Star Blog Entry: 18/09/09
The Task Force have now to earth returned
Their mission here complete
From this young team, Starfleet has learned
How tough they’ll be to beat
The’ve gone, they left us
It’s so sad
Quietly they went, without any fuss
Perhaps a few were even a little glad
Boo hoo
Oh so sad (okay, I never could write jingles)
But wait, one bright spark decided to remain
Some wonder if she’s really sane
Weekends now see Elizabeth here
There is someone at the command post, never fear!
Along with Helen, Lindsay and Steph
And volunteers we love to have
We shall journey on, both high and low
So visitors can see what Burlington has to show
Enough of the rhyming – but you get the gyst that although our taskforce are educating their sponge like brains (that’s a compliment), we are still here to assist visitors enjoy our beautiful city, whether visiting family and friends, booking a meeting/conference/sports events, planning day trips….we are here!
Labour day weekend saw over 175,000 people swarm into our city for those tasty ribs; visitors not just from Burlington, but Mississauga,Toronto, Stoney Creek, Oakville, London, Niagara as well as overseas visitors, visiting family here and even a few from over the border, south of us. Yes, 150,000 lbs of ribs were consumed (how many pigs would that be??)….the weather was beautiful, the lake was smooth and 18 ribbers worked feverishly to feed the mounds of waiting line ups.
Now we look forward to the falling leaves, the cooler temperatures (was it ever hot?), drives in and around our area; visit the Royal Botanical Gardens and enjoy their Earth Art/SculptArt and SoundArt Exhibits – all on until Thanksgiving; Applefest Fall Fair at Ireland House at Oakridge Farm on September 27th; explore Conservation Halton parks during their “Fall into’ Nature” event on from 10-12 & 17,18 October; and so much more – visit our website at www.tourismburlington.com for more ideas.
So good luck task force in your intellectual pursuits, I miss.... “You went where, last night?", “I only had 3 hrs sleep”, “You want to take photos out on Lake Ontario – will you back today”, “Can you swap shifts with me so I can sleep in tomorrow”, “Can I park the starship on the road”, “What’s that on your face”, “My elbows are red and sore and I don’t know why”…..“Do we have to wear our banana shirts”….
In the words of K&A – stay classy Burlington, until next time….
C.K.
P.S. This just in….Young Will has not yet returned to Earth – we wonder if he ever will!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Status: Task Force - Final Curtain
Now the story of a Task Force family who were awesome at everything and the two bloggers who had no choice but to chronicle their adventures. It’s Blogging Development.
Loyal followers (all seven of you), it’s that time. Time to dance? No. Time to party? No. Time for lupus? No, it’s never lupus. It is time for our last blog. We’re going to make this more dramatic than it needs to be. So bust out your tissues as we break out the memories. But don’t worry. We will always be here with you. We’re never going to give you up, never going to let you down. So with that, let us present you with:
Task Force: Top Ten Things Overheard in the Office – The Final Countdown
10. “No Alyssa, that can’t go into the blog.”
9. “This is Andrea. She reads Harry Potter.” “This is Alyssa. She won’t drive on the highway.”
8. “Guys, Dwight is dead.”
7. “Sorry, Linda O. is in a meeting right now. Can I transfer you to her voicemail?” “Actually, she still isn’t back yet.” “You know what, why don’t I take your name and number and I’ll tell her you called.”
6. “Good morning/afternoon/evening Tourism Burlington. This is [insert name here]. How may I help you?”
5. “Alyssa, listen. Can I pick you up in the Special Events van tomorrow?”
4. “If you are late getting me at Discovery Landing, we are no longer friends.”
3. “You can’t stat that! Read the Official Rules of Stat Betting!”
2. “Actually, this isn’t the RBG.”
1. “Down the stairs to your left.”
We hope you enjoyed that. One final thing related to our actual jobs – Ribfest is this weekend. It’s free. And delicious. So go. You’ll enjoy yourself. And then perhaps want to thank us by leaving a comment? No? Well, we tried.
