7.28.2005

On the Lighter Side

These are reprinted from the Prince Albert "Coffee News" paper (a funny paper found in the coffee shop of the Prince Albert Co-Op store.

"On the Lighter Side":

- You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool mom.
- You can only be young once, but you can be immature forever.
- Thank you for holding your breath while I smoke
- Why can't women put the toilet seat back up?
- Don't question authority... it hasn't got a clue!!!
- Advice is free: the right answer will cost plenty.
- Multi-tasking: crewing up several things at once.
- Are Cheerios really donut seeds?
- Don't take life too seriously, it's no permanent.
- A conclusion is where you get tired of thinking.

7.23.2005

In My Garden

A list of plants I'd like to put in my garden, when I have one:
- Lamb's Ear
- Creeping Jenny
- Bleeding Hearts
- Lilac trees
- Sunflowers (red & yellow)
- Irish Moss
- Peonies
- Chrysanthemums
- Daisies
- Bachelor's Buttons
- Hens & chicks
- Blue Bells
- Spanish Moss
- Lavender

Beers of Belgium

Did you know that Belgium has over 450 different varieties of beer? They cover a range of flavours and brewing processes. There are over 1400 individual beer labels, and there are labels for every letter of the alphabet, including Q, X, Y & Z. The alcoholic contents of the beer range up to 9%. Many of the varieties of beer sport their own specialized glasses, specially shaped to enhance the flavor of the beer it is designed for. A bar in Belgium is often rated on its variety and knowledge of the varying beer glasses and varieties.

Some of the choices for beer flavours include: raspberry beer, white beer, chocolate beer, geuze beer, cherry beer, brown beer Trappist beer and lambic beer to name only a few. The Lambic beer being the most rare will run you about $7.45 USD to purchase over the internet direct from Belgium.

Here’s a link to a site with a bunch of Belgium beer glasses on it so you can get an idea of the variety available:

http://www.straubs.net/belgium-glasses.htm

Quote of the Day

“As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs.” - Tetzel

7.22.2005

Westjet In-Flight TV's

I traveled Westjet today from Hamilton to Calgary. I was rather impressed by the new in-flight TV’s Westjet is offering. They are personal TV’s mounted on the back of the seat of the person directly in front of you. They are run by satellite and can receive 24 channels. There are also additional channels to receive movies and a spot to insert a credit card to pay for the movie you wish to watch, although this option was not mentioned nor available on the flight which I took. Each TV is on a semi-adjustable mount so that it can be moved to get the least amount of glare from the windows. Each TV is controlled by a “remote” mounted in the armrest, it had channel up & down, volume up & down and contrast up & down buttons. It was all in all a quite enjoyable and neat feature of the plane, although my TV was a bit frizzy in that it kept going on and off depending how the person ahead of me moved their seat. I probably should have mentioned this fact to the steward but I plum forgot.
I spent the 4 hours of my flight happily watching TV. Although the first show I watched, the Daily Show on ABC was rather disappointing. As yesterday had been eviction nigh ton Big Brother 6 the person evicted was supposed to be on the Daily Show this mooring with “insider information” on the house and its occupants, and although the evictee was on the show I would hardly call his offerings “insider”. The worst was due to the format of the show I had to watch almost the entire thing to find out this information. The rest of the time I spent watching TLC which was far more amusing and educational.

7.21.2005

Taking off for SK

I'm heading off 'til the 2nd or 3rd of August. I won't be posting again til I get back, so have a happy end of July. I'm off to a reunion in Saskatchewan near Prince Albert and a stay in Calgary.

Ways to kill the Sims 2

Apparently there are 9 ways to kill your Sims in Sims 2, I can only figure out 8 though. I'll post the 8 and try and figure out 1the 9th.

1. Drowning
2. Fire
3. Starvation
4. Depression (if you don't let them go to work/school and do nothing to improve mood)
5. Viral infection (from the hamster if you don't bathe them)
6. Killer plant
7. Fireworks in the house (works good with lots of rugs on the ground)
8. Exhaustion (if you don't let them sleep)
9. Electrocution (if you have them change lightbulbs in cheap lights)

K now I know that is 9 but I don't know if starvation/exhaustion/depression are the same death, if they are then I only have 7 and if they aren't then I have all 9 WooHoo!!

