Carmen Amaya - Queen of the Gypsies!



This is totally for you, John.
For all the times you took me to Don Quixote's on College Street.

I loved this...



Here's Naturally 7's (the guys singing on the subway in Paris) video of the same cover of Phil Collin's classic.

Soy Cuba - Loco Amour


Via: VideoSift

My Ujko is in Cuba tonight.
Have a good rest moi Ujko.

Immigration: The Human Cost


Thanks Cynical-C

A word to advertisers.

I'm happy to see ethnics in adverts.
However, there's a difference between humour and disrespect...

This...is ok with me:


This is not:

Consider...

A new commenter sent me on a search for Maori Ta Moko.

Here is an interesting link to National Geographic's photo essay on Tattoos and scarring in different cultures.

I ran across this article by Karen Hudson:

"In the Words of a Maori
"Kat" is a Maori who shares her views on Ta Moko imitation. "Pakeha (whites) are distinctly known for not asking, [and] for assuming that how they see the world is [how] others do so also...[They] bastardize our spirituality and culture and claim it as theirs...Non-Maori wearing it as a form of body art are generally considered wannabees, fakes and frauds that show not only a disrespect for our culture, but lie about their own. (How can you respect your own family when you wear the family signature of strangers?) Even if non-Maori do it in a 'respectful' fashion (according to what their non-Maori values dictate is respectful), this is still rude. There is not, in other words, any sense of it being 'okay' for non-Maori to wear Maori Ta Moko.""

Interesting.

Kenneth Eng hates everyone, and he's crazy too.



The dubbing if off.
Are they taking the piss?

Ok.
Most people who read this blog know that I'm not big on body modification.
I'm not for a number of different reasons. The decision you make today to physically alter your skin, or body may not be what you want in a decade or two.

I understand the thinking behind tattoos and piercings.
I know how badly some people want to stand out from the crowd...but some just go to extremes.


Like this guy:

Watch the video here because fucking blogger won't let me embed.

I swear to GOD...

...If I ever see one of these on a kid, I will report their imbecilic parents to Children's Aid so fast that they won't be able to get their heads out of their asses in time to think up a crackhead excuse for why they did it in the first place.

P.S....If you're in a foreign country, don't act like the asshole you are at home.
There might be a law against it.

American Tragedy



Apparently, a snooty NYC American Girl Place snubbed a little girl with a fake AG doll by refusing to do the dolls hair.

So while a lot of people in the above blog post are all up in arms about how horribly the child was treated, my jaw is not dropping because of that...my jaw is dropping because there are fucking doll hair salons!

Of course you can't get mad at business people who exploit the spoilt and stupid.
People with more money than sense fuel a lot of industries.

This bothers me....but why should it?
Just because there are little non-American girls in a part of this world who are hiding in caves from bombs, and eating garbage after their 16 hour shifts dragging coal and rocks for 10 cents a day?

Because right now there is a non-American 11 year old girl sold into prostitution so her family can eat?
Because somewhere right now a non-American 8 year old is being sold into marriage.

What is my problem?

That's not some little girl in L.A. or New York's concern.
Why shouldn't we continue to cultivate insensitive, self-revolved little narcissists?
It's what makes us great!

Come to think of it....I used to take my doll to a salon too...
...it was called "Radmila's First Cut is the Deepest".
All my dolls eventually ended up with the same dyke haircut.
Maybe it was because my mother was too cheap to shell out $20 and a trip to New York to get my doll's hair done right.

Shrimp & Kim Chi Fried Rice



and Eggplant Parmesan



at Papamo

MAN DATES GIRL ON INTERNET FOR SIX MONTHS -- AND IT TURNS OUT SHE'S HIS MOTHER!

"Mom called herself Sweet Juliette and I called myself The Prince of Pleasure, and unfortunately, neither one of us had any idea who the other was," said flabbergasted Daniel.

"The conversations even got a little racy a couple of times.

"But I really started to fall for her, because there seemed to be a sensitive side that you don't see in many girls.

"She sent me poems she had written and told me about her dreams and desires, and it was really very romantic.

"The truth is, I got to see a side of my mom I'd never seen before. I'm grateful for that."

