Digital cam and other failures at the Santa Claus Parade

So Smalley has never been to the Santa Claus Parade; yes that may be a major parenting failure on my part but it's usually damn cold in T.O. by mid-November and as people who know me have heard me say many times, "I am not genetically engineered for the cold!" Plus I spent a number of years at the parade with my Pathfinder unit when they were selected with the "honour" of being in the Colour Party. I have seen enough of these Parades to know there isn't anything "special" or "magical" about them. It's a bunch of tired old floats, way too many bands and finally some white guy in an old red suit - all while you're standing in the cold. Unless you were "smart" enough to get there hours early so you could pluck down your camp chair in a prime viewing location; then you'd have the "pleasure" of sitting through this thing instead, still. In. The. Cold!

But I suppose every child should be exposed to it at least once or twice. And since I do perpetuate the whole "Santa" concept at our house (and will for as long as Smalley's buying it), I should give in and take her to see the Parade herself.

As luck would have it, this year the weather was actually really nice on November 15. (Yes, the Parade in Toronto was actually three weeks ago and I am only now getting around to posting about it, whatever!) So a friend and I went down with our kids.

The parade was... meh. I mean the kids had an okay time, they got spots up front to sit and I actually had a nice time exchanging barbs with some guy from Hamilton who brought his daughters (e.g. which one of us was going to get to zip into the bar for a drink while the other stayed with the kids, that clown looks happy for all the wrong reasons, how unpeppy can a pep squad be, etc.). But all in all it was way too long (2.5 hours vs. the promised time of 1 hour) and I can't help but wonder what today's kids are really getting out of it. Maybe the really young ones are entralled, but Smalley is 7 and Celine is 11 and I just don't think they got much out of it.

For one thing the floats are all out of date. (When's the last time you saw a McDonald's commercial featuring Ronald's friends? My kid has no idea who The Hamburgler or Grimace are, so I'm thinking at least five years since one has been aired here in the Ontario area.) So these characters meant nothing to her and Celine, and from the reactions I saw, not much to many other kids their age who were in attendance. And the updated floats are targeting a really young age group. (Handy Manny is great but kids over five or six are probably done with him.) And there were so many bands. So. Many. Freaking. Bands. (It's great that the schools and the employee unions and special interest groups are all coordinated enough to get a marching band together but they're not all that great, and you can only take so many of the okay ones.)

And I have to tell you that honestly, I found the clowns scary. Especially since so many of them are volunteers who are not willing to go to the full effort needed to pull off a clown (e.g. full make-up, pinning your hair up so it doesn't show from under your wig, bothering to wear a wig!, showing just a little bit of enthusiasm as you walk the route). Aside from all this, the only real highlight was getting pelted with mini-candy canes from the very bored looking kids riding the floats. lovely, all this trouble for eye injury.

I mean how does any of this qualify as a "parade"? (Keeping in mind that I am a Guyanese in Toronto so to me, parade means Caribana which is definitely not a mere spectator event!)

Ah well, at least I took her and she saw one. We had brunch after and the kids certainly enjoyed that (chocolate chip and banana pancakes, yum)! Too bad my camera battery died and I only got a few pics, missed the big man too.

The group before we head downtown. I'm Mrs. Claus apparently.

An updated Mother Goose that actually looks okay.

The kids enjoying the parade, before their butts went numb.

Something seriously wrong with this dragon's pose. Seriously.

Can't wait...

Precious finally opened in widescale release today here in Toronto. Last week it opened at two theatres in the whole freaking city. But this week you can catch it at about half a dozen - which is lot better, but still not ideal. Luckily it's playing near my 'hood so I'm checkign it out tonight.

I  have been pumped to see this movie ever since it started getting buzz at the TIFF this past September. A friend at work (who always takes in a number of screenings when TIFF's in town) saw it and thought it was good, but intense.

I read the book. I fully know what I'm walking into but I still want to see it. I expect it to be raw and gritty and no doubt I'll be sobbing (that said I cry for everything, really) but I still want to see it. The book was mesmerizing and horrifying at the same time.

My little sis is going with me (not Spike, ANOTHER little sis) and strangely enough my little bro wants to tag a long too. Not so much for the movie but more beacuse he wants to hang out with us. Might be strange for him, but we'll have fun. And if he's really not down he can just slip into the theatre showing Ninja Assassin or something.

