When Coke goes Scrooge... Pepsi comes to play

When Coca-Cola refused to provided coca-cola for it's Melbourne manufacturing plant's Christmas celebration the employees; in an act of defiance that I think is very typically Australian; didn't complain but went ahead with the party, with slabs of Pespi to drink. The media got a hold of the story and there you go...

Coca-Cola are not happy chappies about it. Serves them right in my mind, especially given the company is always proclaiming that they invented the look of Santa Claus etc. Their actions seem more Scrooge than Santa to me, shame on them!

I wonder if the Santa, pictured above, had to buy his own drink for the shoot.

Well played coke workers, well played.

Shout out to my stranded friend

Seems there is a Gilligan complex going on at the moment. Many things are stranded, sadly without the desert island or coconut-cream pies.

Just as the Canadian Copyright Bill has been delayed, my dear friend is stuck at LAX. After already spending 3-hours on the tarmac; due to the weekend's monstrous snow storm; she is now stranded in L.A, waiting to find a connecting flight back home to Oz.

Thinking of you Bella, there is nothing worse than being stranded and not knowing what will happen next. Wishing you a safe and swift journey back home.

Hopefully the Copyright Bill will find it's way too. Though in that case, I find it odd that people can get so mad about something they haven't even seen yet.

Snow-a-rama

There is so much snow, I can't even see out the window...If I have to go outside, it will be in what I call "pilgrim-mode"... battling the elements...like pilgrims back in the day.

I find that making things overly dramatic to compliment the dramatic weather somehow makes it easier to deal with. I can role-play and practice my exaggerated expressions of woe, which distracts me from focusing on how cold or uncomfortable I am.

It works for me anyway.

Building the ROM Crystal

Great little video that shows the construction of the Michael Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).

So, THAT's what was happening!

What has eight legs and smells nice?

I don't suffer from arachnophobia, but I don't particularly like spiders either.

Growing up in Australia, the land of large and hairy huntsman, you learn to deal with them. I used to be a master of the piece-of-paper-and-jar capture technique.

Since moving to Canada, my life has been relatively free of spiders, the few I have seen always seem so tiny compared to the huntsmen.

Now that I live in a condo and winter has arrived the local spider population have moved indoors and seem to really like my bathroom.

The first few I either ignored or quickly disposed of, then one got ambitious and decided to take residence on the ceiling immediately above the sink. This I was less nonchalant about, as the last thing I need is a spider falling into my hair as I wash my face or on to my toothbrush.

I decided to take action, this bathroom was too small for both of us, the spider had to go. Unfortunately being on the ceiling made the previously mentioned paper/jar technique too tricky; using a shoe too likely to leave a mark. We don't own any bug spray so I had to be creative.

Out came the Freebreeze, which I liberally sprayed my opponent with. Unlike humans who enjoy the scent of Freebreeze, the eight-legged creature was obviously very unhappy (despite smelling nice) and acted quite 'drunk'. So 'drunk' he fell - attached to a piece of his web - precariously between the sink and the ceiling, which helped no one.

Unsure what to do, as I merely wished to kill not torture him, I tried to release him from the web to go down the sink. He by now was pissed-off and wiggly, I freaked out, so more Freebreeze was applied. At this point there was so much Freebreeze in the small room we were both nearly knocked unconscious.

Eventually I knocked him off his web and down the sink, I ran the tap to wash him away and to wash some of the Freebreeze off him. Mission accomplished.

The next morning my boyfriend was in the bathroom and commented "there's a mark on the ceiling, looks like something was sprayed"...I didn't say a word.

Christmas cards for EVERYONE

Christmas cards have been part of the festive tradition since 1843.

I personally have been giving them out since Grade 4, when everyone gave one to everyone else in their class. Usual stuff, your best friend got the prettiest card, the boy you didn't like the religious looking one.

In more recent years, with the rise of the internet, I have become slack and for the most part make use of e-cards to send my Christmas greetings. There are however a very small handful of people (including my mother who threatens violence if I don't) whom I send a traditional hard-copy card by post.

I was at the card store recently trying to select cards for this small group. Nothing too religious, nothing too cheesy, nothing too North American (hard to explain). Making these selections is easier said than done and is getting harder due to the rise of 'specific' cards. I found cards for "Mother-in-Law", "The Boss", "For my Hairdresser", "For my Super Intendant" and my favourites "For my Dog" and "From the Dog".

Although I found them a bit strange, I wouldn't have have minded these cards, except that all the specificness had obliberated the customary nice-card-with-nothing-written-inside that is what I usually get.

I couldn't help but wonder... How many people give specific cards to their hairdressers and how many people are at home writing cards "From the Dog"?

Human History - Short Form

From the 60 second lecture series at the University of Pennsylvania comes human history in ten points. My favourite is the first point, 'tribes: tough times'. Below are a few more.

