galxekat

So the move is seriously stressing me out. But I have come up with an excellent solution to the root of all this stress... delay the move!! Then i get an actually summer, and more time to organize the shear chaos of it all. But in the end i know it will all be worth it (Fingers crossed AND knock on wood!) Of course the best therapy is... CBC radio!! They've got their '7 wonders of Canada' thing going on right now. Sure sure, the east has glorious contenders, but the thought of the West is just so exciting! And the scenery is bar none, simply the best.
The nominations are all amazing but here's just a few

Do you watch that VH1 show 'Best Week Ever' - it's fabulous. and i should have been on it last week. The week started off with Holiday Monday (Patriots Day - only in Massachusetts!). Tuesday came with the Nora Jones and M. Ward concert. Nora was stunning and artistic, as usually, and M. Ward reminded me why i wanted to learn to play the guitar (he has the ability to make grown men cry). Wednesday? Ummm, there were cookies and meetings all day at work, which minimizes stress. Thursday was the John Legend/Corinne Bailey Rae. This show was very entertaining, but the theatre was disgusting (the Tuesday night show was in an exquisite theatre in Providence, and the later in dirty downtown Boston). The week finished with a girls weekend in the sunny (but very windy) Miami. Ariba! After next to no sleep and some beach time, i'm back, and looking forward for this exhausting week to finish... just in time to go to NYC/Brooklyn for the Cherry blossom festival, Coney Island and birthday cupcakes at Magnolia bakery. Yum!!

What exactly are Easter traditions? It's been a topic at work, and i really couldn't think of much. I decorated eggs a la Martha Stewart and made an amazing poppyseed papparadelle (goulash) from my rebar cookbook (a cup and half of red wine sure makes anything taste good!). The best Easter tradition was the outrageously good chocolate i got from L.A Burdick's in Harvard Square. They had roosters, bunnies, eggs - but i got the baby duck...and the chocolate was definetly the best chocolate i've ever had. This place really is gourmet (And fair trade!)
The weekend ended with a drive along the beach - that's a tradition i think i'll continue...

Easter Eggs
Step one:
wrap eggs in fun fabric - boil!


Final product:


If you were Martha:

The trick is wrap to the eggs TIGHTLY!!

And the cutest Easter Chocolate ever!!

Talking about 'the move' is an everyday event. So naturally, it leads me to think about what i will miss about Boston. I few times i got misty eyed riding the T over the Charles. And running along the Charles, looking at the Beantown skyline... But, the one thing i know i will miss the most? Dance. I feel like i've been born again. Finding me: personality and spirit. Lately, i've really been loving it. It's not akward, but a real expression of myself. The dance company i'm a member of have been working on a new piece... i get a solo! And it feels to good to move!!

What's great about Boston and the dance scene here is it's close proximity to NYC. There's a master's dance class coming up with local hereo Kenny, from DanceLife. And the amazing ALVIN AILEY is holding auditions here, the day before my birthday! Although i love treating myself with dance on my birthday (Lion King and Mama Mia auditions in previous years), i think i'll leave this one to the real professionals...and get geared up for my day trip to NYC!! My sis is the best city tour guide (shops to visit, sites to see), but this time i wanna see Coney Island!

The amazing Revelations...saw it last year on my Birthday (Thanks Khris)

After the mass media attention given to the whole Pet food recall, i thought i should just make sure that my darling little kittie wasn't eating the tainted (rat poison!) food. Luckily, Fancy Feast was NOT on the least, although she does eat the dry brand of Science Diet (I'm surprised the wet variety was on the list). What i find intersting is that Menu Foods is based in noneother than Streetsville Ontario - just a hop, skip and a jump away from the T-Dot! Sure, the food was produced at its facility in Emporia, Kansas (between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007) and the source of the poison, aminopterin, was in the wheat gluten produced in Asia, but i never suspected a Canadian connection. Take a peak at the specific brands to avoid from Menu foods

i often post about the features on CBC radio or other radio stations i love... today i followed the links to CBC radio 2 and their featured concert "Joel Plaskett live" with Symphony Nova Scotia. The best thing about live music is really hearing the music, the lyrics and the personal feeling the artist brings. And on top of that, i love that FULL sound. Not over whelming load drums and guitar, but nice orchestra sound. This show brings all that together. Plus, it's all Canadian..

I had to do an IQ type test in high school, and when i tried to redo it years later, I couldn't come up with the same right answers! Now that i'm back viewing CBC, i noticed the 'Test the Nation' contest was in the Top Ten. Some of the results are really interesting...Go Prairies!! Also, note to the Vegan's out there... This is even more amusing since CBC also did a story about dumb American Game shows. Sorry for the awkard spacing, i'm not a programer! You'll have to scroll ALLLLL the way to the bottom to see some results.. Check out cbc.ca and the Test the Nation link for more fun results!

