They Got It Wrong... Again

It may be early in the day in Vancouver and we are one of the last places on earth to see the sun set (apart from Hawaii and a smattering of Pacific and Polynesian islands); but it is already tomorrow in Australia, and guess what... we're all still here. Yet another apocolyptic prediction down the toilet.

I must say though that 06/06/06 made for a fun drive to work this morning: both Jack FM and Rock 101 were only playing songs that had the word devil or Beelzebub or any other demonic name in it.

However, you can only play the "Devil Inside" so many times - I heard it twice in a 30 minute period.

Canada's Next Top Model

Last night was the much anticipated (well, for me) airing of Canada's Next Top Model. I have watched America's Next Top Model since it first aired in the summer of 2003 and admit I absolutely love this show. However, it is the only reality TV programming I prescribe to. I have now even had enough of the Amazing Race...

How was it? Good. Slower paced than ANTM. Canadian.

It definitely does not have the glam and fast paced feel of ANTM, but this is only the first episode of season 1. So in that respect I will have to give it time. Unlike ANTM which is set in America's fashion meccas of LA and NYC, CNTM is not set in Toronto, nor in Vancouver, but in Victoria. It is, however a truly beautiful back drop: the CNTM house is superior to any house the models have stayed in in ANTM. It is a gorgeous, West Coast-style mansion, with cedar walls and slate floors, and the view, well the view is spectacular. As one of the girls said last night as they enjoyed their boat ride (yes, boat ride) to their new abode, "Beautiful British Columbia...".

On first glance CNTM appears to be the same as ANTM, much like Canadian Idol seemed to be the same is American Idol. It is like looking at one of those puzzle-games with two pictures side by side that appear identical, but once you begin to look deeper, you begin to see the differences.
Sure the name is the same (just sub in Canadian for American) and the concept is the same: whittle a group of girls down to one who has the most top model potential by judging her based on her ability to work the catwalk and photo shoots; but then you begin to see the 'cultural' differences.

I remember the first day of my Canadian Federalism class at UBC: our prof posed this (humorous) question: What is the difference between a Canadian and an American? A Canadian is an American with healthcare and without the gun. This was back in a time (the late 90's) when no one was really sure what defined us as Canadians, until Molson stepped in with "The Rant" and other "Canadian" adds. Is that Canadian? Having our unidentified culture, identified by a beer company? Maybe.

But while we are are stereotyped with beer, hockey donuts and Mounties there is (I believe) an inherent Canadian personality: politeness and on many occasions being reserved. Both of these Idiosyncrasies appeared among many of the CNTM cast, including host Tricia Helfer. The first person to go had amazing potential, but she had a bit of an attitude. But that attitude had nothing on Jade or Eva who made it far (and in the latter case won) ANTM. On CNTM, the rude girl got the first boot... if she was on ANTM she probably would have made it to the top three.

Hopefully, as the show continues, the barriers will break down and the penchant for politeness will dwindle and we will see some good drama and cat fights, because that's what makes ANTM so darn good (besides the modeling).

On a side note: I had no idea Mr. J was Canadian - that's cool.

The End of the World...

...or is it?

As June 6, 2006 draws closer many people are talking about the end of the world. Most in a joking manner, but some seriously.

Yes June 6, 2006 translates into 6-6-6, the sign of the devil, and possibly the end of the earth, but this is not the only June 6, '06 humans have come across. Far from it. How far back would you like to go?

June 6, 6 BC
June 6, 6 AD
June 6, 606 AD
June 6, 1706...

You get my drift. Every century has one. That is a June 6, '06. Nothing has happened on this day in the past; when I say nothing, I mean the end of the world, otherwise I would not currently be writing this blog entry.

If you Cheat, You'll Get Caught

So after a month with no chocolate, no candy, no going out and enjoying deep conversations over a cup of hot chocolate, I threw in the towel. I crashed and burned. I am still doing the 6-week challenge (now into week 5), but the cravings for chocolate were just to great this weekend... so Colin and I took a break Saturday night.

We decided if we were going to cheat and have dessert, we would have to indulge. Would it be True Confections, La Casa Gelato or Death by Chocolate? We went with the latter. Colin was highly disappointed with his cheesecake, but enjoyed his giant mocha-hot chocolate. And I savoured every minute of my mocha ice cream cake, smothered in Kaluha-chocolate sauce.

After our dance with the devil, Colin and I headed out to White Rock to Mark and Tina's to enjoy a hot tub. I noticed on the drive out I didn't have my cell phone. Since I didn't use it at the restaurant I assumed I left it at home. But when we returned home in the wee hours of the morning, I couldn't find it.

I knew it was on, so I tried calling it, but didn't hear it. So, now I assumed it was either in my car or at Death by Chocolate.

The next morning, before I had time to go check my car, I received a call from my Dad asking me if I had my cell. I said no, I had misplaced it last night. I knew then and there where I had left it. The staff at Death by Chocolate had found my cell and had called my Dad's cell. Busted.

My parents first thought it couldn't be my cell, because I was on my Curves diet, so what the hell was I doing at Death by Chocolate. But then they thought it couldn't be Andrew's either (for reasons I can't remember).

My mum told my dad to be careful when calling me, in case I had gone to Death by Chocolate, without telling Colin. It was a pretty good laugh. But I have never left behind or lost my cell phone before, so the moral the story is... if you cheat, you will get caught.

Getting In Touch with Nature

I really needed to get out of the house last night, so Colin and I decided to go for a walk in Minoru Park. We were thinking about going out to the movies but, a) it was just too tortuous last time not being able to eat popcorn, b) the Da Vinci Code just came out Friday and we didn't want to deal with the crowds, and c) it's a long weekend.

So off to Minoru.

I absolutely love this park. It's lush, green and there are so many friendly critters...

Extreme Close-up - Poser Squirrel

Canada Geese

Another Poser Squirrel

Bunny Rabbit

Challenge Me This...

So, I mentioned in my last post that I was starting Curves' 6-week Challenge/Solution. I have tried for a long time to cut the excessive junk food and constant cravings from my diet, but on my own will that just wasn't going to happen.

So, for the next 6 weeks (well 5 weeks now), it's nothing but healthy, good-for-you, delicious food.

After just a week I am already reaping the benefits of being a very healthy eater, but that isn't to say that last week wasn't hard: First of all, it seems all I do now in my spare time is prep food and wash dishes. I've always hated not having a dishwasher. That hate is now ten-fold.

And I went through a major sugar withdrawal over the weekend. Starting Thursday night I had a Fuzzy Peaches craving that would not cease and desist - it lasted three days. Then on Saturday, when my mum took me shopping (which should be happy, fun times) I felt so down. And Saturday night, well... Colin and I decided to get out of the house and go so Mission Impossible III (good flick, by the way); anyways I thought I was going to go nuts with all the people around me munching on their popcorn and chocolate and FUZZY PEACHES!

I was quite relieved when the movie started...

