Rainy Sunday

Today is one of those days. Stormy/Windy/Rainy. The kind of day you want to stay inside and watch a movie - which I did.

I got up this morning and the rain was coming down pretty hard so I didn't want to take Eco out just yet because is seems that if very rarely rains steadily all day here. So we watched The Thomas Crown Affair with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway  and sure enough, by the time it was over, the rain had stopped so out we went. But I knew it wouldn't stop for long so I still put on my rain pants and jacket and hat. But it was 18 degrees and soon I was overheated. Eco was pretty hot in her polar fleece rain coat and so I decided it would be better to dry her off at home than to have her overheat in her coat. Plus Labradors don't give two barks about the weather!

And like the old Aesop's fable where the sun and the wind messed with the guy and his cloak, off and on went my rain jacket and I even contemplated taking off my rain pants. But I didn't. Let me just says I was more than happy to come home and strip off all that hot rain gear!!

And now I go from hiking boots and rain gear (not very feminine) to doing my nails in a gold glitter nail polish and putting on a sparkly bra and belt and full length flouncy skirt for dance rehearsal. Yup, not all girly-girl princess but not a tomboy either.

Hope your sunday is a good one too, 

D

Enticing Food

Doesn't food look so much better in slow motion??? 

This was just my Friday night popcorn.... 

now it's sexxxxxyyy popcorn! Ha! 

Saying Goodbye to James Garner

On Saturday evening James Garden was found deceased in his home at 86 years old. I usually don't have much reaction to actors but I am sad to hear his news as he was a family favourite.

Because of his years as a Western actor, my father was fond of him - especially as Maverick.
Because of his years a Jim Rockford, my brother was found of him.
My mother also liked his roles, and, of course his good looks.
I especially liked him after my father passed because he reminded me of my dad, and my dad's fondness of him as an actor.

I can't get through the Jim Garner 'dad' scenes at the end of the movie "The Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" without bawling my eyes out - probably more in memory of my father than for the character in the movie.

I choose to remember him as Rockford:

Movie Moods

(spoilers ahead - you've been warned)

Sometimes you need to be in a certain kind of mood to watch a certain kind of movie. I was not in the mood to watch Inside Llewyn Davis this weekend - one reason was the damn cat - I couldn't help but be stressed as Llewyn carried the cat through the city and onto the subway and then the scene where he's driving back from Chicago in the snow and thinks he hit something. There are whole Facebook groups about " I don't care who dies, as long as it's not the dog" and other similar groups.

I tell ya, my nerves couldn't take the stress of worrying about that damn cat.

I had heard good things about the movie.
I thought it was going to be on the humorous side.
I did not expect the movie it was

It is a good movie, but I suggest you make sure you're in the right mood for it. Do your homework. And who knows, maybe it won't affect you as it did me.

Consider yourself warned....

One too many Bond Movies

After watching 4 James Bond movies this weekend, I suppose it's no surprise that I had the craziest action-packed Bond-esque dream last night

First was Moonraker which was done in 1979 with Roger Moore. This was rather flat and disappointing but I understand it was very popular at the time since it was out around the time of Star Wars and there was quite the space race movie craze.

Next was For Your Eyes Only and I thought it was pretty good - a couple of trademark goofy things in it. Then Octopussy which also lived up to the genre and finally Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery again.  I must say so far, I prefer Sean Connery to Roger Moore but I'm still curious to see Pierce Brosnan as Bond because I've always liked him and think he would make an excellent James Bond.

So now you can understand why my brain went all crazy on me last night. A few minutes at my work computer will kill all of that, then it'll be business as usual again. And I've turned on an internet radio station that's All Christmas (music) All Day - how long do you think I'll last?

Just catchin' up

Remember when I said I was the only one here decorating for Halloween - well, the hubband surprised me on Wednesday by carving a pumpkin. I came into the kitchen and it was all done - how nice. And he left all the supplies out so I could do the other one - I didn't realize how awkward the little pumpkins are - it's hard to get your tools inside and around to thin out the walls, but I didn't worry about it too much.

This is what he did: 

Here's mine, I just freehanded the carving:

And I finished the Sugar Skull embroidery, he just needed some more things in the middle of his face and I finished the outlining - it's white on the outside, with black on the inside on the top of the skull and the opposite on the bottom of the skull.

I'm not sure what's going to become of him, right now he's just folded up in a bag  - maybe a pillow? or on a purse?

Oh and another update - we watched another James Bond movie, last night it was Goldfinger. So now I've watched the first four. This one was good because he's got more toys and gadgets and he's smarter when it comes to getting ambushed by the bad guy. And love Ms. Pussy Galore and OddJob - what characters!

Happy Halloween!

It's finally here - the night that so many kidlets look forward to - dressing up as their favorite character and all that CANDY! Oh and I guess it's a night many people dread too -I will never forget the suffering my poor dog, Jazz, went through for years with her noise phobia. Even though firecrackers are illegal in our community and several of our neighbouring communities they are still around. My idiot neighbour let off about 20 last night. And the police and firemen probably dread this night too. To all the rescue and emergency workers out there tonight - thank you. Always a big thank you to these people.

