You know, I went home and thought about this more yesterday. It seems to me that this will be another opportunity for the Japanese people to jump onto another bandwagon. Because of the win by Miss Japan to become Miss Universe, now all young girls will actively to go out there and become beauty queens.

I'm not trying to poke fun at the Japanese because I do have a love for the country and it's people. However, I also have seen on many occasions, these huge trends of Japanese people deciding they are going to do something. I remember a friend of mine, who had an aversion to any type of physical exercise, who suddenly decided to train for - and run - a marathon. When I asked her why, she said she was inspired by a story of a woman who went on to compete in marathons for the Olympics. It seemed that suddenly, after that, large numbers of women trained for marathons. They did only one and then decided that it was enough. Just to prove it. To me, if you become a runner, then it should be a lifelong thing - not just a one-off because some other housewife had done it.

I am sure there are hundreds of examples of it. When I was in Japan, women all jumped on the "Juliana's" bandwagon with their "body-con" clothing and their behaviour even put Britney to shame. That was a good 17 years ago. Ten years ago, it was yoga. Now it's "hot yoga".

Okay. I know it happens everywhere but the Japanese seem way more intense with these things. And, I can certainly see a rush of young women who are getting prepared to go the way of the beauty queen...

I promise now to let this go. I just thought it would be truly amusing to see an onslaught of Japanese beauty queens. My advice though? It's probably better for them to look like licca than Barbie...

I've met many international students over the years, mostly due to the nature of my job, however, I would kind of hope that they would have loftier goals than to become a Miss Universe. Not to take the wind out of Ms Mori's sails because she won this contest fair & square but I have never been one that would support these kind of "beauty contests". You can protest all you want but to have beautiful women parading around in outfits that make them look even skinnier and not being judged on their contribution to society is simply a beauty contest.

It turns out, when I was actually able to read the paper today, that the young Japanese woman who was crowned Miss Universe this year actually studied in a high school in my fair city before moving on to graduate in Ontario and eventually on to win the title whenever it happened this week. I can't say that I ever brushed elbows with her and I am sure that she's a really sweet girl but the thing that popped into my mind when I first saw her photo was how she looked as far from a typical Japanese girl. In fact, while reading the story and looking at the photos, I thought that it was interesting how "generic" these women looked. Sure, they are all beautiful but they also all look like Barbie. There was nothing that really made them special from each other and besides them not all having Barbie-sized breasts, they just look so... so... generic. That's the only word that I can come up with.

Okay, so maybe in the position of Miss Universe, they can go out and do some humanitarian work but it seems to me that Ms. Mori would have been more impressive to me if she'd stuck to dancing. This title will not create the next Mother Teresa, for sure and it seems to me that it'd be better to strive to be someone who self-sacrifices to help the poor of the world than for that $250,000 US tiara that Miss Universe wins. Someone who strives to save the environment from ruin or to stop the abuse by the rich of the world.

So, while the schools and cities and other people that are all sharing their stories about how an international student, who is apparently is a marvellous dancer and came in contact with many here and in Ontario, there are two things that I am thinking of. One is that this girl became Miss Universe on her own and without anyone's help reached this goal of hers. So, why is it that there are so many who can't wait to get their names in the paper on the coattails of someone else's achievement (if you can call this one)

The other - and I can't stop thinking of the many that I've been lucky enough to meet - is that of the there are many international students who come to this country. They work hard to reach their academic goals to do something that is not as glamourous as becoming a world beauty queen yet they get little recognition for the difficulties they've endured. Leaving your home behind for the betterment of you and your family is not easy and definitely not glamourous. Yet it is an amazing achievement! Don't they all deserve some recognition for this as well? Why does winning a contest warrant this kind of publicity.