Human History
Alan Charles Kors
George H. Walker Endowed Term Professor of History

- First, tribes: tough life.
- Rainfall agriculture, which allows loners.
- The impulse is always there, though: "Kill or enslave the outsider."
- No one who teaches you knows what will happen.

For the full list, to go www.sas.upenn.edu/home/news/trans_Kors.

Book Worm Goes High-Tech

I have always been a bit of a book worm, unashamedly so.

At the moment I am reading a fabulous book by Alberto Manguel called 'The Library At Night'. The book ponders everything from why people feel compelled to collect books; the history of ancient libraries; and how the author and his library are slowly becoming 'one', due the dust from the books and the dusk from his shedding dead-skin cells intermingling.

I am not in a position where I can have a wonderful physical library, yet, so I am creating an online one for myself at Shelfari.

Shelfari is perfect as I always have trouble remembering what I have read - I've accidentally brought the same book twice - in the past. This way I can create an online catalogue for myself, see what my friends are reading, and get ideas for future reading.

So until I get the physical library I have always dreamed of I am a relatively happy book worm. Not sure I want my library and I too intermingle our dust so we become 'one', but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Feathered Frame of Reference Could have Frightened

My purse is quite well known for being somewhat of an abyss, where things that go into it can take quite some time to retrieve.

Such was the case with my iPod Shuffle this morning, except my search for it sparked a weird phenomenon.

Just after leaving my house I was poking through my purse looking for my iPod, as I walked, when I decided it made more sense just to stop and look properly.

As soon as I halted and started my search a couple of pigeons flew towards me. Within seconds I had a large mass, seemed like hundreds, of pigeons flocking in my direction and surrounding me.

I don't particularly like birds, their feet freak me out, so the experience was quite disconcerting.

Fortunately I remembered that a lady comes and feeds the pigeons at the very spot I happened to be standing. So when I stopped and opened my bag, the pigeons thought that breakfast had arrived.

Hence I didn't panic.

My next immediate thought was 'Thank God I didn't watch Hitchcock's 'The Birds' last night, as this would have frightened the living daylights out of me completely'.

I will admit that I walked away pretty quickly, just in case the pigeons HAD watched the 'The Birds' last night and were pissed that I hadn't brought them breakfast.

I swear at least one of them gave me a dirty look.

Etneral Hydra

Last night I saw the in development production of Eternal Hydra by the Crow Theatre at Buddies in Bad Times.

The piece is still in development but very polished and despite being very long (over two hours) utterly engaging.

The characters are well written to both reinforce and contrast one another with powerful subtly.

The actors do a tremendous job bringing them to life; especially the actress in the Selma role in the second act; though I will admit that for the first few minutes I found the scholar with the English accent's character to be played a little like what I called a 'She-Hugh-Grant', but in a good way.

The story arc is slow, complex but quite relentless.

The costuming, lighting and music are subdued (colour palettes of greys and browns predominantly) but highly effective and never distracting.

Without giving away anything of the plot I will say that I was left feeling that the piece is like a mirrored onion; with multiple layers that as they peel off also reflect back on one another.

I enjoyed it a great deal and would recommend it highly.

Mild Chemical Turmoil

Today is a day of mild chemical turmoil.

Nothing profound, just one of those days that I get some months, when I am just not myself.

My skin has invited a huge pimple to live temporarily on my chin, and to my dismay, it invited some friends to keep it company.

My rational mind is a bit boggled too. It took forever to decided what to wear (how hard can choosing between two black sweaters be) only for me to decide, literally as we were walking out the door, I wanted to wear the other sweater after all.

It doesn't just affect visual things, but speech too. I noticed that I was unusually full of bitchy, grumbling, sooky comments for no reason.

Fortunately my boyfriend was very patient and merely amused as he watched me dither, mumble, whinge and rage.

On the way to work, when we finally got out of the door, I mentioned that perhaps I am not really fit to be in public today and should wear an 'Approach with Caution' sign.

He laughed but didn't disagree or say anything at all. Smart man.

Grey Cup - cultural learnings

I think it is very healthy to occasionally do something that is completely out of your comfort zone of usual interests.

On Friday night I went to one of the official Grey Cup parties for the CFL Saskatchewan RoughRiders, which is about as far out of my comfort zone as I can get.

There was a sea of people (mainly men) decked out in green, cheering, drinking beer and listening to what I call "man music" - what my old housemate called "C$&%!k Rock" - think Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Billy Idol etc.

I insisted on finding myself a set of the shiny green 'mardi-gras' style beads that everyone was wearing. My boyfriend commented that he didn't realize that this was my team. I enlightened him that I didn't have a team I just wanted the jewelry.

Everyone was very jovial, even welcoming to supporters from other teams, which was nice.

