First post, the post that hurts the most

With my lack of cable and the life sucking writer's strike south of the border, I've been forced to turn to alternate methods of entertainment recently. Namely, British comedy. Which I'm discovering is like a gazillion times better than Canadian or American programming. I've been going through whole seasons in few days watching shows like The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, Green Wing and The Tudors. (Right so the last one isn't so much comedy as thinly disguised historical smut but come on, King Henry is hot).

So for all of you who've gone into withdrawal as the shows slowly dry up, allow me to present, the following....

Ocean's 14

I came across this story on the CBC this morning. Anything that involves Scotland Yard, a super-thief from Winnipeg (seriously?), and a criminal mastermind known only as "The Boss" is worthy of a second glance.

Read the article here.

Question is, who is going to play who in the movie adaptation?

Home video accidently premieres on MTV

I can't resist the hype around Britney Spears. I tried but it's just too fantastic. I mean I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. If a few years ago, maybe during her "Toxic" phase, you had told me she'd get married to K-Fed, have a couple of kids and then spiral down into a head-shaving, no-panty or seatbelt wearing hole, I would never have believed you. And even despite knowing all of this I still think maybe, maybe she'll pull her act together and make her big comeback.

And then this comes out.

Click here for youtube!

After watching it, I'm left with a few thoughts:

1. Was a big-studio budget used at all for this or did they just find this tape in her closet? Cause quite frankly I think it's a home video or her audition tape for her next job.
2. Britney with tats and a leather jacket? Classy classy look.
3. What I think I like the most about this new video is how she's embracing her white trash side. She's moved completely from alluding to being a stripper in her videos to just full out going there.

I can't believe the jacket comes right off. Or rather, I can and that's why I love Britney Spears.

It's Britney bitch.

Oh Zac Effron.

Having been unemployed this summer, I spent a lot of time hanging out with my younger cousins (2 girls, ages 14 and 10). Which basically means I spent countless hours a day watching the Family Channel.

Which basically means I can sing all the songs to High School Musical, and High School Musical 2. And Hairspray but that's beside the point.

Suffice to say I think the following is hilarious. That or I've just been without the internet for so long that I have no sense of reality. It's really a toss up either way.

His Dark Materials

I'm whizzing through a new book series by Philip Pullman, "His Dark Materials," which I started reading to keep me busy while I waited for the newest Harry Potter book to come out. Now Harry has arrived and I haven't even bothered to get past chapter one because Pullman's books are amazing! Gypsies, and witches and mercenary polar bears, oh my!

What is even more exciting is that I found this on the internet today. Set your calendars for December!



To watch it in better quality go click here. For some reason the wide screen was messing up with Blogger so I had to pick it up from youtube instead.

The Man-1. Meagan-0

Ok so not only has the city upgraded the physical parking tickets that they hand out to you, making them virtually indestructible, but they have taken it a step further.

I park outside my house all the time and it's a 1hour limit zone. So I frequently run out every hour or so to see if my tires have been chalked. If they have, I pull the car up a few spots. If not, it stays. It's annoying as hell but it keeps money in my bank account and not Peter Kelly's.

Lately however I have noticed fewer and fewer chalking incidents. "Cool," I thought, "They are finally laying off my street." Wrong! I saw the comissionaire dude walking around a few days ago with a small electronic device. They aren't chalking the cars anymore because they've upgraded to GPS! Now we can't even tell if our car has been marked!

I thought us little people had figured out one full proof way of beating down the man. If only to get out of a $25 parking ticket. Who knew the man could afford GPS?

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC

It's been a while since I busted out some nerdy stuff on here. I feel that it is long overdue. So I give you (drum roll please) "Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC." Either you'll get it, or you won't.



ps. thanks to Spaz for passing it on. The "illegitimate father" bit cracked me up.

pps. I highly recommend watching the rest on Youtube. Batman makes a cameo.

Peter, Bjorn and John

I can't stop raving about my new favourite song and video. The band: Peter, Bjorn and John. The song: Young Folks. I heard the band recently I know not where but I finally tracked them down. It's a delicious mix of 1960's nostalgia and wicked dance beats. The video is uber cool (that's right, I said uber) with animation that is reminiscent of Batman and Robin. Sit back and enjoy.