It's an understatement to say I am lucky - Colin is doing the Challenge with me. He gets up and preps breakfast every morning. And you should see what we eat for breakfast. I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I usually have a bowl of cereal, or yoghurt or toast, something. Well, now cereal just isn't enough. Nope we need to have eggs and bacon along with that bowl of cereal.

That being said, I was hungry the first few days. During Phase 1 (week one of the challenge) you are consuming around 1200 calories a day. That isn't much. But by Thursday I wasn't as hungry. During Phase 2 (weeks 2 - possibly 6) you up your caloric intake to 1600. I felt so full yesterday, and same again today. I am currently eating my morning snack (at 3:00 PM), haven't touched my afternoon snack yet, and still have to have dinner too.

Do you what my morning snack was today? Some carrots, and a whole can of tuna. Yes, the whole, fracking can.

I move onto Phase 3 either: at the end of 6 weeks; when I hit my goal; or when I begin to plateau, i.e. no weight loss over the course of two weeks.

I am only a week and a bit into this, but I am already learning what I set out to learn over the next 6 weeks - how to prepare delicious, healthy meals (I now have a great salmon recipe) and how to get over cravings.

That's not to say I will never eat chocolate or fuzzy peaches ever again...

Gastroenteritis

So it turns out that nasty stomach flu I had was gastroenteritis, which is very similar to the Norwalk virus. People all over Vancouver have been hit with it to some degree or other. In fact parts of both UBC and VGH were shut down.

Time to back track: I only ended up working about a 6 hour day, two weeks ago. I managed to make it back into work on the Thursday, but did not last the whole day. I had my flex that Friday, and thought it best to take it and try to get over my illness. I didn't feel any better until Friday afternoon and my digestive system was still reeling until Sunday evening.

By Saturday I was suffering from cabin fever. During the day I walked into Marpole and ran some errands - dry cleaning, mail, return DVD's, etc. That night, I just had to be out of the house - and stay out. Colin and I decided to go see a movie - the only one that was playing that we were interested in seeing was American Dreamz. It was disappointing. The last 40 minutes were excellent, but the rest of the movie just dragged.

BTW: If you are looking for a great movie, go see Thank You for Smoking.

OK, back to last weekend. After the movie we went out for all you can east sushi. This was a real treat, especially after living on apples and rice for the last five days. The sushi tasted good going down - but later in the evening my body reminded that I was still suffering from gastroenteritis...

At this point it was about 10:30 PM and I refused to return home. My parents and grandparents were returing from their Caribbean cruise that night, so I suggested we surprise them and pick them up at the airport. We had just enough time to drive to my parents' house, pick up their car and drive out to YVR. But, in my haste, I forgot to check the flight info - the flight was supposed to arrived at 11:30 PM, but was delayed till 12:40 AM - thank god we live close to the airport. We went home for about an hour, watched some Saturday Night Live, and then returned to the airport to pick up my parents and grandparents.

By the time they cleared customs and picked up their luggage it was close to 1:30 AM and I was now ready to go home.

Last Sunday was a gorgeous day - warm and sunny. Colin and I walked down to Fraser River Park and walked along the trails for about an hour. When we returned home, I grabbed my book and sat outside in the sun for an hour - the first official day of outdoor tanning.

Last week was a hectic one. To start with, it was my first 5-day week since the end of March. And my first week back at work after being ill. Despite that, the week flew by: on Monday I started Curves 6 Week challenge (will explain more later).

Tuesday was the Canadian Bingo Forum, which took place in Vancouver this year. I was in the office all day, but all the attendees came to Planet Bingo that evening for a dinner we were hosting. I thought once dinner was over and we settled our guests into electronic Bingo, it would be time to go home - but it wasn't. I worked a 13 hour day Tuesday, and top that off, it was very warm. I returned home around 9:30 PM, hot, sticky and exhausted.

The rest of the week was uneventful: Colin and I went for a swim on Thursday and then sat in the hot tub and sauna afterwards. Then it was time for more all you can eat sushi.

Friday was a very quiet day at work - I was all by myself until the early afternoon. Friday evening I went out with Lisa to see Stick It. It was a fun way to spend the night.

I spent Saturday day doing chores and watching TV. That evening we met up with Lisa and Andrew and went to this great Greek restaurant on Commercial. Afterwards we returned to Lisa and Andrew's to watch Clerks - which I had not seen before, even though I have seen a handful of Kevin Smith movies.

Sunday, Colin and I tackled the shopping list for the first week of Curves' 6 week challenge. I am finding it quite frustrating since everything is in ounces and gallons - next time I convert everything to metric before we go shopping.

While searching Oakridge for a food scale, I popped into HMV and picked up the second season of Battlestar Galactica - that will take the edge off of waiting for the second season of Lost to come out.

Book Club

Currently I am reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides...

















This is a great book which I haven't been able to put down since I started reading it.


For our April Book Club we read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Another must read!

Now Here's a Story

Again, it has been weeks since I last updated my blog, but I really have had nothing that significant or interesting to write about until now – well, until Monday evening.

I had a great long, long weekend. I suppose I am one of the lucky ones whose office remains closed on Easter Monday. I don’t remember much about Friday day; Friday evening I drove over to North Van and spent the evening with Thalia – it was the usual: grab a sushi dinner and watch a movie – this week it was “Inventing the Abbotts.” Great flick.

Saturday the cleaning bug hit me, so I vacuumed, washed, scrub, polished. But while my apartment is germ free, it isn’t clutter free. I have come to accept that until I complete a full “Spring Clean," going through every last thing in my apartment and making the decision to turf or to keep, I will never be fully satisfied with my abode.

That afternoon I headed over to Chris and Lica’s new place to celebrate their son’s (Ken) first birthday.

It’s starting to happen – the weddings are slowing down – I only have one this year, compared to the five last year – and the babies are coming…

So back to the birthday: I always have a good time at Chris and Lica’s. It’s an opportunity for me to catch up with some of my sorority sisters and some of Colin’s fraternity brothers who we are close with, but don’t often get to see.

Colin and I bought Ken his first Mr. Men books. They were a bigger hit with the adults, as our friends flipped through them, bringing back childhood memories.

On Sunday, Colin and I sat down and began planning our summer vacation. This year, our vacation is being planned around Gavin’s (my brother-in-law) wedding, which is taking place in Huntsville, Ontario.

Since I have never ventured outside of BC (when it comes to Canada), we are looking at this as an opportunity for me to actually see some of Canada; and for me to introduce to Colin to the Eastern US seaboard. I’m not claiming to be an expert on the area, having only visited Norfolk, VA and Philadelphia, PA, but I have always had a fun time in that part of the world, and really enjoy the people.

So here’s the plan, of which nothing is final: Fly to NYC, where we plan to spend our one year wedding anniversary. Then take the bus to Boston and spend some time there. Then take the bus to Montreal and spend time there. And the rent a car and drive it to Huntsville, hopefully making a quick stop in Ottawa, so I can visit my nation’s capital.