Happily wearing my beads I couldn't help but ponder why it is that hard-core male sports fans; whether it be Aussie Rules, Rugby, Grid-iron etc.; love dressing in drag.

I couldn't imagine any other occasion where self-confessed tough farm boys would deck themselves out in colored-beads, skirts and painted-faces.

Is it a warrior/tribal thing? Is it a peacock thing? Is it a secret love of cross-dressing thing?

I will probably never know.

I had a good time, don't need to go again, and offer my congratulations to the Roughriders on their victory.

Gettting Counted... less fun far from home

Tomorrow, I am heading to the Australian Consulate General (ACG) in Toronto to cast my vote for the Australian Federal Election.

Australia's compulsory voting system, which I support, means that exercising my democratic right is a foregone conclusion.

However, casting my vote when I live in another country means forgoing all the more enjoyable aspects - that have little to do with the election - of the voting poll locations that I get at home.

No running into friends and neighbours, no ballons and streamers, no sausage-sizzle run by the local scout group, no cake stall by the local school. Not even a 'guess the number of jelly beans in the jar' fund raiser (you win the jelly beans).

It's all quite dull, arriving at the high-rise office (where the ACG is located), going into a small white room to vote, then leaving.

Maybe I should set up my own cake stall or put together a jelly bean jar to make the experience feel more authentic not only for myself but for other Aussie ex-patriots.

Mr. Snow has arrived

Mr. Snow arrived today.

That's ok, we had been expecting him; even if he was a little early; and he can indeed be very pretty.

However, Mr. Snow, I do not recall saying that you could bring Mr. Evil-Wind-Who-Whips-Your-Face-So-Hurts with you. His presence is really quite intolerable and he definitely has a negative influence on your behaviour as well.

Bringing uninvited guests is really rather rude.

Battling the Coming Cold

Winter is fast approaching. Every year I feel as if have been suffering from amnesia as to what 'Canadian Cold' feels like, then that first particularly cold day arrives and my memories flood back. "Oh yes, this is hideous."

This year I am determined to be prepared.

I have purchased a new coat. I was adamant that practicality would take precedence over fashion and vanity. After trying on an arctic-down, thermal-lined coat, that was indeed warm, but so voluminous that I looked like an apple with legs I admitted to myself that my soul would be warm but very unhappy. I ended up compromising by getting a thick down coat that does have some womanly shape. I am merely human and wish not to resemble fruit or marshmallows.

Next I scouted out thermal lined boots that lean less towards yeti-ugly. I sourced a pair that should do the trick, if I decided that my tootsies are too cold in my regular leather boots.

After all the research into winter apparel, and laying of contingency plans, I likened my search to being like preparing for battle. It sounds quite ridiculous, but is all too true.

I am almost prepared to battle winter! If winter would be so kind as to wait until I am ready. I just hope winter abides by rules of engagement, no nasty -40 days thank you very much.

Death Star Canteen

Ordering penne alla arrabiata will never be the same again!

Web = $Worthless or $Billions? Depends if you are a writer

No Country For Old Men = tense girl

No Country For Old Men is the latest offering by the Coen Brothers.

I saw it last night and have to say that it an excellent film that more than lives up to the stellar reviews it has been receiving.

I should warn however that it's not a film for the faint of heart. I was in a perpetual state of hypertension for the duration of the screening.

The script and acting performances are excellent; the cinematography is superb.

Additionally, quirky attention to detail and props; whether they are acknowledged by the clever dialogue or not; give the film an edge that is at times unexpectedly humorous. Note the trips to the cowboy outfitters, the bad-ass' weapon, peanut eating, flowers in the hospital, 'dead-dawg', and so on.

More than anything else what sets this film apart as spectacular is the pacing, the heart-pounding, nail-biting, agonizing pacing. There is no real way to describe how they keep you on edge and I refuse to spoil any elements of the plot to attempt to do so.

All in all it's quite amazing when you take into consideration that the 'primary bad-ass' sports a girly bob haircut.

If you don't have a faint heart definitely go and see this film.

Worshipping Consumerist Idols

The earrings pictured above represent the very first purchase I have ever made on-line for myself. They arrived today. I think I am mildly in love with them. They are GORGEOUS.

Hard-core biblical types may not be happy about my gold worship, and I care not that Thomas Moore's Utopian society would think me a slave for wearing them.

My consumerist heart is VERY joyful at the moment.

Jamie Oliver Ad

I agree with my friend, this ad is great!

Bo Pepper - I Haven't Got You Anything

I won't be ready to face the 'holiday' season for a least a month, but this is too good not to share. Enjoy!

Royal Winter Fare On Offer

On Saturday I visited the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

My farmer grandfather would have been proud of me wandering the sheds looking at sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, chickens and even bees. He probably would have been less impressed at my 'city girl' habit of calling all the sheep 'lamby' and patting them like I do domestic pets.

