64° of Separation

Bonbini.
Jessica and Makenzie returned from Aruba on Sunday evening. They spent the previous week with their grandparents on One Happy Island. Their snow white skin had become a modest light brown. How did they manage to choose between the beach, the pool or shopping? Easy - they did them all!

There was no close call on the bluffs and no keys-locked-in-the-car story. On their last night, Jess and Kenzie were thrilled to watch the Carnival Parade with Gramm and Bubb (and Gramm and Bubb deserve medals for being excited about it too, since standing around with 90,000 people isn't really their thing).

The girls said that the average temperature in Aruba was 50° C. It's actually closer to 32° (according to The Weather Channel ); but when one's comparing the weather in Aruba to the temperature in January back home, I see how it'd be easy to exaggerate.

Which brings me to the point I want to make - Jessica and Makenzie have gone from 32°C in Aruba to -32°C in Canada in 48 hours - 64 degrees.

For those who don't think in Celsius, that's a high of 90°F to -25°F (yes, I mean 25 below 0°F) ...and the title of this post for you is A 115° Turn.

Ayo.

Tags: [Aruba] [Weather in Ontario]
[The Weather Network]
[Six Degrees] [180 Degrees]

April Day! Alitalia Si È Rotto

On August 1, airline industry analysts warned that high fuel costs were threatening to bankrupt more than 50 European airlines. The same day, The Financial Times reported that delivery of a rescue proposal for Italy's Alitalia Airlines would be delayed due to stalled merger negotiations. Days later, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister, promised to save Alitalia from bankruptcy. 'We will perform another miracle and will offer a profitable national company, he said'. The Italian government owns 49% of Alitalia. The ensuing three weeks were filled with rumors of new investors and partners to save the troubled airline; until Thursday when it was confirmed that Alitalia had filed for bankruptcy protection.

You need to know that Alitalia history and Pavlov's Theory of Classical Conditioning to understand the impact this airline industry turbulence has had on me.

Anytime I hear the words Alitalia Airlines, the song Eh Cumpari plays in my head. The Italian novelty-song from the 1950's is about the different instruments from the orchestra playing the song. Julius La Rosa sang it, backed by Archie Bleyer's band. It's The Gaylords' cover of La Rosa's #1 hit that plays in my head. (I could only find La Rosa's version to put here.

for your entertainment).

Say "Alitalia" and I hear the whistle of the friscalettu; the toota of the saxofona; the pling of the mandulin; the zing of the viulin; the poppa-pop of the trumbetta and the story told during the extended instrumental bridge. It goes something like this:

I received a letter from my Uncla Guisseppe.
He tella me he heard from my Uncla Pasquale. Pasquale, he fly, he fly right into Italia. Onna big plane, he fly right into Italy.
They be in the air about 20 minutes an' the pilot, he come onto the radio.
"Hello, this is your cap-i-tan speaking. I just wonna tella you that earlier, we had a little bitta' trouble. Its-a all o.k. now, but I juss wanna to letta you know."
He be in the air about another 20 minutes an' the pilot, he come onto the radio.
"Hello, this is your cap-i-tan speaking. I just wonna tella you that we hadda a little bit more trouble. Its-a all o.k. now, but I juss wanna to letta you know."
He be in the air about another 20 minutes an' the pilot, he come onto the radio again.
"April Day! April Day! This is your cap-i-tan. We havin' a bigga trouble right now. We gonna haff to make a splash-down landing. All of the passengers, iffa you know how to swim, go to the right side of the airplane. All of the passengers, iffa you don't know how to swim, you go to the left side of the airplane.
After we hit the water, the people on the right - I tella you - you know how to swim, you swim to shore. We juss about 20 miles from shore. You gonna be o.k. The people on the left, those of you who do not know how to swim - I tella you - thanks a lot for flying Alitalia Airlines. (chorus)

I keep hearing on the news that Alitalia's bankrupt, but what I really hear is Tippity-Tippity-Ta!

