Backwoods Baseball, Part 2

Forsaking the warning signs on my dashboard, I make the turn towards the baseball diamond, unsure of where the road would take me. There are some things a man can replace, such as gasoline, but you cannot barter the trust of one's teammates.

Bounding over a couple of hills like an ant traversing the fringes of a checkerboard patterned tablecloth, my car arrives at another intersection: One path leads back to civilization, while the other heads off into uncharted territory and a playing field. I chose the latter, and in a short while I enter the quaint, unmapped town of Kilbride.

From what I could tell, the only prominent landmarks are a street leading to the main residential area of town, the fire hall that consists of relaxed firefighters enjoying the dusk of a summer day, and the school. The Kilbride Public School, which represents the door out from sleepy town Ontario to the big, busy world, is the place where my baseball dreams of grandeur and heroism lead me. My thoughts, as I pulled into the parking lot, turn to the meter measuring my gasoline, and a pool deep enough for a flea to drown remains. I made it.

Alas, as I find the teammates, a few more straggle in before we begin to wonder aloud: Where is the other team? o_O No sooner does the thought cross our minds then the sound of big motors and pickup trucks pull into the school disturbing the quaint peace of the valley. Their numbers are large, their choice of bats is stellar, their size is towering (well, a few of them, still...! O_O), and the odds are not in our favour.

As the game progresses the score gets wider, the breaks are beating us, and the grounders are a little further away from our grasp. Finally, the worries about gasoline are the last things I am thinking about as I head to the dugout for the final time after flying out to left field. The misadventure into the lovely town of Kilbride taught me a valuable lesson: Be prepared (DUH!), and what is more to enjoy the journey. If you don't stop to notice the Mom & Pop restaurant, the manicured rose-laden park, the old-time railroad crossings and street lamps, and the strawberry farm along the way then you will wonder how you arrived at your destination, place in life, or age in the first place!

An excursion can last thirty minutes, but the stories within that journey are limitless. ^_^

Backwoods Baseball, Part 1

I play baseball three times last week, each game for a different league in and around my hometown. My third game last week, however, was not in a usual, well lit part of suburbia, but out in the agricultural, rolling hills, and backwoods of Canada without the banjos.

First, there is my hometown of Mississauga, then a little west of there is Oakville, Burlington, and then a town called Guelph. This game I was about to participate in started almost immediately after work ended, so I not only had to get my gear from home and change clothes, I had a fair amount of driving to do. I'm a product of the 1990s, so when I need directions on how to arrive at a destination I print them out on 8.5"x11" paper, place the directions on the seat next to me, and drive the route the direction tell me to travel. No GPS, no ambient female voice telling me I made a wrong turn, and no room for error!

The major road to the diamond is a "line": The Guelph Line. Effectively, it's the border between urbanization and suburbia, and agriculture and secluded, sleepy towns like Lowville, Churchville, and Inglewood. Like the childhood home of NFL quarterback and future hall-of-famer Brett Favre, you can't find "Kilbride" on a conventional map. Google found "Kilbride Park", which is behind the elementary school, but Google believes the road to Kilbride is a straight line. Ladies and gentlemen, the Guelph Line is not a straight line; it's a border, and borders are never simple.

I took many slights and curves to stay on the Guelph Line burning the last of precious gasoline as I left, obeying traffic signs, and annoying the locals behind my automobile by doing so. I wasn't lost - I was...taking my time. As the clock indicated, throughout my journey through the Ontario backwoods, I had to put the pedal to the metal, yet it was during the many twists and turns I discovered I was only halfway to my destination when I arrived at Twiss Road (no pun intended).

Guelph Line & Twiss Road: I reached a cross roads. As the little Chief Engineer Scotty cackled in my head that "the engines aren't going to last much longer!", I eyed the little Esso gas station across the street. There was no telling how much longer the journey would last, and there was only enough gas left over for a few more kilometres.

If I get gasoline for the car, I would be late for the game. If I drove on ahead, I could be lost in the Ontario underbrush and thickets armed with baseball bats and a Los Angeles Dodgers hoody I purchased from the online store for $51 after discount.

What would I do? What would I do?

Evidence of Work

I decided to return to one of my first passions: Filmmaking ^_^

No, I'm not shooting a cinematic epic with a blockbuster film company with a billion dollar budget, instead I'm filming some short films and uploading them on YouTube. This is some of what I have so far:

My First Video

 

My First Video w/ Puppets

My First Video w/ tweezers o_O

I Lost My Telegraph Machine! Let's Celebrate! Oh wait...

Whenever I write once a week, I always feel like months passed since I last wrote o_O Does anyone else feel that way, like I disappeared from the face of the earth and one day I'm suddenly back from my intergalactic space war in the Orion Belt System defending the important Sturgeon Empire outpost on the planet Sirius III from the dark alien forces of Zurg...Uh oh, I said too much o_O...! Moving on...

LOST: If it has an antenna, then it's probably mine :(

Upon my return from the Orion Belt star cluster, I mean, the weekend I discovered my cell phone, which I often refer to as the clunky telegraph machine used in relaying morse codes to telegraph stations on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. The battery was close to dead anyway, and no one is selling the adapter that goes with it anymore. I should be upset, but comparing my phone to what all my other friends are using I actually got off pretty well. This was not on purpose, mind you, but similar to when Professor Utonium accidentally added a special ingredient to the concoction he whipped up when he tried to make the perfect little girl: Chemical X.

SIDENOTE: When you mouth the words to the Powerpuff theme, do you like to stare at different points of the room with the same blank expression while the narrator is talking, or is it just me? o_O Sugar, spice, and everything nice...

I deleted my phone from Twitter, so whoever has it can't tweet obscene and ridiculous messages with it, even if there was any battery life left. Also, if they were using it to send messages and stuff, my friends would probably know it wasn't me, right guys? ^_^ Guys? o_O

ANGRY BIRDS: Who wouldn't find this funny?

I always wanted a new phone, but at the same time I want a good reason to move forward with the times. Examples would include getting a new job, moving to a new place, getting a girlfriend, or losing my phone (oh wait, that happened o_O). There are so many things you can do with today's phones, too, like find directions on the go, call ahead to a florist to buy and deliver flowers to your girlfriend at her work, play Angry Birds at the Dry Cleaners, close the garage door, balance the budget, cure cancer, save the rainforest, etc. Wait, what?

From what I gathered in all those cell phone commercials here in on Canadian television, U.S. television, and aboard, it is like we are doing everything but engaging with people. Sure, there are two people mimicking a conversation during a commercial, but it is ironic that the tool designed to build relationships is driving us further apart. I'm not crazy for thinking this, right?

Oh spiffy!

I just remembered where my phone is -_- I was driving in Momzo's car last night. It should be in the armrest on the driver's side door T_T I can't wait, dog gone it! COME ON!