At least he's a good tipper.

Have a Happy New Year!

Someone buy me one of these, please.

The prequel to: "Help Lord: The Devil Doesn't Like Breast Augmentation!"

(Found at Funky Junk Trunk)

Inside the Actor's Studio with Chris Rock



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

ohhhh, the train of thought....

Way it goes...

Last night, my brother in law and I were talking about dealing with people...I've worked for some really difficult people.

Shitty people.

I told him that for years, I really thought that I was a "people person", and it took a job in management for me to realize that; really, I'm not.
When I'm dealing with a difficult person, I try to remind myself that difficult people are made that way by how they've internalized their experiences.

That said, I know that I've been shitty to some people, and that those people would perceive me to be a difficult person.

On occasion, I've caught a glimpse of how someone sees me in a negative way, and it's jarring...but, then...usually... it doesn't matter to me.
Because, unless I respect them...what they think of me, matters not.

One of the best scenes I've ever seen in a movie bringing part of this into light is the "Way it goes..." monologue Kevin Spacey gives in the film Swimming with Sharks.

It's awesome, and you can watch it here.

The Giving Tree - Read by Shel Silverstein



(My favourite story)

This picture of William Suarez Peirto: 1943 from Shorpy

Makes me think of what Kid Creole's dad might have looked like.

Oprah finds another fake memoir...

Herman Rosenblat’s holocaust memoir Angel at the Fence: the True Story of a Love That Survived which Oprah Winfrey called, “the single greatest love story, in 22 years of doing this show, we’ve ever told on the air.” turns out to be, um, probably untrue. It all started when Rosenblat, a holocaust survivor, entered a Valentine’s Day newspaper writing contest for the most romantic story...

Geez, can't a couple of seniors get their 15 minutes of cha ching in peace?

Who's Canadian?

The true story of a dinner conversation in which several Americans came to realize how many iconic Americans are, in fact, Canadian.

"If William Shatner's Canadian," one insists, "then I could be Canadian."

Another opines that there should be a law against Peter Jennings, a Canadian, from hosting a network news program

Hilarious podcast from This American Life.

Let's play:

Find the Canadian!

(Thanks Piika)

Police: Woman faked missing baby story to win back ex

McCormic was trying to lure an ex-boyfriend back when she invented a missing-child story that triggered a statewide search this week, police said Friday.

I've heard of girls faking pregnancies to get a guy back, but this one went all the way.

I hope they do make her pay back all the money that was spent on the search.

NME's Hottest Men in Music

(Click on picture to see them)





Aside from the fact that I'm not familiar with any one of them, I agree with Jezebel:

"It's pretty clear that the readers dig pale, skinny guys with dark hair and slightly dead eyes.

Alex Turner, Jack White, Mark Ronson, and Brandon Flowers all make the list, as do Pete Doherty and Julian Casablancas. The photo gallery is hilarious, in that if you flip from picture to picture, it's almost as if you're looking at a weird family photo album, filled with brothers who share a genetic tendency to scowl and tilt their heads slightly to the left".

Beyonce kicking the shit out of a crazed blonde obsessed with stealing her husband?

No more waiting to exhale...

I love Dino!

Why buy expensive toys?

All the (little tiny) single ladies...



So, while we ooh, and ahh..about how cute she is, and how well she does the moves for such a little girl....I'd like to report to you that this kind of thing has more or less replaced skipping, and playing ball in the schoolyard for girls.

I think it's more than a little sad that little girls don't want to be little girls anymore.

MEXICO CITY - A U.S. anti-kidnapping expert was abducted by gunmen in northern Mexico last week, a sign of just how bold this nation's kidnapping gangs have become.

U.S. security consultant Felix Batista was in Saltillo in Coahuila state to offer advice on how to confront abductions for ransom when he himself was seized, local authorities said.

I'm not even going to say anything...

Switched At Birth

On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. One of the mothers realized the mistake but chose to keep quiet. Until the day, more than 40 years later, when she decided to tell both daughters what happened. How the truth changed two families' lives—and how it didn't.

Amazing if you've got an hour to listen to this story.

Who do you think you are?

Studs Terkel, the Chicago reporter who recorded oral histories of ordinary Americans, died last week. We assembled a collection of his work from his Hard Times radio series, in which people talk about their experiences during the Depression—how everyone simultaneously became poor, regardless of their class.

If you don't listen to the whole thing...at least listen to the segment on memories of the depression.

There is also discussion and interviews around Obama's victory, and the ambivalence of many African Americans.

