Powering down

We had a power cut yesterday - only the second since I've been in Kangiqsujuaq, which isn't bad going as we had them all the time in Inukjuak - but unlike the one we had back in October this one was at night and lasted a fair bit longer. The power went down right at the end of House and I also missed the whole of 24, which was most annoying. I've been recording 24 with the intention of viewing all the episodes en bloc at some future time, but I guess that plan's now scuppered.

It was during this period of total darkness that I realised I don't have a torch - I still find it hard to call torches 'flashlights' - or any candles up here, but thankfully I downloaded the flashlight app for my iPod a little while ago (hey, I said 'flashlight') so I was able to patrol the house whilst listening to music that was guaranteed to be correctly filed and sorted. About an hour later the power came back on, but within ten minutes it went off again, only to come back on after a couple of minutes, after which time it failed again....

After about an hour of this the power finally stopped coming back on, but by this time I had already got fed up and gone to bed. I found it hard to sleep though as I was very aware that my alarm clock probably wouldn't go off in the morning, and this was a situation that I found unduly stressful for some reason (oh for the days of huge wind-up alarm clocks, now only seen in old cartoons or dangling from Flavor Flav's neck). A few hours of spasmodic sleep followed, and it was 3am when I finally became aware that the power was back on; the clock was duly reset, and I am happy to report that I managed to make it to work on time this morning.

Considering the fact that I spent the previous post relaying my tales of boredom, I suppose one could say that at least this week has started with a bit of excitement, but when the only excitement here is an event that stops you watching TV and makes you go to bed early....

M'lud, I rest my case.

Bringing down the house

Another boring weekend here. I remember that time seemed to freeze (along with everything else up here) last February, and the same thing is happening again. Maybe it's got something to do with Groundhog Day at the beginning of the month. I watched that film with my students this week, and I was tempted to show it again to them the next day, and the next, and the next. In the end I decided that, as much as I love the film, you can have too much of a good thing, although it would have made planning for the rest of the year a far easier affair.

In other news I see that David Kiely, the banker caught on camera looking at those naked images on his computer screen last week, will be keeping his job, but in future he has to keep his employers fully abreast of what he downloads at work (that joke copyright Dan Roberts). And I loved this story; Canada's finance minister, Jim Flaherty, partly destroyed an igloo at the G7 summit in Iqaluit when he made a mess of trying to exit through the narrow doorway. It takes hours to build an igloo but it took Flaherty seconds to wreck it; kind of a nice allegory for what's happened to the North over the last fifty years.

Bare faced cheek

Continuing the bear/bare theme that has unwittingly bestowed itself on the blog this week, I just had to share this with you. It would seem that a banker in Australia was having a quiet day in the office earlier this week and decided to alleviate the boredom by perusing some, shall we say, alternative figures (try 34DD) on his computer screen. On a normal day he would have probably got away with it; trouble was, one of his colleagues was being interviewed at the time - on live TV.

Keep your eye on the guy behind the speaker's right shoulder...



That was one hell of a boob (or two)!

A kraftsman at work

Well, I haven't burned, melted or vaporised anything since the last post, and I have actually ventured beyond sandwiches since then too. Last night I sampled the delights of Kraft Dinner, which was brave considering the need to boil water, but on this occasion my trusty wooden spoon stood up to the challenge and I was able complete the dinner service without a hitch, although it could be argued that a few pieces of melted plastic may have gone some way to enhancing the flavour.

In fact, I have to say that Kraft Dinner has been one of the highlights of what has been a mundane old week thus far. There's not a lot going on here at the moment, and at times like these one has to resort to making one's own entertainment. I could try to eviscerate another kitchen utensil I suppose, but replacements are just so costly in these parts so that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Then again, it's still only Tuesday...

Canadian Idle

No, I haven't been stricken by tuberculosis; the lack of posts over the last few days is simply due to the fact that nothing's been happening here. It was Groundhog Day at the beginning of the month, and we seem to have been stuck in a rut ever since (but without Sonny & Cher on the radio every morning). The weather has been the same every day: clear blue skies, -25°C, no wind. We are in desperate need of a blizzard to shake things up.

The end of this week promises a little more interest however. Barack Obama visits Ottawa on Thursday, and on Friday we have a school fishing trip which, whilst not my normal cup of tea (my normal cup of tea would freeze out on the tundra anyway), should provide a change from the norm. Strips of plastic shopping bag make for good bait apparently (don't ask me why), and I shall be testing out that theory; watch this space for the full report.

In the meantime, I shall have to satisfy myself by watching American Idol which, so far, promises to be the poorest season ever. Tonight's show has been like watching a two hour car crash; even Paula has been critical! The commercial for the upcoming Wolverine movie was good though. Dan, if you're reading, it opens on May 1st and I should be back around May 10th - get the tickets in!