When starry-eyed Daniel asked Sweet Juliette to send him a picture, Nicole e-mailed him a photo of a curvy, half-clad cutie she'd scanned from a men's magazine.

"The girl in the picture was so beautiful, I begged Juliette to meet me on the beach -- and Mom said yes," he recalled. "Mom says she was falling for me, too, and she just wanted to meet me, even though she knew I'd be disappointed when I saw her.

...and it gets worse

Daniel admits he and his mother could do little but stammer and stutter around each other for days after their cyberspace exploits came to light. And his father Paul -- Nicole's husband of 27 years -- wasn't too happy when the story hit the news and his beer-drinking buddies made him the butt of their jokes.

"Dad was ticked for a while and he forbid Mom to talk to anybody on the Internet ever again," said embarrassed Daniel.

and in other news:

MADD continues to lobby for in-car breathalyzers.

I think this is a good idea...as long as the Ontario Government doesn't get the lighbulb over it's head and see it as a cash grab.
Next thing you know, it's law...and you'll have to have a test done yearly to prove that it's working (at a cost of course) otherwise you won't be able to get your tag.
Plus adding about a grand to the cost of a new car.

Unless the Government or MADD is picking up the cost of the installation, and I'm not going to have to shell out for an extra test (on top of the emissions test I'm required to get every two years)...I'm not for it.

At Hardings Request.

My 407ETR bill for one red penny:




I know that it's hard to believe that what I wrote a few days ago could be true...but it is.

I didn't want to like this movie.
But I did.

Here's an excellent monologue from the film.



The Mister laughed at me during Rocky's last fight scene as I shouted things like "kick his ass, Dad!", "Adrian!", and "Lookit the spit fly!".

Sunday Click Around

Post Mortem Photography is nothing new. Victorians did it back in a time when photos weren't taken every 5 seconds, and because it might be the only photo taken of the person ever.
Our family did it years ago, and I have pictures of my grandparents tombstones. I can't imagine what it is like to lose a child, and while some might find the thought of taking photographs with your stillborn child is a little macabre. I don't.
The black and white photos on the website are heartwrenching and beautiful.

The photo to the left is one from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, an organization of photographers who take beautiful photos of families in bereavement. Most of the photos are of family with stillborn babies.
I think the father in the photo to the left says it all.

Of beer and taxes.

Krysss of Krysss.com sent me "Advice to Young Men From an Old Man". This is some good advice. Too bad that youth is wasted on the young, and most young people think they know everything already.

Gino the Guinny, is a little kid who was put up to this character by his cousin or uncle or something. Stereotype 101.
But he's Italian, so I guess he's free to do it. I didn't watch the whole thing because after a couple of minutes I just wanted to slap his uncle or cousin, or whoever put him up to it.

BoingBoing did this post on "Homeowner Holdouts".
I often drive on the outskirts of Toronto and see the few farms or houses that are surrounded by new development and wonder about the "holdouts". The people who just wouldn't sell their land to developers. Then, I'm reminded of Scadding House.
When the Eaton Centre was being planned, I remember it was a big deal that the developers wanted to tear down Holy Trinity Church, Old City Hall and Scadding House to make way for the mall. I was in grade 5 when my teacher, Mr. Edison as well as many other schoolchildren "walked"
to raise money to stop them from tearing Scadding House down. Local groups stopped the demolition of Holy Trinity and Old City Hall, and the developers ended up building around Scadding House.
Now, the courtyard around Scadding House is THE most charming thing about The Eaton Centre.

Points of Interest has some interesting history about some of the old buildings in and around Toronto.

I got a kick out of this...but it's in Serbian.

I once watched a documentary on Tourette's Syndrome, and was fascinated.
This is a lovely little PSA on Tourette's with some very articulate little sufferers.
Here's a video about movement disorders by Dr. Les Lenet. I hope you find this as interesting as I did.

Here's Sylvia Plath reading Lady Lazarus.
Here's whatzername pretending to be Dorothy Parker with a quazi British accent reciting Interior, one of my favourite Parker poems. She does it so badly, that it's laughable.

Now for the Comedy....here's the whole "Definite Article" with Eddie Izzard, and the entire "Person" with Demetri Martin. Demetri had me until he pulled out the guitar...then I tuned out. I'm not fond of comedy that takes that turn.

