Happy Canada Day Everyone!

It's tomorrow, in case you are wondering...

It's been a few days, I know, but I have been way too busy to post. My head also hurts due to the change in air pressure and weather.

I do feel the need to at least post and let you know that I am still here despite the pain in my head.

Speaking of pain in the head, I just wanted to say that I wish that Tom Cruise would disappear. Who gives a s*#% what he (or Michael Jackson, for that matter). They are both clearly out of touch with reality. Why that is news worthy, I don't know, because there are many pedophiles and latently gay people our there who don't get the same kind of coverage. I know how we can solve the problem though...

Turn off your television.

That said, there is a lot being thrown around about the whole use of medications to "cure" things and I have the personal experience to share with people. I agree that the drugs do help people to get their heads around life when they are depressed. I know because I have taken them.

That said, I also believe that there must be a reason that we are suffering from these chemical imbalances or other things that are causing it. In my case, while I was being treated, there was no investigation into what caused the drops in serotonin. It was not until much later that I discovered that I suffered from lack of proper digestion and thus was not absorbing the important vitamins and minerals into my body. I wasn't getting enough nutrition and thus I became depressed.

Had I known this, I would have gotten advice on how to get over my digestion and absorbsion problem and not have had to take that "happy" medication. After two boughts with depression, and a dose of the hard medicine about how to change my entire philosophy of eating and exercise (from a very knowledgeable naturopathic physician and a clinical counsellor) , I can gladly say that I have not felt depressed for about 3 1/2 years.

I had to mention this today because of all of the hooplah about Mr. Cruise's comments of late. I am highly suspect about his "You haven't lived through this, I have" crap. He needs to go back to what he is good at... oh, on second thought, he doesn't even have that. After all, he may be in movies but he certainly cannot act... But I can tell you how not to be depressed.

Turn off your television!

Is anyone out there?

I don't want you to think that I am culturally insensitive but does anyone out there find it a little amusing that there was a Catholic cardinal named Sin?

I don't mean to make ill of the recently departed but it appears that he has passed away. If you are interested, you can read about his life and death here.

I forgot to tell everyone something very exciting... My cool friend (who I visited with in Vancouver) brought me some really great gifts from Japan.

One of those gifts was magnetic hirigana. Now I can make limited haiku on my refrigerator!

She also brought me some cool socks which will enable me to wear thong-type sandals. It might look a little strange but at least I won't be as annoyed by the straps between my toes...

You may know that there is an awful lot of flooding going on in Canada (especially in Alberta) right now, but I heard over the weekend about a move by the US to divert water from Devil Lake, North Dakota (US) into Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). It appears that the court has decided that the politicians have to make the decision. Apparently, land is getting flooded and people in North Dakota are upset.

I found this on a Canadian Embassy website and a perspective from an American paper as well.

Personally, I am against this type of proposal. I am sorry that these people are getting flooded out but it is nature's will and there is no sense trying to mess with nature anymore. She will just find another way to exercise her control over the planet.

Why isn't anyone wondering why these things are happening? It appears that they are not recognizing that this might be the result of global warming.

In Vancouver last weekend, I met a Canadian friend who is currently working for a government office in Japan. During our visit, she mentioned that in the course of her job, she had met a woman who was tied into an organization and education facility called the Eden Project which is located near Cornwall in the UK. She was fascinated by what this visitor had told her and she thought that I might be really interested in checking it out.

I was quite fascinated by what I found on the website.

The woman she met there is Rebecca Earley who is a textile designer that had visited Japan to look into indigo dyeing.

Have any of you been there? If so, I would love to hear what you think! Even if you just know of it, I would be interested to hear your observations. Let me know.

Although the weekend was exceptionally busy for me, I did manage to check out Batman Begins. I must say that I really enjoyed this film and found it neither too dark or too hokey. You should check it out.

Good thing that we survived the weekend, don't you think?

It's Friday and I am going to Vancouver to see my friend!

What's your plans for the weekend?

Just when I was starting to really like Alanis Morissette's music, I have found yet another reason to reconsider my feelings about her. It appears that Ms. Morissette has chosen to market her latest acoustic album in Starbucks instead of at record stores. Not only am I not really amused, due to my sheer distaste for the coffee chain, but this move has pissed off music retailers as well. Now some of them are planning to pull all of her products off their shelves.

I have basically had a love/hate relationship with Alanis. In the 80's, around the same time as Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, she was a pop diva that produced dance-oriented music. She was super talented, having written many of her songs on her own but then she disappeared.

