An Open Letter to the Mayoral Candidates

Hi there,

After my 6 years of living here, I have begun to take an interest in how this town is being run. What decisions are being made, and why, are clearly going to have an impact on me in the future, and as such, I have been researching your individual platforms. I wouldn't say I am getting involved with politics, just getting involved with Whistler. You all love this place as much as, if not more than I do, but that was before, when naked skiing and hot dog parties were all the rage, and the province hadn't come down on us as a community for not acting like a grown up. But I love this place despite the rising costs of housing, and the unlikelihood of my ever owning a place of my own. A permanent state of ski-bummery may not be ideal in the rest of the world, but it suits me down to the ground.

As I mentioned above, I am not a politician. In fact, it isn't important what I do, or who I am. I'm nobody important.

But that's exactly the point. There are hundreds of nobodies in this beautiful community who keep this town running. The servers and bartenders, the cooks, the shop managers; will we be taken care of in the coming years?

I have made my decision on my vote, though I choose to exercise my right to hide it. To the one of you who has won my vote: please don't let me down.

It has been said before that Whistler is unique because we have all chosen to live here, in defiance of the hardships that we face. Please, on behalf of my demographic, don't pile more upon the Great Unwashed.

And so we begin again. The winter is at our doorstep, the mountains are prepping to host another stellar shred season. I'm growing a Moustache, (which rocks) and I'm raising money to do it (http://mobro.co/aaronpeart/d). Actually, between the club and the Movember campaign, I have approximately 8-10 commitments between now and Dec. 1st. The new kids are coming in strong, and they're the same as always - fresh-faced, cold, and partying. It's almost too easy to get them into Maxx Fish...

Besides all that, I'm writing something new that I'm really enjoying. It's hard to say where it's going to go, but the basic premise (as of now) is that I get drunk and sit in front of Word for Mac. Fun stuff. We'll see where that little path leads to...

But back to the meat and potatoes of life. Today is Remembrance day, and I stopped in at the service. Rain didn't stop play, and my standing in it for ten minutes was the least I could do for the people who fought (and are fighting) for my freedom. As they were laying the wreaths, a rainbow appeared. You all know I don't "do" religion, but it was a nice addition to the proceedings, as were the geese flying over during O Canada. I love when I look up and see the mountains, the snow, the forests. It's the finest parts of this country, all in my backyard, as the photo above shows.

In Other News, local songstress Ali Milner wowed her fans (or rather, the judges did) when she was shockingly voted off of Cover Me Canada, another of those Pop Idol spin offs. Anyone who has heard Milner sing, at the Jazz Festival this September or one of her usual gigs in town (Fairmont? Four Seasons? I cannot recall) knows that she is obviously talented. In fact, Ali and her band were the only team who got through to the final 3 without immunity - in other words, on sheer musical talent, and not by the people following her on Twitter. (Though, it should be said, I did vote!)

This is exactly why I don't watch these shows. Clearly, Ali has skill, but one off night negates her success in previous episodes. Whatever. Ali, if you happen to be reading, I think you're a winner. See you this winter sometime.

By The Way: Please make sure you check out the latest episode of The Daily Show. In particular, the last segment, where Jon Stewart talks about Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. It's just good television, and it's something I think people need to be aware of. Like the hockey coach scandal of the early to mid 90's, it brings to light some horrible events, but at least they're now known.

Here's to the heroes.

7th winter - commence!

Well, here we are again.

October 20th, my so-called "Whistler Birthday". It's my 6th full year here. I always seem to look back on the years previous. What I've done, where I've been. The people I've met. Those who've left; those that have stayed. The girls - oh, the girls. The folks I've met from Vancouver, and beyond. The reasons I've stayed. The season. The days on the powder, the nights in the bar. The hard times (and there have been some), by me, and by my brothers.

Now the season is upon us. A mere 35 days until the mountain is scheduled to open, but let's be honest, it's gonna be earlier. WB has an untarnished record for the last few years (even though a couple of years ago it was only 24 hours early, but I'll allow it).

So to all of you, this post is a thank you. I've had some fantastic times, but I couldn't have done it without you. So thanks for being awesome.

By The Way: I'm still writing for WhistlerIsAwesome... you should check it out.

Working on Working Out - Week One

Well, it's been a week. Here's my progress, according to the important days. (Incidentally, Day 1 is the meat and potatoes and I'll be posting that on Whistlerisawesome.com.)

Day 2

Ow.