7.20.2005

Dance Dance Revolution

Have y'all played this game? It's outstanding! It's an arcade game that they often have at Galaxy Cinema arcades, it come to us from Konami in Japan (as all good video games do.) The game works like this: There is a game pad that you stand in the center of with a pad in front, behind and to either side of you. You watch a screen in front of you and you have to dance along with the man on the screen hitting the appropriate pads at the appropriate times (like glorified Twister/Simon Says.) There are different skill levels and music levels. $1 Cdn will buy you 2 songs and a 3rd if you do well in the 2nd. There is a ton of remixed oldies songs plus a whole bunch of new ones. My favourite is called "Step Over Beethoven" and it's a remix of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. It's awesome! You work up such a sweat playing that it's gotta be good exercise. Good job for Konami for thinking up a video game that causes kids to exercise while having fun! I'm definitely going to buy this one for my PS2 as soon as I have the extra $130 Cdn or so I'll need for a pad and the game that has the Beethoven song (unfortunately it's Extreme 8 and currently $70 shipped from Japan).

7.19.2005

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

The new movie starring Johnny Depp is quite off the deep end. Not to say I wouldn't see it again, but it's a whole lot different than either the first movie or the book.
There is a whole subplot surrounding Willy Wonka's relationship with his parents that Roald Dahl never wrote about. It was implied that Willy's father was a horribly cruel dentist in that he never allowed his son to eat chocolate so Willy runs away from his father and when he returns home the house is gone. At the end of the movie when Willy Wonka gives the chocolate factory to Charlie, Charlie asks if his family can come with him and Willy says no because he thinks family stifles creativity. Charlie goes with him to see his father who apologizes for being such a brute and then Willy allows the family to live at the factory. It's all very odd, none of it happened.
The movie itself is quite cool, it is very computer-generated at times though, the great glass elevator scenes are well done, there are tubes that speed them through the factory. Also the nut sorting room, wherein this version Veruca meets her end in the incinerator (don't worry she's not really hurt) is neat, all the squirrels are computer generated but they look very lifelike.
The songs the Oompa Loompas sing throughout the movie are the original chants Dahl had written for each character, not the Disney-fixed ones from the previous movie, but other than them and one song about Willy Wonka there is no singing in the movie which is a bit of a disappointment.
The whole movie feels as though the plot travels faster than in the previous movie, although it is 2 hours long, it doesn't seem as in depth as the last one.
The character of Willy Wonka himself seems very mentally deranged and possibly gay, not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just an interesting choice. He has long curled under hair and lots of eyeliner, as well as large dimples and a high girly voice. He also is very pale and there is a slight resemblance to Michael Jackson that I am unsure was intended or not. Willy Wonka also seems to be not all there, more so than in the previous movie, he looks off into space and makes odd comments at odd times, he carried cue cards to ensure he says things properly in speeches and all in all he seems very un self-assured and I find that a shame as the other Willy Wonka was so confident and almost cocky.
Despite all its quirks as a movie it was quite well made, not near as terrifying as I've found some Tim Burton movies to be, and Danny Elfman does the music so you know it's gotta be good! (He also did music for Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Spider-man, Men in Black, the Simpson and many other great shows)

7.18.2005

Predictions for Big Brother 6

Another season of Big Brother recently went up on CBS, my family watches it quite regularly, although with my upcoming move I don't foresee myself watching it this season as often as others, but nonetheless here are my predictions for Big brother 6 "the Summer of Secrets":

- Beau is by far my favourite character, although I don't think he'll win it all, I think he'll make final four
- I think Howie will get to final four
- There will be some huge explosion between Eric & Howie before the end of the show
- Yivette will reveal to everyone she's gay and they will take it as her being untruthful for the previous part of the game
- Janelle will slip and reveal she was Ashlea's partner thinking it won't hurt her as Ashlea is gone, but it will
- Sarah & James will get caught and be revealed as partners and a couple


If you want to check it out here's the website: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother6/