Santa Claus Bailout Hearings - watch more funny videos

Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put a ring on it) Walk it out with Fosse

via Norge Thingy

Whine at the Buffett

What's it like when your grandpa is the richest man in the world? For Nicole Buffett, it means forgoing cable TV and health insurance and making do on $40,000 a year. Here, she dishes on her upbringing and why her grandfather Warren Buffett disowned her.

Forgive me if I have a hard time mustering up sympathy for an adult who isn't getting coin from their rich relatives.

Committed to instilling those homespun values in his grandkids, Buffett agreed to pay for their college educations — and nothing more. He picked up the six-figure tab for Nicole's art school tuition. Once, Nicole called her grandfather's office to ask if he'd help her buy a futon when she moved to an off-campus apartment. "You know what the rules are: school expenses only," his secretary told her.

Grandpa gave her a "six-figure" college education which is more than most of the population gets from their family to go to school...and while we're at it, if she was so concerned about money...why not study something that's going to make you some money?
...Meanwhile, she makes a living off of her art, which is more than a lot of artists can boast.
I'm sure that her surname doesn't hurt her where interest in her pieces are concerned.

The perceived sense of entitlement and Nicole's self-appointed role as family spokesperson prompted Buffett to tell Peter that he'd renounce her. A month later, the mega-billionaire mailed Nicole a letter in which he cautioned her about the pitfalls of the Buffett name: "People will react to you based on that 'fact' rather than who you are or what you have accomplished." He punctuated the letter by declaring, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin." Nicole was devastated. "He signed the letter 'Warren,'" she says. "I have a card from him just a year earlier that's signed 'Grandpa.'"

Yeah, because the best way to endear ourselves to the cash holder with the moneybags in the family is to slag them in the press.

I smell an expose book deal.

P.S.: Here's Nicole's website. You tell me if it's worth 6 figures.

Tom Cruise does Letterman's Top Ten about himself

Lives of the Pathetic and Delusional

When a tour-bus load of would-be Carries, Charlottes, and Samanthas (nope, no Mirandas) go chasing that Sex and the City dream, is it comedy, tragedy, or cultural delusion? Shuttling from a certain sex shop to the Magnolia Bakery, the author ponders their quest.

Firstly, I never understood "Sex in the City-mania", or any other type of obsession with fictional characters.
I don't understand Harry Potter freaks any more than I understand Trekkies, and Star Wars Freaks.

The NYC that these women live in is not one that I was ever familiar with, and I suppose that is part of the appeal for some middle aged women who are living the Ballad of Lucy Jordan....but a bus tour of the haunts of a bunch of fictional characters?

Seriously.
There really is a sucker born every minute.

Oh, ignore me...I'm a pragmatic, wet rag with an over-active sense of reality.

(Article found at Funkaoshi)

News Flash:

Study shows that life is not some piece of shit film.

and

The Notting Hill effect: How romantic comedies can harm your love life

C'mon...grown women...really.

Just because it made me smile...



My Grandfather sang this song after a few slivos...and I think of him whenever I hear it.

I love this song.

For John

I interrupt our regular programming...



what a sweet face he had.

Russia after The Gulag.

Donald Weber Photography from Nag on the Lake

Signs that the Economy is Really Bad

I found this humourous entry from Jezebel called,
"Brazilian Waxes: The Trend that Never Really Existed".

It states:

There's a page-view-baiting essay in Salon today about how, because of the recession and widely acknowledged creepiness, women are going retrobush and shunning Brazilian waxes. But!

Unfortunately, there are no pube-based statistics to back up this shocking discovery, so I'm calling bullshit on the entire thing and saying that not that many women were ripping off all their pubes in the first place.

I must agree with Jessica when she says:

Maybe the porn world saw the rise of the retrobush, and desperate trend story writers used that, and one Sex and the City episode, as evidence that more and more women were going bare down there. But of the women I know, a couple have tried Brazilian waxes one time, but the vast majority have close to their original plumage.

Plus, all hair removal is expensive to have professionally done, and maintained...and frankly, I never really understood why looking like a prepubescent girl would be a turn on to begin with.

I wasn't going to post this at all, until I was led to Uncle Steve's New Waxing Options for the Progressive Woman.

That's my comedy contribution for today.

Bands With Stupid Names Of The Day

Bands With Stupid Names Of The Day

DEF LEPPARD

The story: Singer Joe Elliott thought of the name Deaf Leopard while he was in school (presumably while failing something). The spelling was later changed so the band didn't become confused with punk bands (who are known for their flawless spelling).