So much for no drinking. Weekends are the killer for that; there's always friends coming up and they want to party. Unfortunately for us hosts, every day is a friday sometimes… In any case, I awoke with a headache from whisky, and sore muscles from the first exercise my body has seen in months.

But you know what? I knew it wasn't going to be easy when I started, so I have to power through. Sweat out the pain. 50 sit-ups, 50 pushups.

Day 4

Not content with my quest of 100 pushups and 200 sit ups, I went to the village and bought a jump rope, and - what? Shut up; it's not gay. You know who jumps rope? Rocky Balboa. You know who else? Jesus. Probably. Anyway, $28 of my money gets me a weighted handled jump rope that actually looks kind of like an extension cord.

(Seriously guys, you should look at this jump rope. It could only be manlier if it was made of barbed wire with poison all over it. Or something.)

Day 7

I suspect I've hurt something.

My stomach hurts like I pulled an abdominal. (Is that what they're called?) It's not "hernia" pain, but it's certainly hampering my efforts.

I'm up to 81 sit-ups from the apps, 71 pushups, and I'm hitting the rope with 100 consecutive jumps. Due to my chronic "no-idea-what-I'm-doing" affliction, I'm going to take the techno advice and train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with cardio work on the "off" days.

And maybe the doctor.

And then work out a way to get fit without using whatever's hurt, I guess!

Finally - Motivation AND a platform!

In my last post I wrote about the struggles of finding the energy required to get back to fighting form for the winter. Well, serendipitously, I happened to email the editor of Whistler Is Awesome and when she read that on my site, she suggested I run with it (no pun intended).

So I'm getting healthy. What I'm going to do is write something on here every week detailing my progress and how I'm dealing with not being a lazy sonofabitch, with a general weekly overview (the best parts) going to WIA.

So yay! Except god damn my abs hurt after only 2 days!

Working out isn't working out.

People, it's fair to say that I am lazy. However, the only person that gets to say that is me. I do not appreciate judgement. It's all well and good berating me for not having any drive to get healthier, but you have to understand: I wasn't an athletic kid, and I'm not an athletic man.  You can't paint stripes on a horse and call it a zebra.

So the reason for all this is that I want to get fit for this winter, but a guy who rarely visits the gym doesn't know where to start.

Firstly, there's the embarrassment factor. I'm not gonna sit next to a friend and pick up a fraction of the weight he is for too long. I have pride. Then there's the fact that I'm starting from essentially nothing, while all my friends (literally all of them) that are interested in exercise and health etc. are miles ahead of me on the curve. What you see as "only" doing so many reps so many times a day, I see as a mountain that, frankly, I can't be fucking bothered to even start climbing, let alone reach the lofty peaks alongside my brethren.

So ok, do it alone.

Because that's super fun. And I already detailed my motivation issues. And I'm not buying a bunch of weights that are just going to take up space in my already cluttered bedroom (probably next to my old snowboards and my broken Fender.)

Any thoughts?

One step closer to Magic...

This weekend has just seen the running of the Gran Fondo, something I cannot comprehend as an idea of "fun". Biking up the Sea to Sky (and I do mean "up") on a 30 degree C day sounds more like a punishment, and I think the only prize is "accolade". Forgive me for not rushing to get my camera, I mean Lance isn't entering is he? But whatever, different horses for different courses.

 But in a way I was looking forward to it, much in the same way I look forward to the Bike park closing (Oct. 10th) - we're inching ever closer to the winter season. And you know what that means.

 It's ski movie time.

 A couple have already premiered, but the one that everyone is frothing over tickets (sold out people, sorry) is Brain Farm's follow up to the 2008 hit That's It That's All, The Art of Flight. Premiering tomorrow night at the Telus Conference Centre, this promises those jaw-dropping scenes and breathtaking lines that we've come to expect from Travis Rice, Scotty Lago, and the rest.

 And I've seen it.

 It doesn't matter how this worked in my favour, but let's just say I have some good friends that had access to a prescreening.

 This movie is perfect. It makes you realise how amazing people can be in the air, how athletic they must be to be able to backflip into a tree bonk, just to get the perfect shot. It's a testament to what snowboarding should be for everyone - fun, exciting, a little scary (there's an epic set in Nelson that's just avalanche after avalanche) and refreshing. It reminds me how much fun it can be, and with the right soundtrack it's a session to remember (I reviewed The Naked and Famous' album a while back, and they scored not one but two tracks on TAOF).

 So yeah. Bring the snow. I'm already pumped.