Alright, this is the end. Thanks to everyone for reading. A note to the Captain, our guiding light: we feel like all [her] children. Some young, some restless, some bold, but all beautiful. A note to the rest of you: you have no idea how high we can fly.
As always, stay classy Burlington.
-K&A
Loyal followers (all seven of you), it’s that time. Time to dance? No. Time to party? No. Time for lupus? No, it’s never lupus. It is time for our last blog. We’re going to make this more dramatic than it needs to be. So bust out your tissues as we break out the memories. But don’t worry. We will always be here with you. We’re never going to give you up, never going to let you down. So with that, let us present you with:
Task Force: Top Ten Things Overheard in the Office – The Final Countdown
10. “No Alyssa, that can’t go into the blog.”
9. “This is Andrea. She reads Harry Potter.” “This is Alyssa. She won’t drive on the highway.”
8. “Guys, Dwight is dead.”
7. “Sorry, Linda O. is in a meeting right now. Can I transfer you to her voicemail?” “Actually, she still isn’t back yet.” “You know what, why don’t I take your name and number and I’ll tell her you called.”
6. “Good morning/afternoon/evening Tourism Burlington. This is [insert name here]. How may I help you?”
5. “Alyssa, listen. Can I pick you up in the Special Events van tomorrow?”
4. “If you are late getting me at Discovery Landing, we are no longer friends.”
3. “You can’t stat that! Read the Official Rules of Stat Betting!”
2. “Actually, this isn’t the RBG.”
1. “Down the stairs to your left.”
We hope you enjoyed that. One final thing related to our actual jobs – Ribfest is this weekend. It’s free. And delicious. So go. You’ll enjoy yourself. And then perhaps want to thank us by leaving a comment? No? Well, we tried.
Alright, this is the end. Thanks to everyone for reading. A note to the Captain, our guiding light: we feel like all [her] children. Some young, some restless, some bold, but all beautiful. A note to the rest of you: you have no idea how high we can fly.
As always, stay classy Burlington.
-K&A
Friday, August 28, 2009
Status: Task Force Letting it Run
The Kat came back the very next day. The Kat came back; we thought she was a goner. But the Kat came back; she just couldn’t stay awaaaaay.
Clarification: we never actually thought Kat was a goner. It just fit with the song.
So yes as you’ve undoubtedly figured out, Kat is back! Yaaaaaaay!!! Alyssa can be edited again! But that was not the only exciting thing that occurred in the universe this week…
First, and most importantly, the Top Secret Staff Shindig, which Captain Kirk and crew decided would be a surprise until we got there. They tested out our powers of deductive reasoning by giving us cryptic clues as to our destination.
Clue 1) “If you don’t want it to get dirty, don’t wear it.”
This led us to believe that it was mud wrestling.
Clue 2) “The more into it you get, the dirtier you get.”
This led us to believe that it was a pie eating contest.
Clue 3) “It’s not so much dirty as it is wet.”
This led us to believe that it was wrestling in the lake while eating pies.
Clue 4) “Meet at the William’s in Hamilton on Discovery Drive.”
This led us to believe that it was William’s supplying the pies.
Clue 5) “The only way you will be in the lake is if Will throws you in.”
This led us to be seriously concerned.
Have you figured it out yet? No? Well we did! Thanks to our superior intellect (and the mole *cough* Andrea *cough* we placed in the office), we were able to deduce that we were in fact DRAGONBOAT RACING in Burlington Bay. How cool is that? Of course thanks to our natural athletic prowess we excelled almost instantaneously. Natalie and Alyssa were dubbed the “pacers” and Andrea almost fell off the boat laughing. Elizabeth was not amused, Kat had issues after the instructor yelled “POWER UP! 50 MORE!”, Will wore purple sunglasses and a band that made sure they didn’t fall off his head and Celine saw her step-aunt. Task Force graduate Matt wanted to do it all over again, to which Natalie responded “Matt, no one asked you”. Thanks to CK and all our mentors for organizing it!
