut it down and head off to the hotel for much-needed sleep -- but not before I picked up a double-cheeseburger for The Peach at the drive-through. It was a good way to end the day: cute and quirky, pulling away from the McDonalds in our formal wear. It was a great day. I know these words don't do it justice, but it's the best I can do.