We spent the evening of Easter Sunday dining with my in-laws, since my parents are in the middle of a Caribbean cruise. I loved the email Easter greeting I received from my mum: Happy Easter from Barbados – wish you were here!

Monday was a relatively quiet day, I ran few errands… and then it hit: Around 7:00 PM I started having intense stomach pains. I lay on the couch, hoping it would pass. I was somewhat spared until the end of 24, and then my body threw me a one-two punch and I doubled over in pain.

I felt like someone was grabbing my stomach and intestines, and twisting them. The pain subsided a little bit, but every 20 minutes or so my whole digestive system just wreaked havoc on me. I had never felt anything like it before. Colin was ready to take me to the hospital, but I wasn’t ready to make that move, yet.

I am the opposite of a hypochondriac – I would have to be missing a few limbs before agreeing to go to a hospital. But by 2:00 AM, after four hours of excruciating pain, which had now moved to the kidney area, I decided not to take any chances, and left for UBC….

…Only to find out that UBC emergency isn’t open after hours. We were pretty much half between VGH and Richmond General – I opted to go into Richmond.

I think a lot of our belief, faith and anger in the BC Health Care system stems from our personal experiences with it. A couple of years ago, I had to take Colin to emergency during the day, on a Saturday. We went to Richmond General that time as well, and didn’t have to wait very long at all. Such, was my experience on Monday night (or Tuesday morning by this time). I was admitted right away.

I met with a nurse as soon as I arrived at the hospital and she took some info from me. After that she took me to a bed. Right after that another nurse came along and got some more information from me. Then the doctor came to see me. He pushed and prodded my digestive organs. He told me he wanted to do a blood test to rule out the possibility of Appendicitis. If my white blood cell count was normal, it was nothing more than a stomach virus; however, if my white blood cell count was higher than normal then they would have to run some tests and make sure I didn’t have an infection. The only waiting I had to do at all was to wait for the results of my blood test.

It was a very odd experience, laying there in the emergency room. You see, I have never personally been admitted to emergency before, and the last time I was in hospital was 17 years ago, when I had mole removed from the side of my face.

As I lay there listening to the machines, all I could think of was that scene in Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life, where the doctor asks if they have the machines that boop and bing, or something like that. It’s always good to have a sense of humour, especially when lying in emergency and you aren’t quite sure what the hell is going on with you.

My white blood cell count was normal. It turns out I had caught a nasty stomach virus which seems to be making its way through Vancouver.

I returned home from the hospital around 3:30 AM. I still had bad cramping. Even to this very moment I am not a hundred percent, but a hell of a lot better than Monday evening.

So my four day weekend, turned into a six day one. I am feeling much better, other than the fact my digestive system feels like it took a helluva beating.

I will go to work tomorrow – Friday, we shall have to see. Friday is my flex – I may go in and catch up or I may stay home and take nice long weekend and recoup from this nasty, painful ailment.

Finally...

I think it is safe to say that Spring has arrived. It's wet. It's kind of warm. I can wear sandals and not freeze my toes off. It's Springtime in Vancouver.

Let me get the sad/bad news out of the way first - unfortunately for the citizens of Vancouver, Colin will not be out on the streets protecting us. He received his "dear john" letter from the VPD on Tuesday saying his recruitment has come to an end. And the worse thing is that they give you no explanation. So, suffice it to say, the last couple of days have been rough. Now we are keeping our fingers crossed and hope Colin finds himself getting shipped off to Regina... (not something I would wish on my worst enemy, but in this case, it would be a very good thing). Of course it could be a really long time before we hear back from the RCMP. Should we be surprised about this? No. After all, we are dealing with the Canadian government. And we all know how the government likes to take its sweet time with things.

So, apart from that horrible, black mark, things have been good. Last weekend Lisa and Andrew hosted the traditional Whistler weekend. The same group, now with spouses, has been heading up to Whistler for a weekend of fun since 1997. But just because we aren't 19 anymore doesn't mean we can't party like we aren't 19 anymore - I think we had our largest and most varied Whistler bar yet. Which is probably due to the fact that we are all working now and can afford a well-stocked liquor cabinet.

With Andrew heading back to Vancouver Saturday afternoon for the Canucks game, and Colin and Dasha skiing all day, Travis, Lisa and I got into the hard stuff early. It was a relaxing day of drinking, reading, electronic Yahtzee and board games.

We took the dogs and wandered over to the new "Village" in Creekside. It's great, we don't have to drive all the way to the Village now to pick up the necessities - food, booze and Starbucks.

Thalia and Todd made it up to Whistler around 6:30 PM, and at 7:00 PM we all crammed into my Honda Civic (minus Dasha and Lisa) and headed to Colin's place (Whistler Cay Heights) to catch the hockey game.

They were doomed to lose. The fact that Andrew had to drive back to Vancouver and then back up to Whistler after the game had Canucks loss written all over it.

Ciro and Andrew made it back up to Whistler around 11:30 PM.

Unfortunately for me, I had to be at work on Sunday to take one picture. Yes, I had to leave Whistler earlier than I wanted too, to rush back to Vancouver to take one bleeding photo. So many cliches come to mind - life sucks, c'est la vie, when life gives you lemons... Oh well.

Don't Mess With My Snow Pile, Bitch...

These could have easily been the words spoken on Monday between Marty Turco and Alex Burrows.

During a long break in play, while penalties were being doled out, truce started to build a little snow pile around his net. Goalies will do this to make it harder for the puck to go into the net. Anyways, Burrows skates right throw Turco's snow pile. Turco is extremely upset by Burrows' action and starts, what looks like, mouthing off to Burrows, and gives him a small shove. Burrows answers back. And lo and behold another two penalties are handed out - what do you call that one - two minutes for messing with the goalie's snow pile?

Even though Vancouver lost, again, the game on Monday against Dallas was definitely one of the most amusing hockey games I have ever seen.

Time Flies

Where has March gone? I can't believe the month is almost over, and Spring starts next week, although you wouldn't believe it. I think someone in Vancouver has done something severely wrong and has royally pissed off the weather gods. First, there was that insane amount of rain in January. And now? It's cold, too cold for this time of year.

If March has to have a theme, I would refer to it as the reunion month. I started my first weekend of March with the first of two (or more) 10 year reunions. Every year, on the first Friday of March, Crofton hosts a school birthday and alumnae luncheon/reunion. You can attend any year, but is traditional to return during a big reunion year. There were only two of us from 1996, and only three of us who graded between 1990-2005. So Jen and I didn't have a chance to reconnect with classmates, but we did get to chat with some of our teachers, including our Grade 1 teacher!

I also found out that the Kappa representative on VAPA also attended Crofton (she graded in '70).