When Jagged Little Pill was released, I just couldn't stand her angst and that song You Oughta Know irritated me to no end and the rest of the album didn't do anything to ease my annoyance of the song of a woman that was just so bitter. In my opinion, this woman's bitterness could have been eased if she had just come to grips with her own responsibility with a failed relationship. However, I digress.

It wasn't until she returned from India and her soul-searching that I began to respect her again. She had grown and continued to grow... creating some great songs on the way. I totally respected her.

But here she is now, selling her album in that evil conglomerate whose name starts with and "S". Not only has she moved to LA but it appears that she is becoming less Canadian every day. I was proud of her but now I am annoyed. At least if she was going to do this, she could have picked a Canadian company to sell them.

Okay. So, I will get off my soapbox for today. I just really needed to get that off my chest...

My head hurts today!

I was at a wedding last weekend and I caught the bouquet. Actually, the bride's mother and I caught the bouquet but she couldn't take it back home with her so she told me to take it. There was the usual speculation that it was my turn to get married because I managed to catch it. I just laughed. I have caught many bouquets in my time but have managed to escape matrimony on all of those occasions. Sometimes I think that I should just avoid the bouquet toss.

However, part of me gets secret joy in bucking the tradition and proving people wrong...

I have always loved Alan Cumming. He is an outspoken, outrageous Scottish actor who basically lives his life saying what he thinks and others be damned. I think he is just brilliant. He's done some great work and been in some films that I was, in fact, very surprised to see him in (like the Spice Girls movie and Josie and the Pussycats?). He is flamboyant and interesting and that's just plain cool.

As you can imagine, I was extremely amused to find an article in our useless, local newpaper today about Mr. Cumming that discussed the DVD release of Son of the Mask as well as his work in the next X-men movie. It also mentioned a new project that he has been working on. It turns out he is soon to release a commercial fragrance.

The line, called CUMMING the fragrance seems to embody his nature (at least the public one). With names like Cumming Clean and Cumming All Over, we can surely expect that this is going to be an interesting product.

When asked what the fragrance smelled like, he said it "will smell sexy. The things in it, which will sound crazy, are mud, whisky, tobacco, leather, truffle oil, pepper and some other stuff." His final comment is that it smells like "Highland (Scottish) mud.

Sounds pretty strange to me but that is what I would expect. I certainly hope that he skips the whisky and tobacco thing because I could just drink too much, be around smokers and lie in a ditch somewhere to smell like that...

Okay. So I guess I left this way too long. I have been "tagged" by people with a couple of things that ask me questions about myself. So, I should have posted this long ago but I thought I could get away with not doing it.

I have since changed my mind mostly because I haven't been posting anything lately and thought that I should at least do something. Apparently, people are supposed to post their answers and then others are to add their own answers (which should be posted on their own blog).

So, here goes my own lists. (As far as I am concerned, you are welcome to leave your lists on my comments thingy if you like)

The first is about Music. When it came to the individual CDs, I couldn't just make one list because I have a lot of international music interests as well. So, I created two lists.

Last CD I bought:
"Everything or Nothing"David Sylvian

Song playing now:
Nothing. Last song heard was Bob Marley's "Is this Love" on Much More Music.

Five Important songs: (However, 5 is not enough...)

"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
Manic Street Preachers
An interesting song on many levels. Penned about a Spanish civil war, the words ring true for most people.

"Orpheus"
David Sylvian
I adore Sylvian from his days in Japan (see next entry). This one allows my creative side to surface.

"Nightporter"
Japan
Early Sylvian. In the early 80's, I thought I had found a fellow lost soul in his words.

"The Upstairs room"
The Cure
Reminds me of my youth and my goth sensibilities at the time

"Nice"
Duran Duran
I don't know. When it comes right down to it, aren't all girls suckers for the right words as far a love is concerned? For my alter ego days though... "Bedroom Toys" will suffice.

And here is the international stuff:

Yma o Hyd" (Welsh patriotic song)
Daffyd Iwan & Ar Log
When I first heard this, I was at a Welsh exhibition called Celtica in Machynlleth. The version I heard was of children singing and it brought me to tears. It basically states that even though they have had to deal with oppression from the British Government, the culture survives. The exhibit is fascinating and the song is beautiful (from the translated English version... I wish I was able to understand the Welsh.

"Ni Main Samajh Gayee" (from Taal soundtrack)
Richa Sharma & Sukwinder Singh
For the longest time, I would hear this song at Indian restaurants. I love it.