After spending some time in the 'petting zoo', with all the crazed children, it made me wonder which side of the fence the animals were really on.

We also saw sculptures made of butter, a multitude of fudge stalls and lots of other good stuff. All in all we had a great time.

Talking to a friend from home I described how the event was similar to the 'Royal Melbourne Show' without the show bags and carnival rides, to which she responded "so, without all the good bits?"

I liked focusing more on the animals than the rides but agree that a show bag wouldn't have gone astray.

Nightclub Wars

My clubbing days are long behind me, not that I was ever much of a mainstream 'clubber' in the first place. This piece makes me particularly pleased about that.

Nightclub Wars - CBC News Sunday

Why does it take as many as 70 police officers to patrol Toronto's club district on a Saturday night? We give you an exclusive inside look as cops walk the beat in North America's most intensive party zone.

To watch the piece filmed and produced by talented journalist, Greg Szopa, click here
.

Tumble-dried Doggie

Most dog owners know that baths are generally less than popular with pooches.

My own Round Houndini; despite being the friendliest of beagles under normal circumstances; becomes one soulful, howling hound when he realizes it's bath time.

I have a wonderful photo of him from his very first bath, when he was six weeks old, sitting in a small plastic tub with a priceless forlorn expression that only hounds can do so soulfully.

For years my family did the 'dog bath dance'. This included: chasing the hound; getting the hound into the bath (harder than it sounds); having the hound alternate between forlorn looks and growling; multiple escapes; and the inevitable shake (saturating us all) then the essential roll in the mud.

After my brother and I moved away my parents surrendered the 'dance' and now Houndini has the 'Puppy Spa' service come to the house to take care of his beauty routine.

However, dog washing now offers a higher-tech option with a dog washing machine that resembles the washer we use for our clothes. It's quite remarkable.

To see the demonstration video, Click here.

I'm not sure Houndini or my family would be able to use it, one sad look from Houndini inside the machine and my entire family would end up inside the machine with him to keep him company.

Going Postal - not as joyous as antipated

The Canadian Dollar has been stronger than the US Dollar for some weeks now. Like many people I am dying to take advantage of this by purchasing goods from the US. Not only because the $CA is stronger but generally goods are less expensive in the US.

On Saturday I excitedly loaded up my Mastercard in anticipation of 'buying gifts for myself' from my favourite US clothing retailer online for the very first time.

Apparently my level of excitement was quite humorous to observe.

Unfortunately after spending almost two hours negotiating the website, the postal fee, and cross-border taxes - there was a LOT of swearing - I had to concede that my 'fantastic' idea wasn't feasible after all. Sigh!

Even with the stronger $CA the amount of taxes etc. to get my package into Canada meant that the sweater I had my eye on would end up costing almost $200. It is not a $200 worth sweater and I didn't adore it $200 worth.

So I abandoned by mission quite miffed.

I haven't given up I will still try to find a way to buy something while the $CA is strong, it just won't be that sweater.

Melbourne Cup - horse race extravaganza

The Melbourne Cup is known as the 'race that stops a nation' and is Australia's most prestigious thoroughbred horse race, held on the first Tuesday in November each year at Flemington Racecourse.

Although technically the race will be held tomorrow, due to the time difference between Canada and Australia, the race will be run today in Canada time.

It is such a part of the Melbournian cultural fabric that it cause for a public holiday, I am not aware of any other public holidays in honour of a horse race.

These days the celebration is as much about 'fashion on the field' and exclusive marquees as it is about horses. I will sheepishly admit that I have attended a couple of 'cups' where I didn't see a horse at all. My father informs me that this year the Emirates (cup sponsor) four-level venetian inspired marquee and Saab Ice Bar are the most coveted marquees to gain entrance to.

It is an event where women will feel utterly ridiculous if they are not wearing a hat (or a fascinator) and the fashion stakes are quite high. Planing your 'cup outfit' can take weeks.

Fashion and marquees aside there is definitely something exciting about placing your one and only bet on a horse (even if like me you have no idea what you are doing and make choices primarily on silks colours or horse names) each year.

This year my money ($1) is on Dolphin Jo ridden by Clare Lindop.

Goooooo Dolphin Jo... gooooooooo!

Dalai Lama in Canada

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is currently visiting Canada.

Greg was incredibly fortunate not only to attend the session at the Rogers Centre (Sky Dome) in Toronto but also got to sit in the front row. When I asked him about the experience he said that he thought his holiness was delightful and had some very interesting thoughts on many topics including secularism and addressed the issues with China.

Apparently what I had heard is true and his holiness does indeed get the giggles on a regular basis, which is as endearing as I had suspected.

Greg said that despite being a religious leader, who emits a strong presence, his holiness also inspires feelings of warmth and familiarity which Greg compared to the affection you feel for your favourite uncle.