Why it sucks: There's simply no excuse for including a word in your band's name that means you can't hear. You might as well just call yourself Shitty Music and save people the trouble of mocking you.

(click on heading for more)

Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by
layers of snow that react to different conditions.

Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet
fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.

When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can
freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a
green stripe.

Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up
when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.

(Click on image for more)

The Places That We Live.

Amazing website with fantastic panoramic photos of life in the slums of Kenya, India, Indonesia, and Venezuela.

(Found at Uncertain Times)

A Message from the Big Three



(via YesButNoButYes)

Do you see it as the same struggle?

Click on the image for an interesting article from racialicious.

(via Jezebel)

...I've posted this before, but it's still cute.

Interview Hell

I'm interviewing again, and to say pickin's is slim, would be an understatement.

I hate this process with the heat of a thousand suns.
It's like The first few rounds of American Idol, only without the comedy.

I've only just begun screening candidates and here are two MORON experiences I've had, almost back to back.

One woman wanted to know if it was ok to bring her kid to the interview.

I shit you not.

Another asked about the hours of the full time position in question, and then proceeded to tell me that it conflicted with the courses she signed up for in January...and then she "uhm-ed" and "ehm-ed", like I was supposed to help accommodate her by changing the hours of the position, or something...I'm not sure what she was expecting...but I said, "Well, I guess a full time position conflicts with your schedule...tell me, why did you even apply?"

"...oh, I wasn't sure if I was going to go back to school in January..."

I only got her resume 36 hours ago...

Jesus...this is going to suck.

Someone please buy me this house.

Russell Peters on West Indians

I hope the TTC sponsored this...

(Found @ BlogTO)

Deny it if you like...
Workplace roles and the dynamics among colleagues can go much deeper than those somewhat superficial stereotypes, especially in a nation where many people spend as much time with colleagues as they do with their families, where the office so often mirrors the family.

(Article found at Jezabel)

Ok.

This is neither here nor there and certainly none of my business...but, one of my pet peeves is white mothers of black or bi-racial children who never learn to do their hair.

I see it time and time again...and it bugs me.

Take a course from a black woman...take your kid to a black salon, but for Godssake, condition and comb the childs' hair!

Picasso's Bulls



Totally stolen from Uncertain Times

(Thanks Anna)

Forget the Hatfields and the McCoys
...Check out the Melvins and the Marriotts.

After two years behind bars awaiting trial, Jimmy Melvin Jr. shouted "hallelujah" Friday and said he's looking forward to a cold beer as a free man. Melvin, 26, was released in Halifax after the Crown withdrew 15 charges against him because two witnesses recanted their stories.



Seriously.
I heard Melvin's press conference on The Current this morning (I think you can hear it here), and between the shout outs, and the "You're looking lovely today..." flirting with one of the reporters..this guy is too much.

He's like one of the trailer park boys, except really, really dangerous.

Apparently, he ran a crack house with one of the Marriotts (Wayne Marriott) a few years ago, and after the police take down, they fell out...I mean really fell out, and not in the "I'm not your friend anymore" kinda way.

Jimmy allegedly was behind the fatal shooting of Wayne, and was in prison for two years. Then, two witnesses recanted, and he was freed a couple of weeks ago...two days later, more violence between the families.

Honestly...and people talk about Toronto

(See more here)

I used to make my doll houses from shoe boxes and cartons.
Mine where totally ghetto...I dreamed of doll houses like these.

Dashing Dreams, One Child at a Time.

Today, this is a conversation I had with a child:

Child: "Mrs. M, The Tooth Fairy came last night" (big smile/missing tooth)

Me: "That's great, B!"

Child: "Did she ever come visit you?"

Me: "No. You're lucky."

Child: "She NEVER came to you? Not even when you were little?"

Me: "I don't think she comes to any other countries but Canada and The States"

Child: (Turns to the staff next to me)"What about you Mrs. Mo? Did she come to your house"

Mrs. Mo: "No. She didn't come to Trinidad either"

Child: "Bummer for you guys"

She might be able to pull it off.

It kind of bugged me that Beyonce was going to play the part of Etta James, because she's kinda plastic-y...and Etta was definitely not.

Abortion rates rocket to record high as Britain set to overtake US as world termination capital

...that's only because no one is counting them in Russia, China and India.

I love how the west considers itself "The World".

"The French say they need the largest condoms in Europe while Greeks get by on smaller ones, according to a Europe-wide study by a German consultancy that provides advice on condoms.

