m@adie

watching me watching you

This morning a coworker asked me if I had heard that they were putting cameras up on the Main. I replied that I hadn’t, but I knew that they had done so on St. Denis a couple of years ago. Turns out that the Montreal Gazette is reporting on the story, and that the Montreal Mirror had reported on it last summer (they were supposed to go up then but were delayed). Anyway, it looks like they are going to go ahead with Robot Cam on St. Laurent.

I guess the St. Denis experiment must have been considered a success in the minds of the authorities. It would be interesting to see if the types of crimes being discouraged on lower St. Denis have risen in any of the nearby areas. I would guess that the volume of crime probably hasn’t lowered but rather changed in its distribution.

Despite the fact that I know it’s not really a big brother situation, I still don’t like the idea that I’m being watched much less recorded. I think if I lived in the area I’d be very upset by this.

Hopefully it will prevent some of the ugly chicken scratch vandalism (I hate that crap), but unfortunately it will probably also prevent some of the good graffiti as well — as my photo section shows… I love graffiti.

2007-01-24 Training (good)

Another triple training set. I ran Mount Royal in the cold (-10C, -17C with wind chill). I’ve got to start pushing the run if I want to run a sub 3:10 marathon at the end of May.

Total Time: 2:20

12:00 pm – YMCA Swim
- Swim: 0:30 1250 meters (mixed, 750 free, sets of 500 and 250)

6:30 pm – Run Mount Royal
- Run: 1:20 snowy surface and -10C

9:00 pm – Bike on trainer
- Bike: 0:30 trainer watching Battlestar Galactica

Skinni… I forsake you

I may have to buy one last cookie, that is if there’s an address on the label… Because I really need to complain, and I can’t find an email address to blow steam at. The recent price hike of Skinni cookies, muffins, and brownies is an act of pure idiocy. A cookie is almost $4 at Java U now, and $3 at 4 Frères. This is a ridiculous price, and while I love their products, it’s way way way too much to pay. I’m not sure why, but I find it personally insulting that they did this; I’m tempted to boycott the company even if they choose to lower their prices again…

And let me tell you, I am king of the boycott, especially if the boycott is irrational. I once refused to wear jeans for about 4 years of my life, just because I felt it necessary to do so (even though I actually wanted to wear jeans)… I once boycotted bowling for 6 years just because there was too much bowing going on amongst my little punk rock (straight edge) and skater crowd in High School (in Moncton). I’m still hesitant to go into Pine Pizza after 11 years, because a girlfriend of mine once worked there, and the owner at the time made her cry. So if Skinni wants to lose a customer, they’ve come to the right place…

Jean Talon Market

The Jean Talon market is one of my favorite places in Montreal, and unfortunately it’s a place I don’t get to as often as I should. After reading an article in The Ethicurean (which I discovered through the Montreal City Weblog) I feel inspired to add one more resolution to my New Year’s pile: come spring I will make bi weekly trips to the Jean Talon market to both hang out and purchase produce (it’s a great place to have coffee in the summer).

Years ago when I worked in the warehouse of Cargo Records (a couple of years before they went bankrupt) I used to eat lunch on weekly basis at an Italian bakery located near the south east corner of the market. I loved the food there. I went there once last summer; the food was still yummy, and they seem to have expanded.

2007-01-23 Training (good)

Triple training set… I’ve got to do more of these. I think I may start riding in the evening more often.

Total Time: 2:30

12:00 pm – YMCA Swim
- Swim: 0:30 1250 meters (mixed, 750 free, sets of 500)

5:30 pm – YMCA Swim
- Swim: 1:30 3000 meters (mixed, 2000 free, sets of 500)

9:00 pm – Bike on trainer
- Bike: 0:30 trainer watching “The Protector” (which sucked)

2007-01-22 Training (good)

Swim was off, but the treadmill run was good.

Total Time: 1:30

12:00 pm – YMCA Swim
- Swim: 0:30 1250 meters (mixed, 750 free, sets of 500 and 250)

5:30 pm – YMCA treadmill, weights, and core
- Run: 0:30 treadmill fartlek
- Weights: 0:30 weights, core

2007 Race Schedule

This is my tentative race schedule for 2007. I haven’t entered the dates into my Events Calendar yet, but I will do so shortly. I will also post notice once I’ve paid the registration fee for a race. I would be happy to see anyone and everyone at the races, and I would be even happier if anyone wants to participate with me (trust me, it’s actually fun). I also want to find a nearby end of season marathon (late Oct or early Nov) but have not yet done so.

• Feb 11: Le défi hivernale de l’île-Bizard
• March 25: La course populaire de LaSalle
• April 22: Montreal 21k
• May 19: Somersault Ottawa Early Bird
• KEY RACE (Marathon): May 27: ING Ottawa Marathon
• June 16: Triathon du Mont-Tremblant
      or
  June 17: Triathlon de Lachine
      or
  ??? June 18: 5 Peaks Trail Running at Mt St. Anne
• June 24: Smiths Falls Triathlon, Duathlon & Relays
      or
  June 30: Triathlon de Trois-Rivieres
• July 8: Triathlon de Laval
• KEY RACE (Half Ironman): July 29: Triathlon du Lac Memphrémagog
• Aug 13: Triathlon de Verdun
• Aug 19: Thousand Islands Triathlon, Duathlon & Relays
      or
  Aug 19: Parlee Beach Triathlon
• Sept 8: A.R.K. (5 Peaks Trail Running — near Ottawa)
• Sept 15: Triathlon Esprit de Montreal
• Oct 6: Fall Colours Duathlon

NOTE: I may not participate in all of these races, and if it’s in Montreal and I don’t participate I might consider volunteering.

Secret Show

I wasn’t there, in fact I only heard about it on CBC this morning (I’m just not in the know), but apparently the Arcade Fire played a secret show at the church on the corner of St. Viateur and St. Urbain on Sat. Word has it that word was spread by word of mouth as rumor. Word also has it that most of the songs they played were off their upcoming album. I still would have done the Piknic Electronique thing instead, but…

2007-01-21 Training (full rest day)

I felt a bit burnt out from training for 2 hours yesterday and then dancing (hard) for 2+ hours last night. So I decided to take today as a rest day. It’s also been my first hard week of training since being sick so…

This begs the question: should I consider dancing to be cross training?

The dancing I’m talking about is rave style, very energetic, and although I’ve never worn my heart rate monitor out dancing, I’m sure my heart rate would be up in the aerobic zone. I’m also in a clean phase so I’m pretty much chemical and booze free. Also since the smoking ban, the air in the clubs is much cleaner (although last night it was Igloo Fest and it occurred outside in -14C weather with snow on the ground).

Crazy Amazon Swim

I just read a post in the Slowtwitch Triathlon Forum that points to this crazy story of a man who is going to try to swim 5,430 kms of the Amazon river in 70 days. Martin Strel plans to leave Atalaya (Peru) on Feb 1st , and swim all the way to the Atlantic Ocean at Belém (Brazil). The length is crazy enough, but I’d be terrified of the things lurking within the water. Hope he doesn’t become piranha, alligator, crocodile, or anaconda bait.

But if you watch the video below (wanky voice over) you’ll notice that he’s pretty wacky and has pulled off some crazy swims. In fact he’s a multiple Guinness World Record holder.