Beauty & the Geek

The WB has had a reality show running for the past month or two entitled "Beauty & the Geek" it is a "social experiment" thought up by Ashton Kutcher where 7 "geeks" and 7 "beauties" are put in a mansion together, paired up and made to learn from each other, the geeks to learn social skills, fashion, shopping smarts, how to dance, the art of the massage, etc. and the beauties to learn automotive repair, rocket science, history/geography/math smarts, etc. They compete in these areas and every week a team is eliminated until only one team was left standing the winning team got 250 thousand dollars.
The runner-up of the geeks was Richard Rubin, he is a totally out there, spastic, guy who seems utterly hopeless is a cute, geeky sort of way. So in tribute to Richard I give you the top Richard sayings of the show:
1. "Gadzooks!"
2. "Howdy do Chuckaroo?"
3. "Time is ticking, tick tick tick."
4. "Is this the butt floss?"
5. "I go down with honour"
6. "Top of the morning to ye"

7.17.2005

HP

Harry Potter The Half-Blood Prince came on sale yesterday in hardcover!! I'm so excited because I found ou that the printing in this hardcover is bigger print than the previous hardcover books, which had miniscule print and were practically illegible as far as I was concerned. So I of course bought a copy, at Wal-Mart and I got it on sale for $22.80 Cdn. So now all I have to do is find the time to read thing thing. LOL I'm off to Calgary in a few days though and will have a 4 hour plane ride and then an 8 hour car ride over to Kinistino, SK shortly thereafter so perhaps they'll be time. LOL

7.16.2005

6teen

My sister and I have been watching 6teen recently. It is an animated show on Teletoon every day around 5. It stars 6 young teenagers who all work at a mall. That is where the show itself is set, in the mall. Being it is a Canadian show the mall resembles West Edmonton Mall with an indoor amusement park, huge food court and hundreds of stores.

"6TEEN is an animated situation comedy for tweens set entirely in a gigantic shopping mall! It's minimum wages and maximum laughs as we follow our ensemble cast of six sixteen-year-old friends trying to make it through their first part-time jobs and life as a teen. 6TEEN is about the important stuff - firsts. First crushes, first jobs, first bank accounts and most importantly, that first taste of freedom - of course, not all firsts are positive. Nikki finds herself stuck (in what she considers a sick twist of fate) working at The Khaki Barn, a store that she wouldn't be caught dead shopping in. Jen's scored her dream job at a sports shop, but her meathead ex-gym coach boss, Coach Halder, keeps throwing her in the penalty box for messing up. Jonesy manages to get his butt fired from a new store in every single episode, Wyatt's hopelessly in love with his older co-worker, and Caitlin endures the daily humiliation of working in the lowest store in the mall's hierarchy of cool - The Big Squeeze, a giant lemon. No "most embarrassing moment" in these teens' lives will be left unturned, and at times it can seem like there's an evil boss, awful customer or "frienemy" around every corner. But through it all, our group of six best friends learn to lean on one another. From stumbling through relationships to dealing with hideous uniforms, the larger-than-life mall provides our characters with the perfect venue to spread their wings - and totally crash and burn trying. Tune in to 6TEEN - because life begins after school." - From IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439341/plotsummary

Check out their website at Teletoon:
http://www.teletoon.ca

Humour in Air Canada

My uncle lost his luggage on his visit to us from Saskatchewan. He lost a bag and had to file all this paperwork to get the money from his travel insurance. The humourous part is that they gave him $100 towards essentials until the luggage was found, the $100 that Air Canada gave him was $100 American.

Quote of the Day

"Love like you've never been hurt."

Question of the Day

Do you suppose the seagulls on Georgian Bay are actually Bagels? (bay gulls) LOL

7.15.2005

Thought of the Day

Time heals all wounds / Time wounds all heels

True Love Exemplified

This particular blog post is a tribute to my Mumby & her Hindy, who after about 30 years apart found each other. My Mumby has always been someone wonderful and special to me, but she never seemed genuinely happy. At least in comparison to how she is now that she has her Hindy. In no way to I mean to put down Muk or Daddy, in their time she was happy with each of them... Just not as she is now. I say this only because I feel both Muk & Daddy would agree with me.
Mumby & Hindy are meant to be together, they are soulmates separated and re-united after a lifetime apart from each other. Each grew up in their own way, making their own life choices, having their own friends, their own events, their own things that were important to them. Neither with any idea their paths would cross again. Although on some cosmic level in retrospect perhaps it was always secretly known, in that deep down heart of hearts we rarely admit to others, or ourselves that we posses. Perhaps there they both had an inkling. Growing up I knew who Hindy was, I'd never met him, but I knew of him, a friend mum had when she was 14, a boy she dated over a summer at the beach, a boy whom she named a stuffed bunny after, a bunny she still had when I was old enough to remember it. Then there was Hindy, a man who after a lifetime without Mumby signed up to Classmates just to see if by chance she would sign on, so he could catch up with her, someone he'd wondered after all these years apart.
They met on Classmates on the internet, and chatted on msn, each with their own lives and families, a million miles apart from one another, neither happy in their own existence, but finding something in their existence together worth giving up everything else for. That's what they did. They gave up their own families to come together and forage a new family together after 30 years apart, they are now married, perhaps as destiny would always have had them be. They are truly happy together and will be for the rest of their lives together... soulmates united.