(Sidenote: the kid with the incredible hulk shirt is definitely my favourite part).

Roxanne roll over. Facebook has arrived.

Take a quart of rum. (You may substitute for the liquor of your choice but stay away from coolers.)
Add a party of at least 10 people. 20 is ideal.

Whenever someone mentions any of the following you get to take a drink: poking, tagging photos, updating status, mini-feed, news-feed...pretty much anything and everything that has to do with Facebook.

Skeptics out there might think that this drinking game doesn't allow for enough libations without cheating. However, from experience I assure you it'll be a hit. I'd show you the documented evidence but I lost my camera at a party on Saturday night.

(Partial credit goes to Alex Campbell for his early research in the game. More partial credit goes to Jeff Hames and Steve Fougere for embracing it, and the rum, so thoroughly.)

Just a small town girl....

Holy mother of god. Those were the first words out of my mouth when I saw this video. Apparently Hilary Clinton had some kind of cheesy video contest to help her pick her campaign video. This video is the prelude to the announcement of the winner. You have to watch this. I can't believe this video was made for what is basically a presidential eleciton.



The winner? Celine Dion's "You and I". Our own dear Canadian sweetheart. Again, holy mother of god. (On a sidenote, I really liked Bill's role in this. Poor guy didn't even get his onion rings.)

Dereck this is largely for you. See what you're missing of the dramatic political events in America.

The Reminder

I am fully enjoying the new Feist album, The Reminder. For some reason which I can't figure out I keep calling it "the remainder." I spent the morning watching the pantsuit filled (is pantsuit one word or hyphenated?) video of 1 2 3 4, which is apparently doubling as an ad for American Apparel. I do enjoy big dance numbers.

To Arrrrrrrrr is to Pirate

Pirates, policemen and flappers! Oh my! This weekend was the successful debut of "The Pirates of Penzance" at the Rebecca Cohn with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society. I was rather nervous about how this was going to go off, as I had missed the Liverpool show while I was in Montreal but it went off without a hitch! (If you ignored the pair of glasses that flew into the orchestra pit in Act II last night.)

For those of you who don't know the play was written in 1879 by Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert and is a comic opera involving pirates, a dutiful pirate apprentice, a major-general, his beautiful daughters and a clumsy cast of policemen. I have the integral role of "prop girl" and movie clapper board girl. I get to wear a hat. It's pretty sweet.

My folks came last night with Ali, Dan and Kathleen in tow and based on their "trained" and "valued" opinions it was apparently a huge hit. Mom's quote was something along the lines "I wasn't really expecting it to be that good" which of course totally warmed my heart. Dad spent Sunday playing the record (yes he owns it on vinyl) and singing the songs heartily in the living room. Both of them intend to become avid G & S fans. I'm a little scared at what I might have started.

I had a huge blast with all of this and it certainly isn't ending any time soon. We're going on the road next weekend. We'll be playing in Windsor on the 26 at King's Edgehill and in Annapolis Royal June 2. Next week I intend to bring my camera so more updates will be coming soon. (Yes I totally cut/pasted this pic from facebook. Thanks Katrina!) If you want to read an article about it there was this in the Chronicle Herald this week....

Delirious over Jeremy Fisher

This is my newest addiction; and since I don't have the album yet I'm just constantly hitting the play button on Youtube over and over and over again. Jeremy Fisher is a musician I heard briefly months ago on the CBC (on Freestyle may it rest in peace) and he has recently re-emerged in my attenions.

Thank you Scallion. Enjoy.

p.s. Check out his website and make sure you listen to "Scar that Never Heals." It is actually my favourite but it doesn't have a cool home-made video on the internet yet.

Le Stad et le biodome

Today was the second day I ventured downtown on the subway, on my own. Unlike yesterday I did not get yelled at in french by old women ( I still have no idea what that was about). Yesterday I went down to the shopping district around Peel and St. Catherine's and checked out the cool underground malls. I found a Winner's three stories below ground level and got lost only twice.