The next day Colin and I headed to Port Coquitlam for Devon's birthday dinner. This could be classified as a reunion since we hadn't seen Devon since our wedding (7 months ago) and it had been ever longer since we saw Devon's husband Steve (I believe he was in Vietnam on our wedding day). After dinner the group headed to Boulevard Casino. This was only my second time in a casino, but found this one far more impressive than Edgewater Casino. I didn't feel like staying too long though as it reminded me too much of work. I may work in the Bingo division, but all the BCLC messaging is the same...

On the following Tuesday I had dinner with a classmate from BCIT. We became good friends during our two year marketing program, but lost touch after graduation. So after almost two years we reconnected and spent five hours at the Milestones in Kits catching up.

The following weekend Colin and I enjoyed a night out at the Blarney Stone. It is the only club I enjoy going to anymore, and usually go 2 or 3 times a year - when the mood strikes me. We got there around 8:30 PM (which is not early for the Blarney), but wanted to leave to go watch the end of the hockey game. Turns out you can now watch hockey at the Blarney Stone on their new, projection screen TV.

Then I got sick (but not from the drinking last Saturday). I got this horrible cold that is going around. It is not your usual cold however. Yes, you get congested and a soar throat, but this thing sucks the energy out of you. Despite living a very active life and getting plenty of sleep, I spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday absolutely exhausted. Wednesday morning I woke up and could barely get out of bed - so I have missed the last two days of work. I am back at work today. I still don't feel %100, but I feel a lot better than 2 days ago.

And here we are - it's Saint Patrick's day and I'm wearing my green sweater and I can't wait for the work day to end and the weekend to begin.

My Nemesis

I think it's good to have a nemesis. It makes life a little more fun and interesting.

I don't personally know my nemesis. I don't know what they look like. In fact, I don't even know if they are male or female. All I do know is that my nemesis is a Calgary Flames fan (season tickets holder as far as I can tell) and owns an air horn.

I refer to him/her/it as "Air Horn Dude."

I first came across my nemesis in game 3, round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2004. As I watched the game from home in Vancouver, I could not shake from my mind the incessant blaring of that annoying air horn.

And it was there, for every game played in Calgary during the Stanley Cup playoffs - of course they went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals - and I watched those games - cursing and swearing under my breath at Air Horn Dude.

Unfortunately, for me, during the off season and the year-long NHL lockout, the air horn did not meet an untimely end. It did not get run over by a car, or trampled in the Red Mile, for there it was, blaring away during the first Vancouver-Calgary home game of the 2005-06 season. And it is still there. Every game the Canucks play in Calgary (which is why I believe that Air Horn Dude is a seasons ticket holder - or they just happen to go every Canucks game in Cowtown). And what makes that air horn even more the bane of my life? Thanks to the NHL's new scheduling the Canucks have already played 5 games in Calgary - thank god there are no more this season.

But then there's the playoffs...

(Disclaimer: the blog is all in good fun and humour - my real nemesis is Greg Millan ;)).

That's All She Wrote

Well, another Winter Olympics has come and gone, and what a great Olympiad it was for Canada (apart from men's hockey). We finished 3rd overall with a [Canadian] record high of 24 medals, only one off Canada's predicted 25 medals.

As we prepare for the Olympics to come to Canada in 2010, The Canadian Olympic Committee has created a program entitled Own the Podium. The essence of the program is to win the most medals in 2010. The first part of the program laid out a plan to finish in the top 3 in Torino - which is exactly what Canada did. And owning the podium in 2010 looks like a real possibility as Canada had 45 top 5 finishes in Torino.

I am looking forward to the next four years: It will be an extremely unique experience to watch my home prepare for the Winter Olympics.



http://www.vancouver2010.com/en

It's Over...

I am not one to use vulgar language in my blog, but...

FUCK!!!

Why Not Go for the Hattrick?

Ok, so it appears that within the last 24 hours I have somehow managed to publish two blog entries about furry, little Canadian rodents. What are the odds of that? So, I may as well complete the trilogy by talking about the possible, rumoured mascot for the 2010 Winter Olympics - the Hoary Marmot. Yes, that right folks, the Hoary Marmot.

I found out about the Hoary Marmot by reading my placemat at the Spaghetti Factory in Whistler many years ago. This excerpt is from Tourism Whistler http://www.tourismwhistler.com/www/about_whistler/nature.asp:

"Whistler was named after the marmot, a rock dwelling mountain rodent. Marmots make sharp, clear whistles if there is danger or a warning to other marmots."

It seems fitting since the majority of the 2010 Olympics will be taking place in Whistler - at least that is the plan.

And thus concludes my Canadian, rodent hattrick.

Frank and Gordon

I must say, I absolutely love Bell's new ad campaign. It has been a long time since I have seen an advertising campaign that is as endearing and engaging as the Bell Beavers. It hits the nail right on the head. It is just so Olympic, so... Canadian.

For more on this awesome ad campaign check out http://www.frankandgordon.ca!

Wiarton Willy Lied...

Damn groundhog! You promised us an early Spring. The rain has finally ceased, but now the temperatures have dropped below average and winter is sneaking back into the city.

It better be a long, scorching summer.

Wiarton Willy

Might As Well Face It, I'm Addicted to Lost...

I think this past weekend has been among the busiest as of late. I never really slept in and was on the go the whole time.

Thursday afternoon I arrived home from work with just enough time to get myself ready for the WPGA play. After the play, mum dropped us home and Colin and I headed into Richmond for some late-night, all you can eat Sushi. After that we returned home and watched a couple more episodes of Lost.

Friday I had a hair appointment in the morning, then spent the early afternoon doing laundry and watching the Olympics. I watched the opening ceremonies three times, but each time somehow missed the Canadians entering. Colin said they looked like a bunch of red and white penguins waddling in, in that monstrosity designed by the Bay.

Too bad the Bay now has the rights to outfit the Canadian Olympic Team, since Roots did a far superior job. Unfortunately, the Bay is a sponsor of the 2010 games, so we are stuck with them outfitting the Canadian Olympic team for at least another four years.

Later in the afternoon I met with Tina and we walked to Starbucks. Afterwards I went back to her place and she made me garlic prawns - I didn't get food poisoning :). Thalia met me at my place later that evening and we wandered up to Rogers and rented Elizabethtown. It was ok. Actually, I was enjoying it till the end - it had one of those endings which seems more like the beginning of another movie - I hate that.

Saturday morning was split between watching the Olympics and watching the police and Hazmat team across the road from my apartment. Someone's meth lab caught fire... You can live in the best parts of Vancouver or you can live in the worst parts of Vancouver, this sort of thing (like meth lab operations) can found anywhere in the city.

I joined Tina and Jen for lunch at the Jericho Tennis Club - it had been years since I had last been there. Tina had to steer me in the right direction, as I made a bee-line for the Yacht Club - if I go down to Point Grey Road it usually means I'm going to the RVYC for some reason or other - we humans are creatures of habit. Afterwards Tina ran a few errands and then we visited her mum at a craft fair. Then we headed into Richmond and wandered around Richmond Centre for a bit.

That night Colin and I saw the third movie on our Oscar list - Munich. This, in my opinion, is my favourite so far. After that we returned home and watched another episode of Lost.

