Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Doing the Pigeon


It's nesting season, and the wildlife is trying to get in... That's if you can call pigeons wild. I think they must be one of the most well adapted birds in the world. Rats with wings, right?
To be honest, I kind of like pigeons. I like their tenacity, their brute survival skills... We left a window open overnight at the studio last Tuesday (by accident),and my employee phones me in a panic to tell me there were 2 pigeons flying around the studio. My reply was what did she want me to do about it? Cheeky, I know. She managed to herd them out the window, but it reminded me of a story from a few years back. The guy across the hall left his window open over the weekend, and when he came in on Monday, he found a nest with eggs in it. The pigeons had found a Jaycloth in his studio and shredded it to make a nest. They were gone when he got there, and he had no choice but to throw the eggs away. It was so sad, but was HE going to sit on the nest?

This guys likes pigeons too...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

This Womans Work


This is such a beautiful song. I'm not generally a huge Kate Bush fan, but this one makes me cry! It doesn't hurt that it was in this movie that I loved loved loved when I was 15. Me thinks it might have been for Kevin Bacon??? Yes, I did adore him thanks to Footloose.
This was another one of those John Hughes movies that were so huge in the 80's. Is it just me or are teen movies not as good as they used to be? Maybe I'm just getting old...or maybe its the TRUTH! Hannah Montana? No thank you!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Sigur Ros



We watched this wonderful movie last night on our brand spanking new 42" flast screen! Sigur Ros are such a creative and inspiring band. They're Icelandic, and this documentary follows them as they return home to do a series of free concerts. Iceland is a country I'd love to visit. It's so barren, wild and beautiful. I was having second thoughts though when I saw the feast they were eating at one of the shows... sheep heads and jellied meats of all sorts. Not my cup of tea, but when in Iceland, I guess!
I also noticed an abundance of these sweaters, called Lopapeysa, or Lopi for short.

Yes, I had to google it... and yes, now I really have to go to Iceland to buy one! Perfect for camping!

Friday, April 24, 2009

The Garden of Last Days



I didn't like this book. I didn't hate it either, but it was just a disappointment. I loved The House of Sand and Fog, and was really excited when I saw this one at the library, but it just didn't live up.
The thing I liked about Sand and Fog was the way he told the story from both characters points of view, and the way he expressed The Colonels voice with the Iranian accent. He had a similar character in this book who was Arab,but it felt old to me, like since it worked so well with the other book, why not do it it with this one too?
This book just didn't feel authentic to me. It was mildly entertaining, but I found I was skimming towards the end just to get through it.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Eagles in the City





I love this city. I ask you... where else in North America can you be downtown, look up, and see a Bald Eagle soaring through the air? They are such majestic creatures. Every few years we'll go up to Brackendale for the eagle count. It's in early January when the eagles are in their greatest numbers at the local rivers, gorging on the spawning salmon. Brackendale also has a great little art gallery and tea house that's worth the trip. The food is awesome, and they sometimes have a live eagle in the house (usually an injured one waiting to be rehabilitated)
Click on the post title to look at their website!

***I'll also add that I didn't take these pictures, I found them on google images. If you are the photographer, please take it as a compliment that I liked them the best to be on my blog!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Childhood Crush #1 ... Fred Astaire.



Oh Fred. I remember from the time I was a very little girl I have always loved him! I've always loved to dance, but never realized how much until I was in my 20's. I took about 2 years of West Coast Swing, it was such a ball! One day I would absolutely love to learn how to tap dance. I envision heaps of humiliation and falling on my ass, but it looks like so much fun! And I could pretend I was dancing cheek to cheek with my Fred...

Saturday, April 18, 2009

My silly boy.


I went for a walk with a couple of girlfriends today and took this wild and crazy mutt with us. There was still some snow on the ground a little higher up, so Henry started getting cold and doing his crazy ass running back and forth, running in circles, barking up a storm etc. etc. etc. He really has quite a distinct personality. My father in law insists that Henry smells the most bums at the dog park, and is the biggest humper as well. I unfortunately really can't dispute that...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Easter Cupcakes!




yumyumyumyumyumyumyum!
These cupcakes were so delish! Yes, they were made from a cake mix... every now and then I like a good old fashioned Betty Crocker and I'm not ashamed!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Fourth Hand


John Irving. A strange fellow, no doubt. I find I either absolutely love his books, or I'm rather indifferent.
A Widow for one Year. This was a fabulous example of his brilliance but I hated the movie version.(The Door in the Floor.)
A Prayer for Owen Meany. I thought I was going to love it but was just... indifferent. Haven't seen the big screen version yet.
Son of the Circus. Don't even get me started on this one! It took me over a year to slog through this bad boy! To be fair, I had it at work and was reading it during lunch, but man was it hard to get through. And long! I did start to like it towards the end, but it didn't make up for the hours sent toiling in the beginning.
The 158 lb Marriage was certainly interesting! It was one of his earliest books, and is about wife swapping... very interesting indeed!
The Fourth Hand. It was an easy read and kept my interest, but there was just something missing for me. The characters were not very sympathetic, and I found I wasn't very invested in them. The basic story is that this CNN type of news guys has his hand eaten by a lion while doing a story in India. He gets a hand transplant and the widow of the donor wants visitation rights with the hand. An interesting concept yes, but for some reason left me feeling a little empty. Still worth reading though, and I will continue my quest to read all of John Irving's work.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Careless Whisper


In honour of my 20 year grad reunion, I'm going to start periodically adding songs that were part of my high school experience. George Michael was a big one! Faith came out in 1986 I think, and Wham! was huge in the earlier 80's. I saw him live in the early 90's and still listen to him today. I really wanted to post Father Figure, but Youtube has all sorts of blocks up for certain videos. Just try and find a Prince video on Youtube that still has its sound, I dare you!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Sharp Dressed Man

I bought this Calvin Klein shirt in New York for my nephew a few years ago, and it just happened to fit Henry too. Warren took this video of him and put it to ZZ Top. My poor doggy does not look all that impressed with being our little dress up dolly, but the effect is so funny!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Open Mindedness



I thought this was an interesting video about having an open mind. As a non believer, I've often been faced with people telling me to open my mind to the unexplained. When you're telling someone who strongly believes something without any physical proof but just their belief, it's almost impossible to have a rational conversation about it. This video just puts it in good plain terms that makes it easy to understand. Open mindedness shouldn't just mean believe everything you hear! It's like Bill Mahr said in Religulous, "I'm not saying that god doesn't exist, I'm just saying I'm pretty sure he doesn't exist. The point is, I don't know, and neither do you."
Love him!

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

A Thousand Splendid Suns


What do I say about this book?
First off, I am the one of the luckiest girls in the world. I have rights and freedoms that I take for granted every day. This book made me experience through the eyes of two Afghani women just what kind of hell a large portion of the female population of the world live through every day.
Khaled Hosseini obviously has stories to tell, and isn't afraid to hold anything back. He was born in Kabul himself and now lives in California, so he has first hand knowledge in the subjects he writes about. The women in this novel are heroes... for living through what they have, and for surviving and sacrificing what they had to. Heartbreaking yet heart warming at the same time.
Thumbs way up for this one... I'll be surprised if a major motion picture doesn't follow suit, like it did with his previous book, The Kite Runner(which I also loved.)