Cartel Update - July 26th

Holy crap! Though I have been nagged (by the female members of the Cartel - who else!) on several occasions about not taking pictures of the Salt & Pepper shakers, I didn't realize it has been almost 2 years since my last update on the Cartel. Ok - so here goes.

We met this Saturday (minus D) and presented the wait staff with Mr. Salty and Captain Pepper. A set of shakers that I picked up on my recent trip to Maine. As you can see, both of the wait staff - oh what the hell - waitresses are extremely glad to receive such a fine gift.

We also talked to the owner about building a cabinet in which to display the shakers we have donated to date. I'm not sure of the number but it must be close to 150 or so. This may or may not become a reality but we shall persevere.

After dinner at Wild Wing we were off to the movies - yep - The Dark Knight. Not much to say that hasn't already been said by many others. A great movie. I must say that I like Christian Bale as an actor. I didn't realize that one of his first movies - American Psycho - was made in 2000. For some reason I thought it was much earlier. 3:10 to Yuma, Reign of Fire and The Machinist are also great movies.

After beating Dr. D in air hockey (3 out of 3) it was home to blog and pack. I'm off to Moosonee on the shores of James Bay tomorrow. This is a small air force town which I haven't been back to see since my family left when I was in grade 7. It has since been dismantled but I have a yearning to go back and see my old stomping grounds as it were - old age I guess.

Cartel Update - Sept. 22

I have been remiss in attending to my blog since starting back at school. So much to do at the beginning of the school year that I have been unable to find the time to sit down and update my own blog let alone peruse through the variety of blogs which I normally follow.

Anyway, since the school is off on our yearly trip to Haliburton this coming week, I was able to find a few precious moments this morning to attempt an update.

There have been several Cartel meetings since my last update but I had forgotten my camera and thus these meetings can not be properly documented. The last documented Cartel meeting was last week and as you can see from the picture, D and her cleavage was in attendance - or is that 'were in attendance'? Unfortunately, LED was unable to attend but she missed little as we did not go to a movie. It has been my observation that there seems to be a lack of good movies at this time of year. Maybe distributors also recognize the lack of free time at the beginning of a school year.

Cartel Update - Aug 25

Yep - two days after the last meeting the full Cartel decided to get together on Friday. I guess the women folk wanted to see if they could charm their way into a few freebies - BUT NO!


Anyway - I'm getting ready to go canoeing so this is a bit abbreviated. As was the case on Wednesday we were attended to by Danielle and Ali (pictured above). The Salt & Pepper set provided by D was a wonderful Pot of Chili accompanied by a matching Fire Extinguisher. Really neat. I have also attached a picture of the lobster claws from several weeks ago.




After dinner we went to see Little Miss Sunshine. This is an excellent movie and I highly recommend it. It is heartwarming and incredibly funny.

Cartel Update - Aug 23

With the recent return of Dr. Dandycube from the wilds of northern Ontario, I decided we needed to have a meeting to update myself on his exploits in the kayak. Since the female members of the cartel work for a living only Dr. DC and I were in attendance, along with Danielle (pictured below) and Ali from Wild Wing of course.
The night was a special treat for the boys. Since the females were not in attendance we were showered with affection by the staff and by the end of the night we each left with a Bud Light cap as well as box of 6 engraved beer glasses. They love us at Wild Wing - I'm not sure if it is our good looks, personality or our wealth of money - but - who cares we were treated like royalty.

After Wild Wing we were off to see the soon to be cult classic SNAKES ON A PLANE! You can't beat Samuel L. Jackson for entertainment value. Great movie despite the premise.

Cartel Update - Aug 11

Dr. DC and I met at Wild Wing on Friday where I dined on a fine selection of wings before the much delayed Mrs. C (LED) joined us at 5:30. Having recently completed her tour of the northern shores of Lake Erie (now that's excitement), Dr. DC and I were favoured with a fine selection of photos documenting her excursion.

Both Ali and an old favourite Danielle were in attendance this week and were presented with a Salt & Pepper set in the form of a pair of lobster claws (from my trip to the coast a few weeks back). Unfortunately HBB failed to bring the camera to document the occasion therefore no pictures of the Salt & Pepper set nor of the lovely ladies in waiting are available.

After dinner we proceeded to the movies and wound up seeing Pulse for no other reason than it happened to be starting upon our arrival. All in all it was a crappy movie and I wouldn't recommend even watching it on DVD. After the movie Mrs. C and I snuck into a second movie that happened to be starting as we exited from Pulse. Dr. DC, ever the law abiding citizen, failed to join us as Mrs. C and I took the law into our own hands feeling somewhat justified having spent good money on a really bad movie already.