The snappily named Singen-based Institute of Condom Consultancy asked 10,500 men in 25 countries to measure their penis and enter the number into a database."

LOL...and the hidden study in this study is that the French are also the biggest liars...

It's that time of year again...

Chicken Head Tracking

I'm sorry....I had to.

Uncle Tim should be my nanny.

I know that there are a lot of people who just hate the fact that there are big box stores and chain coffee houses all over the place.

There's a certain kind of Torontonian that abhors anything but cute, hip little bistro type establishments with quirky and kitschy decor...and the attack on generic, uncute, and suburban Tim Hortons with their disposable coffee cup drama is amusing to me.

Why should Tim Hortons be my nanny?
I'm a citizen who knows where the nearest garbage can is.
I drive about town with empty coffee cups in my car until I get home or get to a gas station.

Yes.

I know that the disposable cups create a lot of waste.
But, Tim Hortons isn't the only coffee place that uses them.
Because they're the biggest, they should pick up the tariff on all of them?

They at least do something to curb their negative impact on the environment.

If we're going to demand this, then it should be built into the cost of the cup...for everyone who sells coffee.

The cup manufacturer level.

Yeah, that includes the cutie little bistro cafe's take out cup as well.

New trends in false lashes -
The "Who Needs to See Anyway?" Edition



Taking high maintenance to the next level.

Bacon Sweet Potato Fritters

at Papamo

Mango Coconut Bread Pudding
(Tastes better than it looks)



at Papamo

Prince was just as odd at 19



Thanks Anna

Rusi? Ukransi? su ludi...XA XA



(from YesButNoButYes)

Snoop Dogg on Martha Stewart

(Thanks ObamaFan)

No, but...for real...

Tonight, on my scary 3 hour drive home...(yeah...not even funny because my tires SUCK), I saw a vanity plate on a BMW sportscar that read:

"an V usss"

...all I could think of was that he needed to lose the "V" on that plate.

Seriously.

What kind of "an usss" gets that kind of vanity plate?

Letters to God


(click on image for more)

Found at A Welsh View

Acting or Real?

This morning I was watching CBC Sunday, and the guest was Jamie Oliver.

It was a very interesting interview that got me thinking about something that is missing in schools now...something we used to have when I was in high school...but, I think is gone now.

Jamie made the co-relation of obesity and a downturn in the economy, saying that when the economy does a nosedive, obesity increases because people go more for starchy and unhealthy foods.

Talking about schools and his lunch programs in the UK, it got me thinking about Home Ec in schools.

Way back when, I took Home Ec and while I didn't realize it's value back then, I certainly see it's value now. The skills I learned in Home Ec have come in handy over the years. Budgeting, grocery shopping, the basics of cooking.

I know that we kind of looked down on it, because it was seen as continuing to marginalize women (even though boys had to take it too), I'm seeing it's value now...as well as "Shop", which I took in middle school. Woodworking and the like.

These are all valuable skills that everyone needs in day to day life.

Just a passing thought on a Sunday.

There's an ad on some channel that keeps using this video:



which made me think of this video:


Which made me think of this video

...oh, the late eighties, early ninties...

Unfussy Apple Cake



at Papamo

Second Life and the disabled

I don't do the mani....but, I do have the pedi...and I think I've had this girl work on my feet.

Forty-year-old David Pollard and 28-year-old Amy Taylor, married both in real life and in the online game "Second Life," have split after Taylor caught Pollard's avatar cozying up to an attractive female avatar on a virtual couch. "I caught him cuddling a woman on a sofa in the game -- it looked real affectionate," she said.

The U.K. couple's passion for living through their "Second Life" alteregos "Dave Barmy" and "Laura Skye" had led to temptation before. In 2007, Pollard was caught red-handed having sex with a pixelated prostitute in the game, leading Taylor to hire a private investigator to look into his virtual infidelities.

Why do I find that so hilarious?

Ok.

So, the other day I was looking for someone to do some translating for me because one of my prospective clients has absolutely no English...and I have absolutely no Mandarin.

There is an Asian teacher on the second floor with whom I have never had a full conversation. Only passing in the hallway "hello"'s.

Now, I obviously cannot make the assumption that she even speaks an Asian language, much less the one I need her to speak...but, I was desperate.

This is how it went:

Me: "Hi. Can I ask you something?"
Teacher of unknown Asian Heritage: "Sure"
Me: "Do you speak another language?"
TUAH: (with a smirk, and a bit of a snort) "Yeah. French."