"Bronze"
Psys (Japan)
One of my students introduced me to this group while I was in Japan. They have since broken up but this song sticks with me.

"Century Lovers"
Porno Graffiti (Japan)
The last time I was in Japan, these guys were really popular. At first I was attracted by their strange name but there music also grew on me...

"Mirage"
Yoshida Brothers
These brothers are using a traditional Japanese instrument and mixing it with modern sounds. Cool.

Who would I pass on the baton to? I think that might be difficult. I'd have to say Audi, Hildur, Robert, Olivia , Gunnella and Harneet.

Now, the next list is literary:

1. Worst book ever:
Hmmm that is a difficult one. I would have to say Crash by JG Ballard. I just found it really difficult to read. However, I found the Cronenberg film based on the book fascinating.

2. Grossest character ever written:
I don't think there is one character that I consider gross. They are all just different and although I don't agree with them, it doesn't mean that I think they are gross.

3. Total number of books I have:
I don't know. I have one tall bookcase filled with them though.

4. Last book that I bought:
A picture book on Canada that I gave to a friend who was leaving the country.

5. Five books that mean a lot to me:
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Queer by by W.S. Burroughs
A Cannibal in Manhattan by Tama Janowitz
The Sea of Fertility by Yukio Mishima
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut

6. What I'm reading now:
Nothing. I have been crazy busy. But I was reading a book called Breathwalk by Gurucharan Singh Khalsa and Yogi Bhajan for a while.

So that is my update. Please feel free to comment or to post your list in my comments. Those people who were named above have now been tagged with the exception of Harneet (you can read his answers on his site. I would also like to add the lovely Radmila who was kind enough to tag me for the music list. Now it's her turn!

Have a great weekend!

Okay. So I might be a bit petty but I must comment that I am disappointed in Jack White. It seems that the front man for the White Stripes married a model.

Personally, I have nothing against him wanting to get married (although I think that I am so perfect for him...) or even getting married for that matter, but did he have to marry a model? Come on Jack. Are you buying into the whole beauty myth? I kind of expected you to be above that.

I am so disappointed in you.

Alright. If I were all of you, I would be totally bored and annoyed that I haven't posted anything for a while.

I apologize however I have just been a little too busy to post and was also trying to work out the disappearance of my comments. Needless to say, it is now worked out and you can all feel free to comment at any time.

Before I move on to my post, I wanted to share something found on Xanth.is that has made me laugh over and over as well as allowed me to get my fix of Alan Rickman in the form of Professor Snape of Harry Potter fame. So, without further ado, please check this out! As well, please take the time to assist her with her dissertation by completing the questionnaire in this post.

Speaking of film, I went to see Revenge of the Sith last weekend and must say that while I really enjoyed the last half of it, I was really annoyed in the beginning about the editting. I mean, they had two to five minutes of story followed by either some fighting or some really overdone CG effects. I thought the story in itself should have had more of a connectedness. I wouldn't give it a thumbs down however, as I still enjoyed the content of the story. Let's face it, it's another example of how all "evil" comes from something more human. Things like fear, confusion, and anger come from somewhere and if these things remain unchecked and are not dealt with, they become something much worse. Something I felt as well when I watched Downfall and again in Crash.

The vegetarian diet is still going and for the most part, I have been fine. However, I do find it difficult to eat at restaurants unless they are wholly vegetarian. It's almost a week since I went to my favourite restaurant and that is what I find most difficult. I have to cook more and be more creative so that I don't get too bored. I have also stopped eating all the "white" stuff (processed) like bread, rice and pasta and replaced it with more brown grains. I am still working it all out but I still believe that it is well worth it.

I have been sensitive to smell lately and I think that mostly, I have noticed the fragrance of flowers. Some delicate and some not but I find it brings me joy and a certain calmness especially when I am walking in wooded areas. I really enjoy things of a peaceful nature like wind and wooded walkways. Could this be an effect of the new diet?

I suppose that is all that I have time for today. I have felt like writing a lot lately but mostly I feel more compelled to keep things in my handwritten journal. This is always a much more creative time of year for me.

I don't know if Rasmus is still across the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Seattle but I wanted to say Happy Birthday! I'd also like to wish Audi a happy housewarming.

That said, I am wondering when Simple Simon will be posting again.

I would also like to welcome the Three Angry guys to my favourites list!

Finally (and very importantly), I would like to say hello to Hildur, Mister Anchovy, Robert, Radmila, Gunnella and Olivia.

Take care everyone and have a great day!