REGION
</td>	Total Respondents</td>	Lowest IQ</td>	Highest IQ</td>	Average IQ</td>	Estimated IQ (Avg.)</td>
Atlantic	12349	29.0	154.0	109.07936	106.579315
Québec	5028	29.0	156.0	109.44093	110.065834
Ontario	51081	29.0	156.0	109.396645	109.12735
Prairies	24702	29.0	156.0	110.53348	108.834625
British Columbia	15735	29.0	156.0	109.642265	109.363205
North	645	36.0	145.0	109.646515	107.04651
Outside Canada	2051	29.0	153.0	109.435394	115.36714

This weekend we rented "Fast Food Nation". The primary colour scheme on the DVD case lead me to believe it would be a feel good movie. Based on the book by Eric Schlosser, there was an emsemble cast including: Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama, Kris Kristofferson, and Avril Lavigne, to name a few. So when i sat down to watch it on a snowy Saturday afternoon i was in for a shocker.

No - not a feel good movie or comedy. Don't get me wrong, i totally loved the film. Back on track on feeling pasionate about not supporting big corporations, and saving the little man (plus the environment and all the cute little cows too). Dubbed 'the most essentional political film from an American director since Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11..." by the New York Times.

Needless to say, we couldn't watch the last 15-20 minutes, even for us 'meat eaters', it was pretty gruesome, and i didn't cook meat all weekend. In fact, I couldn't go near the meat department in the grocery store. I don't think our friend 'in this corner' or my sis could watch the end either...

I've been away, and the office radio has been DJed by somebody else. Today i got to control the radio waves again. It's been so long since i've listened to:

a) News and
b) CBC Radio!!

I got a little teary eyed! I have so much Rich Mercer to catch up on!!

Does anyone else find that 'news radio' style shows have the strangest features? Like Monday afternoon gardening tips? Everything about West-coast Borst? Chain saws?!?

The minute i saw the spine of the book hidden in the shelf, i just had to have it. Here's a review of it



Lately, i've been buying and reading graphic novels...one in French too! The only media i don't quite get is film. Like experimental film. But i never really attempted it, and only few it occasionally. BUT, i found out one of my fellow knitters is none other than Guy Madden's (distant) neice! And yes, she does film here in Boston.

Guillaume Cote - Canadian Dancer

So i've neglected you... my friend has me 'tuned in' to facebook. But really, i'm neglecting that as much as possible. I'm reading this fabulous graphic novel 'Regards from Serbia'. I picked it up at Newbury Comics in Harvard Sq. It's got me passionate again. That and the realization that these are the final Harvard Square days.. i'm getting a wee bit nostalgic.

it's been a LONG time, but i've been so busy, i can't wait to go on my 'vacation'. But i found some blog worth topics, so i thought i'd share.

I'm not one to tip street performers. There are SO many here, it's like every corner is a festival. You really gotta earn my buck. Yesterday, after a really stressful day, i found just the two to break my cycle. Breakdancers. Sure sure, you've seen it before. But on a moving subway? At rush hour?! Now that's serious entertainment!


(I saw this group, Rennie Harris PureMovement form Philly last weekend)

Also, I read a few weeks ago about Boston Skill Share. The concept: a weekend workshop to share and learn skills. Everything from cooking to knitting... and then some, check out their workshop list at http://www.bostonskillshare.org/

Unfortunately I'll be at two rehearsals this weekend (I'm in a bunch of shows this summer, and unofficially in TWO different dance companies) and apartment hunting on top of that.

WOW! To say i've been busy is an understatement. BUT, i DO have a wee bit of time while i eat diner and wait for da Jules and Khris to come to UMass for the Kanye West concert. That's right, Mr. West is performing, live, at UMass Boston. It's part of the week long inauguration of the new dean. i was supposed to explain that 'Scam of all Scams' a few weeks back so here's the short of it:

BIG show at school, students get first pick of the tickets. Seeing as though i am NOT a student, i had to wait a week for mine. But i think, No way Jose! I ask a friend who has no interest in going if i can get his student tickets. But, at the ticket line, there are THREE id checkpoints, and cops too!! Seriously! BUT, after confirming HE was a student, we did the ol' switchero, used my staff id, and got the tickets under my name. I'm simplifying the situation, cuz it was quite complicated, seeing as though they checked my id twice...and gave me a spring 2006 student sticker in the process.

While waiting for the show, I got a chance to read some CBC.ca - and Winnipeg is all over national news! My pick for you are the designer jeans that hollywood's A-listers are sporting. Made in... Winnipeg (and Japan). After my visit last week, i noticed 3 or more NEW sushi joints... but remember they all, or at least most, sprang up from Edohei.
Here's the skinny on those fabulous denims.