Obama appears on toast

Michelle Obama's mother has reluctantly agreed to leave her lifelong home on Chicago's South Side and move to Washington to help smooth the transition for the grand-daughters who dote on her.

Babe, if the mister got into the white house, all of our extended family would be moving in too!

Mama would be bossing the white house staff around like crazy.

I could see it now:

"AYE!!! Ver yu tink yu goink mid dos shoes on??!!!??"
"Det no gonna be enuf food for da people...c'man...don be so cheap!"

There would be a barrel of cabbage in brine in the garage, and you'd have to double bag the sremske kobasice in the fridge to mask the blast of garlic smell when you open it.

It would be the first time they ever saw left over curry goat in the fridge and garlic pork on the sidebar for Christmas when my mother in law got there.

The toilet seat wouldn't stay up because of the fuzzy cover on the lid, and the sugar stiffed doilies would be killer in the oval office...LOL

Didion was at pains to say that she did not think any of this was Obama's doing, nor to his tastes. He would, she speculated "welcome healthy realism" and achievable expectations. In our frenzy, we are doing him a disservice, expecting miracles "at a time when the nation can least afford easy answers." She recalled, the day after the election, an overexcited newscaster declaring that we now possess "the congratulations of all the nations." She likened this to the naivete of thinking we'd be regarded as beloved saviors in Iraq. But, she ended, "in the irony-free zone that our country has become, this is not what people wanted to hear."

Let's get a grip, shall we?

When I look at the stuff being sent to me about Obama, it's hard not to get caught up in the romance...he's young-ish, good looking, cool...Kennedy-esque.
And we romanticize...we need to, especially now...but, he's a man.

A human, man.
Not the Messiah.

Can we prepare ourselves for less than perfection?

LOL....

The second the City of Toronto invests in a sign change with a little catchy "Village" (Bloor West Village, Leslieville) above your street name, your attempts to stop the gentrification are futile.

5 Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" to your kids.

I read this article at Education.com, and some of what is stated in the article helps explain why so many young adults have a lack of ambition, yet such a strong sense of entitlement.

Creating praise junkies.
Rather than bolstering a child's self-esteem, praise may increase kids' dependence on us. The more we say, "I like the way you'." or "Good ______ing," the more kids come to rely on our evaluations, our decisions about what's good and bad, rather than learning to form their own judgments. It leads them to measure their worth in terms of what will lead us to smile and dole out some more approval.

Mary Budd Rowe, a researcher at the University of Florida, discovered that students who were praised lavishly by their teachers were more tentative in their responses, more apt to answer in a questioning tone of voice ("Um, seven?"). They tended to back off from an idea they had proposed as soon as an adult disagreed with them. And they were less likely to persist with difficult tasks or share their ideas with other students.

In short, "Good job!" doesn't reassure children; ultimately, it makes them feel less secure. It may even create a vicious circle such that the more we slather on the praise, the more kids seem to need it, so we praise them some more. Sadly, some of these kids will grow into adults who continue to need someone else to pat them on the head and tell them whether what they did was OK. Surely this is not what we want for our daughters and sons.

I've seen time and time again that more difficult praise is to get, the more it's valued. When you continuously blow smoke up your kids ass, your praise doesn't mean anything anymore. It makes a person lazy, it's internalized as "I'm great...I don't have to bother trying" or "It doesn't matter what I do...I'm great".

I realize that this isn't exactly what the article means to say, but it plays into what I perceive to be a part of the problem. For years, the importance of not damaging a child's self-esteem was pushed so hard, that even insincere praise was encouraged.
If it's insincere, it doesn't mean anything. What's worse, it creates a vicious circle of expectations for the child, and parental fear to the point that you cannot even tell your child the truths that they need to hear for fear of "damaging their self-esteem".

Does praise motivate kids? Sure. It motivates kids to get praise. Alas, that's often at the expense of commitment to whatever they were doing that prompted the praise.

What I can't stand is to hear children and teens praised for things that they should be doing anyway. "Thank you for picking up your toys!" or, "Good job putting your dishes in the sink" or worse, paying a child or teenager to pick up after themselves.

It's one of my pet peeves. It tells them that they're doing their parents a favour for looking after themselves...and then we sit and wonder where this attitude of entitlement comes from.

I was thinking the other day about how old my mother and uncle were when they came to Canada. My mother was 21 and my uncle was almost 18.
A lot of 18 year old's I know today can barely get themselves to school a few blocks away on time, never mind move to another country and make a life for themselves.