Then, I accidentally found Catherine Tate and lost my mind!
I LOVE HER!
Here are a bunch of links to her skits...(I have a special soft spot for her "Nan" character).
Northern Oirish Boy.
Nan has Polish "Help".
Not Drunk Enough.
Nan.
Lauren/The English Teacher.
Lauren/The French Teacher.
Tempura Veg.
Lauren Cooper's Wedding.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

That's all.

The Translator



Totally for Piika.

Payday Pratfalls

While reading Funkaoshi, I ran across his comment and link:

"If you need money to pay your medical bills or get your car fixed, get a loan from the Mafia. You'll get a lower interest rate and better terms." On credit card debt in America.

Basically saying that most North Americans are equivalent to indentured slaves to certain companies.
The Mister and I laughed the other day because the toll highway (407 ETR) sent me a bill for $00.01.

It actually cost them money to send the bill to me.

"Hahahaha", we laughed.
And The Mister said, "Oh, just ignore it".

Not on your life.

I'll send them their $00.01, because that one red cent, can turn into interest fees, and then after 30 or so days ....into a substantial late fee.
Think I'm joking?

I'm not.

I once was charged a $30.00 late fee on a $6.37 bill from the 407ETR that I ignored.
Back in the day when they could hold back your tag if you didn't cough up what you owed them, regardless of whether or not their bill was wrong.
Oh yes...and at that time, their customer service lines were always busy, and only actually open from 9am to 2pm or something ridiculous like that.

So, when I heard about the Payday Loan dilemma the other day, I was not in the least bit surprised.
Apparently, it's easy to fall into the trap of interest and late charges with them, just like the bank can hook you with your overdraft if you're not careful to only use it when you need to.

The CreditInfo Center is calling them "Legal Loan Sharks"...but then, isn't that every credit card company?

Here in Canada, a class action law suit was filed against an Alberta payday loan company for giving loans with interest rates and fees that equated to 15,000 per cent a year.

Shocking?

I don't think so.

The more I read, the more I think that the Mafia is more ethical than credit companies are.

The Womb Raider



First it was The Groom Raider...now it's the Womb Raider

via: Racialicious

I'm Tired

This morning while getting ready for work, I saw a preview ad for The Bachelor.

Ok, this new guy is a Navy Lieutenant, a Doctor, an undersea medical officer for a special operations unit, a triathlete, mountain climber, parachute jumper, volunteer Doctor in Laos... I got tired just listening to them talk about him.

Can you imagine dating someone like him?
Can you just sit down for a second?
Is there such a thing as just lying around reading a book with a thrill seeking guy like that?

Certain kinds of people need certain kinds of people.

This guy needs someone as competitive as he is...like the kind of woman who is willing to compete for him on national television.

Alice in Wonderland...Couture Style

But I wanted a WHITE BABY!

I read this article about a white couple who are suing an infertility clinic because they had a significantly darker child than they signed up for.

I'm assuming that they didn't want the general public to know that they even had fertility treatments.

“While we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her; it is simply impossible to ignore,” state Supreme Court Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam's decision quoted parents Thomas and Nancy Andrews as saying.

“We are conscious of and distressed by this mistake each and every time we appear in public,” the judge quoted the affidavit from the Andrews as saying.

This comment from the mother of the child distressed me.

The comments on the article are interesting.

Now, altruistically, we can say..."Oh MY GOD!!! What a couple of racists!" as many in the comments have done.
As I initially did...but then, I put myself in their shoes.

Firstly, let me get something out of the way...I wouldn't/didn't do fertility treatments.
I'm not with the messing with nature thing.

But say I did, using the same kind of logic that brings you to a fertility clinic in the first place. A person willing to pay enormous amounts of money to be inseminated with sperm from a checklist that they've agreed upon with the clinic (brown eyes, Caucasian, etc), because (I'm assuming) they want to pass this child off as the offspring of the woman and her husband...Assuming because otherwise, why wouldn't they just adopt?

I mean, in that case, you're not going to go around after the baby is born telling people that you were inseminated with someone else's sperm, are you?
Presumably, you didn't go around telling everyone that you were inseminated in the first place...it's none of their business.

