This last weekend was eventful, finding me in the small town of London Ontario for a dragon boat race. I like the sound of it. London. Yes well if you must know we went to London last weekend for a race. The Annual International Dragon Boat Competition of London. Yes yes our team is that good. We raced 8th overall. We raced on the Upper Thames. Jolly good. Unfortunately London Ontario is not quite so grandiose but hey.

Anywho, the trip up was fun. I designated myself the personal motivator of our driver, which resulted in me singing lots of Aerosmith, U2, and random tunes on the radio to keep her awake. She sung along as well so it was all good except that I had this minor cold and my voice didn’t last very long.

We stayed at a campsite near the Upper Thames. It was nice, clean, civilized. Running water, real bathrooms, etc… A plastic outdoor experience just the way I like it. The temperature dropped to about 8 or 9 degrees Celsius. It was fine though. I slept on a queen size inflatable mattress. It would have been perfect except for having to wakeup at 8 AM to make our races.

Saturday evening we BBQed on an open fire and drank copious quantities of beer. The heavens treated us to a beautiful sunset. I spun fire for the team, and glow sticks. We told stories. I recited Annabel Lee, by Edgar Allen Poe. The sky opened up allowing me to once again balk at the glory of infinite white specks against a dark crystal backdrop. My eyes got lost marveling at the soft glow of dying embers. I was one of the last to go to sleep. All in all it was fantastic.

Race wise we did well. We may not have been the best team, but we definitely were the funniest, as we screamed out “Eat ME!” whilst getting our medals. Ohh did I mention we won a medal in London this weekend? Racing on the Upper Thames river we did. Second place in the B Division. London’s International Dragon Boat Competition. Smashing good time it was. I love the sound of that.

The trip back was difficult. The Minister of the Interior had his interior probed by a sleeping bag which was compensating for the shortness of the bench upon which we were sardined on. Fortunately there was good music. We stopped in Toronto on the way back for Chinese food. My advice to you, don’t stop at a Chinese all you can eat buffet as a means of trying out the fine fine delicacies of Toronto. Keep driving, or find a better place. I got home at 2 AM last night, and naturally I couldn’t fall asleep cause I slept in the car. The rest of my evening was pretty much self-entertainment before passing out, if you know what I mean.

I’ll be putting up pictures just as soon as the photographers send me what they took.

As Surgeon General, it gives me great pleasure to appoint the new Minister of Fisheries. He knows who he is. Congratulations and welcome aboard buddy.