Whatever.
Just pointless pondering while I should be working...Ok, I did read the article for work...

R.I.P. Miriam Makeba

I'm always fascinated by pictures of people.
I don't need to know them.

Photographer Richard Renaldi did a whole series where he asked strangers to pose together, and asked them to touch for the photo. The series is called Touching Strangers, as well as another interesting series called Bus Travelers (has no strangers touching).


In this interview with Renaldi he says:

"In thinking more about how I would approach the project, I decided I wanted the images to explore how notions of trust, love, social conventions, and taboos are expressed through body language. After that it was really just getting up the courage to actually go out and do it."

It's very true that a photo can tell a thousand words, some true, and some we just make up.

(Found and scoffed from Uncertain Times)

I fell in love at 2;13.

But, in 2000 no one was listening to reason about the situation in the Balkans.

I love the look on his face when the Moderator asks the question.
It's the same look that every Serb gets when faced with a simplistic conclusion to the complicated situation in the Balkans.

That cross between defensive and exhausted.

(Thanks Anna)

One Nation Under a Groove



The Daily Mash made me laugh today.

I hope that the Kumbaya feeling we have now that Barack Obama is the President Elect hasn't caused everyone to immediately lose their sense of humour about just how much Obama can do in four years.

Nick Vujicic



Nick Vujicic on Wiki

(From Miss Cellania)

Pictures Taken at the Right Angle



Click on image for more.

(Found at A Welsh View)

Americans:
If things don't work out for you tonight....MOVE TO CANADA!!!



(Thanks Tat)

Vintage Maxi Pad Ad on Flickr



"Things happen when you're on your period.
Like being shunned from the make-out Pot Party at Tim's lake house and having to find your way home though the woods in your fancy prom dress."

Love Stories



The Mister and me met once when I was 18 at a club when I was with my first boyfriend, and lived peripherally, always hanging in the same places, but never together with the same people...almost a decade later we met seriously in the workplace.

20 years later...still together.

Fine Young Cannibals



I still feel like dancing when I hear this song.
Loved the lead singer Roland Gift, too...combine his looks with a British accent, and well....*sigh*

Call me Holmes

I was bonding with The Mister, watching the Rapters and Milwaukee playing basketball for about 7 minutes...because that's all I could take.

But, in that 7 minutes, I honed in on Dan Gadzuric, of the Milwaukee bucks.

Well, with that surname, I immediately was curious.
A google search told me that he is Dutch, born in the Hague in 1978.

Wiki says he's of Dutch nationality.

With a name like Gadzuric?
Yeah.
Ok.

Further checking led me to find out that his mother is Serbian, and his father is from St. Vincent.

Now, that makes more sense.

It seems that being Serbian (even half) would be something to hide.
If possible.

Mo' Better Blues



I have never watched this movie in it's entirety, until this afternoon.

While I cringe whenever Spike Lee speaks, I cannot deny that I loved this movie.
The soundtrack, mostly by Spike Lee's dad, Bill Lee...is beautiful.

...and while I have a love/hate relationship with Spike Lee's movies, I loved this one.

The visuals...kind of a cross between the 40's and the 90's, and John Turturro, as well as Samuel L showing up in small parts...I cannot deny a love for Bill Nunn and Giancarlo Esposito.

Some of the dialogue is a bit hoaky, but can be overlooked because of the above.

I love me some Grace Jones.

I do.

She's strange, and androgenous, and she can pull off some getups that no one else possibly could. She's a living, walking and talking Benetton ad.

That's why I laughed when I read that she had a Diva meltdown when someone stepped on her trailing fur coat at a Bond event recently.

Ohhh, Grace...take on PETA.
I'd pay cash money to see her go off on someone who dared to throw red paint on her Chinchilla.

Some Jones goodness;

Grace with Pavarotti



La Vie En Rose



...and Demolition Man

I found this video over at Mental_floss...



...and it made me think of a couple of things.

I'm not a Halloween person, or even a big holiday person in general, but it made me think of how for some people like Jen Singer Halloween can be a pain in the ass.

Expensive, and not just in the candy way...because, well...people can be turds.

And it also reminded me of a time when I worked in a school in a very hoity toity neighbourhood. I remember those parents complaining about people from neighbourhoods that weren't so well to do, taking their kids into their neighbourhood to trick or treat.

Believe me when I tell you that these people didn't have a cash flow problem, and didn't even have to stand at the door for that matter. They had Filipino nannies to slave that for them.