I admire so many of these students. Some come here not even able to say "hello" and work their way through an education system far different from that of their own country. Some go on to fulfill dreams and reach goals of becoming doctors who want to help sick children in the world. Others open businesses in their countries and in ours and are innovators of things that help the world. Some become teachers to assist the next generation in reaching their full potential. These are the true heroes... the every day people who don't worry about tiaras and evening gowns. They have worries that they are more able to deal with because of their time in their own countries.

Once, one of these students shared a story about her mother with me. This student's mother is a nurse that, at the time spoke little or no English, but was inspired to meet Mother Teresa. She so admired this woman and her work that she decided something like language and comfort wouldn't hold her back. So, she went on a holiday and spent some time working with the woman. This kind of thing blows me away.

I'd like to take this time to give some recognition to many of these people that have come and survived against all odds and go on to live a life that is full and worthwhile. I just tried to list them all but there are so many, so, I think that you all know who you are. If you have any doubts, email me, otherwise, I believe that you all very much deserve recognition of your achievements! Congratulations to you all!

"I'm a very well-educated, successful, intelligent person."

Hmmm. I wonder what an uneducated, unsuccessful, stupid people would do? I bet that they wouldn't be stupid or selfish enough to endanger other people's lives while carrying a dangerous form of TB while jet-setting around the world. You can read about this story here.

I wonder how effective the US "no-fly" list is when this guy can travel all over the place and it not get picked up on. I'd be really careful in Italy, the Czech Republic and Canada being that they all failed to recognize this guy shouldn't have been flying...

I awoke on Tuesday morning after having a dream that I, and a few others, were trying to save a couple of baby beluga whales from a pet shop. It was one of those dreams that didn't allow anyone in it to slow down and really think out a situation. And because of it, I awoke, knowing that we had lost the creatures that we were trying to save.

Funny, as well, because these two baby whales were being stored in a large aquarium-sized fish tanks in this pet shop. It would have been impossible for this to happen in real life but they were so damned cute! It just wasn't fair for them to be in the situation that they were in.

Towards the end of the dream (and just before I woke up) we had decided to release the little fellas into this beautiful lagoon to help them adapt before we released them to the open ocean. It was so blue and peaceful, which surprised us when we found them missing the next day. Hopefully, they weren't eaten by some big scary sea creature with big teeth.

So, here I am, still worrying about them the entire day. I suppose that I am hoping that when I go back to sleep tonight that they were just playing in that blue lagoon and I can help them to readjust to sea life. If I don't solve this, it will surely bother me for the rest of the week...

I thought the whole issue of Tinky Winky's sexuality had been put to bed however, this article suggests that they are going to rehash the situation again. It appears that Poland will probe the sexuality of the teletubbies to determine if they are gay. Apparently there are some people in that country that are worried that it is really homosexual propaganda.

I know that this isn't funny but sometimes one has to shake their head at the small-mindedness of people sometime. Take a comment by a government-appointed children's rights watchdog, in which she is quoted saying this about Tinky Winky of the Teletubbies:

I noticed (Tinky Winky) has a lady's purse, but i didn't realize he's a boy...
At first I thought the purse would be a burden for this Teletubby...Later I
learned that this may have a homosexual undertone.

While the country of Poland is under fire from many others in it's homophobic policies, there also appears to be some movement to stop such action against the teletubbies. There is some movement within the government to distance itself from this opinionated watchdog for fear it would make Poland a laughing stock.

This almost gives those horrible discriminatory "Polish" jokes a whole new spin...

My question is, does a purse in itself make a man gay? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. And how the hell can they tell a gay Teletubby from a straight one. That's almost as ridiculous as being able to tell gays & straights apart.

