Find out more at Save Ivor Wynne Stadium dot com.

How early impressions, made a lasting impression for one little girl.

Saturday was my eldest’s second visit to Ivor Wynne Stadium. Browsing through some old images of her last trip to Ivor Wynne, going by her uncanny resemblance to our two year old (or vice versa), I realized it had already been two years since the first time daddy shared this very special place with his then little girl.

Now almost four, packing for our day trip was much less laborious. No stroller, no thermos full of warm milk, no toys, diapers or any such supplies. Just a camera, binoculars, and a big foam Tiger claw.

Dressed in our Oskee wee wee best, hand and hand without a care in the world, we walked over to the game early to enjoy the family day inflatable festivities at the adjoining Brian Timmins Stadium prior to the game.

“Look at that daddy” she admired, pointing over and beyond King George School at the stadium lights that shoot high above the rooftops.

“That’s where we are going, honey”, I smiled. If the anticipation of taking my girl hadn’t been enough, the excitement in her voice as we neared Ivor Wynne, had me grinning from ear to ear.

Before we left, my daughter had drawn a picture that she wanted to give to the ticket person at the football game. She handed it to the woman at the Will Call window, who with a big smile, expressed that ‘they don’t get many drawings’, and how ‘the walls could use some color’.

My daughter shyly smiled, but then started to cry; big sad tears and all. Apparently, daddy’s choice of footwear; purple Dora the Explorer Crocs, were not all that suitable for our 20 minute walk over to 75 Balsam Ave. She had a blister on her ankle from where the strap had rubbed up against her bare skin.

The very kind and sympathetic Will Call employees scrounged around in search of a band-aid, meanwhile a couple of sincere cheerleaders stopped to ask my daughter what was the matter. She stopped crying and looked up at the two girls standing over her with big, bright smiles. I imagined to her, they were like princesses which of course, are any girls favourite.

The game was still an hour-and-a-half from kick-off, and the Tiger-Cats organization had already turned a negative “I want to go home”, to a positive “I just met a princess” and “I have a new band-aid”.

TC (Tiger-Cat), one of two mascots (and our oldest), would be my daughters next positive impression at Ivor Wynne Stadium. Well, first was the balloon lady who made her a pretty flower, but as we rested in the grass amongst the inflatable carnival, she nervously watched on and up, as hoards of people surrounded her and TC, for some photo opportunities.

My daughter had been scared of both TC and our other mascot, Stripes, at her first ever game, and two years later, there was still a bit of an uneasy reserve as TC stood next to her. When he walked by her though and moved on to the next crowd of admirers, a giddy smile returned to her tear-filled face. Suddenly, forgetting her boo boo, she watched his every move as he wondered around the Brian Timmins grounds. For the rest of the day, she would continually ask me where the Tiger-Cats were. To her, the players on the field were just a bunch of men running around the field. TC and Stripes were the Tiger-Cats.

The injury kept my girl from enjoying the bouncy pre-game festivities, so we headed back into the stadium, found a bench under the bleachers, and enjoyed a hot dog before the game.

Carrying my wounded warrior, we headed up to our section 30 seats, and settled in with plenty of time to go before kick-off. Of course, the 5th largest outdoor video board in North America was the first thing that caught her eye.

“Daddy! Look at that.”

I took the camera out and the two of us spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns documenting our game day experiences.

There was so much for her curious eyes to take in as she looked around the stadium, first noticing the parachuter’s. She couldn’t understand why someone would willingly jump out of a plane, although she got a kick out of all the excitement as they made their way to centre field.

She admired the other planes from the Wartime Heritage Museum as well, never having seen an airplane fly so close to the ground except at an airport. Even I thought that was pretty cool.

The flag ceremony is impressive for adults and children alike, and my daughter loved seeing all those people holding onto the edges and gathered underneath the Canada flag that spanned the better part of the length and width of the field. It reminded her of a game her and her classmates played in her pre-school.

My shoeless babe had all but forgotten about her wound by this time, and was in awe of all the people and excitement surrounding her. The cheering, the music, and the Tiger roar. “Row!”, I always say to my girls at home. “Tiger-Cats.”

I am trying.

Just before half-time, we escaped downstairs for a bathroom break and some sight seeing. My daughter got quite a kick out of the many characters that make up the game day crowd, from funny wigs, a ‘big man’ on stilts, cheese heads, and of course, the now infamous (corn on the)‘Cobb’ heads inspired by our star running back, DeAndra’ Cobb.

“Look daddy. That man has cheese on his head.” I can only imagine what was going on in my little girls mind, as she took all of this in. When you really pause for a moment and look around, the football crowd is quite a motley crew.

“That’s silly”, she concluded with an equally as silly chuckle.

Later on in the game, I remembered that I had brought my binoculars and from that moment, the search was on for TC and Stripes. She knew where one or the other were pretty much the rest of the game.

“Look daddy! I found the Tiger-Cats.”

Besides her endless search for the striped mascots, another early game day impression had my daughter pointing to the Cheerleaders dancing on Tiger Vision and on the field, every time it was their turn to dance.

“Those are the girls you met before the game. Do you remember?

“Ya daddy”, she said with an exuberant smile.