Then, when the baby is born...everyone thinks you've had a baby by someone else and your husband looks like a cuckold..(yes, it's an old word)

Let's turn it around so that we don't look at it from the angle of the Grand Wizard.

I, as a white woman married to a black man...say...we paid over 40 grand in treatments, and I went through procedure after procedure, and finally I get pregnant with what I think is going to be an interracial baby...to give birth to a white child...I dunno.
It's not what I signed up for.
It's not what we paid 40 grand for.

Listen, if you're willing to pay money, and make specific requests around what you'd like your baby to look like, I suppose you can sue a company who didn't provide the service.

There are issues around birth children who don't look like either of their biological parents in skin tone.
South Asians, and black people deal with it regularly...yes, yes...I know that it's inherently because of white people, but that doesn't preclude it's existence in those communities.

Racialicious takes a look at that in this article.

Let's hear how you can be transformed into a racist with an innocent comment.

So, I'm reading the paper this morning when I read that the artist who runs this website is in court for having "sexual encounters with a neighbourhood 13 year old, who was precocious beyond her years".

She was described by the judge as so:

"She had in her makeup 'more of the punk rock/Queen St. crowd than her years would suggest,'"

There are young girls who are very precocious, and yearn for the attention of men...is this the lack of attention from fathers? Who knows?

Still, it seems that she's made quite an impression on the Judge.

Read the whole thing here.

Today's Quote:

Don Cheadle:

"Ask for his thoughts about how celebrities like Madonna or Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are adopting African babies, and Cheadle doesn't miss a beat: 'My wife and I wanted to adopt a white kid from an affluent family that's bored with it.'"

From: USA Weekend

The Secret Life of Germs

It seems that we've become so over-saturated with information, and news that the media is constantly scrambling to find something fresh to shock and scare us with.

The other day, I was watching some stupidness on TV in the waiting room of my dealership while my car was being serviced.
I heard a "special report" on the dangers of frozen vegetables. Apparently, perforations in the bags can allow for bacteria and E-Coli to enter...and this can KILL our children.

This morning while getting ready for work, I found out that dust mites have invaded my mattress as well as my pillows, and that washing my pillows weekly is NOT ENOUGH!!!

I have to throw them out after two years.
There's just no saving them.

Now, I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to germs...keep in mind that this is coming from someone who cooks with vinyl gloves on...

...but come on!

Is there no end to scaring the shit out of people for no good reason?
Death lurks at the gym....while eating and handling eggs...as well as navigating a bunch of urban legends and myths ....we even have scary warnings about the scary warnings...

Maybe the real problem is that all this paranoia is weakening our immune systems.

Girls Behaving Badly



Ok, given my soft spot for Northern Soul and Jazz, Amy Winehouse fits the bill...but then, when I looked her up on Wiki, it turns out that she's got...um...issues.

However, when I read this:

"Winehouse made multiple appearances in the British tabloids over alleged alcohol-induced behaviour. This included a 'drunken' appearance on The Charlotte Church Show (which appeared on YouTube), heckling U2 frontman Bono during an acceptance speech at the Q Awards"

I laughed, and laughed...if anyone can find that video for me, I'd appreciate it. The thought of seeing smug, self-righteous Bono having to deal with being heckled by a drunk newcomer makes me feel, and express joyful mirth.


Then, I read this quote:

Winehouse has a number of "old school" tattoos of naked women on her body. When asked about them, she was quoted as saying “I like pin-up girls. I’m more of a boy than a girl. I’m not a lesbian, though — not before a sambuca anyway."

It's official.
I love her.

Black Coffee

Two Things...

The Fall of Lord & Lady Black.

The fangs and talons are out.

All those snotty remarks that were made over the years are not forgotten by Canadians, and now the media is chewing them up and tearing them down.

She (Amiel) eulogized the wealthy in her increasingly snobbish published ruminations; he allegedly stole from his Byzantine empire to maintain the pretense of their billionaire-ness. They were really, it now appears, merely millionaires, struggling to keep up with the Kravises and the Goldsmiths.

Oh, how the envious and the loathing have feasted on their spectacular downfall.