They would complain to me, and I would inwardly roll my eyes, because I think it had less to do with how expensive it was, than it had to do with not wanting "those" people coming through their neighbourhood. So, when one of the veteran teachers told one of "those" parents, "Oh, big deal...so you have to give some poor kids candy for one night out of the year, boo hoo", I had to stifle a guffaw.

Recently, I sent a scathing letter about a few experiences we had with a bank representative.

However, I didn't mail the letter until we had moved all of our business out of that bank.

When the person dealing with the complaint asked why I had waited so long to complain, I told her that I wasn't about to write the things I did, while that person had access to our money, accounts and credit rating.

The person told me that my fear of this happening was unfounded.

Really?

Tell this guy.

If this could happen with a call centre employee, imagine what someone with more power could do if they were malicious enough.

Tennessee Williams Blues



I've been immersed in old Tennessee Williams movies lately.
GOD, I love him....his scandalous, complex self....I loved his female characters. So few filmmakers ever gave their women as much depth as Tennessee did.

The Geiko's Journey



The rest here.

Shrimp & Kim Chi Fried Rice



at Papamo.

Obama's loss is my fault...



Make it someone else's fault at the end of the video.

glumbert - Obama Vs. McCain - The Dance Off!

Today's LOL...

Migr@tions, an international multimedia competition on the theme of immigration launched by the CBC.

The documentary by Boban Chaldovich of Serbia called "Outside of Europe" is particularly interesting to me.

It's about the exclusionary nature of EU immigration policies, and the responsibilities that are placed on periphery countries to handle the flow of migrants, using Ukraine as a case study.

The site is easy to navigate by just going over the yellow dots on the map of the world with your mouse for more information about particular documentaries.

(Thanks Anna)

" The city's newest firearms amnesty was launched yesterday, in the shape of a four-week, guns-for-cameras program sponsored by the Henry's photo store chain.

Anyone who turns in a gun - legal or illegal - will receive a digital camera and photography lessons."

Am I the only one who finds this endeavour hilarious?

I'm sure that Toronto "gangstas" are frustrated artists just dying for an opportunity to express themselves through photography.

WTF, Broccoli...



Look closely at the broccoli florets...very closely...and then I will tell you about my artist friend who, when doing a mural will paint Stalin, Hitler and Lenin into the crowd.....you know who you are, you little minx!

(Closer photos found at Bread & Honey)

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

I've never been a victim of domestic violence.
I had one boyfriend who slapped me, and was immediately dead to me.

But, domestic violence isn't always physical...and contrary to popular belief, neither is it exclusively a woman's issue, although many people believe it to be.

This month, twice...it was brought round to the front of my face.
A few weeks ago, I was on my way to the parking lot when I heard arguing in another language. A man shouting, and a woman begging. I didn't know which house it was coming from, but I heard it. Then, just as I got to the gate, I heard a thud..a punch..fist to skin thud..that made me stop and turn. The begging stopped. I didn't know what to do.

Call 911?
I didn't even know which house it was coming from.
What happened? Who is she?
I don't know.

...and then, a few days ago, an older woman I employ casually came to my office asking for work. When I looked up it took a moment to register that the whole left side of her face was bruised, and the inside white of her left eye was bloody.
She had been putting up with "it" for 40 years, and enough was enough.
Now she's alone. Now she really needs work.

I work with shelter families, and not all women who are in shelters are physically abused.
Some just need to get out of their situation, and they don't have the means...but, most are.

What happens to women who are continuously abused is that they can, and often do, lose the ability to make decisions. They lose the confidence to do even the simplest things because they've been controlled for so long.
So, when people say..."oh, she should just leave"...it's a simplistic thing to say.
Leaving, especially if you have children, is monumentally difficult....but, there's help out there for women who need it.

Which brings me to something else...and I know that perhaps I shouldn't put them in the same post, but it's domestic abuse as well.
Women physically attack, abuse and provoke as well.
...they do.
Not only that...women have been known to, and do manipulate.
You know why?
Because women can be just as nasty as any man can, and sometimes waaaaay more creatively than just slapping you around.

A false accusation can ruin a person's life.
You don't have to do the crime to have your life ruined...all you need to be is accused.

"The Globe editorialists' indignation suggests a certain naiveté about the prevalence of this practice. They would profit from spending a few days in family court, where, in the interest of tipping custody battles in their own interest, women's false allegations of domestic violence and sexual abuse of children against their former partners are so rife - and virtually never punished - that it is apparently the best-kept secret crime in the western world. Oh, perhaps these men are not beaten up with baseball bats, but they do lose their homes, their children, often their jobs and friends, spend time in jail, are rarely given the benefit of the doubt - and many of them kill themselves from despair."