Yesterday morning my mum and I went shopping - it was good shopping day, except for the fact I couldn't find a pair of khaki pants that fit me properly.

I spent Sunday evening with my family and picked up a copy of Andrew's recently completed screen play - from what I've read so far it is very intriguing, and I personally would like to see it made into a film.

Later that night, Colin and I watched yet another episode of Lost. We now only have one episode left to watch, then we will have completed the entire first season! I am not sure what I am going to do with myself between now and the time I will have to wait for season 2 to finish and be released on DVD.

The Lost ad that aired during the Super Bowl states it best- "Might as well face it you're addicted to Lost..." (to the tune of Robert Palmer's hit, Addicted to Love).

The Olympics Have Begun...

I love the Winter Olympics. I don't wish away the four years in between, but at the same time I long for that excitement and pride the Winter Olympics bring. There is something about the Winter Olympics that is so, inherently, Canadian. Is it the hockey? The curling? The skiing?

Maybe it is the great, patriotice moments created by Canada's excellence in winter sports, namely hockey. I think the greatest Canadian moment I have experienced to date was the ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the USA in 2002.

It all started the night before that most wonderful of days, and I remember it vividly. Colin and I spent our Saturday night (Gold Medal Eve) at the Blarney Stone. We met some guys from Holland and had a great conversation with them about hockey, the Olympics, politics... Late into the evening (early morning really), Killarny began to play their cover of Where the Streets Have No Name, and in the middle rift, the guitarist kept on playing, and fluidly the Where the Streets Have No Name turned into O Canada. How many of you have rocked out to your anthem? There we were, all strangers, cramped onto the Blarney Stone's tiny dance floor, coming together as nation, partying and dancing to the national athemn in great anticipation the next day.

We were up early the next morning and at the bar (Malones) at 8 AM. It was such an amazing experience. Everyone decked out in red, white and maple leafs. The CBC was there. Everyone starting singing the Stompin' Tom Conners' classic, "The Good Old Hockey Game."

And when Canada won - wow - no words can describe it, but maybe these pictures can:

Irony

Vancouver's main newspaper publication is the Vancouver Sun...

Now that's irony.

Singing the Blues

I don't get it. I don't think any Canucks fan gets it. It is one of life's great mysteries, like how they get the Caramilk inside a Caramilk bar. Why can't the Vancouver Canucks beat one of the absolute worst teams in the NHL, the St. Louis Blues.

We can beat the best of them: Ottawa, Colorado, Detroit, Dallas. Hell, we could beat St. Louis when they were good; but now that they are bottom feeders in the NHL standings we can't beat them.

I guess there is one positive thing about not being able to beat the Blues - we know we won't have to face them during the playoffs...

When Will It End?

I do realize this will be my third (or fourth) blog entry in a row about rain, but this is all any of us of Vancouverites can think about, talk about.

I don't mind the rain, out of necessity. Vancouver is a rainy city. If you live here, you have to put up with it, and think about how beautiful the city is, when it isn't raining.

It has rained so much though, this winter, I think I have forgotten what a sunny day is like. It isn't raining right now, and the sun is peaking out, but there are still grey clouds all around, threatening to soak us Vancouverites even more.

In the last 46 days, it has rained 44 days. Yes. 44 days of rain. A month and a half of rain. I am going nuts. No more rain, please.

I saw the mountains today for the first time, in a long time. I then felt robbed. While I much prefer Vancouver in the summer time, there is nothing more beautiful then a clear winter day, with clear blue skies, and the bright sun lighting up the snow capped mountains. I have not been able to enjoy that scene this winter.

When the rain comes, it erases the mountains from sight.

You stare out into the Harbour and English Bay and see nothing but an ominous, grey mass. You know the mountains are behind it, somewhere, but you are having a hard time picturing them, because they have been hidden for so long.

We [Vancouverites] take some solace in this rain with the knowledge that these dreary, wet days have broken a few records - the wettest January ever, and the wettest month ever in Vancouver meteorogical (is that even a word?) history. Since the city started keeping weather records in the 1930's, Vancouver has never seen so much rain as it has these last 46 days.

As they say, this weather is for the ducks. And if this weather keeps up, I think we may, out of sheer necessity, evolve into water fowl. I think waterproof feathers and webbed feet may be the only way to survive this.

I love water. I am more at home on water, than on land. But I don't like water when it falls from the sky, for days and days and days and days....

And the Rain Goes On...

What's up? Well it is still raining. We did see a bit of sun and blue sky last week, but that was short lived.

Last Saturday, I attended the Vancouver Rowing Club Burns Supper with my family. My brother gave a great account on it in his blog, so I will let you read what he has to say about it: http://spaces.msn.com/pooley/blog/cns!DB6B19BECD846ADA!309.entry. I guess Colin and I must have a penchant for Scottish Country dancing, since we didn't seem to have a problem with them, and picked them up fast, especially the Eightsome Reel...

On Wednesday, also Robbie Burns Day, Colin celebrated his 31st birthday. I gave him his long awaited pair of hockey skates.

Thursday evening was an adventure: Colin and I were going to go skating, but his skates didn't quite fit properly (not wide enough), so I wanted to take them back before we used them. We decided to go out and see a movie instead. We headed out to Silver City Richmond for the 8 o'clock showing of Munich; however, there was a huge power outage all over Richmond, so Silver City was closed. We then headed to the cinema at Richmond Centre and to see if they had power.

It is truly amazing how drivers in this city don't know what to do during a power outage. Half of the people just sat at the lights and the other half just flew through them. Apparently these people have no concept of the 4-way stop procedure. So it was no surprise to us when we arrived at the intersection of Westminster and 4 Road, to see a major accident had just happened.

We arrived at Richmond Centre, in one piece, only to discover there wasn't a good selection of movies to choose from. The ones we were interested in seeing didn't have a 9/9:30 showing for some reason or other. But the power was working, so we decided to wander around the mall. Actually, we made a b-line for HMV to look at DVDs.

We have discovered Lost. Actually, I have seen a couple of episodes this season, but like 24, and even more so, you have to watch this series from the beginning. But instead of buying Lost on DVD, we decided to rent the first disc from the video store to see if we really liked it or not. Let's just say we headed back to HMV the next day to buy the DVD.

After only 18 months, Canadians headed back to the polls this past Monday, and for the first time in 11 years we have a new governing party - the Conservatives won, but only a minority, and Stephen Harper is our new PM. I think I will be keeping a very close on eye all the goings on in parliament this time round. Apparently, after not even a week of being PM, Harper already brought up the gay marriage issue, which he said he wouldn't, hmmm....

Last night Gavin, Jess and Travis came round to watch the hockey game. It was an excellent game, for the most part, and thank god Vancouver won.