No one seems to have forgotten all the arrogant, and uppity things both of them have said over the years...Amiel, once to Vogue Magazine in 2002 said; "my extravagance knows no bounds." and refers to herself as Lady Black of Crossharbour.

The press is taking you down...down to Chinatown Babs and Con.

I understand that Sir Black wants to be Canadian again.
Bwahahahahahah!

and then...

In another article on the front page of The Star "Coming Clean on Medical Mistakes".
I didn't read much of the article, but the picture speaks 1000 words.
How much does that little boy's body language say?

I wonder how people manage when they lose a child.
How horrible it must be.
How soul consuming.

When do you decide that it's time to focus on the living?

A Meme from Joni.

Pick up the book you are reading. Turn to page 123 and post on your blog the fifth paragraph. [My book doesn't have five paragraphs on page 123 so I posted the last paragraph on the page; I hope that's not cheating!] Then post that text and the book title and author on your blog! Finally (this is the most important part!), tag five others and send a personal message to those people.

Mine is Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel, given to me recently by Piika.

"I switched back to Hebrew. 'And I'm getting used to the whole idea of your job. It doesn't shock me anymore. I don't even think about it. It's strange how that happens'. 'I told you we start forgetting in this country'"

I'm not going to tag.
If you do this meme, just please let me know that you did in my comments.

Sunday Click Around

Geiko has abandoned it's gecko for the Caveman. I kinda like him. Here's an interactive ad called "Caveman's Crib".

Chocolat is a new Canadian Magazine, and since I'm now looking to paint a bedroom in the near future, I'm looking at these kinds of magazines.

Here's a little colour game that is supposed to tell you something about your personality. It was mostly wrong for me, maybe you'll have better luck.

I re-found this little Former YU ad for Radenska Mineral Water that showed all the diverse parts of the former YU in less than a minute.

Here's a clip from Chinese Candid Camera.

Remember The Newlywed Game? Here's a clip from what looks like the 70's with a ditzy contestant that gives blondes a bad name.

Since I've been watching Monty Python clips this afternoon, I thought I'd share some with you. Here are: The Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook, Party Hints with Veronica Smalls, and Hitler in England.

And that made me think of Goodness, Gracious, Me...which I also love...so here are: Bharat Homes, Great Train Journeys of the World, and The Marriage Emporium done in the style of Monty Python's "The Cheese Shoppe" sketch.

Here's another Phony Photo Booth video. I love these.

Here's a collection of images From Henri Cartier-Bresson done to Edith Piaf.

And while we're on Edith Piaf, here she is singing La Foule...and while we're on foreign singers, let's spend a little time with one of my favourites, Cesaria Evora singing Sodade.

That's all for now.

Monty Python - Mrs. Premise and Mrs. Conclusion Visit Jean Paul Sartre



Just to lighten things up a bit.

Ayn Rand interviewed in 1959 by Mike Wallace.
Follow the rest on YouTube.

And then, by Phil Donahue about 20 years later.



I've yet to watch both of them in their entirety, but what I did watch was fascinating to me.
I didn't want to just bury this in my Sunday Click Around.
Ayn's philosophy is very interesting to me. She seemed to have softened a bit by the late 70's, but some of her logic would have made Hitler proud, other parts are pretty convincing.

Fascinating.

Learn Disco



This is for you Piika.

Thanks Harding

CNN has competition coming...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Via: Glacia

Fashion Cares. No. Really. They do.

"This season, we created a jacket that is pleated so there is very little waste in the fabric itself. When we started the label, we began with recycled pieces and that has always stayed with us."

I imagine that most fashion houses have always made sure that they used every inch of fabric, and it has nothing to do with being green. It has to do with money, not ecology. I notice that Al Gore and his "An Inconvenient Truth" has become the fashion and entertainment world's darling...the Michael Moore of green, only slimmer, and more fashionable.

Then there was Georgina Franki:

"Fashion Nation uses caribou hides that have been tanned using traditional methods. All parts of the animal are used, including the bones for sunglasses, boasts designer Georgina Franki. Skins are bought from native men, who hunt and trap for a living."