Fun Fact: Dragonboating is the only sport where “sit up” actually means “lean forward”. Unless you’re Andrea or Alyssa, in which case you just sit up regardless.
The party was great and all, but nothing can compare to the overwhelming epicicity of today. You may be unaware of this (details were kept very hush hush), but the Queen came to visit these past two weeks. She and Captain Kirk are on quite close terms, so they headed off for a two week Nature Excursion/Tea Party. It was rather lonely at the office without her (we would put in a witty song reference here, but Alyssa exhausted those last week).
Today however marked the Return of the Jedi!!!! Welcome back Cap’n. We await your orders, as long as they aren’t too strenuous.
Till next time, stay classy Burlington.
-K&A
Clarification: we never actually thought Kat was a goner. It just fit with the song.
So yes as you’ve undoubtedly figured out, Kat is back! Yaaaaaaay!!! Alyssa can be edited again! But that was not the only exciting thing that occurred in the universe this week…
First, and most importantly, the Top Secret Staff Shindig, which Captain Kirk and crew decided would be a surprise until we got there. They tested out our powers of deductive reasoning by giving us cryptic clues as to our destination.
Clue 1) “If you don’t want it to get dirty, don’t wear it.”
This led us to believe that it was mud wrestling.
Clue 2) “The more into it you get, the dirtier you get.”
This led us to believe that it was a pie eating contest.
Clue 3) “It’s not so much dirty as it is wet.”
This led us to believe that it was wrestling in the lake while eating pies.
Clue 4) “Meet at the William’s in Hamilton on Discovery Drive.”
This led us to believe that it was William’s supplying the pies.
Clue 5) “The only way you will be in the lake is if Will throws you in.”
This led us to be seriously concerned.
Have you figured it out yet? No? Well we did! Thanks to our superior intellect (and the mole *cough* Andrea *cough* we placed in the office), we were able to deduce that we were in fact DRAGONBOAT RACING in Burlington Bay. How cool is that? Of course thanks to our natural athletic prowess we excelled almost instantaneously. Natalie and Alyssa were dubbed the “pacers” and Andrea almost fell off the boat laughing. Elizabeth was not amused, Kat had issues after the instructor yelled “POWER UP! 50 MORE!”, Will wore purple sunglasses and a band that made sure they didn’t fall off his head and Celine saw her step-aunt. Task Force graduate Matt wanted to do it all over again, to which Natalie responded “Matt, no one asked you”. Thanks to CK and all our mentors for organizing it!
Fun Fact: Dragonboating is the only sport where “sit up” actually means “lean forward”. Unless you’re Andrea or Alyssa, in which case you just sit up regardless.
The party was great and all, but nothing can compare to the overwhelming epicicity of today. You may be unaware of this (details were kept very hush hush), but the Queen came to visit these past two weeks. She and Captain Kirk are on quite close terms, so they headed off for a two week Nature Excursion/Tea Party. It was rather lonely at the office without her (we would put in a witty song reference here, but Alyssa exhausted those last week).
Today however marked the Return of the Jedi!!!! Welcome back Cap’n. We await your orders, as long as they aren’t too strenuous.
Till next time, stay classy Burlington.
-K&A
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Status: Task Force- Something's Missing
Lonely, I am so lonely, I have nobody to edit me. One is the Loneliest Number and I will Cry [You] a River because I’m All by Myself. Kat, I Wish You Were Here, even though it’s Saturday, Saturday, Saturday! Because Since You’ve Been Gone, I [can’t] breathe for the first time. But even though I’m Here Without You, My Heart Will Go On.
-A
-A
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Status: Task Force Episode XIII
Buenas tardes! Es Alyssa y Kat! Como pueden ayudarle? Why did we start it in Spanish? To keep you on your toes. BAM. This is how we do it.