And,  typical for October 31st in Vancouver  -  it is pouring - POURING - rain. And, even though we've been trying for over 2 months to get new gutters  we still don't have them which means I'll have to get up on a ladder today and clean out the drains to try to reduce as much of the dripping at my front door as I can. It had been my goal to have new gutters before Halloween so the poor kids didn't get dripped on when they were standing on my front step. All I wanted is gutters before October 31st, but nope, people don't show up and don't return phone calls and now here we are a couple of months have gone by and  still waiting for an install date. Why do service companies suck at this? In my business they call, we're on site  - sometimes within 1-2 hours. And we return calls. And we call people and tell them when we'll be on site. Granted we work with other businesses but still. Is the general public as unreliable as the service companies? Is that why it's so bad out there?

Tonight after work I'm going to attempt some speed carving. I have two small pumpkins that I'm going to try to get done before the night is over. I might not make it. Maybe I'll just decorate them with Sharpies and paint. It's hard when I'm the only one in the house decorating and participating in these types of events. Last night I gave in and watched James Bond's From Russia With Love. The world of Bond is rather new to me because when I was a little girl my mom told me that Bond movies were for boys. I remember my brother's 13 birthday party where they all went to the movies including my dad and other brother and I had to stay home with mom because I was too young and a girl. I don't know which one he saw - I bet he would say the name in an instant.  I think I saw my first James Bond movie somewhere in my mid-twenties on a date. Since then I've seen about 2 or 3. On the weekend we watched Thunderball and on Monday we watched Dr. No. It's quite enjoyable watching these early 60's movies  - it's fun to see how Bond progresses and all the lovely fashions and decorating styles. And I must say that I've been amazed by the picture quality - these movies are 50 years old and so many scenes are stunning  - the lighting, the colour, I'm in awe of the cinematography as well. 

Are you a Bond fan? What was your favorite movie? 

Oh yes , and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Scary Short Hair

By now you've probably seen this image that's been circling around the interwebs:

It's cute and funny, but I think it's time the bottom photo needs to be updated, because when I get up in the morning, my short hair looks more like Barnbus Collins from Dark Shadows:

'nuff said

Happy Canada Day !

It's a lovely long weekend, Canadians all across the country are off to celebrate OUR day.

Unfortunately for those of us in the Vancouver area, we're still experiencing grey days and so many of the outdoor performances may be slightly changed - but hey, we're Canadian and if we let the weather get to us then we'd be inside and grump most of the time!! And the show must go on!

I would have liked to make something like this - but gee our strawberries won't ripen without some sunshine!!!

Speaking of being inside, I'm hiding out - not because of the weather - but because I've been up since 5ish with a migraine! Bah! Stupid head! Well, so far I've watched Vertigo, I am Sam, The Ides of March and Mildred Pierce. Movies help me forget about my aching head.

Anyway, Happy Canada Day - to all my friends no matter what country or continent you are on!

Photo credit: http://www.theminibaker.com/easy-canada-day-cake

The Blurry Line of Right and Wrong

Recently I was talking with a mom who took her kids to the movies for her son's birthday, when the movie they paid for was over they 'snuck' into a second theatre and watched another movie. Her justification was "well if I have to pay $13 per kid I'd better get my money's worth". And I know of another mom who sees nothing wrong with getting copies of bootlegged movies because she feels she doesn't have to pay for them - that the movie companies already make enough money and it's not wrong. Her son has tried to reason with her, he's tried to tell her that it's stealing, but she's better at arguing than he is and always finds a reason to justify it, much to her son's frustration.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not down on mothers and I understand how expensive it can be to pay for all the things kids do, but I am concerned with these issues. My father once told me about "Little Johnny" who was in trouble for stealing a pencil and the parent said "don't steal pencils Little Johnny, I'll bring you some home from work". I am concerned most about the examples that parents set. Again, I acknowledge that I am not perfect and have made errors in judgement just like other people but these parents weren't acknowledging an error they were expressing 'getting their money's worth'. Parents have been known to say their kids are younger than they are so they can get in for free, or pay the kid's fare and not the adult's fare and plenty of other examples .... so do you think this gives kids the wrong lesson or do they learn their lessons in other places so this isn't a big deal?

NSFW - Ted - Movie Trailer - LOVE IT!

Oh my goodness - this is the most hilarious trailer - if this movie is for real it's going to be freakin' hilarious



WARNING: Mom- you will NOT like this movie, you will not even want to watch the trailer. In fact, unless you like Family Guy etc, you probably won't like this movie either...

Dinner for Schmuck's - MICE!

Have you seen the movie Dinner for Schmuck's?

The part that made the movie, my favorite thing - was all the mice dioramas!  More on the Chiodo Brothers here. And you can read some controversy here. (http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3/?p=6819)

(Picture from "You Thought We Wouldn't Notice But We Did" website, linked above)  

Helping Johnny Remember

Time to watch a creepy video my friends:

Sex and the City Sequel - Carrie On

So are you planning on seeing the next Sex and the City movie? Do you go for the story? The fashions? What?

Here's another side of things that is really interesting - what do you think of that?

Women in Film

I love watching how the faces transform, and since the majority of my readers are crafty/visual people, I'm sure you will enjoy watching this video