The experience inspired numerous conversations over the next few days including how the Dalai Lama is appointed/selected/found; his teachings in general; and how Greg was aware of people from many religious backgrounds including Jewish and Catholic who had been in attendance and how we both like cross-religion sharing.

Both being from Catholic backgrounds we amused each other saying how nice it must be to have a religious leader who you can feel genuine affection and respect for as we agreed that the likelihood of us ever feeling any warmth or calling Pope Benedict 'Uncle Benny' is highly unlikely.

Paul Rand Tribute

Paul Rand was responsible for iconic icons for IBM, ABC (America), UPS, etc.

He almost singlehandedly convinced business that design was an effective tool. [. . .] Anyone designing in the 1950s and 1960s owed much to Rand, who largely made it possible for us to work. He more than anyone else made the profession reputable. We went from being commercial artists to being graphic designers largely on his merits.

- Heller, Steven. “Thoughts on Rand.” Print, May–June 1997: 106–109+

If you are an admirer of graphic design, especially graphic design history you will enjoy this 4 minute tribute commemorating Rand's posthumous induction to the One Club Hall of Fame.


It demonstrates Rand's talent, had some great thoughts on the principles of design, and is very visually enjoyable to watch.

To watch the short film, click here.

Alice and Astrid - beautiful things

One of my dearest friends from my London days is Astrid behind Alice and Astrid.

Their clothes are incredibly beautiful and feminine; have a remarkable attention to detail; a delicate and luxurious approach to texture - just like my friend.

I have owned a pair of their double cotton pajamas for over five years, they look as beautiful as they did when I first got them; they are obscenely comfortable and gorgeous to boot.

If you are ever looking to spoil yourself slightly and can't make to their store in Notting Hill, take heart, you can also offer their creations online.

A absolute must check out for all girls.

Interactive Pumpkin Carving

I saw a multitude of miniature ghosts, witches, princesses, super-heros etc. on my way to work this morning.

I was also visited by a ghost-hound in my office (love that hound) and given a black cat shaped decorated cookie.

So to help others to get into the Halloween spirit I am giving everyone the chance to carve their own pumpkin.

To carve your own pumpkin, click here.

Halloween - Costume Drama

It is Halloween time in North America and the costumes and the decorations are out.

Not having grown up in North America I still find the entire Halloween concept a little weird and the seriousness with which finding the 'perfect costume' is taken rather stressful. I've known many different people during my time here that have spent literally weeks agonizing over their costume choices.

When asked for my costume choice of preference my mind usually goes completely blank. Any costume suggestions from other people usually involve not wearing many clothes, which I am not so keen on due to the weather as much anything else and makes me even more stressed.

That said it really is fantastic watching so many people on the subway in their costumes.

However, for yet another year I bowing out of the costume drama and leaving the dressing up to the little kids who go trick-a-treating.

Happy Halloween.

dung beetle vs. honey bee

Some days are all about dung!


Some days are all about flowers!

All we can do is recognize that the dung contributes to how flowers grow.

Halloween Hangman

Halloween Hangman is creepier than run-of-the-mill hangman.

It actually gave me the shivers a little even though it's utterly tacky. I think I have an aversion to skulls and skeletons.

Spam: the documentary

I've known about this documentary, shown on CBC's The Lens, for a while but only got the chance to see it on the weekend.

Produced by Chocolate Box Entertainment the documentary follows David Manning on his quest to discover all things spam.

You have to give him credit for being comprehensive: he visits the SPAM (as in horrid food stuff) factory and gets their take; talks with the Monty Python comedian whose skit was responsible for the labeling of the computer phenomenon 'spam'; meets the person acknowledged as the very first person to send a mass marketing message using computer technology - 'father of spam'; looks into the battle against spam and the negative economic and technological consequences of it; tries to meet with a 'spammer'; and best of all actually tries out the products that spam sells. Seeing Manning in his 'weight loss' outfit is priceless.

It's a a great little doco, if I have attached a link to an excerpt below, but if you get a chance to view the entire piece I highly recommend it.

Click here to watch an excerpt.

NB: Did you know that according to the foodstuff SPAM representatives, if you spell SPAM in uppercase it means the foodstuff and lowercase 'spam' it means computer junk mail. Who knew! I think they might be a bit deluded in thinking that people make this distinction.

Smarties - colour coding and candy-shell truths

For reasons that are not necessary to go into, I spent time this morning colour sorting Smarties.

Every activity in life teaches us something (think wax on, wax off).

Here is what I learnt from this activity:

- I REALLY enjoy colour coding things, and I am insistent on using the colour spectrum as my guide, yes I am a bit of a freak, but a harmless one.