[Aside: ever since they moved out I haven't been able to see them very often. We're all busy. And I really miss hanging with them. FYI: my 18-year-old sister and  14-year-old brother moved up here from Guyana and lived with me for about six months earlier this year until their mother - my stepmother - and our other brother - 13 years old - came up too. Heck at one point all four of them were bunking at my place until their apartment was ready. My name is dreag21 and I run a shelter, didn't you know that? lol]

My cuz supposed to join us tonight, but I think she might be a no-show. I was looking forward to hanging out with her since we haven't done so in awhile but whatever. Ah well, nothing's stopping me from seeing this film.

And tomorrow, after dance classes, I'm taking Smalley to see This Is It. Saw a midnight screening when it first came out, LOV-ED it. And she really wants to see it so Mama is happy to take her. (We're on a movie kick lately - we saw New Moon last Saturday too with Celine. FYI: I'm Team Edward for Bella... because I want Jacob for myself! lol My name is dreag21 and I'm lusting after a teenaged, fictional werewolf. I have no problem with this so why should you? lol)

Anyway, all in all, it looks like a good start to the weekend. have a good one!

Justice sux

So I attended my court date today. For a traffic violation... a traffic violation that I do not believe I was guilty of. A traffic violation that was going to cost me $190 bucks! So you know, I had to fight it.

But I did something stupid... I was late getting to court and that my friends (if there are any friends reading) messed me up big time. Let me explain:

I don't know how it works elsewhere but here in The Big Smoke (BTW: really don't understand why that's a nickname for Toronto. I get Hogtown - meat processing plants; and Muddy York - unpaved streets; and everyone gets T-dot; but The Big Smoke? WTF?). Anyhoo, here in The Big Smoke we can fight traffic violation and parking infraction tickets in court. And I take everything to court! Because half the time T.O.'s finest do not bother to show up since they only get a minimum amount of paid on-duty time to attend court dates. So if you show up and your cop isn't there, you tell the prosecutor you want to fight the charges and your case has to be dismissed since there's no witness to testify against you. Should you crap out and get the lone overzealous po-po who actually comes to court, you simple plead guilty with an explanation and get a reduced fine (and usually no demerit points taken from your license). Not a bad deal all in all, and one that I have taken advantage of a number of times in my driving career.

Today, I totally intended to follow a similar route. And as luck would have it, my cop totally didn't show up. But I totally screwed myself because I didn't get there early enough to check-in with the prosecutor and discuss the trial. So she didn't know my intentions before we had to appear before the judge. And she didn't have the opportunity to determine my cop was a no-show and be so kind as to throw my case out. Instead, I got there seconds (I kid you not people - seconds!) before the judge enters. The prosecutor hisses at me to "Sit down! I'll speak to you later!" And I know I am screwed.

About 25 minutes into the proceeding (mainly a lot of folks pleading guilty to lesser charges and asking for time to pay their fine) the freaking prosecutor asks the judge for a moment of indulgence to speak to a defendant that arrived late. Oh thanks lady! That'll help my case for sure. She then gives me the usual spiel about pleading down, etc. When I ask about fighting the charge she advises me that if I choose that route she'll have no other option but to post-pone the matter to another date since I arrived late. She then advises that me that if goes to trial and I am found guilty the fine could be increased (up to $500) and the three demerits points would be non-negotiable.

And this is the point when I lose all my bravado (I usually walk around with a hell of a lot of this shit) and I say, "okay, I'll plead guilty... ma'am." Dammit. I hate in when my balls shrink like that. (Yes, as a matter of fact I do have balls - not hermaphrodite-Caster Semenya-type testes mind you, but brazen-filled, spit-and-vinegar, psychological, lady balls.)

So I plead guilty. And I get a reduced charge of $85 with no demerit points. And I skulk out of that courtroom so fast with my stepson laughing at my back and saying "yo, you punked out! what happened back there huh?" Ridiculed by a teenage boy, great.

Thinking back on it now, I know the $500 that scared me. I couldn't risk that. And re-booking the court date meant another notice of trial being sent to me and the cop which meant another chance that he'd show. And I wasn't willing to risk it. I could have pushed for another trial date, I realize now. Lady Prosecutor *might* have backed down and thrown it out. Or I could have showed up at the second trial and changed my plea then if needed. But I didn't think of all that then. All I was thinking then was, "Girl you do NOT have $500 bucks to waste on this ish". And so I punked out. Simply put, LP played a better game of chicken than I did.

So I guess the lesson learned here is that I should stop being late all time and get to places on time. (I can hear my family saying "Hell ya" right now.) Cost me $105 (85 reduced fine + 20 court surcharge fee) to learn that lesson.

Or I could stop getting traffic tickets... nah! (I got two other trials scheduled for this year and two more coming next year! lol)