I know that some people will perceive part of this post as "blaming the victim", because it's a popular defense that is supposed to immediately shut you up about questioning anything declared by a woman or child who claims abuse, as though neither have been known to ever allow an untruth pass through their lips.

People lie, and some will lie maliciously.

...and that's an atrocious thing to do when so many people struggle with the real thing.

My mother had a lot of these "...and his orchestra" type albums, and the photos always fascinated me.

Click on the image for more from Retrolounge

Divorce Cakes...('cause there's money to be made in everything...)



Click on image to see more

Father has son jailed for being lazy

A man has taken his son to court in Nigeria for being idle – with the result that his son was jailed for six months.

Damn.
70% of teenagers in this country would be in jail if that applied here.

The Third Sex



Perhaps England's population is not big enough to accept a 3rd sex.

With South Asia's population they've had to.

...and I was attacked by unicorns in the magic forest....

DMX a.k.a Earl Simmons may have fathered another child outside of his marriage.

The last time, he said:

"She raped me," the rapper told S2S editor Jamie Foster Brown. "I mean, you know, that might sound like some bullsh*t. No man has ever been... you know what I mean, like never? Is that the only thing in the world that's not possible?"

Mrs. Simmons recalled an earlier encounter with the woman. "Before the stuff hit the fan, she came up to us while we were in court and said 'I work for kids that are sickly,' said Tashera. "So he said 'Give her my number.' That's how it goes all the time. At first, I said OK. But, then I thought she looked deranged and obsessed with him."

While his wife "blocks out" the experience to cope, X gained a more valuable lesson: "Turn on the light before I go to sleep," he said.

I wonder what happened this time?

Alien abduction?

10 People Who Survived the Impossible

Vesna Vulovic:

The Stewardess Who Survived a bombing at 33,000 feet

On January 26, 1972, a Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 departed from Copenhagen for Belgrade (via Zagreb) with 28 passengers and crew. At an altitude of approximately 33,000 feet, a bomb in the cargo section planted by the Ustashe Croatian separatist group exploded. The plane disintegrated and fell into the mountains below.

In what must be one of the greatest survival stories of all time, stewardess Vesna Vulovic survived the 33,000 foot descent in the tail section of the plane.

....I just want to get through the week....

(click on text for more)

I've always loved Second City.
Their current show Barack To The Future sounds good.

The Canadian leg of Second City has spawned so many great comedians who leave Canada because...well, we're haters.

...yeah, I said it.

Second City gave these people their start:

Dan Ackroyd, John Candy, Robin Duke, Jayne Eastwood (Ok, she stayed in Canada to play those really Canadian roles, eh?), Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin (ok...whatever, we adopted her....she's a citizen(I think), Rick Moranis, Mike Myers (Before that Guru movie..he used to be funny), Catherine O'Hara, Ivan Reitman, Martin Short, David Steinberg, Dave Thomas.

Second City is my opportunity to see a possible future American star.

Kidding.
Sort of.

Funny Pictures of the day:



and totally wrong, but still...

"Her eyes have captivated the world since she appeared on our cover (National Geographic) in 1985."

National Geographic tells her story.

Battle in Seattle
(Click on heading or image for trailer)

Protest activity surrounding the WTO Conference of 1999, happened on November 30, 1999, when the World Trade Organization (WTO) met at the Washington State Convention and Trade Centre in Seattle, Washington.

Monumental street protests outside the hotels and the Seattle Convention Centre ensued. The demonstrations put the crowd at over 40,000 which is pretty substantial in it's potential to become out of control and violent.

Even though I know that protests are a very important part of a democratic society, and are vital in keeping the rights of free speech...there are some, whom I feel have no business being at any protest.

Children, the elderly, and pregnant women.

In the film, Charlize Theron's character is a pregnant shop clerk who gets caught up in the protest and is injured.

...and that's not even mentioning those who get caught in the crossfire who wanted nothing to do with the protests at all...shopkeepers whose property is damaged, and workers who only showed up to do their jobs, which happen to be on the path that the protesters take.

So, while we often imagine protests as peaceful, where people join hands and sing "Kumbaya" in unity of what they feel is right, often things escalate and tip into mob like behaviour, and can...often do, turn violent and dangerous.

...but without them, where would we be?