Now here's something I have heard about the Teletubbies. A British woman that I once knew told me that the original idea behind the whole teletubbie thing was to model them (ever so subversively) after certain British politicians in a type of political satire. I don't know how true that is because I am not that familiar with politics in the UK but if anyone were able to do such a thing, it would be the Brits. They are way too good at writing and creating a subdued but potent form of satire that many here don't get. The Brits usually excel at this type of humour although I don't know what happened in the case of Sasha Cohen. I just don't find him funny at all. (It's no doubt though that he hasn't been able to capture the whole nuance of British humour and that's probably why he's so successful here. Personally, I find all of his characters, Ali G, Borat, etc extremely distasteful and, in fact, quite tedious and offensive)

If you'd like a taste of some of that exceptional writing, you should check out Mulled Whines. I was recently reacquainted with this one after a long absence. I hope that you like it.

I was coming back from Vancouver yesterday (yes, that's twice in less that a week...) and happened on an article about a place on Vancouver Island that looks to be a very relaxing area to stay in. The gyst of the thing is that there are these rather large spheres hanging from trees in a forested area that are actually accomodation. Named Free Spirit Spheres, the owner rents out "Eryn" & "Eve" (yes, he's named them) for no more that $150/night based on two people.

Personally, I think the idea rather cool except that the bathrooms are located outside of the spheres and that might pose a problem if you've "really gotta go". The other problem for me is unstable ladders and my fear of heights. Besides that, it looks like a rather fun place to stay. Peaceful, to say the least. Who knows, maybe I should just get one for my house. It'd be like the Swiss Family Lola!

What do you think? Does this interest you?

Big Time Sensuality

I saw Bjork in Deer Lake Park in Burnaby last night and I must say that this was singlehandedly one of the most amazing concert experiences that I have had to date - even if I was mostly unable to breathe due to my stuffy head. It's funny how, once she started performing, all of my troubles (and illness) disappeared. It was surreal to be in the presence of this woman because I have been a fan for so long and last night I realized a dream to see her. I don't think that I will ever be the same.

I spent a large part of the time wiping the tears - a combination of seeing such an amazingly creative and talented performer and at my happiness at actually being there - from my eyes. Not only is she a true talent, she has an absolutely amazing voice! I am unaware of anyone else that has that same ability to release such a power from themselves through their voice. Equally amazing is that she can pull it off live. If you have never seen her, you should. It was well worth going to.

Deer Lake Park is in the city of Burnaby and it is an idyllic setting. The stage was set up with the lake at the back of it and, joyfully, the weather forecast was so wrong. It was sunny and bright by the time the the gates opened. It couldn't have been a more perfect day!

As I had not calculated that the buses to the event would be packed full of people, I didn't manage to make it to the gates at 5:30 pm however was there shortly after. I got through the gates with no problem at all - thankfully, leaving my water bottle at home because they weren't allowing anything in bottle onto the property. By the time I got inside, the field was half-full of people sitting on their blankets which didn't really have me all that worried that I wouldn't get a space. It was a huge field and it looked like there was loads of room because a whole lot of people were buying beer and food.

I avoided queues until I tried to buy a t-shirt and was told they didn't take visa cards. Silly me didn't think to bring extra cash so I got stuck standing in a line for the two ATMs for about 20 minutes. One of them broke down so the line was moving very slowly. I was starting to get a little antsy when I heard the opening band, Ghostigital started their set however, it was easy to hear them so it wasn't that bad. By the time they were into their third or fourth song, I had already got my t-shirt and was heading down to pick out a spot.

Ghostigital is made up of Einar Örn, the ex-singer/poet of the Sugarcubes, and Curver, who has been deemed a sonic explorer. The word that comes to mind is "interesting". Curver's vibes were cool and danceable, and as always, Einar rants & raves his way through the set.

So, I wander down the field as far forward as I can go and plunk down on the plastic sheet emblazened with Thomas the Tank Engine and friends. I don't know what possessed me to choose the shady side of the field except that I had a whole lot of clothes on because I didn't want to get a chill and if I'd picked the sunny side, I would have roasted. Around me were all sorts of people, some just lazing around and others costumed up and playing with hula hoops. Einar & Curver went on for about a hour and kept the crowd at the front of the stage moving while the rest of us kind of sat trying to understand what message they were trying to put forward. I just decided that they weren't really trying to do anything except entertain. Not really my style but the groove was cool.