You may be wondering why we have decided to bless this week with not one, but two blogs. Well let us tell you. Kat will be M.I.A. for the next 6 days as she is going to a Convention. No, wait, a SUPERHERO Convention. No, wait…COMIC CON! No, wait, that already happened. Umm…ok, so she’s taking the DeLorean to Comic Con and uhh yeah, we didn’t just make that up. The Justice League needs assistance of sorts. When you look this good, people always want your help.
So back to things that are relevant to our job – THE CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL!!! This year, as a special treat to all the small ones it spanned not one but TWO days. Yesterday was Discover Sandcastles. Let us set the scene for you . The beach. The sun blazing overhead. Thousands if not millions of sandcastle enthusiasts waiting for the horn to sound so they could begin creating their masterpieces. And no rain. Blind Melon would be pleased. If that wasn’t enough for you, Team Aqua recruited Sandi Castle from the sand dunes of Tattooine to provide both an enlightening building demonstration and her opinion on why Anakin turned to the Dark Side.
Moving on to The Children’s Festival: Episode II, similar to Star Wars: Episode II…minus the clone attacks and poor storyline. It did however feature live entertainment, demonstrations, ice cream, burgers, games and, perhaps best of all, free teddy bears! That’s right. In an effort to expand our team, your Task Force asked potential recruits three skill-testing questions (hey, postal codes are hard to remember when you don’t send letters to yourself…) and rewarded correct answers with free stuffed animals, Frisbees and tasty sports drinks. It was a great success.
Now, normally as Task Force members, we modestly hide from the media spotlight. If we didn’t, the front pages would constantly feature close-ups of our faces. When you’re this awesome all the time, people take notice. However, every now and then one of us does something so incredible that it is impossible to keep it quiet. Such was the case a few weeks ago. Andrea, aka Busk That, is now documented forever on The Hamilton Spectator’s website. She’s in the office tomorrow in case you want an autograph. But without further ado, here’s the picture that made her famous:
Till next time, stay classy Burlington.
-K&A
You may be wondering why we have decided to bless this week with not one, but two blogs. Well let us tell you. Kat will be M.I.A. for the next 6 days as she is going to a Convention. No, wait, a SUPERHERO Convention. No, wait…COMIC CON! No, wait, that already happened. Umm…ok, so she’s taking the DeLorean to Comic Con and uhh yeah, we didn’t just make that up. The Justice League needs assistance of sorts. When you look this good, people always want your help.
So back to things that are relevant to our job – THE CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL!!! This year, as a special treat to all the small ones it spanned not one but TWO days. Yesterday was Discover Sandcastles. Let us set the scene for you . The beach. The sun blazing overhead. Thousands if not millions of sandcastle enthusiasts waiting for the horn to sound so they could begin creating their masterpieces. And no rain. Blind Melon would be pleased. If that wasn’t enough for you, Team Aqua recruited Sandi Castle from the sand dunes of Tattooine to provide both an enlightening building demonstration and her opinion on why Anakin turned to the Dark Side.
Moving on to The Children’s Festival: Episode II, similar to Star Wars: Episode II…minus the clone attacks and poor storyline. It did however feature live entertainment, demonstrations, ice cream, burgers, games and, perhaps best of all, free teddy bears! That’s right. In an effort to expand our team, your Task Force asked potential recruits three skill-testing questions (hey, postal codes are hard to remember when you don’t send letters to yourself…) and rewarded correct answers with free stuffed animals, Frisbees and tasty sports drinks. It was a great success.
Now, normally as Task Force members, we modestly hide from the media spotlight. If we didn’t, the front pages would constantly feature close-ups of our faces. When you’re this awesome all the time, people take notice. However, every now and then one of us does something so incredible that it is impossible to keep it quiet. Such was the case a few weeks ago. Andrea, aka Busk That, is now documented forever on The Hamilton Spectator’s website. She’s in the office tomorrow in case you want an autograph. But without further ado, here’s the picture that made her famous:
Till next time, stay classy Burlington.-K&A
Monday, August 10, 2009
Status: Speaking of the Task Force...