Now the part of the blog where I express my gratitude to them for finding one another. If they had not found one another and come together against all odds, giving up everything for the chance to make it together I never would have known true love. I never would have known that fairy tales come true. That love can happen like in the movies. That people do have soulmates. That sometimes the wait is worth it. All lessons I've learned because of their love, and because of their love I can try and find my own love. I know now that I don't have to settle for whatever is at hand, whoever will take me at the time, that God destines people to be together, people who are perfect for one another. Also that if I screw up along the way that with true love there is always a second chance, even if it comes 30 years later...

7.14.2005

The 3-Day Diet

On this diet you can lose 5-10 lbs a week, it's apparently chemically balanced which makes it work. You do it for 3 days on and then the rest of the week off.

3 day diet

Instructions:
Drink 8 glasses of water per day. You can have tea or black coffee, but nothing else to drink.

DAY 1
BREAKFAST
1/2 Grapefruit or Juice
1 Toast with 1 Tbsp. Peanut Butter
LUNCH
1/2 Cup of Tuna
1 Toast
DINNER
3 Oz. any lean meat or chicken
1 cup green beans
1 cup cooked beets (or 1 cup carrots)
1 apple
1 cup regular vanilla ice cream

DAY 2
BREAKFAST
1 Egg
1/2 Banana
1 Toast
LUNCH
1 cup cottage cheese
8 regular saltine crackers
DINNER
2 hot dogs
1 cup broccoli (or cauliflower)
1/2 cup carrots
1/2 banana
1/2 cup regular vanilla ice cream

DAY 3
BREAKFAST
5 regular saltine crackers
1 oz. Cheddar cheese
1 apple
LUNCH
1 boiled egg
1 toast
DINNER
1 cup tuna
1 cup carrots
1 cup cauliflower
1/2 banana (or 1 cup melon)
1/2 cup regular vanilla ice cream

Cheesybobs

You know those funny little potato bugs that live in the grass? They are small and brown and when you poke them they roll up into a ball. My family calls them Rolly Polly bugs. I was at my Auntie's house today and the relatives from England were visiting and as I caught an especially large Rolly Polly bug I had to take it to mumby to show her. On the way I showed my one Uncle from England and he said it was called a Cheesybob. My aunt, who is also from England, declared it was actually a Grassjigger. So now these funny little brown bugs have 4 names, which is quite amusing. LOL

Clapping Chants

Compliments of my little sis, the latest in children's clapping chants both from moves... remember the good ol' days when claps were about fictional people like Ms. Polly or Ms. Lulu? :

from "the Hot Chick":
"Boys Are Cheats And Liars, They're Such A Big Disgrace, They Will Tell You Anything To Get To 2nd----
Baseball! Baseball, He Thinks He's Gonna Score, But If You Let Him Go All The Way Then You Are A----
Horticulture Studies Flowers, Geologist Studies Rocks, All That Guy Wants From You Is A Place To Put His---
Cockroaches, Beetles, Butterflies And Bugs, Nothing Makes Him Happier Than A Giant Pair Of---
Jugglers And Acrobats,A Dancing Bear Named Chuck, All He Really Wants To Do Is---
Forget It, No Such Luck"

From "Dickie Roberts: child star":
"Brick wall, waterfall, Dickie thinks he got it all,
But he don't, I do So BOOM with that attitude!
Peace, Punch, Cap'n Crunch I got something you can't touch,
Bang! Bang Choo-choo train, Wind me up, I'll do my thang!
No Reeses Pieces, 7-Up, You mess with me, I'll mess you up!"

