Adventures of Mandogrl!

Well, I knew we must have had our own Groundhog.....sure enough I just got this comment on the blog from Graham who informs me (and now I am informing you in case you didn't know)......

".....but you know that article about Wiarton Willy, well he has nothing on Whaleback's own "Tappie the Ptarmigan" in predicitng the timing of spring. According to Tappie, who resides on the bog atop Raven's Ridge, we're going to be grooming the trails 'till June. So no spring in the forecast! Shockin' ... I want to be kayaking then. If that bird doesn't change his predicition, he'll be in a stew in the Pentagon!" GO

So no worries mates about putting those skiis away yet for awhile!!!!

Okay folks .... I am going to give this a try again.
but for the moment I am blogging at ...

www.theviewfromwhaleback@blogspot.com

Here is a new link to the TaeKwonDo Club for Stephenville.
Marigold, James and I are members of this club. We are sort of
winding down for the year. We are having our year end party this Saturday
at the bowling alley.

http://www.stephenvilletaekwondo.ca/

I had some draft entries that I meant to get put on earlier. If you scroll down you will see them. I just realized that when you write a draft it is posted for that date. I wonder if there is any way to change that????

I hope everyone is enjoying my slideshow. What a great tool for posting slideshows and videos at: www.slide.com We are hoping to get some videos up there of some of the performances that take place with the Folk Nights. Anyway, I know my slideshow was just an excuse for me since I haven't blogged much this winter. I figure I'd stick a few pictures in a slideshow and that would be that. I do have a few draft blogs that I will now post. Please excuse the lateness and quality of this work. I just don't stop.

This is not the weakest link,,,,,definitely NOT!!!! I have a new link added to my sidebar and I will also put it here. It's the link for the recently formed Bay St. George Folk Arts Council. I did put that link in an earlier blog entry but we now have our own domain so that one is not there anymore, although it does tell you it moved to: www.bsgfolkart.com We just recently had a show, Saturday night past at the Redwood Lounge so we are hoping to get all those pics up in the next couple of days. I will also try to post some pictures here as well. We are hoping that this council will ensure that traditional, folk, local music, art, etc....will remain strong in the Bay St. George area.

This was a message that Graham Oliver sent out to everyone who was associated with the ski club in any way, shape or form, this past winter. You can see him skiing down the Kamikazee in the slideshow above.

Hi Folks: Recently James Benoit had to do a composition for Music for Young Children and just have a peek of what this young man thinks of winter. Whaleback plays very neatly into his thoughts of winter as it does in ours. This is what he wrote:
"I like winter snow,,,,
I like winter snow
So I can ski,,,,down the kamikaze
Whaleback is the place to be,,,come along and follow me
Here I go down the hill,,,,,watch me go what a thrill...."
(And in the photo you have James skiing down the Kamikaze during the Christmas break. Very appropriate indeed! Now just think how many more people we would have skiing at Whaleback if they were all thinking like James .... what a poem for ACTIVE LIVING. Yeah for James! Hey James it ranks right up there with Albert Stewart's composition:"Kicken' n a Gliden' doin' the Snowy Owl... Yeah Kickin' and a Gliden' Doin' the Snowy Owl. ,,,,Take a look .... will also send a few photos of a virtual tour of the trails at Whaleback today in case you couldn't make it out today.Salut, Graham

National title for accomplished student athlete
Luke Pike
By Jeff Green
Fifth-year Science student Luke Pike turned a few heads recently at an elite athletic event in Nova Scotia. The Grand Bank native, who graduates next month after completing a joint honours degree in biochemistry and chemistry and is this province’s latest Rhodes Scholar, is now the 100 kilogram junior national champion after competing in the 2007 Canadian National Powerlifting Championships in Dartmouth.
The 23-year-old Memorial student came out on top in his category, lifting a combined total of 697.5 kilograms. in three separate components: squats, bench press and deadlift. There were more than 100 people at the championships.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “I’ve been training for more than six years now and I’ve been aiming at this goal for quite a while. I’m excited to represent Memorial, Newfoundland and Canada on the international level.”
Becoming the junior national champion in his category means Mr. Pike earns bragging rights to head to France for the International Powerlifting Federation’s world juniors in September.
“I’m psyched and scared,” he added with a laugh. He said holding the national title is quite significant for him as an athlete.
“It means that all the work I’ve done has been fruitful and it gives me motivation to work even harder in hopes of placing at the international level,” he explained. “In going from provincial and regional-level meets to the national-level meets, the calibre of lifting and the intensity of competition increase tremendously. In going to the world level, it will be so much greater.”
Mr. Pike trains at Memorial during the week, as well as with a group of other lifters. He said there are three key things that make up any good powerlifter: “dedication, never missing any training sessions; tolerance for pain, both physical from injury and mental from loss; and aggression and drive. This sport is 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent physical.”
Meanwhile, in addition to being excited about heading to France in September, garnering a new title and graduating in May, Mr. Pike said he’s equally thrilled about starting a new chapter in his academic career later this October. That’s when he heads off to Oxford University to begin studies at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine to complete a graduate degree in medical oncology.
Read more: Gazette, Dec. 14, 2006: Grand Bank native becomes latest Rhodes Scholar.
“I have received official acceptance to the university,” he said with a wide smile. “I am looking forward to the tremendous academic experience as well as the opportunity to train with the varsity team there.”
April 5, 2007