The Weekly(ish) Weekend Wrap-Up
Hey…who made this big mess? What? We did? Guess it’s time for the 10 second tidy! And by 10 seconds we mean a few minutes. And by tidy we mean wrap-up. So really we lied to you and this entire introduction is completely unnecessary. But those of you who are reading this obviously want as much as we’ll give you, so really we don’t feel that bad. We plan on dragging this blog on for as long as we can. It’s one of our strengths. Remember that.
Speaking of things we do really well, in addition to planning next year’s entire G8 Summit up in Deerhurst, Alyssa also got a lovely tan. She also maintained her peak physical condition through extensive canoe trips and adventures to the buffet line. Kat manned the fort back at home, but in no way slacked off. There were biting flies to be killed at Disco Land (with the help of our muscular macho maintenance members), Top Secret Taste of Burlington survey information to be entered and perhaps most epic of all, the RETURN OF THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE!!!!!That’s right folks. Monday August 3rd was more than just some run-of-the-mill not quite a statutory holiday but somewhat close to it day. It was Joseph Brant Day. For those of you unaware of this legendary man, he not only was a Mohawk leader and British military officer during the American Revolution who received copious amounts of land in Burlington, but also the original founder of the Task Force. And yes, that statement is historically accurate. We checked Wikipedia.
Ah Joseph Brant Day. The reptile shows, the free boat rides, the music. Kat would also like to take this opportunity to apologize for telling people that there would be balloon rides. There were no balloon rides. Although I’m sure you could have brought your own balloons and done it “Up” in style. But back to the day itself… a festival so remarkable it clearly requires a powerful means of transportation. We pulled it out of the deep abyss that is the parking garage across the street from TF Headquarters and loaded it with our technologically advanced tools/ gear/ fanny packs. Once again, it chilled in Kat’s driveway for two evenings. The neighbours were jealous.
Speaking of things that people were jealous of, clowns were in our office this morning. Very few people that work in an office can say that clowns have graced them with their presence to break up the monotony of the day. Not that our days are monotonous, just that when you look this good and everything comes so naturally to you, you need a bit of a change…but back to the clowns. They were here for a photo-op with the Burlington Post for the Busker Programme that was launched last week. Put on by Performing Arts Burlington, the Busker Programme will see various musicians, clowns and other street performers put on entertaining shows throughout the downtown…and being as useful as we are, here’s a map as to where:
Speaking of entertaining things, we would also like to inform the kindhearted citizens of Burlington and the inquisitive tourists that we have painted busker stencils at each location on the downtown sidewalks of Burlington, but seeing as this weather has not been what one would call “optimal”, the torrential rain has washed them away. Under the supervision of Busk That (aka Andrea- who is very excited about her potential appearance in the Burlington Post this week, which may feature an action shot of her painting a busker stencil) we gave it our all- as photo-documented by Young Will (hence Young Will's #1 favourite saying. Please refer to "Status: Task Force Profiles"). We have also dubbed each of them with a name pertaining to their location. Dwight, the painted busker stencil in front of The Office, succumbed to the rain and its powers a few too many times. He was given new life, but has once again fallen. Dwight is gone. He's gone! We miss him so much! Ooooh we cry ourselves to sleep, Dwight!
True. We do miss him.
Until next time, stay classy Burlington.
-K&A
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Status: Task Force Out of the Office
Hi there, you've reached the Task Force. We're not able to come to the phone right now because Alyssa is on a secret mission. Please leave a detailed message to let us know how desperately you want a new blog and we'll do our best to get back to you as soon as we're done saving the world. Which will probably be Monday. Stay classy Burlington. BEEP.
-K
-K
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