Large Format Dinner Gathering in Ottawa this Sat.

[Robert Skeoch]

I guess you don't like people from Toronto.

I can see that because I'm from Regina.

Of course if a guy from Regina wants to visit some friends in Ottawa.. and maybe meet some new friends that's up to him. You were invited to come along. If it doesn't sound like fun to you, why would you even bother to make a comment. No one is dragging you out.

As far as the hockey goes, I'm not actually a Leaf fan. Since I make my living as a sports photographer and travel to games every week I get to pick whatever team I want to be a fan of. I'm not forced to be a home town fan since I see so many games.

Most years I shoot 100 plus NHL games and have become a Hab's fan over the years. I've shot countless games in Ottawa... some years I see them 30 times.

I'm not shooting the playoffs because I shoot indoor sports with strobes and the NHL will only let their GettyImages photographers use lights during the playoffs.

I would be a Regina fan but they don't have a team yet. Maybe Pittsburgh could re-locate in Regina.

I am a fan of their football team though.... but I haven't shot a CFL game in years.
Two years ago I shot my 200th NFL game... that's a lot of Sunday afternoons. I'm a Steelers fan in that league and am on the waiting list to get season tickets. Nine more years and I'll be at the top of the waiting list. I should be retired by then.... just have to pick the right 6 numbers.

For baseball I like the Indians.... although if you see enough games in Boston it's hard not to like the Sox.

I live in Burlington because it's central to all these teams... Toronto, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal and yes even Ottawa. On Saturday night I might watch the Sens game.... at least in between rounds of the fight.

Down the road I hope to cut back on my traveling and shooting because three of us have just launched Canadian Sports Magazine, a national sports monthly that I'm the Photo Editor of. Now I can buy photos instead of shooting everyday.

So why did I pick Montana's? We had a dinner last year at Montana's and everyone loved it.... good steaks not to much money. A lot of people bring their spouses and even a child or two so it seemed like a good choice. Plus I usually stay in Kanata when working the Sen's games I booked the same Hotel as usual.... Montana's is in that half of town.

So really there is no hidden agenda. I shoot large format as a distraction from my day job just like most of the other LF shooters. Since I wasn't able to get the equipment I wanted in Canada, and figured others had the same problem, I started importing some of the hard to find films and cameras. I'm not a salesman, I'm a sports photographer from the farm. There's no hard sell from me.

Some people are just obsessed with photography and I happen to be one of them.

-Rob

[tim atherton]

Ottawan's appear to be rather parochial.....?

[r.e.]

Oh my, a controversy over an INFORMAL CASUAL getogether. Can only happen in Fed-City (the Hill seems to radiate its vibes). So what's soooooo baaaaad about the Montana's at Pinecrest (aside from less than stellar food)? It's like any other Montana's, NEAR a shopping center alright, but not inside it (and at least we can find a parking space, unlike most places on Preston). Or is it really more of a case of acute IKEA phobia .
How about one of the Royal Oak's? Or if we feel rich, we could try the Brookstreet .

Huh?

Hey, if people want to spend Saturday night at Montana's, that's cool.

I'll be watching the game.

[r.e.]

I guess you don't like people from Toronto.

I can see that because I'm from Regina.

This has gotten to the point where it is truly silly.

I have no idea why you know, because you are from Regina, that I don't like Toronto.

Especially since I was born in Toronto and grew up there, and my cracks about the Leafs came complete with smilies to make absolutely sure that they could not be misconstrued. Not to mention that I lived in Manitoba as well as Qubec, am quite familiar with your home town and have spent time in every province and territory in this country, including (with a nod to Mr. Atherton and his crack about parochialism) the Northwest Territories.

I am now the subject of a pile-on because I suggested that having a meeting in Ottawa on the night of a major hockey game might be ill-advised, because I said that there are perhaps more convenient places, with better food, for holding such a meeting, and because I asked what was the point of this exercise, especially since it will be held many miles from where I live.

I think that they are all entirely reasonable questions, and I think that it is more than a bit strange that people are now going ballistic and/or feel a need to tell their whole life story. The part that I don't get, given that you are a sports photographer, is this: how on earth could you not have known that there is a major playoff game this Saturday ?

If you want to meet in Ottawa sometime, let me know. I'd be happy to get together over a beer or over dinner at a decent, not necessarily expensive, restaurant. But you know, being a parochial hic from Ottawa, I do like good food and good wine. In Ottawa, as in Quebec and British Columbia, this is not something for which one feels an obligation to apologize.

Meanwhile, as I said before, if there are people in Ottawa who want to go to Montana's on Saturday, not only is it cool, it is none of my business.

Myself, I'll be watching the game.

As for your business, I am in New York regularly. Your prices, as is generally the case in Canada (with the exception of Calgary's The Camera Store for some products) are not competitive. I'd be happy to talk about that, but given your pricing, I am not even a potential customer.

OK?

[Duane Polcou]

There is nothing so entertaining as witnessing an argument between Canadians. Unless a person from Jersey is involved. I'm a Native New Jersian. And if Toronto smokes the Devils, well, I will chug a Molson and kiss a mounted Moose head like Tony Soprano's goombas kiss the cheek of their next hit. A sign of respect.

[Simon Benton]

Duane

Toronto is out of the playoffs - it is the Ottawa Senators playing the New Jersey Devils. Toronto is in deep mourning that they were eliminated so soon but the rest of the country doesn't really care.

I was going to go to the dinner at Montano's but I feel duty bound to watch the hockey game. Maybe Rob could arrange it for a different time.

Simon

[gregstidham]

Because, honestly, this is like someone in Ottawa proposing to convene a meeting of Toronto large format photographers at a second rate restaurant at a shopping mall in Mississauga.

Actually, the Toronto dinner location was in Etobicoke which is pretty close to Mississauga. What's wrong with Mississauga?

[Andrew O'Neill]

I know what would make R.E. happy...a dinner meeting at a sports bar with several big screen tellies so he can watch the Sens kick Devil ass!!
My prediction: Sens and Ducks in the finals. Sens will win and bring our beloved cup home where it belongs! Next year, Ottawa and Canucks. Canucks will win and bring the cup where it should be.

[r.e.]

My prediction: Sens and Ducks in the finals. Sens will win and bring our beloved cup home where it belongs! Next year, Ottawa and Canucks. Canucks will win and bring the cup where it should be.

It's a deal.