- There isn't an even distribution of the colours in Smarties packets. My sorting revealed a dearth of red (so less to look forward to if you eat them last) and an excess of pink (little boys will be horrified). As a result I was reminded of the scene in 'Casino' with the unequal distribution of blueberries in the muffins. Hmmmm... maybe I should contact Robert De Niro with my discovery.

- Smarties are a swift road to illness if you a pick-eater. I can't always eat a full piece of cake but I can eat my weight in Smarties. Hence, I had to get the residual candy away from me as soon as possible.

- If you grew up in Australia in the 1980s you would remember the huge hullabaloo over what colour to throw out when they introduced blue Smarties. Fortunately, my vote worked and the poo brown Smarties are no more. Studying Smarties today, we DEFINITELY made the right decision.

Are you excited by all this essential learning or WHAT!

Art Movement

Artist/Historian/Economist Holly Crawford is very interesting to me.

You bring your opinions on art; they provide a curator/artist, champagne and a limousine. LOVE IT!

Her (Holly Crawford) "critical conversation" limousine picks up anyone who wants to join an hour-long salon about anything to do with art. She provides champagne while an artist or curator leads each discussion, which is recorded on camera. In the sound art limousine, participants hear music from local sound artists, who also act as DJs and hosts.

Beat the Odds - Great Ad

Not a fan of online dating but love this ad. Makes me even more grateful that I am off the market.

Fruit Fly Invasion

Arghhhhh!!!!.. Fruit Fly Invasion at the office..

Little blighters, so small yet capable of such great distress.

I swear one is my ear and another is on a kamikaze mission to be swallowed.

Ick!

We've made those eco-friendly traps but they seem more interested in human torture.

Occupational Hell

Some days feel like this, I imagine hell is not dissimilar.

The Mighty Boosh - Old Gregg

I saw the Mighty Boosh (who I think were merely 'Le Boosh' at the time) live at the comedy festival in Melbourne many years ago. I remember laughing so hard I cried.

Old Gregg is particularly funny to me for personal reasons. This probably more for Aussies than Canadians in terms of humour.

The Mighty Boosh - Legend of Old Gregg
Part One:


Part Two:


Part Three:

Support for Bras' Birthday

Variations of breast-support undergarments have been around for centuries but 1907 is considered the official 'birthday' of the bra, as it marks the first reference by Vogue Magazine of the word "brassiere".

Hence the 'bra' celebrates it's centenary this year.

In the past 100 years bras have had an adventurous history as they have been wired, stuffed, burnt, pushed-up, and many men have spent considerable time trying to take them off.

As a lingerie lover, I say Happy Birthday Bras, thanks for 100 years helping to banish the bounce.

Mind the Gap - Tate Modern

Question: What's 548 feet long, up to three feet deep and 10inches wide, and zigzags the length of the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern?

Answer: The artwork 'Shibboleth' by Colombian artist Doris Salcedo, also colloquially known as 'Doris' Crack'.

The crack is said to represent the division problem of integrating immigrants into European society.

Three people have injured themselves by falling into the 'crack' by stepping on it, mistakenly thinking that it was painted on.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think this artwork is BRILLIANT!

Download some Radio...Radiohead

Radiohead's new album In Rainbows is now available.

The ten track album can be downloaded from www.inrainbows.com

The cost of the downloaded album? Well, you get to decide. All verrrry interesting. I'd like to hear what people think.

If you like all the trappings of a regular CD, a more expansive discbox is also available to order for 40 pounds.

My kind of radio and a particularly nice pot of gold 'in rainbows'.

skippy, cow burps, hyena laughs

Last night my father told me about how some Australians are trying to encourage more Aussies to eat kangaroo meat instead of beef. I already knew that kangaroo has practically no cholesterol and is very low in fat etc. but the other reason was a surprise.

If Aussies eat more kangaroo and less beef it could assist in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions that come from cows burping, yes, burping!

"Farmed ruminant animals are thought to be responsible for up to a quarter of "man-made" methane emissions worldwide though contrary to common belief, most gas emerges from their front, not rear, ends."(The Guardian, July 10, 2007).

Kangaroo burps apparently do not have the same problem.

I didn't believe Dad at first and asked "Burps? Wouldn't it be more likely to be from farts?". He replied "No, the scientists say it's the burps far more than the farts."

Dad then tried to explain why it was the burping, but I was too busy laughing my head off because my Dad said the word 'fart'.

Juvenile I know, especially for someone over thirty but some things will always make me laugh like a hyena.

Mancation - have boys will travel

In the 1950s Jack Kerouac immortalized his buddy trips in 'On the Road'.

My Dad went on fishing trips with his friends all through the 1960s, 70s and 80s. My Boss has gone on an annual camping trip with his group of friends for almost 20 years.

Men going on vacations with their friends is by no means a new thing and is probably as old as civilization itself. Aristotle, back in ancient Greece, talked about the importance of friendship. His misguided views on women's friendships I won't go into today.