The movie we saw was Descent which was not half bad all things considered. At one point early in the movie there was a frightening scene which caught Mrs. C off guard causing her to scream out 'Jesus Murphy'. I almost pissed myself with laughter as this was the first, and I suspect, the last time I will ever hear her curse. Two movies under our belt and we headed home bringing to close another Cartel Week.

Weekly Cartel Update - Aug 1

Today Dr. DC was able to paddle in from the wilds of Northern Ontario and meet with me at Wild Wing for an impromptu cartel meeting. As you can see, Dr. DC has recently taken the plunge into the world of kayaking.

Anyway - the most lovely Ali was there again this week and took care of out beverage and food needs for which she was presented with a Salt & Pepper train set. This is one which I had picked up from the Cog Railway store at the base of Mount Washington while on my recent New England trip.















After wings we headed out to watch Miami Vice. If you are a fan of the original TV show then you will probably enjoy this movie. If you are looking for a movie filled with bikini babes, fast cars, boat chases, and a lot of shooting - well then not so much will you enjoy it. It was just ok in my book.

Weekly Cartel Update - July 18

Just a quick Cartel note. Dr. DC and I met at Wild Wings on Tuesday for a quick bite before heading off to the Superman movie. We should have stayed at Wild Wing and drank all night. Who would guess that Superman would be nothing more than an expensive, special effects 'chick flick'. Most of the movie was devoted to Superman wanting to get back with Lois who was already living with another man and had a young child. Is Superman the dad? Hmmmm. What intrigue!

Anyway, the lovely Ali (looking rather seductive I might add) was kind enough to keep us refreshed with beer and was the proud recipient of an Elephant Salt & Pepper Set.

Weekly Cartel Update - July 7

I am ashamed - for two reasons. First that it has taken so long to get the Cartel Update posted and second, I forgot to get the name of the new girl at Wild Wing, shown here on the right next to Jenny and Ali. D brought this week's Salt & Pepper set - hard to see but it is a couch potato Salt Shaker with a TV Pepper Shaker. Nice!

Friday the Cartel met early in anticipation of a long lineup for the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean. Since we had not met for almost a month a lot of business had to be attended to - the most interesting being why women of age 40+ find it difficult if not impossible to live alone. The conversation went something like;


HBB: "I don't understand why men who live alone are generally happy with the arrangement yet women between the ages of 40 and 60 are not happy living by themselves and in fact seem almost desperate to find someone to live with."

D: "Because we (females) are the nurturer, we are kind, caring, considerate, we like to take care of someone, like to cook for them, like to see them happy."

Dr. DC: "Yet you never thank us for allowing you to do that."

Best line of the night! Well done Dr. DC.

As I mentioned previously, we were then off to see Pirates of the Caribbean. What can I say - obviously the best movie of the summer season.

Weekly Cartel Update - June 9

Despite the mountains of exam marking I had yet to complete, I found myself wanting a beer to steady the nerves and thus called for a Cartel meeting on Friday. Though all four members were in attendance, D didn't arrive until late. She did however accompany Dr. DC and I to the movies while LED had to beg out and missed the theatre portion of the meeting. By the way - if this seems rushed it is because I have to get back to my marking.

LED provided this week's Salt & Pepper set for the staff at Wild Wing, who by the way, were kind enough to buy the Cartel a round of drinks!. There was some discussion as to whether or not the brown spot on Grandpa's face was a misplaced moustache or a pipe. In the end, D resolved the issue and we were off to the movies.

Off to see X-Men 3. I love it when explosions on the screen are so loud you can feel your clothes move on your body - a sign of a great movie in my books.

Weekly Cartel Update - June 3

Now that I have the time to do so, I am catching up on my blogging and am pleased to report that the cartel, minus LED, did meet last Saturday at Wild Wing. Unfortunately, the event was so long ago that I barely remember what discussions took place and what world problems were solved. D provided the Wild Wing staff, Jenny and a new girl who's name I did not catch, with a frog set of Salt & Pepper shakers.

From here we were off to the movies to see the Break-Up. Don't ask why, my vote was clearly for X-Men 3. The movie only had about 5 funny scenes and one great shot of Jennifer Aniston's ass - that scene almost made it worth he price of admission - almost!