I'd like to see PETA just try to take on a Canadian First Nation designer.
Just try it and see what happens.
I'd actually pay cash money to see that, just to see PETA get their ass kicked.
Literally.

The Dad Name Game

I often don't care for Ellie Tesher's advice.
She used to do a mother/daughter talk radio show (both are counsellors or something) but I've found their advice and the two of them rather flaky.
Ellie has a column in The Star and recently gave some flaky, new age explanation on why a couple of kids refuse to call their biological Dad "Dad". She suggested that the "kids" (21 & 18) might not want to hurt the feelings of their Stepfather.

WHAT?

She ended up having quite a response from readers.

I concur with one reader who said:
"I wonder would you be that quick to diminish a mother from being called Mom in similar circumstances? I doubt it."

...and another who said:
"What has likely happened is that the children have been made to feel guilty for calling their father "dad," and perhaps have even been alienated from their father somewhat. Some parents work long and hard to alienate kids from the other parent."

Angelina adopts another child.

"The child's name is Pax Thien Jolie, said Trevor Neilson, Jolie's adviser on international affairs. Pax means peace in Latin, but Neilson said he didn't know whether Jolie had chosen it for that reason."

I'm not even going to harp on this celebrity trend of petlike adopting of foreign children. I've said it before and I'll say it again. North America has poor children of colour too Angie.

"Your Jedi mind tricks do not work with me..."

Anna from Blackbird sent me an article headed,

"Use of ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ Too “Homophobic”, Scottish Nurses Told".

Apparently,

In "EDINBURGH, Scotland, February 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Nurses and other health care professionals should avoid using the terms ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ to refer to family relationships since the terms could be offensive to homosexual couples with children, a new directive published by Scotland’s National Health Service recommends".

Again, people seek to change human behaviour with semantics.
It doesn't work.
In fact, those who want to see you as a crazy fanatic, now have some ammo to call your cause petty and narrow.

"Along the same lines, the directive points out, use of the terms ‘husband’, ‘wife’ and ‘marriage’ is not acceptable since such terms exclude lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Instead, health care workers should use the terms ‘partners’ and ‘next of kin’. Since ‘next of kin’ is often understood to mean nearest blood relative, however, the booklet recommends that it may be preferable to use ‘partner, close friend or close relative’ to avoid confusion".

Listen, I don't see the issue.
If you're admitted to the hospital, whoever sees you and fills out the form should have your information there. Anyone of importance will read the file and know who the important person in your life is.

I was in the hospital with my sister-in-law when both my nieces were born...the nurses all assumed that my husband was the father.
I'm white, he's black...the pregnant woman in the bed is black...that white woman couldn't possibly be his wife.
Black, white and Filipina nurses, all assumed my husband... was his sisters husband.
People make assumptions all the time.
You correct them as you go. They apologize, correct their behaviour, and we move on.
We don't stomp our feet and demand that everyone change how they wish to be addressed in order to suit us.

Frankly, when I hear the word partner, I assume that the partner is gay.
It's going to take a while to get this word into the mainstream.
When I do hear heterosexuals using it, it's mostly women using it to describe their live in boyfriend. When you think about it, "boyfriend" is a stupid word too, especially when you're out of high school...but don't listen to me.
I hate the word fiancee, and whenever I say it, I can't help but say it in a nasally, whiny voice, dragging out the "aaayyyyy".
I've never used that word, even when I had a "feeee-on-saaaaayyyyy".

I don't know, language is a living thing, and it's constantly changing.
Does language change the way people feel about things. Does a homophobe stop being a homophobe by choosing his or her words while addressing a parent they aren't sure is straight?
Does not using the word "nigger" stop people from being racist?

I'd prefer to be able to identify them more readily, rather than let them hide behind politically correct words...but, I've got to say, this Scottish LGBT initiative is the ultimate in tail wagging the dog mentality.

According to The Pink Pound, 6% of the UK is gay.

Perhaps forcing their point down the throats of the other 94% is not going to help their cause as much as they'd like.

CFRB 1010 has recently taken the "interview" approach with advertisers.

You'll be listening to the radio and it might take a second to realize that some guy is being "interviewed" by a talk radio show host about flooring or water purifiers.

How lazy is that?

I won't buy from them on principle.