Although the opening day return of the Tabbies wasn’t the outcome the home crowd had anticipated all winter long, Marcus Thigpen once again kept fans on the edge of their seats for the second week in a row, with a kick return to the house, and a second TD on offence. He has certainly become an early fan favourite this year.

We waited until most of the crowd exited, before making our way downstairs and back over to the inflatable carnival. After testing out a couple of ‘rides’, we grabbed a drink for the journey home.

It was nice being able to walk to the stadium together, and to enjoy rare moments between my big girl and I.

The day could have ended before it really began, but thanks to a certain Will Call lady and two very pretty and concerned cheerleaders who took a moment to comfort my little princess, it was a remarkable day for daddy and daughter.

Thank-you, Ticats.

One more cherished Ivor Wynne Stadium memory on what was another Beautiful Night(afternoon) for Football.

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Daugher’s view of the game

My eldest daughter on her first to IWS

The folowing, is a link to my latest article as published on ‘Raise the Hammer’ in response to the dilemna surrounding the proposed new Hamilton stadium site.

There are some great comments following my story from many others who are dissapointed that our beloved stadium wasn’t even considered in this whole 2015 Pan Am Games process.

Below, is a video that coincides with this story. This presentation exhibits what is special about the area surrounding the current stadium, and it’s high accessibility to downtown and multiple highways.

As well,  the video shows how we could utilize adjacent lands (if we must build a new stadium), to construct a new venue in the neighborhood that Ivor Wynne currently calls home.

THE SCENE

Every Thursday is ‘The Scene’ at The Skydragon Center, where artists of many genres gather for an open mic night. From music, spoken word, and everything inbetween.

This Thursday, our band (the Devi’s Workshop) will open up ‘The Scene’ at 8′oclock for a set, before we open up the stage to anyone with something to say, sing, or show.

Come on out and have a few drinks, enjoy THE best veggie burger in the world (seriously), a great night of the arts in Hamilton.

The Skydragon is at 27 King William St, between James and John in downtown Hamilton.

Hope to see you there.

The Skydragon is at:
27 King William St
Hamilton, ON
Between John and James, one block north of King.

He had lists for everything. His entire day; his life, was bound by them. From lists detailing when each scheduled maintenance was due on their auto, to grocery lists. It drove Janice crazy.

Janice hated to complain about this seemingly harmless habit as the meals that were the result of the careful grocery lists he planned out, were quite flavourful. She also never had any issues with her car either. Jack always made sure of that. Her husband was a believer in staying on top of things. Was that really something to fault him for?

This time though, Jack had gone too far.

As Janice held his latest list in her hands, the one she had found in his pants pocket while doing HIS laundry, she read the two columns that topped the page.

Her Faults. Her strengths.

Under Jack’s list, Janice started her own.

To do:
File for divorce

Front and Back cover art.

To read the history behind this short story launch and to read the story, visit my other blog at http://www.abeautifulnightforfootball.com/blog/?p=360 or http://www.abnff.com/blog/?p=360.

Cheers,

Lawrence Thomas on Harp

We (Devils Workshop), are playing at the old Ricca’s Furniture Building on James St N again this Friday May 14th from 8-9pm (see directions here), as part of this months Art Crawl.

Come check out some amazing art, and see how the art’s community is changing James St N.

NOTE: New show added for this Thursday as well. Check out http://www.sellaband.com/storytime for details on this second (or 1st) show addition.

Cheers,

I have a lot of writing on the go, including a new short story that I will be publishing shortly.

Also, I just submitted a poem to the Gritlit writing contest so we’ll see how that goes.

Well, I survived my first mobile post. This is a good way to keep them short. My fingers are cramped.

Have a great day. Oh, and my first live gig went great. Lot’s of fun and there will be more dates announced in the coming weeks I am sure.

Cheers,

Lawrence Thomas on Harp

We (Devils Workshop), are playing at the Ricca’s Furniture Building on James St N tonight around 7:30pm (see directions here), as part of this months Art Crawl.

Find out more about The Crawl at http://www.jamesstreetnorth.ca/blog/?p=901.

It isn’t an official show as we will just be playing in the background to add a little music to the evening before the main act lights it up around 9pm, but come check out some amazing art, and especially, come learn how this great community is coming together to ‘Save the Dragon’.

It’ll be lot’s of fun and so many people (including my cousin/brother Mike Pattison), have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into making this a great night.

Never been to one of these monthly James St N Art Crawls, then tonight is a great night to attend your first one.

Come out and support the Skydragon. Come out and support community.

Learn more about the Skydragon as well at http://www.skydragon.org/blog.

Cheers.

Sivais attempted to supplement an xxx ingredient for a slightly cheaper xxy one for the potion he was conjuring up. What harm could it possibly do? They more or less contained the same elements.

The concoction was to transform him into a fear-provoking demon, with a plan to take over the earth world.

The Council was handing out grants for fresh business startups to help booster the Denhag economy, and Siv (as he was known by his friends and close colleagues), knew his proposal was foolproof. Obviously Council didn’t know Siv.

Sivais could sell a whosit at a whatsit convention but the reality was, that he didn’t know his whatchamacallits from his thingamabobs.

As Siv stepped out his cottage door, he knew something had gone terribly wrong. His stride had turned to a skitter, and he felt gargantuan bucked teeth pressing down on his bottom lip.

“Great. A fear-provoking rabbit.”