Funny thing, though - the CBC feed cut out with only about 6 minutes left in a very close game. I guess Harper has started to make his cuts to the CBC... Gavin said that maybe the Avs fan that was getting out of hand decided to take out his (or her) anger on the CBC truck and blow it up. Well, the feed came back, but we were watching the Denver feed for a while, and one of the Denver commentators said the CBC truck exploded. We were pretty sure he was just joking, but considering it was our thought too, it was a little creepy.

I am currently reading Fall On Your Knees by Anne Marie MacDonald. This is a great book, very deep and intricate.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

Actually, I see blue sky and sun right now - what's that? Lisa sent me a funny email this morning, and I think any Vancouverite will have to agree with this one... I think it perfectly captures what we are all feeling right now:

The Daily Show - Canada's Indecision

I haven't watched the Daily Show in weeks, but Colin and I tuned in to watch it last night. If you are Canadian, last night was a great night to watch Jon Stewart. He talked about Monday's election. Yes, it was Indecision 2006, Canadian style. It was so funny, and very different from Canadian satirical programming. I will have to watch again on Monday to see if he has any election coverage.

So far my favourite satirical sketches during this campaign have been Air Farce's Debate 2006 skit (Friday, Jan 13). In this sketch Harper is portrayed as a robot and melts Layton with his laser vision - if only the real debates were this interesting to watch. The other great sketch was 22 Minutes' (Friday, Jan 13) take off on the most recent Buckley's ads. Vote Conservative - it may tastes awful, but it works...

...And Win They Did

Wow! Last night's game was amazing. At first I thought it was going to be one of those nights where the puck just wouldn't go in, no matter how many amazing chances you had. But, it broke open towards the end of the third period.

Both Vancouver and Buffalo played a great game last night, and Auld looked good in goal, as he has for a while now. But we do need a viable backup.

I thought the first game Ouellette played, he looked good. The second game. Not so much. I don't think I have ever seen an NHL goalie cover his face/mask and duck as the puck is coming towards him. Somehow that doesn't exude a lot of confidence in your goal saving abilities.

Auld is good, but the guy will need a break some time...

The only time I worried about last night's game was earlier in third, and Vancouver appeared to be sitting back and playing a defensive style of hockey, which really isn't them. Hey, I was tired too last night, but I was allowed to be sleepy and relaxed, up in my cozy, little corner of the nose-bleeds of GM Place. I'm not the one playing hockey.

But they woke up, and scored, again.

The only thing I didn't like about last night's game - the hoards of people leaving with about four minutes left. Vancouver was only up by 2 goals at that point, and Vancouver has been known to blow and lead like that, with only minutes left in the game. Oh well, I guess the ones who left aren't true hockey fans (or were Sabres fans, there were a few of those at the game last night)...

It looks like I have a fun weekend ahead of me. Tonight Colin and I are joining Tina to go to her friend's birthday. It sounds like some of tonight's company will be a blast from the past for me, but I enjoy catching up with people I haven't seen in a long time...

Tomorrow, Colin and I are joining my family for Burns Supper at the Rowing Club. Yeah! My annual allotment of haggis.

On Sunday I am heading out to UBC for the Sororities of UBC alumnae open house. It will be neat to see what the other chapter rooms look like. I just hope they don't have the old DPhiE room open. It has been over a year now since the chapter closed, but I still think it will be hard to see the old chapter room, even though the chapter was only in there for a few months.

They Better Win

This post may jinx the outcome of tomorrow night's game, but the Canucks better beat Buffalo, goddamit. I am so adamant about this because I am going to the game tomorrow night. It is my first live Canucks game since Calgary beat us in Game 7, Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2004, and will probably be the only game I go to this year, unless I go to a playoff game again.

In other news... I don't know what the heck to do about this impending election. I thought I had it all figured out, but the last couple of weeks in Canadian politics have been inane. In the last 48 hours I have changed my mind from voting Liberal to Conservative to Green, back to Liberal, back to Green. Damn, we should chuck the lot of them out and start from scratch.

I might have an easier time voting Liberal if it weren't for the continuous scandals and the fact that my Liberal candidate is Ujjal Dosanj. Oh why did Elections Canada have to redraw the boundaries of Van Quadra and Van South? - I could at least stomach voting for Stephen Owen. I did in the last election.

It wouldn't be beyond me and what I stand for to vote Conservative, but Stephen Harper is just such a freaking weirdo, and I don't allign with his morals or values.

I won't vote NDP, I just don't know about Green, and the only other party in my riding is the Canadian Christian Party or whatever it's called - so you can just forget that.

I want to vote Conservative, but I sure as hell don't be responsible for putting Harper in charge of this country.

I've got 5 days to figure things out, and the politicians sure aren't helping any. I haven't learned anything from the debates or the adds other than that one party is worse than the other and that the party leaders are all a bunch of fools.

So on Monday this ship of fools sets sail.

Oh by the way I predict a Stanley Cup Final between Vancouver and Buffalo - here's the method to my madness: Vancouver vs. Islanders in 1982; Vancouver vs. Rangers in 1994; therefore Vancouver vs. Buffalo in 2006. However, should my theory be right, that would also mean Vancouver would loose another Stanley Cup... and it's about freakin' time we won one.

This week in Vancouver...

The biggest news floating around the Vancouver airwaves this week: Lions quarterback Casey Printers is moving to the NFL and will playing for the Kansas City Chiefs... in other news: Don Taylor can't get enough of saying Casey is moving to KC.

Also dominating the Vancouver news scene:

Mark Messier's jersey was retired at MSG... big news for Vancouver (note: sarcasm): While the Moose is an amazing hockey player, he captained the Canucks during their darkest days (and quite possibly made things worse).

It's been raining for 25 days straight. Or maybe it's 26 or 27 days now. I don't know. I've lost count. Maybe I should start building my ark...

Vancouver vs. Toronto

I know this a little late, but better late than never...

To all you Maple Leafs fans reading this entry: Leafs Suck, Leafs Suck, Leafs Suck. We beat you! Canucks Rock.

You don't know how long I, and so many other Canucks fans have been waiting to say that. And it seems ever since that game has been over there has been a real lack of Torontonian transplants around here to brag to.

Why is that whenever the Leafs beat the Canucks, the Torontonian transplants seem to crawl out of the Vancouver wood works and rub our faces in the Leafs win, but as soon as we finally beat the Leafs, there isn't a Torontonian in site. And with the new NHL scheduling, we probably won't meet up with the Leafs until the next millennium. Unless we face off in the Stanley Cup finals - you know that could probably count as Canada's first civil war...

Hence the cyber-gloating. And I know there are people from Ontario, and specifically TO, who read this blog, so hopefully I can jeer a few Leafs fans in cyberspace...

There is nothing more satisfying to a Vancouverite than to say those two magic words: Leafs Suck.

Actually, there are probably more satisfying things, but that is definitely up there... Leafs Suck.

Ok I'm done now.

Until we meet again...

(I actually have nothing against Mats Sundin, I just find this picture highly amusing)

interesting fact: there are 324,000 websites that make reference to the Leafs sucking; there are only 165,00 that reference the Canucks sucking (and I bet most of those are from disgruntled Canucks fans...)