Today being my last day in Montreal I decided to try to check out some more cultural stuff. I hit the websites and picked a cool attraction to go to: the Biodome! This was also apparently next to Olympic Park so it was like hitting two birds with one stone. Or lighting two birds on fire with one olympic torch.

The only problem I ran into was that I forgot my memory card in my laptop and my camera apparently doesn't take any pictures without one (thanks for the warning Alison.) And seeing as how I was actually in a tropical forest and saw a polar ecosystem I decided to recreate it all for your viewing pleasure. In fact my drawing is even better than the real thing, since I was by myself you wouldn't have even seen a picture with me in it.

Sacre-bleu!

This weekend I am vacationing in the cultural mecca that is Montreal. It has been called the "coolest city in all of Canada" (by Jan) and I'm finding it to be quite interesting. Yesterday I arrived (ungodly early) and have been poking around ever since. Mind you tomorrow is my big adventure day in downtown but I've still managed to uncover a few interesting tidbits about Quebec.

• There are gas stations/convenience stores called "Couche Tards." You buy your chicken at "Le Coq." Shoppers Drug Marts are called "Pharmaprix." Who said the french didn't have a sense of humour?

• They have IGA's up here. *Gasp!*

• Labatt beer labels have an interesting anomaly. Instead of the maple leaf being above the logo, there is a fleur-de-lys. My friend Steve calls it "seppie" beer. See above picture for evidence.
  

• If you want to order a "tall" coffee at Starbucks you have to ask for a "mezzo". Anyone who can figure out the reasoning for that translation should get back to me.

That's all for now; I'll keep you all up to date as I act as the foremost ambassador of good times for Nova Scotia in Quebec.

There's no business like show business

Life has been pretty mundane around these parts lately and on looking back over the last month I realized I haven't updated this thing in a while. I've been busy working teaching out in the far reaches of HRM and going to musical practice twice a week.

What's that, you ask? Musical practice? You??

That is correct my dear friends. I am about to enlist on my theatrical debut in The Pirates of Penzance by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Halifax. I have an integral role; no singing, dancing or speaking. Rather, I am the prop girl who runs out on stage a few times during the show in a pirate hat (that's right I get to wear a costume) and I also get to wave a movie "clapper" board around when the "director" yells action! We're performing at the Rebecca Cohn in May and going on the road to Windsor and Annapolis.

I got sucked into via my roommate Kathryn. You might remember her from such stories as "the girl who cut her thumb in half" back in November, and "the girl who got scared and called the police canine unit to our house" in March.

Internet-addict?

Yesterday was "Shutdown Day" where I attempted to give up my computer for one whole day. 24 hours without the internet, without itunes, without my movies, tv shows, facebook and msn. What follows is a journal I kept throughout the day.

11:08 am (2 hours in and feeling positive)

I figured that I should keep a list of things I find difficult to do without my computer and also keep track of what I do instead of sitting at my desk all day talking to my roommate over msn.

1. I can't write said lists. I usually type on my laptop. It took me a good five minutes to locate any paper bigger than a post-it and two tries before I found a pen that worked. Also, I forgot how much my hand cramps up when I cursive write for anything longer than a grocery list.

2. Checking the weather and temperature outside. Usually it shows up in my task bar. I had to look it up on channel 30. Luckily the local forecast was playing.

3. Listening to music. I sometimes do listen to the radio on my laptop instead of itunes but I had to hook up my stereo to play the radio this morning.

1:03 pm (4 hours in and going slightly crazy)

So far today I have been very productive and done the following: read my book; changed my linens; been to the gym; reorganized the kitchen with kathryn; had lunch (salad); vacuumed; and been to the bank.

I tried to call Kathleen to chat (I've done everything distracting I could think of and I'm quickly getting bored.) There was no answer. I really wanted to watch some episodes of The Office but I need my computer for that!

I'm not sure if I'm going to make it all day. I found myself sitting in front of my laptop a few minutes ago...

2:55 pm (feeling a nicotine-like crave to go online.)

Kathryn (my roommate) just came in to tell me she had tagged photos of me on facebook. She is determined to make me cave.