The term 'mancation' is a little newer, apparently coined by Vince Vaughn in the film 'The Break Up'. I think this term is delightful.

My boyfriend is about to go on a surfing vacation with his two best friends. He is beyond excited, probably more excited than he's ever been before one of our 'couple' vacations.

I don't mind at all, I think it's great, but I have to admit being able to snicker 'Sooo... how are you mancation plans going?' gives me far more joy and amusement than it probably should.

Apparently I 'Just Don't Understand' but so long as the word 'mancation' makes be giggle it doesn't really matter if I do or don't.

Happy Mancation Boys!

Jules et Jim

The engagement bells continue to ring this year.

Congratulations to Jules and Jim on their happily anticipated engagement!

Ontario Referendum - Oct 10th

It's a political bonanza time for people living in Ontario. On the 10th of October Ontarians will get the opportunity to vote not only for their next Provincial Government but have their say as to whether they want to reform the provincial electoral system.

The electoral reform referendum interests me greatly, so I've read the literature, gone to some informal functions and attended the debate.

I've decided that the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system is the one I support.

Of course there is the small problem that I can't vote because I am not a Canadian citizen. I just like to be informed.

SOOOOO...even though I can't vote, I think it's incredibly important that those who can do.

IF YOU ARE AN ELIGIBLE ONTARIAN VOTER... MAKE SURE YOU FLEX YOUR DEMOCRATIC RIGHT... GO VOTE!

E-O-Rama: Eames & Elephants = Excellent

Charles Eames was an amazing designer, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year.

Cleverly the Eames Office came up with a unqiue and totally cool way to help celebrate.

Not only have they released limited numbers of the plywood elephants; designed in 1945 but never previously produced; but have created a fun, short, stop-motion film about them titled "A Gathering of Elephants."

Whether you are a fan of Eames, a fan of stop-motion animation, or a fan of elephants you'll love this little film.

Click here to watch it.

The film was directed by Eames Dementrios (Eames grandson) and features the acting talents of Mr. L. A. Phant and Ms. Ella Faant.

Kath and Kim meets Little Britain

If you are a fan of both of these shows, as I am, this is a bit like a comedic dream come true. It helps if your sense of humour leans towards the Aussie/British way of things too.

God Calling ... on your cell phone

Communicating with God has gone high-tech in Britain.

Now the faithful can download religious wallpaper and ringtones expressing their faith, even download the entire bible if they wish.

The service, Ecumen, is marketed with the phrase: "The only Bible you can read in the dark."

Seems God not only works in mysterious ways but adapts to new technologies.

Landed - new part moose

As a foreigner living in Canada a number of my friends, like me, are 'resident aliens', all at different stages in the immigration process.

On Friday night one of my friends; who has had a particularly adventurous journey down the immigration road; finally got her official approval and became 'Landed' as a Canadian Permanent Resident.

Celebrations included champagne and a group sing-a-long of 'Oh Canada'.

Congratulations Anna, on being well on your way to officially becoming part-moose!

Nuit Blanche - over projected

Saturday night was Nuit Blanche, an all night contemporary art extravaganza that overtook downtown Toronto.

The excitement in the lead up to this event was fantastic. Everyone I know and everyone who knows people I know were all pumped to participate. Additionally; unlike last year's cold and wet climatic offerings; the weather was perfect for nocturnal wanderings on foot around the streets. My excitement grew when as my group of friends and I discovered that the TTC had sold out of tokens and day passes. Surely this event was going to be magnificent.

Indeed the numbers of people wandering from artwork to artwork around the city was impressive. The general atmosphere of good-willed curiosity and excitement was marvelous.

Unfortunately the art was anything but marvelous.

I preface my ramble on my dissatisfaction with the art by explaining that I am a huge supporter of contemporary art. I've seen everything from teddy bears covered in oatmeal; ants making patterns with string; murderer's portraits made of children's hand-prints; sharks in tanks of formaldehyde; and too many video and sound installations to shake a stick at. I'm not one of the cynics who shake their head at contemporary art and irritatingly say "my five-year old coudda done dat."

I can be a tough critic; if something has been too overdone, is too focused on trying to shock, or just plain idiotic; I am the first person to walk away shaking my head. However, if something hasn't completely reached resolution - but I can see that the idea was clever or interesting - I will be lenient and give it it's dues. If something is spectacular, even if it's really weird, I am the first to say I love it.

Sadly, on Saturday night there was a lot of head shaking and nothing worth bestowing leniency on, everything I saw was at best mediocre and at worst groan inspiring.

There seemed to be a mild obsession with using projections, but none of them were very good and few took into account or incorporated their physical placement. The success of last year's fog sculpture at Philosophers Way (which I LOVED) seemed to have everyone else obsessed with trying to ride on it's 'fog based' popularity - sadly without success.