Big Fish

A few weeks back Thalia and I got together for our semi-usual Friday night hang-out. After a Sushi dinner we went to Blockbuster and rented Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Watching the movie spurred three conversations: Roald Dahl, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, the latter of which is important to this blog entry.

Even after knowing each other for 20 years, we still discover new things that we have in common: the most recent discovery - we are both Tim Burton fans. Of course this discovery led to us talking about his movies. I have seen almost all of them, but one I hadn't see was Big Fish. Thalia and Todd own the DVD so Thalia lent it to me - I finally got around to watching it last night.

Not only is Big Fish now my favourite Tim Burton movie (sorry Beetlejuice), but is now one of my all-time favourite movies. It was based on a novel, so not all the elements of the movie were Tim Burton, but it was an amazing movie nonetheless. It was a little crazy (as Burton's movies are), but it all came together, and made perfect sense.

If you haven't seen this movie, I suggest you do. And if you tend not to like Burton films because they are on the weird side, I still recommend this movie, as it is more mainstream than his other films.

Best movie I have seen in a while - this coming from someone who practically lives in the movie theatre/video store.

2006

Everybody's doing it, so will I... write a New Year's blog entry that is.

To start, I don't make New Year's resolutions - never have and I doubt I ever will. Actually, that's not true, I always make one New Year's resolution: don't make any New Year's resolutions. True, it is a New Year, but apart from writing 2006 instead of 2005, what's so new about it. I am not trying to be cynical, but think about it - January 1st is just another day, and in the case of this year, just another Sunday.

But I do believe in making resolutions and goals for myself (and yourself), I just make them throughout the year, as I see fit. I am always looking for new and interesting things, and ways to improve myself, I just don't feel like I have to wait until January 1st to "say" I am going to start working on those things.

So what of my end to 2005 and beginning to 2006?

With about three days to New Year's Eve, Colin and I had no definitive plans, so we decided to throw a small party. We invited a few friends over and I cooked dinner for everyone. We had just received our new, big screen tv a couple of days before that so we started the party at 3PM for anyone who wanted to come over early and watch the Canucks get decimated, yet again. I won't go there right now, that is deserving of it's own blog entry...

A friend of ours brought over his digital box, which also has HDTV, so we were able to watch both the Canucks Game and World Junior Canada-USA game in high def - now I'm ruined. Once you watch TV in high def, there's no turning back.

Once those two games were over and more people arrived, we kept on watching hockey, and a room full of Canuck fans sat and watched the Battle of Alberta. After hours of hockey (I think 6 or 7) we all turned our attention to the party. Later in the evening we broke out the board games and listened to an ailing Dick Clark ring in the new year.

At about 1 or 2 in the morning, we heard a lot of swearing and yelling outside our apartment. There were a few drunken teens outside. We didn't think to much of it, but kept an eye (and ear on the situation), and it was a good thing we did.

First they kicked over a couple of newspaper boxes. Stupid, but not detrimental. A few minutes after that, however they ran up to a car driving slowly by and punched the window. Right after that a stream of teens flooded out from the building next to us and began chasing the car. That's when we called 911. While waiting for the cops, a girl at the party was now standing below our window, arguing with a couple of the guys. It was starting to escalate and get physical, so we called 911 again.

Within minutes two cop cars showed up and were talking to the three teens for a good half hour. No one was arrested in the end, but we didn't hear a peep out of the culprits from the rest of the night. Mind you, by this time it was getting close to 3AM.

We returned to our games for a bit, then decided to pack in the party around 4AM.

All in all, it was pretty good way to ring in the New Year.

January 1 was unusual day, but a good one. On New Year's Eve we received a somewhat drunken phone call from a friend of ours who had come over from Victoria to spend New Year's Eve in Vancouver.

The next day we met up with Adam and our friend Jed for an all you can eat sushi lunch. Here we were after a late night of drinking, having serious, intellectual conversations about the state of the world, but of course this was interrupted by a moment of immaturity, as Adam just had to order the chicken knees. Why? Because they were chicken knees. I don't think he ended up eating them though.

On Tuesday, I had a great, Canadian experience. Yes I live in Canada and I experience it everyday, but not quite like this.

I had the opportunity to attend the World Junior Hockey Championships semi-final game between Canada and Finland. It was such an amazing and patriotic experience to be there among the red, white and maple leaf. And the fact that Canada won was doubly good.

It also gave me the opportunity to see Luc Bourdon in action... a Canuck draft pick. By the sounds of the game, I think the people of Vancouver have already taken to him. We could use someone good on defence right now...

So far that is my 2006. Not a bad start to the year...

I now just have to get my act together and start planning my 10 year reunion, because at some point last year I thought it would be a fun thing to do. Now I'm not so sure.

Ecological Foot Print

I saw this on Lisa's blog so I thought I'd check it out...

According to www.myfootprint.org, if everyone lived like me, we would need 5.6 Earths. That is a very scary thought...

But perhaps this is something we need to keep in mind in 2006. We saw so many natural disasters in 2005 caused by global warming (or many of us assume it was an effect of global warming), that we need to really open our eyes this year and try to make some significant changes to conserve the environment we live in.

New Goalie Rumour...

Biron.

That is all.

And So Another Year Ends.

Well, I guess there is technically one more day left, but for all intensive purposes, 2005 is over. Without a doubt 2005 has been the most exciting year of my life, thus far. The biggest reason for that is I got married. I also started a job in my field, even though I am starting to have second thoughts about it. But I won't go there right now. I saw my family from England for the first time in ten years. I finally met someone from Colin's mum's side of the family, which was extremely important and special to me. And, after all these years of wanting to to return to Aloha paradise, I honeymooned in Hawaii.

2006 should be an interesting year since I have my 10-year high school reunion. I can't believe I graduated from Crofton 10 years ago! And I graduated from UBC five years ago. And this year I am really on the downslide to thirty...

The past few days have been lots of fun. We finally bought our big screen TV. We upgraded from a 21-inch screen to a 46-inch HDTV compatible TV. It make sense for a couple like Colin and me to have such a gargantuan TV: we love our movies and our hockey. I am looking forward to watching the Canucks-Wild game tomorrow on our new TV.

Colin and I decided last minute to through a small New Year's Eve get together. Ringing in the New Year with close friends is always fun.

Goodbye 2005 and hello 2006!

Oh yeah, if you ever need to buy anchovies, they aren't with the other canned fish, they are in the refrigeratedsection at the back of the grocery store, with the cheese.

This is not some random comment, I spent a good 20 minutes walking around Safeways tonight looking for anchovies.

White Christmas

While most Vancouverites will be enjoying a warmish, wet, green Christmas I am guaranteed a White Christmas. No I did not rent/invest in a snowmaker, I am heading to Whistler. I have never spent Christmas in Whistler before so I am really looking forward to it. Plus I really just need to get the heck out of Vancouver right now.