Entertain me, or piss off with those boring interviews.

White Chicks & Gang Signs



When I see middle class, suburban white kids flashing gang signs, I can't help but laugh.
Because it's funny.

To me it's humourous because if any of them ever jumped out of their parents Subaru Legacy or Range Rover onto the sidewalks of a real 'hood, they'd shit their pants.

If there's no other redeeming value for the online parallel life of Second Life, what it's doing for the disabled community is enough to make it valuable.

CBC did a report on Second Life, and starting at 6.43 in the video report, you'll see what I mean.

Sunday Click-Around

Can we talk about how disconcerting it is to lose an hour? As though I don't already feel like there aren't enough hours in the day....However, it'll be wonderful to have light late into the day again. YAY, spring is on it's way.

The photo to the left is from portraits.org. It looks like a compilation of portraits from various Photographers. I'm not really interested in the fashion photography (which there is plenty of), I'm more fond of the photos of children and interesting faces. The site is heavy on the model end though, so I'm sure that lots of guys will like it anyway, but for us women, looking at photo after photo of beautiful women is akin to straight guys looking at photo after photo of buff, good looking men. 

Here's another site with 158 great photos.

I'm not all that knowledgable about meth. I know that meth labs have been popping up in residential areas, and that they damage property, and put people in danger that is not covered by insurance.
I know that it ruins people's lives like most drugs do...but, this article on The Faces of Meth, is scary...then, just for good measure, read this article from The NY Times about one family's experience with their son who is addicted to meth.

If you've ever thought that those who've said "people should require a license to have children" were fascist and going too far, this site will bring you onboard with those of us who don't think licensed parenting is such a bad idea.  
There are individuals who have no right to even be able to pro-create.
I'm not sorry for them because they were abused, and that's why they do what they do, and we should feel empathy for them, and pay for their counselling.. blah, blah, blah...
There are plenty of people who were abused by their parents who didn't grow up to be monsters. This website is a horrific compilation of why there should be some sort of law in place to stop some people from having children.  For someone who kills their own child in a horrific manner, I'm not adverse to sterilization...hell, I'm not adverse to the death penalty.

I used to love Pingu.
The Eastern European in me got a kick out of Communist Pingu.

Bollywood Beatles (YouTube to your right) that I got from Cynical-C gave me quite the giggle. That spastic dancing chick in the video was about four decades ahead of beyonce in the booty department.

Apparently, over March Break the Toronto Zoo is having a bug exhibit, starring the hissing cockroach of Madagascar. They've done all these little cute videos with these cockroaches...but, hey...they're still cockroaches...I must say though, the accent they gave the star is pretty cute. The accent they gave his buddy saying good-bye is some sort of west indian mix, which is a little disappointing.

Here's a little video of some Guyanese guys catching hassa fish and peeling coconut that The Mister got a kick out of. For those of you who have never seen hassa fish, it looks like some sort of Klingon delicacy. From this video, they're pretty slippery to catch too.

Devvo's Corner is a collection of mini-documentaries on the life of a Chav.

For those of you who are Russell Peters fans, here's "Show Me the Funny", the entire show..it's about 45 minutes long.

Where you from? You sexy thing.


Ok, I think that's it for now...

P.S.: This new and frustrating version of blogger might force me to move. I'm really starting to hate it.

Tempura and Spicy Eggplant at Papamo.

Listen, I'm all for cycling. If you can get around the city without having to pay for a license, tags, parking, insurance and a car...great!
More power to you.
What I have a problem with is a surly cyclist who thinks that they don't have to follow the rules of the road.
You know, the ones who weave in and out of traffic, go through red lights, and stop signs just because they don't see cars coming, and don't stick to the side of the road but ride dangerously close to moving vehicles, and sometimes in the middle of the road.

Now, I realize that in the downtown core there is a sub-culture of environmentally dedicated anti-carists, who are indulged by our money wasting office interior decorator of a Mayor, whose answer to traffic congestion is to make it harder to drive downtown.

He does this by proposing to increase bike lanes, suggesting downtown closures and tolls, taking down the expressway, and making sure that the downtown airport has as hard a time as possible accommodating business people who use it so they don't have to drive the 25km to Pearson Airport from downtown for short flights to Montreal, NYC, Thunder Bay and wherehaveyou.