I just finished reading a whole book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." I'm going to the mall for a while to get me out of the house again.

My hand is cramping up again.

8:30 pm (doing much better, thinking I might actually make it.)

Since I last wrote I have been to the mall with Ali and Jennie, went dress shopping and then went costume shopping for the party tonight. I came home at 4 and very nearly cracked. Like really. I think the only thing that kept me going was the shame and surprise I couldn't do a measly day without my laptop.

Now I'm eating sushi and painting my nails black. I'm going as Kurt Cobain to this 90's party tonight. The party should get me through to midnight computer-free.


11:06 am Sunday morning (triumphant!)

I did it! I went a full 24 hours without turning my computer on! Hurrah! I had no idea it was going to be so hard. Today I plan to stay in bed and watch my backlog of Lost and Grey's Anatomy episodes to celebrate.

David Suzuki, move on over.

I've figured out how to save the planet. Exciting I know. Well not the whole planet right away but this is definitely a strategy to get us part of the way there. And it doesn't involve spending more money or cutting back on your garbage. If anything it's free and it encourages garbabge.

Remember in the nineties when animal right's activists would protest and throw red paint on people wearing fur coats? Clearly this was a very successful strategy. Who wears fur coats nowadays other than my grandmother? So all we need to do is to figure out a way to properly shame polluters and we've got ourselves a clean planet.

So the question arises, which polluters should we work on shaming first? I was pondering this while driving down Quinpool this afternoon. I noticed that I was behind a Toyota hybrid, the first I've actually seen on the roads. While I was admiring the eco-friendly car in front of me this giant SUV drove past us with a very posh young woman in the front seat. I thought to myself, that's ridiculous anyone my age should be ashamed of driving that gas-guzzler. And that is when genius struck.

So here is the plan. We gather all our garbage, slop water and general grossness. Free materials. We wait secretly on street corners and when an SUV pulls up at a red light we attack. Smelly garbage water smacks the window. Rotten egg shells get stuck on windshield wipers. If we want to risk it, we could add black paint to represent the oil they are stripping from the earth.

And that is how we save the planet.

Shut Down Day March 24th

This Saturday there is going to be a global experiment to see how many people can survive without turning on their personal computers for one day. To learn more check it out at www.shutdownday.org or watch the following video to learn about alternate uses for laptops. My personal favourite is the curling.

Oh the Noble Savage

I spent yesterday teaching a grade 12 class about the different ideologies of three great philosophers: Hobbes, Rousseau, and Locke. We were trying to answer the question what kind of government would each gentleman prefer based on his theories on politics, power and the nature of man. The whole thing was very grande and sweeping and brought me back to my first year of philosophy at King's where I wanted to cram the Leviathan down my professor's throat because it was so irrelevant. And then I taught junior high today and had to do a lunch time duty on the school yard.

If anyone wants to examine what the basic state of man in nature is they need to go watch a group of teenagers or kids left to themselves on a playground. Because, and I say this firmly, our natural state must be pure chaos. Pure and utter chaos. Hobbes had it right with the whole "natural state of war and anarchy bit."

(Sidenote: Rousseau and Locke are also names of characters on Lost...coincidence? I think not!)

I smell burnt toast doctor...

Today my tv life and real life collided dramatically. If you can recall the second season of The Office where Ryan the temp sets fire to the toaster oven you know where I'm going with this story.

I set fire to the toaster oven at school. Flames were involved as was a large bottle of water.

School continued as usual, no fire alarms were set off. I guess that shouldn't surprise me based on the fact we had pepper spray yesterday and business went on as usual. Leave it to the substitute to almost burn the school down.

Payback!

The above photo is to serve as a warning that alcohol, funny masks of famous celebrities, and Mary Kay four step facials should not be mixed under any circumstances. Hopefully the traumatic and literal fall of this young lady into the seething underbelly of the Nish will save a few souls. And maybe it'll make her think twice before she makes fun of her friends.

Hurry Hard!....That's what she said

What could be a truer Canadian sport than one where you get to drink while playing? Hockey? Hah. Lacrosse? Don't make me scoff. Curling; the Scottish sport that was founded over nearly a five hundred years ago? Bingo!