[Eh Cumpari!]  [Alitalia Airlines]  [Silvio Berlusconi]
[Julius La Rosa]  [Archie Bleyer]  [The Gaylords]
[Pavlov: Classical Conditioning]

Maximum Security

A brawl came at the end of a tight contest during the round-robin portion of the tournament. Technically, it wasn't a fight, since the players all had their helmets on (Rule 613 specifically addresses Fisticuffs). In my book, throwing punches makes it a fight. By either definition, I don't like it.

At the Civic Center, home of the Otters, security was called to the ice by game officials as the horn sounded to close the third period. The referees pulled players apart then met at center ice to confer over the new penalties that were about to be assessed. That was ironic since they had neglected to call many penalties during the previous 45 minutes of play. All the while, two security staff stood on the ice, each with his arms folded across his chest and looked around sternly.

The skating was hard, the shots many. As the game progressed, play intensified between our players and their GTA opponents. The score was even at 1 apiece. Emotions were high. With few infractions being called, the players stretched the limits further. They wanted to know how far they could go before the refs made the call.

Girls minor hockey allows contact, but does not allow body-checking. A check from behind went unpenalized late in the third period. That was the breaking point. The final minutes played out with a series of face-offs, hacks at the goalie, pushing and shoving and lots of yelling from one bench. Game officials don't have to tolerate it and finally assessed that coach a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Eventually, the teams were escorted to their dressing rooms. Security and the refs kept the teams apart. The fans were warned that "nuisance in the lobby will be dealt with seriously." The fans were in-check. There was that one fan who kept shouting a$$ho1e to either the refs or her coaches, we couldn't tell. She wasn't in the stands or the lobby, anyway.

The USA Hockey Referee Manual points out that the role of an on-ice official includes to provide a safe and sportsmanlike environment in which players can properly display their hockey skills. It adds, that referees must control games to the extent that is necessary to provide a positive and safe experience for all participants.

There's a time to let them play; and a time to use the whistle. The refs have to call the penalties before someone gets hurt.

Security stuck around until the players had changed into street clothes then cleared the tunnel so the team could make its way to the bus without further incident.

Read about Erie Tournament

The Accident-al Tourists

For the past number of years, one of the family travels to Aruba in January and spends a week vacationing with my parents. First went Michelle and Lju, then Lori and Max, then Roni and Wayne. In the fourth year, Joe and Ginette went and then Jeremy and Sarah. Now, it's the grandchildren's turn to go. Shannon and Kara were the first of the second generation to spend some quality vacation time with their grandparents.

Below is a recap of the three sides to the adrenaline rush of last week.

As told by Shannon:

Mom, my life flashed before my eyes several times. We went off-roading in a Toyota Yaris with Gramma.

We were driving on cow paths that even the cows thought were too dangerous to use. At one point we stopped and Gramma pointed to a hill and said, 'that's the direction we want to go.' She asked me to go to the top of the hill and see what was on the other side. I hiked up the mountain and looked over. It was a sheer cliff. A straight drop to the ocean below.

Kara: We saw the most beautiful beach. So tranquil. So serene. Turquoise water, pure white sand. It was absolutely awesome.
(laughing) We'd been to the beach before Gramma almost killed us on the cliff, so I was at peace. Having seen the most beautiful spot in the world, it was OK to die.

I was in the backseat. I was praying. I mean it. Praying for real. We weren't really close to being killed. When we were on the sunset cruise, we saw the lighthouse that was on the hill where Gramma nearly killed us. Having already seen it up close, it was less impressive from the ocean.

Gramma: It was gr-reat having the girls with us this past week and in spite of what you may have heard from them, I never once put them in any peril...regardless of what they say. I want you to know that I stopped before we were going to go over the cliff. They wanted an adventure and I was the one to offer it to them...

I found this at the Aruba website: Car rentals are available, but most people prefer to rent a 4-wheel drive jeep because Aruba's terrain can be rugged in remote areas.

Now maybe our children will believe us when we say that in the 1970's, Gramma used to jump the Rossland bridge in her Cadillac. That's how cool your Gramma is.

Kara's going to be a Diplomat, for sure...in her version: We weren't really close to being killed,...


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