7.13.2005

My Ideal Man

So as it is that I have found myself single again (since Jan and it's only sinking in now LOL) I figured I should post a list of the qualities I find desirable in a mate, so in the event any single males read my blog they'll know what kind of a fella they have to be to win my heart. :P LOL

My Ideal Man:
- Funny
- Spontaneous and adventurous
- Tries new things
- Open to ideas
- Okay with my vision problems
- Reliable and dependable
- Loving
- Likes cutesy names for each other and things
- Wants a family
- Go-getter
- Willing to put a family first
- Trusting, trustworthy
- Makes me laugh
- Makes me love him
- Open to piercing, tattooing, dying
- Ambitious
- Good storyteller
- Likes to listen
- Good conversationalist
- Likes to talk of God and Godly things
- Doesn't expect me to put out until we're married
- Respects my decisions
- Fun to be with no matter what we're doing
- Is okay with my eccentricities
- Is not obsessed with video games
- Would choose me over a video game/computer/sports game/etc.
- Is not obsessed with sports
- Doesn't baby me but is willing to help me out when I need it
- Likes music
- Likes cartoons
- Likes sci-fi shows
- Decisive, because I'm not LOL
- Gentlemanly, like will open doors and respect women, not control them
- Respects my opinions and takes them into account when making decisions
- Able and willing to have fun
- Creative and intelligent
- Remembers important dates and things that are important to me
- Is willing to teach me about the things that interest them and doesn't assume I'm ignorant for not knowing
- Someone who understands me, or at least tries to

The Hot Chick

In honour of the movie "The Hot Chick" which I just finished watching this is a short list of all the things I'd do if I was a man, well all the G-rated stuff anyways. LOL
- Partake in a burping contest
- Partake in a farting contest
- Walk around in just my boxers
- Go commando and let everyone know I was doing it
- Write my name in the snow
- Have a long distance peeing contest
- Wear a jock strap
- Dress in drag
- Go to a gay bar and try to get picked up
- Get a Brazilian wax
- Grow lots of facial hair and shave it into muttonchops, a goatee, a Hulk Hogan goatee, a Hitler moustache, a king of Saigon beard, etc and then note people's reactions
- Shave my head bald
- Put my hair in a Mohawk
- Put my hair in dreads
- Wear a Speedo
- Wear a kilt
- Wear a full tuxedo

7.12.2005

The Beach Bum

There is a man at Wasaga Beach who we affectionately refer to as "the beach bum". My family has been vacationing in Wasaga beach since 1989 and every year since we began going to the beach in the summer we have seen "the beach bum". Even to the extent that when we go there for the day we see him, which is really kind of cool considering the chances of seeing him in the 2-4 hour span we find ourselves in Wasaga is quite miniscule.
We have a theory that the beach bum is in fact a very wealthy man who just chooses to spend his summers wandering the beach aimlessly (seems like a good existence to me) because he has lived there this long without a problem and he has a rather large belly on him which leads us to believe he certainly doesn't starve.
He wears ratty shorts, sandals and sometimes a t-shirt which if he is not wearing he has slung over his shoulder.
This summer we found out there may be some merit to our theory, we found out the man's name is Paul, we found this out from a bank teller at the TD bank in Wasaga where Paul was doing his banking. The teller was very friendly to Paul and he to her, despite his shaggy appearance.... So perhaps she was friendly to him because of his millions in savings. LOL

Tim Horton's Cookies

Tim Hortons, which by the way is my favourite non-gourmet coffee shop, is having an odd promotion this week in their cookies. For the duration of the week the Tim Hortons in Wasaga Beach is selling cookies in honour of the 11th annual Elvis Festival. They are gingerbread cookies "shaped like the king himself". I wonder if there is irony is celebrating a hero by making a cookie so you are then able to bite his head off? LOL
Tim Hortons has also re-introduced their caramel chocolate pecan cookie, now this folks is an amazing cookie, definitely worth trying, especially if you can get them hot out of the oven. Belief you me the best way to eat them is hot out of the oven, I've been known on occasion to wait upwards of 20 min just to get a hot-out- of-the-oven cookie.

7.11.2005

The Family That Dyes Together...