Our Mayor passes his time with these things rather than focusing on building more roads, or amalagamating transit systems so that it doesn't cost commuters the equivalent of a tank of gas a day to get into the city by public transit.

But, I digress...

Back to cyclists.

I'm consistently amazed by how many are willing to take their lives into their hands by not obeying the rules of the road, and not only that...but with a total attitude as well...as though their own personal safety is not primarily their own responsibility.

Last year I read about a motorist who threw food out of his window. The courier, disliking littering, picks up food and throws food back in car. Motorist dumps coffee on courier. Courier scratches car with key. Road rage ensues.

The driver got out to give her a proper ass whuppin'.
I must say, that I would never throw anything out of my car, and he's an asshole, but she had equally no right to throw the food back into his car and damage it. In my opinion, she provoked the driver.
What's wrong with just calling him a jackass?

Out in public, you really don't know if you're provoking a Tony Soprano wannabe, or a lunatic.

I'll say right here and now, though... if anyone scratched my car...I believe I'd get out to put a Nine West heel up her ass too.

Is Spring Rolling in?



I took this picture on my way home tonight.
I don't think that the photo quite captures the magnificence of the blanket of rolling clouds as the sun was setting in the west.
It looked like an ocean in the sky.

Just beautiful...not captured correctly through my windshield.

Homemade Marshmellows




They're not kidding.
I've made homemade marshmellows before, and there is no comparison.
Here's my recipe at Papamo.

Stranger Than Fiction




So, I watched this movie last night, and I quite liked it.
The only problem I had was during the bakery scenes with Maggie Gyllenhaal. All that handling of dough with no gloves, the licking of the fingers, the handling of the baked goods with her bare hands, and the dogs in the bakery.
Screw the Taxman, public health should have been auditing her.

Yuk.

I cringed everytime they did a scene in the bakery.

I love old cartoons...when they were clever, and drawn well.

Sunday, Almost Monday
Click Around.

Recently, on a whim...I bought a Rat Pack CD. I'm too young to remember them performing, but if I was to find one famous person that looked like my father, it would be Dean Martin. And my father loved him. Listening to the CD, I realize that they were pretty racy. Here's Dean singing "Ain't That a Kick in the Head".
Here's "The Rat Pack in One Minute". From the same era, here is Shirley MacLaine in "Sweet Charity", and Jack Lemmon in "The Out of Towners".

Here are some vintage drug ads that are pretty scary.

I caught this kid on YouTube and laughed my ass off. I'm certain that this isn't an actual meltdown, but a perfect parody of self-absorbed youth who put themselves in stupid positions and then cry about how they're made fun of and not accepted.

Here is a beautiful photo essay on Iran, and another on China.

The Mister and me will be travelling to Cadiz, Spain in June, and we're both very excited. Neither of us has ever been to Spain, and look forward to a couple of nights in Madrid, and a day trip to Morocco and perhaps even Portugal. We're told by friends that The Mister will be looked upon with much interest in Cadiz...so, he's decided that he'll have to brush up on his smiling and waving skills. Either way, we're really looking forward to this trip to a place neither of us has been before with old friends of mine that I love who know their way around, since one is from Cadiz. Can it get any better than that? I think not.

Jigsawland lets you do puzzles online, if you like that kind of thing.



Make your own tombstone at Make Your Own Damn Tombstone.

I recently read that Marianne Faithfull was recovering from breast cancer. I remember her best for "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" during the days that I loved Chryssie Hynde, and The Clash, and The Specials, and Madness, and Third World...and Truths and Rights where my old friend Rudi "Quammie" Williams (He's the bald one in the middle)  got his start. I'm proud to say that Rudi is running The Theatre Passe Muraille now ...damn, I'm so proud of him...Oh, I could go on and on.

Anyhow, I love the art of Mehndi, and here is a great link to The Art of Mehndi.

Here's a great link to Iraqi police"gettin' jiggy wid it".

I watched this "Cyber Lovah" video and couldn't help but think of this In Living Color parody of Shabba Ranks "Mr. Lover Man".

Ok, kids...that's it.