Work has been brutal the last few weeks. To put it in a nutshell the Marketing Manager has been indisposed and with no warning I was left to run the entire marketing department. It was tough at first, especially since I hate chaos and uncertainty, but once things were organized I felt a lot better.

But I am thankful just to get away for a few days and have a few days off! It's not my usual minimum 2-week Christmas holiday that I have become accustomed to, but it could be worse. I am taking tomorrow off, and the office is closed till December 28th. Then it's back for two days and then off for New Years. I don't really understand why I have to go in for two days next week, but I have pretty much used up all my vacation time, so I will have to keep that in mind next Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

David Letterman Stalks New Mexican Woman...

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be anymore room on this planet for crazy people another one pops up. This time it is a woman from New Mexico who has created such a fantasy world for herself that she actually belives David Letterman is stalking her via his Late Show monologues.

Here is one of many articles on the story - this is from the Mail & Guardian Online
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/other_news/&articleid=259765

'Letterman must not think of me'
Santa Fe, New Mexico
22 December 2005 12:34

Lawyers for David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the CBS late-night television host used code words to show he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday that Letterman has forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.Nestler requested that Letterman, who tapes his show in New York, stay at least three yards (2,7m) away and not "think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering".Lawyers for Letterman, in a motion filed on Tuesday, contend the order is without merit and asked state District Judge Daniel Sanchez to quash it.Letterman's long-time Los Angeles lawyer, Jim Jackoway, said Nestler's claims are "obviously absurd and frivolous".Nestler's application for a restraining order was accompanied by a six-page typed letter in which she said Letterman used code words, gestures and "eye expressions" to convey his desires for her.She wrote that she began sending Letterman "thoughts of love" after his Late Show began in 1993, and that he responded in code words and gestures, asking her to come East.The motion to quash the order contends the court lacks jurisdiction over Letterman, that Nestler never served him with restraining order papers, and that she didn't meet other procedural requirements. -- Sapa-AP

Man that woman is crazy... It is scary to think though the people like this actually do exist!

Elexmas

You know it had to happen sooner or later... no, not the election. Me, writing a blog entry about it.

Of all the times of year to hold an election, what a stupid time. Christmas! It's not like we have anything going on in our lives. Way to go Harper! You couldn't wait till the new year... nope, you couldn't.

I, like many Canadians, have decided to ignore the election for now. I will begin paying attention January 3rd, after the Christmas holidays, when I go back to work, when the election should have been called.

Christmas, as fun as it is, is also a very insane time of year and the last thing Canadians need right now is to turn their already frazzled minds to four, crazy politicians.

Maybe I'm lucky. I know a lot about Canadian politics, at least that's what my university transcript says. I know what the parties stand for, and 20 days should be suffice enough for me to rummage through their election promises to figure out who best run this country.

Actually, I already know how I'm voting - Liberal. Many of you will agree with this choice, while many of you may think I'm insane. How can I support a party that is so corrupt.

Law of deduction...

I wouldn't vote for a party whose sole purpose is to break up this great nation. Besides, I don't live in Quebec, so I can't vote for the Bloc anyways.

I live in BC. I won't vote NDP.

That leaves the Greens, the Conservatives and the Liberals.

I don't really have a concrete reason for not voting for the Greens, I guess I am just too mainstream, and can't look outside/am not ready to look outside the box.

I would vote Conservative if Mackay were in charge, and the party had a more PC flavour. Progressive Conservative that is. I used to vote PC. Then came the wolf in sheep's clothing. The uniting of the right: a blend of Alliance and Progressive Conservative. Hmmmm.... What ever happened to the PC component of that equation. As long as crazy people from Alberta like Harper (and his predecessor, Day) are in charge of that party, forget it.

Leave abortion alone. Leave gay marriage alone. Last time I checked Canada was a progressive nation, always moving forward. Oh, that's right, I forgot, the Progressive was dropped from the Conservatives.

Which, by logical deduction, leaves the Liberal party.

Every time one of the four Prime ministerial hopefuls show up on TV (most often the news), I change the channel. From now, until January 3rd, the only election coverage I'm watching is on Air Farce, the Rick Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

You can learn a lot about the current campaign from these shows: for instance, I learned from the Rick Mercer report today that Harper's 5% GST won't kick in till 2011. Do the math on that one: even if a majority is elected January 23, and stays in term for the full five years, which never ever happens, an election will have to be called before the GST reduction comes into effect.

There's something to chew on.

Merry Elexmas.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

This past weekend I went on a hunt through my parents' house for my copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was tucked away in a box, which was one of many boxes filled my (and Andrew's) old toys and books. Of course, it was in the very last box.

I vaguely remember reading this book. I think I was in Grade 5, maybe Grade 4. Up to that point only four versions had been published: the original, published in 1950, a second version published in 1980, and mine: the television tie-in special edition, published in 1988, and another version published in 1988. I am sure, however, many more have been published since then.

As I mentioned, I have the TV tie-in edition. This particular edition accompanied the then made-for-TV BBC Mini series.

And now, seventeen years later, the motion picture version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is about to be released... which is why I was tearing apart my parents' house looking for my copy of this timeless book. You see, I don't remember the story, at all. All I do remember is that there is a lion, a witch, and a wardrobe which leads to Narnia. And the only other thing I remember is that one of the children had a thing for turkish delight.

I tried turkish delight for the first time when I first read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I remember thinking it was magical and mystical, because you could get all the turkish delight you wanted in Narnia. Of course now all I have to do is go to Purdy's to pick some up...

Separated at Birth?

For those you who watch SportsNet Pacific and the Daily Show have you ever wondered if Don Taylor and John Stewart are related?

Their looks, their mannerisms, their idiosycrasies are so eerily similar that you really do have to wonder if they were separated at birth...


So pay close attention the next time you watch your Canucks news and then tune in later for the Daily Show...

Hawaii the Blog

Hawaii the Blog has now been posted - check out the October archives and look for October 19th! Warning: this is a very long blog entry!!

I've Lost the Will to Blog...

I don't know what's up with me, but I haven't felt like blogging much lately. I've been super busy and haven't had anything creative to type. Heck, I haven't even posted my Hawaii blog yet and I've been back in town for 6 weeks now.

The last month at work has been extremely busy, and December is showing no signs of letting up. Then there's my 3 volunteer positions with my sorority, plus I am now a class rep for CHS and trying to organize a 10-year reunion; and I have to start planning for Christmas.

Ah well, next week kicks off the party season, with three Christmas parties in less than a week, so it's all good.

I've been watching that How Clean is Your House show on the Women's network. I think it has inspired me somehow: I cleaned my apartment from top to bottom today - I can't get over how clean my oven is, I keep staring at it - which, when you think about, is really quite sad.

I found out this week there is going to be a Canadian version of America's Next Top Model: Canada's Next Top Model. I absolutely love ANTM. In fact it is the only reality show I watch, besides the Amazing Race, so I am looking foward to the Canadian version.