They played for about an hour and then there was all sorts of rustling on-stage as they were setting up for Ms. Gudmundsdottir's set. There were banners and speaker and movement of instruments which built up the tension to that moment when we could hear her sing her first song. Some idiots decided to stop and stand in front of many of us - who were still sitting - so that they could have a conversation. After 45 minutes, out came the Icelandic Brass section and the other members - Jonas Sen and a few others. Apparently one was Damian Taylor, a Canadian who was one of the two geniuses in the band contributing some of his electronic magic.

The air was full of flying creatures like moths & mosquitoes. They almost seemed to be there to add to the ambience as they had wings that fluttered about in the air. Almost like if you imagined hard enough, they were actually fairies.

The crowd moved forward and there she was. Bjork. She wasn't like any sort of goddess-like figure... she simply was.

I could hardly believe that I was only about 15 rows back. She started to sing. I started to cry. I couldn't believe I was there and that this amazing creature was singing in a voice that, in some ways, was better than hearing her recorded stuff. It was powerful yet came from such a fragile-looking creature. And it was all-encompassing.

Funny... as I am typing this, I realize that I am trying to use words to describe something that is beyond verbal explanation...

So maybe, I should just continue with what she performed. The set went this way:

Earth Intruders
Hunter
Pagan Poetry
I See Who you are
Unison
Dull Flame of desire (solo)
All is Full of love
Pleasure is All mine
I miss you (with Einar playing along)
Army of me
Innocence
Wanderlust
Mother Heroic
Bachelorette
Hyperballad
Pluto

And the encore was:
Oceana
Declare Independance (which blew me absolutely away)

Then, it was over. As quickly as it had started.

The funny thing is that even though the set was only about an hour and a quarter long, she didn't disappoint. She is an interesting sprite of musical ability. In between songs was just a simple "Thank you" (and once in German). She didn't talk between songs because she didn't need to. She just has this voice. There is no need for anything more. She sang, she danced and she conquered us all. It was, as I've mentioned probably too many times before, amazing...

Anyway, if you are interested, here is what one of the artists performing with Bjork's band, Jonas Sen said about being in Vancouver on the official Volta Tour blog.

Now, before I go, I wanted to share this article where Bjork talks Volta for the very first time. I share it because of what she says about the significance of marching. I found the whole article rather enlightening but I also thought that what she said was pretty true to my feelings. Here it is:

I mean, the human race, we are a tribe, let's face it, and let's stop all this religious bullshit. I think everybody, or at least a lot of my friends, are just so exhausted with this whole self-importance of religious people. Just drop it. We're all fucking animals, so let's just make some universal tribal beat. We're pagan. Let's just march.

Last night was a big time "sensual" experience - of such a surreal nature - that I am not soon to forget...

Sorry for the absence of posts recently. I managed to have some sort of cold/allergy thing happening and it hurts to look at the computer screen.

It's sad really because I am off to see Bjork in Vancouver tonight. It's too bad that I can't really breathe but I am feeling much better than I did yesterday. I just hope that it doesn't rain because it's an outdoor gig and I don't need to get worse.

Hopefully, I'll get back to you all with a review. Although I can't imagine it being bad because all of the reviews make the show sound amazing! See you all soon!

I'm off to the Victoria Day Parade on Monday. I haven't been in years.

Hopefully, I'll take my camera and share some photos of the event. In the meantime, here's a photo from years gone by... This is a photo of Mr. Floatie our local advocate of secondary sewage treatment in our fair city (of which we have none). And, yes, Mr. Floatie is a piece of fecal matter.

At least he's got a friendly voice...

It's Friday!

And, there's only six more days until I see Bjork! What more can one ask for?

Have you heard of a marimo?

Today, I saw one for the first time. Kind of cute but just a little creepy to make a "pet" out of algae.

