the first step's a doozie, eh...

"touching the void" by joe simpson.

in 1985, joe simpson and climbing partner, simon yates, had reached the top of siula grande, a previously unclimbed 21000 ft peruvian peak. the weather changed for the worse on the descent. a storm rolled in, enveloping the climbers in a white out. simpson would break his leg in a fall. yates was charged with the mindboggling, near impossible task of lowering, rope length by rope length, his friend down the mountain. unknowingly and unfortunately, yates would later lower simpson into a gigantic crevasse. after holding the rope for hours, yates thought his friend was dead. he decided to cut the rope...

i don't want to give away the rest of the film. suffice to say, simpson went on to write his book "touching the void" detailing his harrowing experiences on the mountain. that book was made into a docu-drama that was shown on pbs tonight. "touching the void" was an incredible film. outstanding re-enactments interwoven with compelling on-camera interviews with simpson and yates recollecting events and reactions nearly 20 years ago resulted in an amazing film.

i was just riveted to the tv screen.

it should be on pbs a couple more times this week. watch it or get the book.

grey cup wrap up.

i love wally buono. i was so happy when he got the hell out of town. i know how it is to work under incompetent and overbearing management and fully understood his move even if it was to the lions.

with all that, i couldn't get myself to cheer for his team tonight (even though it was comprised of alot of ex-stamps as well). i like dave dickenson alot. he's a good quarterback. until he wins the grey cup, he won't be great.

they'll be back next year...unfortunately.

one more prediction...

it'd be lame to predict the victor of tomorrow's provincial election. but i will predict that ralphie will not serve out the 3.75 years that he promised. instead, i predict that he will quit in 1.5 to 2 years time. he will preside over the centennial next year then quit or be pushed out by battling replacement candidates (chretien/martin-style).

otherwise, please vote!!!!