Here is some fun curling trivia:

1. The first Canada vs America curling game was held on Lake Erie.
2. In the Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond plays curling with a group of hospital patients. He falls down while wearing a kilt. Evidence of why this is the worst Bond film ever made. Bond does not fall down.
3. A lead or second player will walk as much as 2 miles in an 8-end game.
4. The term "curl" comes not from the way the stones curl up the ice but from the Scottish word "curr" which means a low rumble; this is the sound the stone makes over the ice.
5. The Halifax Curling Club was founded in 1824 making it the oldest active curling club in North America.

(Trivia points found at wikipedia.com and www.halifax.curlingclub.ca)

Metaphors abound...

I know I'm a cliche. In fact I cling to that knowledge with hope because it means I'm not the first person to slide down the slippery slopes of crazy. However the actual cliche that I am elludes me; take last night for example...
I sat at home, watching movies by myself and eating Betty Crocker icing straight out of the tub (french vanilla flavoured). Classy I know and it would make you think that I'm well on my way to becoming "that old cat lady." But compare that with what I ate for supper: deep fried chicken and beer. No vegetables. No side dishes. Just straight up chicken. Apparently I'm a middle-aged man.

The Cake Sale

I've had a song stuck in my head for the last three days and I figure if I can't get it out by now then I'm just going to direct everyone else to it so that I can share the joy and the madness. It's by a compilation group known as The Cake Sale. The group put out a cd in Ireland and all the proceeds go to Oxfam Ireland.
The song is "Some Surprise" and you can enjoy it a sample of it on their website or watch the video on Youtube. The lead singers in it are Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol and Lisa Hannigan. I think I've listened to it about fifty times in the last two days, so don't say I didn't warn you...

"your lips came as some surprise"

Looking back and stepping forward

Well it is official, 2007 is finally upon us. And in the words of the great Daniel Kelly "what a weird number for a year." I'm not sure what this year is going to hold for me but I think I should take a moment to reflect on the goings on of 2006 to fully appreciate it. It was an up and down year for me, but mostly I think it was up. If this time last year someone had sat me down and told me what was going to happen, I know I'd have been excited for the final product. So with no further delay, and in no particular order, here are some of the highlights from 2006.

1. Moving in the rents this summer. I really got to spend quality time with my family, and I enjoyed it; whether they did or not is another question.
2. Trip to Ottawa last February. Finally got a pair of Lulu's!
3. Camping at Pugwash and Tignish this summer. Twice!
4. PEI with Kathleen, Aimee, Eric and Rosalie. The fireworks were a highlight for sure.
5. New glasses. Lame I know but I love them.
6. Graduating! You'd think this would be higher up on the list. Hah!
7. Becoming an official teacher. Albeit a substitute.
8. Mars bars becoming peanut-free. First time I could eat one since fifth grade.
9. The Gn'R concert with my roommate Kathryn. Also will go down in history as the first time I saw strippers.
10. BBQ Mondays. They saved my life this summer. Thank you Eric and Aimee.
11. Moving downtown! With the some of the best roommates a girl could ask for.
12. New friends and hanging out with old ones! That includes people who came back to Halifax for visits like Spaz and Rebecca Wu!
13. Discovering the CBC Radio 3 podcast. It's my new internet addiction.
14. Sushi parties at Joel's house! Although next time I think Joel and Kathleen should put on sleeved shirts.
15. Reading Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. It only took me 3 years to track down a copy of the book.
16. My new duvet. Thank you Mom and Dad.
17. Split Crow power hours all summer with the gang. We miss you Jeff!
18. Learning how to cook. Somewhat.
19. Finally completing a personal goal to write more often. On this blog!
20. Writing my name in wet cement on the corner of Harvey and Church.

Wow, that's quite the list and that's just what came to the top of my head. I know there was a tonne of stuff that's slipped through the cracks at the moment. I think it's safe to say that if 2007 has a lot to live up to if it wants to compete with 2006. Course I am visiting Vancouver this summer so I'm sure that'll make next year's top 20 list.