Academy Awards Viewing Party at Dickie's

Perry and Dickie organized a potluck dinner at Dickie's house on Sunday. We were going to watch the Academy Awards on TV there. Ellen Degeneres was hosting this year. She's really good.

As usual, I said I'd bring dessert. Normally I look for a store bought pie since I can't cook. Before I could go out and get it Perry called me and said, too many people were bringing dessert. He suggested I buy a veggie platter instead.

We had a good turnout - 15 to 20 people. I believe most of them were either from Perry's church or Dickie's church. There was a fair amount of food. I noticed hardly anyone touched my veggie platter (baby carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower with dip). Bad choice, Perry! Nobody likes healthy food (wink, wink).

Perry had his traditional Academy Awards quiz to see who could pick the most category winners. This year he provided a "cheat sheet" with the Las Vegas odds on the favourites for each category. It helped for some of the more obscure choices (like best animated short or best foreign language film).

I hadn't seen most or even any of the movies nominated this year. So I relied heavily on the cheat sheet with a few hunches thrown in. Turns out it was a good way to pick. I ended up tied with Perry for most correct answers. Out of the 24-25 questions we both only got four wrong. It made watching a bit more interesting. We were on edge as each award was given keenly checking our answers.

It was good to meet up with everyone again. I don't see the guys that much. Probably only 2-3 times a year whenever we meet for birthdays or other holidays.

Valentine's Day Party (for Singles... Mostly)

Nalini, Virginia, Deidre, Marie, Florianne, Denise and Daryl with Tom in front.

Virginia held a Valentine's get together for all the lonely singles out there. We could keep each other company and drown our sorrows (if we so desired). Though, truth be told, there half the group were couples. It was just another excuse to get together with our friends.

I got there a bit early because I wanted to take pictures of the sun setting. Virginia lives on the 40th floor of a condo facing west at Yonge and Sheppard. I was hoping to get there by 5:00 before the sun dipped too low below the horizon. Unfortunately I was late because I had a meeting to finish up our church's 100th Anniversary book. By the time I got there the sun had already disappeared. So sad.

I took a few pictures anyway. The view was pretty nice. After that I went in to talk with Virginia and her friend Malcolm who drove in from Pembroke. They met while traveling. I can't remember where now.

In all I think about 15 people showed. Some were new to me. Others I had met at least once or twice in the past. A lot of them are friends of Tom who I play hockey with on Fridays.

I had an enjoyable time. I took lots of pictures of everything and everyone. That's what I like doing.

To top it off I did manage to get some great shots of the orange glow of the sun beneath the horizon against a dark, blue sky. I think they really look spectacular. Check my Flickr.com page page to see them.