The 'alien autopsy' was so pathetic it almost made me cross and the invitation by the conservation guy to 'write about how I feel about trees' on pieces of paper was so hypocritically ridiculous I could do nothing but stare.

As the evening faded to 4am, my friends and I held out one last hope for the art. There was a piece at the unused Bay Street Subway station that we hadn't seen. I'd never been to the 'hidden' station so if nothing else just getting down there would be a success. The station itself was cool; we all agree it would be a great venue for something; but the so-called 'sound installation' was so void that I won't even bother describing it.

Nuit Blanche is a wonderful concept that deserves praise but if they are to continue this event in future I would strongly recommend a significant review of the art selection process and the appointment of a decent (hopefully savage) curator. If they could lure some recognizable and acknowledged artists - who are actually talented - all the better. Otherwise I fear that if the event continues with such pathetic works on offer it will actually do contemporary art a great disservice.

All-in-all Nuit Blanche in it's current manifestation was over projected and it's resolution far too low to be replicated.

Wear a Red Shirt For Burma Today

IN SUPPORT OF OUR BRAVE FRIENDS IN BURMA: MAY ALL PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WEAR A RED SHIRT ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28.

I didn't know about this until my housemate (who was wearing a red shirt) told me about it this morning, as luck would have it I was already wearing a red dress.

I hope the dress counts too.

Hippo & Dog: The Lion Sleep Tonight

I just like it!

Write Like a Girl?

We are all aware that gender can influence many aspects of our lives (nurture/nature/sociology is beside the point for the moment) including how we walk, colours we are drawn to, and some would argue the way we throw balls.

There is also a website that claims it can determine the gender of your writing from your word usage. For example the song writing of Axel Rose was deemed have a female structure of word usage.

Here is a little bit more about it:

In 2003, a team of researchers from the Illinois Institute of Technology and Bar-Ilan University in Israel (Shlomo Argamon, Moshe Koppel, Jonathan Fine, and Anat Rachel Shimoni) developed a method to estimate gender from word usage. Their paper described a Bayesian network where weighted word frequencies and parts of speech could be used to estimate the gender of an author. Their approach made a distinction between fiction and non-fiction writing styles.

To check out the gender of your own writing using the Gender Genie, click here

Science of Relgion

Wired has an article about a scientific quandary being encountered by an astronaut in his quest to correctly face Mecca to pray whilst in orbit.

It's far more complicated than you would expect, Holy Moly!

Story time... like the old days... abeit an abrupt ending

Illustration: Edward Lear

My father is a great story teller. When I was a little girl; despite my ongoing disgust at the injustice of being told when I had to go bed; I always enjoyed being read stories and nursery rhymes.

The Owl and the Pussycat was a particular favourite; it involved singing; and I still remember the dread when we got to Wee-Willy-Winky as it was the signal that story time was over and I had to go to sleep. My adamant protests that I was not tired and that we should read more always fell on deaf ears.

Now that I am all grown up and living in Canada, I speak to my parents frequently using pre-paid phone cards that have set limits of minutes that can sometimes expire without warning.

Last night I was talking to my father when I was happily taken back to the story time days. I sat there, all comfy on my bed, while my dad told me a story (the plot - scene by scene - of the recent film Ratatouille). I was so taken back to my childhood I even reverted to asking typical 'child questions' like..."if the rat is locked in the drawer how can he see to read the piece of paper?"

So given my idyllic temporary return to childhood you can imagine my horror when my phone card abruptly ran out of minutes and the line went dead just as Dad got to the really good bit. I was shocked and disgusted, where did my story go?

It was infinitely worse than childhood, where at least I had Wee Willy Winky as a warning sign that the end was near.

Perhaps I should suggest to the company that they take up Wee Willy Winky as their warning?

Communicate with the Dead - Forget Ouija Boards Use the Web!

www.youdeparted.com is a web based service that allows people to communicate with departed loved ones. Though it initially sounds like a crock, the concept is actually quite practical.

I came up with the idea for a website where I could store my personal details so that in the event of my death (my departure if you will), vital information and instructions would be available to my family.
- Collin Harris, President of YouDeparted.com

This way people can access information that others won't necessarily know about a person such as:
* digital copies of important documents for reference.
* Final letters and emails - Final messages for family and friends.
* Final wishes - Funeral arrangements, eulogy, obituary, notifications.
* Instructions - To help settle your estate, to-do's, when to pay bills.
* Locations - Where to find important documents, insurance policies, keys, etc.
* Secret Info - Passwords, hidden accounts, lock combinations, etc.

It is certainly an original idea and much more reliable and less labour intensive than trying your luck with a ouija board...

"Aunt Murtle.. the next letter of the password.. was that an 's' for 'sugar' or 'f' for 'fred'?"... see what I mean!