Garmin Forerunner and FKO part 3

Inspired by conversations with Greg McMullan (back at GAfilk) and Tanya Huff, I went out and used some of my birthday money to buy a Garmin Forerunner 205, which is a GPS-enabled pedometer/trainer.

I've found that tracking progress is a big motivator in my exercise, but I haven't had much luck with my pedometers. One stopped working and I accidentally dropped another into an indoor fountain. :-( The Forerunner tracks all kinds of data without me having to do anything other than turn the device on and off. When I get home after a run or a walk, I just stick the device on a cradle connected to a USB port on my computer, and the stats are uploaded.

Yesterday, for example, I was out for two walks: 5.22 km (1:02 hours, avg speed 5.1 km/hr, burned 322 calories) and 2.45 km (26 min, avg speed 5.6 km/hr, burned 123 calories). I can track my progress locally on my computer, or on the MotionBased Web site.



But back to FilKONtario. So far I've posted Part 1 and
Part 2. Allison's finished posting her FKO reports at:

FilKONtario '08 - Part 1: concom thanks, Tony birthday conspiracy, rehearsals, Marilyn Miller
FilKONtario '08 - Part 2: Tom and Sue's wedding
FilKONtario '08 - Part 3: Urban Tapestry concert
FilKONtario '08 - Part 4: Friday night concerts, one-shots
FilKONtario '08 - Part 5: Thirteen and Desserts and Auctions and Anvils.
FilKONtario '08 - Part 6: Orgami Penguins and Art Slideshows and Harbors and Home.

As Allison mentioned, it was fun to help Vixy with her birthday conspiracy. Jodi found a cute stuffed moose and card, and I brought along some balloons and other birthday party gear. I didn't have time to make a cake plus knew I wouldn't be able to carry one with my other luggage, so I improvised with store-bought cupcakes.



The wedding was wonderful. Like Tom and Sue, the ceremony was relaxed and full of joy. People were encouraged to wear medieval costumes, and the celebratory atmosphere was punctuated by colour and laughter throughout. Sue had made her own costume, and Tom's and Dave's costumes were made by France Andrews.



Music was provided by Al Thomson and Dave Clement, two of Tom's closest friends. I hadn't seen Al in a while, and it was great to hang out with him a bit during the rest of the weekend as well as see him perform in open filk. Dave and Al perform in Curraugh back in Winnipeg. Also great to see Elizabeth (Dave Clement's wife), Doug, and David Rivers from Winnipeg again!



Above: Merle putting the finishing touches on the wedding cake. Merle von Thorn and Marah Searle-Kovacevic did a fantastic job in the con suite as well. Their dessert buffet after the Filk Hall of Fame Banquet was a feast, including homemade caramel apple squares, harvest bars (cranberries, apricots, walnuts, white chocolate), brownies, magic bars, rice krispy treats, apple pie, strawberries cardinal, fruit, veggies, brie, havarti, chocolate truffles, Laura Secora chocolate, and butter tarts. Yum.

I didn't get a chance to sample the wedding dessert buffet table because Allison, Jodi and I had to go warm up for our concert, but those desserts looked pretty amazing as well!


Photo by Korak

One of the things I loved most about the wedding: the focus on the joy of the occasion rather than the details.



The handfasting ceremony was lovely, simple, and deeply moving. You can read a description of it in Allison's Livejournal entry about the wedding.



You can see more photos from the wedding and the convention in my Flickr set, plus Korak and Phil Mills took some great wedding photos.



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