My family is very into the personal expression through body decoration. Each member of my household has piercings, tattoos & dyed hair. In fact the local tattoo parlour gives our family discounts on piercings and body art as we go so often. Now I know you are thinking that we are a family of metal-clad, spiky haired freaks, which we are not. We are just a normal-looking family. Now what is the point of this you're asking? My point is that just because someone chooses to pierce, tattoo, or dye themselves they are no less of a person than those who choose not to, they are also not using personal expressions as "cries for help" or as a means to live an alternative lifestyle. Some people just like the way their hair looks blue better than other colours or they enjoy something enough to advertise it on their skin, or they enjoy adorning themselves differently by adding piercings. Sorry for the randomness of this one, I was recently confronted by a family member regarding my tattoo, the relative claimed I belonged in Africa as it was "so tribal" a thing to do. Imagine that? In this society to think a tattoo is tribal? Whatever! BTW my tattoo is of a Jesus fish, how very tribal!! LOL

7.10.2005

At My Wedding

Since my mum's wedding and preparations therefore I've been thinking a lot about the wedding I might have someday and realized I hadn't thought about it that much, so if & when I get married this is a short list of the things I'd like to happen:
- I'd like people to throw marshmallows instead of rice, the little coloured kind
- I'd like photography pictures with bubbles being blown across them
- I'd like to serve strawberry & peach wine with the date on the bottles
- Perhaps a theme of sunflowers
- Or perhaps a theme of bright blue & green in everything including the flowers (dyed ones of course)
- I'd like the cake to be chocolate
- I'd like the cake toppers to look like me and the groom
- A themed wedding might be fun... like medieval, or Hawaii, or something like that
- I'd like there to be 2 videographers and 2 photographers to get all the angles
- I'd like to give out wine stamped wine glasses as favours
- I'd like balloon decorations at the reception, like arches
- I'd like worship music sung during the ceremony as part of the service
- I'd like the benediction said at the end of the service
- I'd like the Corinthians love verse quoted (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)
- I'd like Jeremiah 29:11 quoted
- I'd like a slideshow shown at the reception of me & my husband growing up and then of us together with embarrassing photos
- I'd like to be wearing Berkenstock sandals if it suits the theme
- I'd like my husband and I to get wedding bands tattooed on under the gold ones
- I'd like the wedding bands to be like the Lord of the Rings ring with an inscription in Elfish on the inside (or outside) something sentimental to both of us
- I'd like my dress to be white trimmed with blue, blue underskirt under a sheer white one, blue hair flowers, etc.
- I may need to have Brides men instead of Bride's maids as most of my friends are men. LOL I could have them wear kilts so they can stand by me in "skirts"
- I'd like my husband to be wearing a kilt (if it goes with the theme)

7.09.2005

Wedding Wipeout

Today was my Mumby & Hindu's wedding. It was a beautiful beach wedding, everyone had a great time and everything was so beautiful. There were very few dry eyes in the place, including those of the bride and groom!
As beautiful as the day was I started it out rather on the wrong foot, with a wipe-out I'm quite proud of so I thought I'd share. I'd like to think it's through my bad luck the day went so swimmingly, perhaps I was able to take the bad luck of the bride & groom and put in on myself so they could have a wonderful day. LOL
Our cabin in Wasaga is right on the beach front, when you open the cabin door you are literally on the beach. I, of course, had to take advantage of this, I came running out of the cabin first thing in bathing garb to enjoy the water and as I was running to the shoreline I tripped on a half-buried cement retaining wall and hit my left foot and shin and pinky toe, literally ripping off a layer of skin from my toe. I then with my right shin and big toe hit the wooden retaining wall about a foot from the cement one. I banged my shin really hard and managed to sprain my big toe. I then face-dived Superman style right into the sand pile on the downside of the walls. I of course got up and kept runnig to the water only to find that after I came out of the water exactly how banged up I was, needing to use my little sis as a crutch as we walked down the aisle. LOL
That in itself of course was not the end of my bad luck. As I was helping decorate limping all the way I managed to sunburn both my shoulders rather badly so by photo time I was a nice shade of lobster. I also managed to burn my hand on the glue gun building my mum's hairpiece, pierced my thumb with the pin from my hair flower, burned my scalp with the iron while ironing my hair and spilled balsalmic vinaigrette dressing on my shirt and tomato on my white shorts during the dinner. I was also unable to dance due to my injured foot. LOL
All in all a great day though despite my accident-prone-ness, and to think it wasn't even the 13th of the month. :P