So i never posted my videos from Coldplay, my recent crafts that i mailed to people this morning or told you about the 'greatest scam in history at UMass Boston' - i'll get to all of those things, next week. TODAY, i have to post something Canadian! I'll be there in 9 hours!!! I love planes! So i popped onto cbc.ca to catch up on all things Canadian (like hockey, because the never cover that down here!) and came across some info on Canadian content on radio and the music industry. One thing i miss about home is the good ol' indie rock. Sure, they have tons of it here, but a lot of it is more rock then indie, plus i'm not familiar with the insane amount of bands that are in just in Boston alone.

Six leading indie record labels have split from the Canadian Recording Industry Association because the CRIA seems to be more interested in the success of multinational music companies rather than Canadian acts. And the CRTC wants to change how Canadian music is defined. Essentially they are deciding how to define a song's "Canadian-ness". They also want to increase Canadain airtime on radio from 30 to 35%. The system grants points based on whether a song was composed, its lyrics written or the music performed by a domestic artist. Also, points are granted if the song was recorded wholly or performed live in Canada.

The system has had it's controversy, like when that Bryan Adams song (Everything I Do) I Do It For You was deemed not Canadian content because he had collaborated with foreign producers. Essentially the CRIA wants things to reflect today's climate of international collaboration, and thinks less weight should be given to where a song is produced and more on whether the performer themself is a Canadian citizen, supporting artists like Michael Bublé and Nelly Furtado (who often collaborate and record with producers in the U.S.) Maybe us Canucks down here can hear more homegrown music too.

That's pretty much all the details, but check this out for the whole scoop.

I had a busy weekend. It was a long weekend,
which i mentioned a year ago infact, but this year i was busy baking mushroom cigars (with sherry, flavoured vinegar and phyllo pastry), Irish jigging, i had dress rehearsals and a show! I even performed/auditioned two pieces for another show that will be in May (One was chosen, and the other got put on the back burner). I'm excited that 'The Dances for Witches' will continue - which means more rehearsals (some at the amazing facilities at Boston University)... And the added bonus? I even got paid for my talents!!

I have to admit i know very little about where my family comes from and the politics and issues involved. But who can blame me. The media portrays it as a place full of animals and terrorists, for lack of a better word. And seeing as though i live in a glass bubble, i recently found out of the 'death' of Slobodan Milosevic. Go do a google search(articles and pictures). there's tons of information - for both sides of the story. Then i found this site . It's a little busy, with lots of information - i could spend hours reading every last bit of it. (I recommend the article "New World Order and the Destruction of Yugoslavia" by Ian Johnson).

I feel like i have to play devil's advocate, but I am not sticking up for a man, misrepresented, but for nation, fallen from grace.

"Serbia has never had only Serbs living in it. Today, more than in the past, members of other peoples and nationalities also live in it. This is not a disadvantage for Serbia. I am truly convinced that it is its advantage. National composition of almost all countries in the world today, particularly developed ones, has also been changing in this direction. Citizens of different nationalities, religions, and races have been living together more and more frequently and more and more successfully. Socialism in particular, being a progressive and just democratic society, should not allow people to be divided in the national and religious respect." - Slobodan Milosevic

Canadian soldiers in Kandahar have reportedly craving their Tim Hortons.
And now they'll be getting a Timmies at the military airfield in Afghanistan within the next few months. I've seen a few creeping down south of the border - i'd exchange my Tim's for that nasty Dunkin Donuts any day. In Fredericton they have traffic signs to avoid car accidents over their beloved 'double-doubles'.

So one if Khris' friends was supposed to get married at Green Gates Restaurant in Winnipeg. Everything was booked, planned, organized. Then the place went under. But Winnipeg, the friendly place it is, was quick to accommodate all those love birds who got jipped by the closure. We should tell them about Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home! For real, it made the CBC news.
Apparently there's a TV show, Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, with the same premise.

I've been meaning to post a really silly one. The Edge is having their "Buns of steal" contest. That's right, the best derrière in Toronto. I was gonna post some pics (some of them are really nasty to look at!) BUT, due to the flood of applicants, their server has crashed!! I can still listen live, but the site is down - for a few days! i've been listening the Edge on-line since grad school. Now they have EIGHT on line channels, but due to Toronto's fASSination, they're down to one. At least i can listen to the nooner - all-request-around-the-world! And they're highlighting a band from - Kitchener (Handheld)!

take the WHAT BAD BOOK ARE YOU test.


and go to mewing.net. not as good as reading a good book, but way better than a bad one.


I've never heard of this book, or author actually, maybe i should look into it??