Last ship

I'd heard there was supposed to be at least one more boat for the year, but was finding it hard to believe, given how cold it was getting and how quickly the bay was starting to freeze up. But the weather turned mild yesterday and lo and behold, there's a boat in our bay this morning. I'm pretty sure she's an oil tanker doing one last supply run until June.

This was shot around 8 am this morning. The sun was just starting to come up. I kind of light the light in this pic, although I couldn't tell you why. The boat is still out there this evening, all lit up. I would have shot it again, but my tripod is in the truck and Cathy is off doing a jewelery-making course this evening.

As for curling, we're in the last stretches of it. Only one more draw left and then, unless there are tie-breakers, the semi-finals and finals. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are pretty much a lock, with Nova Scotia and Ontario fighting for the last spot. Northern Ontario still has an outside shot, but they're fading fast after a quick start.

As for the event itself, it's fun. The CCA officials are all tremendous nice and helpful, but do take the job seriously. But they're never anal about it. If you make a mistake, they're there to help fix things and never get pissed with you. Plus, most of the players seem to be enjoying themselves. They're looking forward to the Christmas craft sale on Saturday. And there's a traditional food tasting tomorrow that ought to be interesting. Sadly, they appear to be cooking most of the food.

There is something to be said to walking into a hall with slabs of raw caribou, char and seal placed on cardboard boxes with ulus. And, of course, maktaaq - whale blubber. But that might be a bit too much, so I guess cooked char, caribou and muskox is a safer bet. Less amusing, though.

But like anything, there are a couple if disappointments. I was involved in one game today I could have killed myself from boredom. It was technically excellent...if you like nothing but perfectly made take-outs. But from a strategy point of view it was maddening. One of those old school curling games where one team was perfectly content to play the whole game clean and have no rocks in play if that's what it took to win. Very boring.

The other frustrating thing is that none of the local spares have gotten into a game. I'm not wishing sickness or injury on anyone. But I really did believe that something would happen where some of our local players would get in a game. And there was an incident in a game today where a player was clearly injured. There was a medical time-out and the player was limping. But rather than coming out of the game, the player stayed in. She shot her two rocks and then sat out the rest of the end, meaning the team had only one sweeper. And this went on from mid-game until the last end.

If this was a game for a play-off spot I almost might understand. But both teams were out of it. So why not sit out, rest the injured player and let the spare play? I have no idea, but there were a lot of unhappy people in the arena.

There's some talk about the four spares getting a game tomorrow. Nothing in competition, just an exhibition game...a friendly, if you will, against one of the teams in competition. I hope it happens. It would be nice to show some of the other provinces and the CCA folks how good some of the players up here are and that we could compete at a national championship.

Anyway, for those who couldn't care less about curling, the end is in sight. The final is Saturday. I think the weekend also might see a book excerpt. Just for something a bit different.

Last Five
1. Old Polina (live) - Great Big Sea
2. The long plastic hallway - Camper van Beethoven
3. Pretty bird - Jenny Lewis
4. Up sister - Sam Roberts
5. Blue - The Thorns*