Oddity of Vacationing

It's an odd thing, going on vacation to a cottage or camping. People take the time to pack up all their possessions, often with the necessity of renting vehicles, in order to go away for the week. "To get away from it all" and "rough it" with all the necessities and luxuries of home.
It is an odd society we live in that possessions and creature comforts are so important to us that we cannot leave anything behind, even for a week, to enjoy time in nature. We still pack the fan so the temperature is kept, the TV and VCR/DVD so we have something to do if it rains, the pots, pans, etc. So we have the right sized saucepan to make the food in. Of course also all the different sized towels, assortment of soaps, array of hair and body accessories, all so we look good wile we "rough it."
I of course am putting no one down, I myself do the same thing, every time I go away for vacation packing vastly more than I would ever need for the time I am there and then having to wash everything regardless of whether I used it or not. "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best" is my motto, unfortunately the returning from vacation means unpacking all the things brought for the worst when we had the best.

7.08.2005

Off we go!

I'm off to Wasaga Beach for a week of fun in the sun and my mumby's beach wedding!! When I return I'll back-post some blogs as I intend to write-them whilst away.

7.07.2005

Rules of Life

Here's a fwd I got the other day that I enjoyed so I'll share it:

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully
2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want
4. When you say, "I love you," mean it
5. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married
7. Believe in love at first sight
8. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much
9. Love ! deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling
11. Don't judge people by their relatives
12. Talk slowly but think quickly
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk
15. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze
16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions
18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship
19. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice
21. Spend some time alone

7.06.2005

7.05.2005

Capital One Part Six

Intersting/Stupid Things Heard & Seen at Capital One:
- "You have the wrong number, can I take a message?"
- "What's a credit card?"
- "Uh-huh" "Mmm-hmmm" "ain't"
- "You done be callin' 'bout my what?"
- "How do you spell VA? V's the one with the two sticks and A's the upside-down V right?
- "Honey do I just put the phone down to hang up on her?"
- customer: "She's not here right now, she's in the shower." agent: "Where is she in the shower?" customer: "at the gym, she called and told me"
- the foreign man banked at the Emigrant bank
- child: "I'm sorry she's says she's not here right now"
- "Ma'am?" (instead of pardon me or can you repeat that)
- customer: "You can't talk to her it's a Sunday, you should be at church not working" agent: "Sir is she there now?" customer: "No ma'am she's working"
- "I'm an old woman, I can't be expected to pay my bills" (she was 58)
- "She can't come to the phone, she says she's dead"
- "Can I give you my car instead of paying my bill?"
- "I didn't know I had to pay the money back because I didn't receive a bill"
- agent: "Can I speak to Juarez?" customer: "No, no I no interesting!" and then hangs up
- Smile & Dial
- customer by the name of Jesus Christ pronounced Hezuz Christee

Reality TV - The Theatre

With all the new reality TV shows coming out in the past few years it occurs to me that nothing is to riske, too oddball or to left field to be made into a hit reality TV show, take The Surreal Life, Beauty & the Geek, Big Brother (1-6) and The Real Gilligan's Island for example. So in line with all these other reality TV shows I have come up with my own idea.
I call it "The Theatre"
This show will take place entirely in a Broadway-style theatre. It will follow the lives of the players, the crewman, the directors and all the other theatre people integral to any production going up. The catch, as of course there always is one, is that the theatre people cannot leave the theatre from the start of rehearsals to the final performance. They will have to live, eat & sleep in the theatre. The theatre will be designed to accommodate all the theatre people necessary to a production. It will be equipped with a fully stocked scene/prop shop, costume studio, make-up studio, rehearsal space, etc. Living accommodations will be 6 to a room co-ed optional. There will be a main eating/dining area which will be fully stocked at all times, including alcoholic beverages.
The show will follow the drama that is the theatre people trying to interact with each other daily in closed quarters for at least 8 weeks to 6 months, depending on the intensity of the show going up. On opening night critics will be invited to rate the performance, particularly noting the skill level of all aspects of the show.
Of course as always there will be a prize, at the end of the run the audience who is there for closing night (who also has to have watched the show through) will be asked to vote on their favourite person in each area of theatre. The winners will be given contracts for Broadway in the area of their expertise.

Top 100 Movie Quotes

Here is a link to the top 100 movie quotes of all time. Check it out it's pretty cool:
http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx#list

7.04.2005

Photographic Memories

On Nascar on Saturday night as we waited patiently for the race to start (which took 3 hours past actual start time due to rain) the announcers were burning time by having random discussions, showing random race tracks, interviewing random people and the like. All in all just trying to keep the people at home amused long enough that they wouldn't turn to another channel and watch Friends or the Simpsons instead.
Once the race finally started the fans in the stands began snapping pictures like crazy of the cars coming out onto the track. The announcer made the comment "and there go the fans taking their photographic memories." This got me to thinking, do you suppose that people remember things because they take pictures of them and look back on the pictures and that triggers the memory, or because they genuinely remember things. For example I know that when I was a baby I had a teddy cake for my birthday, I remember playing in the cake, but I also know there are pictures of me playing in the cake so I wonder if it is because I actually remember the moment or because I've seen pictures of the moment so many times it becomes a memory?
Similarly I wonder if you told a lie enough times if it would become true. I had a sociology professor who always quoted WI Thomas "What we perceive to be true becomes true in its consequences." Perhaps if we told a falsity enough times and in enough details we may eventually believe it to be true and live with the consequences of that truth. For example some people repress bad memories from childhood and only after years of psychiatry to they come to terms with what they repressed. Similarly perhaps we could create our own realities based on lies if we truly believed them.

7.03.2005

Nascar Extreme Track

So as I was watching Nascar the other night, lap after lap after lap it occurred to me how dull it was. So I propose a new Nascar where the big boys can come to play.
Firstly the new track should be in Canada, we will bring Nascar to Canada, it will be located in Ontario (purely because of the large population.) I will build the track near Toronto, in a suburb town.
The track will be squiggly shaped, similar to the tracks at go-kart races. There will be no restrictor plates on the races. There will be obstacles like sand, water, fire, ice, tacks, etc. There will be jumps, bridges, tunnels, small pools of water, valleys, hills etc. There will also be mini-golf obstacles, windmills, punching bags, bumpers, etc. It will be the most dangerous place in the world to race, but if people refuse to race there I will sell emasculating stories to tabloids about them and ruin the reputations as real men. LOL
Oh and in addition the pace car will be a bright pink VW beetle, painted with daisies and hippie flowers, the flashing light will be purple and it will play ice cream truck music.
There will also be different themed laps/races, for example: races in whic the drivers are only allowed to have the little bald donut tires on their cars, races where the driver will have to mandatorily change his own tires, fuel and oil in the middle of the race, races where the pit crew will drive instead of the drivers, races where the cars will be allowed to be vehicle of choice and that way Dale Jarrett can really race the truck. LOL
So that's my plan for Nascar, I think perhaps it should be my hope that I never have enough disposable income to see this plan through!! LOL Have a great Monday!

7.02.2005

Capital One Part Five

I think that there is a whole world of children who need to be sent to etiquette school, specifically phone etiquette school. If I ever opened a phone etiquette school these are the rules I would teach:
- If your child is too young to talk they should not be allowed to answer the phone
- If your child does not know what your first name is they should not be allowed to answer the phone
- If your child is not old enough to talk they should not be the only person featured on your answering machine
- If your child does answer the phone do not have them lie for you by saying you are not there, or in the shower when you are not
- If your child does answer the phone do not let them swear at the person who is on the other end, especially if they do not know them
- If your child does answer the phone they should be respectful to the caller

7.01.2005

Telemarketing or perhaps Capital One Part Four

I work part-time for a lawn care company, I call people up and ask them if they'd be interested in a free estimate, for every street worth of people I call, for sake of argument we'll call that number 30 people. So for every 30 people I call on average 5 already have service, 5 do their own lawns, or their husbands do, 3 are never home, 2-5 say yes and the others say they are not interested, or hang up, or generally are saying no. I don't understand this phenomenon, it's a free estimate, they don't have to do anything, a technician comes out measures their lawn, assesses their lawns issues and leaves them an estimate in their mailbox saying how much care would cost and what services would be good for them. Yet people still say no, there is no obligation and it seems to me that no one ever does a follow-up call on the estimate so I really don't understand what the big issue is! I don't understand why they have to get aggressive and say no when there is no risk to them is saying yes. It really is a sad world we live in that people are so threatened or worried about being scammed into something they don't want that they immediately become aggressive with telemarketers and decline services that really in the long run don't help or hinder them. It's quite sad really.