Hmmm. Jaslene won this cycle of ANTM.

While I'm happy that two women whose families didn't start out in the US, I must say that I was really hoping that Natasha would win. That'll teach all of those catty women who look down on the "foreign" women. There's no doubt in my mind that my favourite will get a contract as well...

Turned off!

Today, May 16, has been deemed Turn it off BC day as part of 30 Days of Sustainability, deemed to be an annual celebration from April 22 to May 21 that raises awareness and aims to integrate sustainability into the values of citizens, corporations, government and society. We are being encouraged to turn off and unplug all those unnecessary appliances and lights in order to collectively create an awareness of wasted resources and power. So, today, I'm going to leave all of those lights off that I don't need and also do my best to stop wasting power.

The only problem with days like this is that, as many of us work and study using computers, we are unable to switch those off for the day because our employers wouldn't go for it. We could do this on the weekend because many of us don't really need to be using them when we don't work and we'd just need to turn it all off when we are having those days off. I don't know. Anybody got any ideas?

Here's hoping that you have a great day. Please remember, that if you're not using it, turn it off!

Revenge of the Sith

For those of you who are really familiar with my fair city, you may have happened upon Darth Vader busking on Government Street. Darth has been entertaining natives and tourists alike by playing the violin for many years now. It's funny because I cannot remember a time when he hasn't been here.

I haven't ever done any busking myself but I can imagine that there is always some competition for choice locations however, I've never witnessed any fights of any sorts. As Darth has a lot of "seniority" here, I can't imagine anyone trying to take him on. After all, he's armed with a violin and a light sabre.

I've been told that buskers are supposed to have some sort of license to be out there performing on the streets of Victoria and I suppose this helps to keep the competition down. However, every once in a while, you see someone who is probably unaware of the "rules" and pulls out whatever musical instrument that they could find. So, I wasn't at all surprised to see a kimono-clad woman on Fort Street playing her shamisen and singing some traditional Japanese songs. For a moment or two, I had to give great thought to whether I was still in Canada or whether I was back in Kyoto, Japan.

Once I determined that I was indeed in Victoria, I began to wonder about why this woman was here and where our beloved Darth was because this was his usual corner. This new artist was seated opposite to where the buskers usually are so I thought that perhaps she was just a woman who had seen people do this kind of thing and just decided to take it up. I'd not seen her before so imagine that this was a case of someone not knowing the "rules".

Then, I saw Darth...

He had his helmut off and he looked to be setting up in his usual spot so I expected that there would be some sort of words shared about her choice of location. I walked past - on the other side of the street - but slowed on the corner, seeing Darth move towards the shamisen-armed woman. I couldn't hear what was being said, but he was patient to let her finish her song and then he spoke. I suspect that he was kindly telling her to piss off.

I could have stood around waiting for the drama to ensue and for them to battle to the death armed with a violin and a shamisen that glowed red and blue however, I was on a tight schedule and was really hungry.

Afterwards, I checked for blood spatter and severed limbs only to find nothing there. It must have been resolved without a huge battle and thus worked out for everyone involved. I've yet to see either of them this week but it is still young.

I sincerely hope that if you ever get the chance and you are in Victoria, to check out Darth. He's usually on the corner of Government & Fort Streets but you can also catch him near the harbour.

Have a great week and may the Force be with you!

I went to see the film 28 Weeks Later over the weekend. My review? Don't bother. Especially if you liked the original.

My friend commented - and I must say that I agree - that all of their budget went to paying Robert Carlyle's fee for acting... My additional thought was that this was truly a statement of when the US military goes in to oversee and subsequently "police" a situation, that they truly know how to screw it up. Not because they intend to but because they often go in with little or no information on the situation and use their own values to do so. And often, it's the little guys - the soldiers - that end up paying the price.

There were som highlights, such as the beginning of the film in which it showed how a person - no matter how much they love someone - would save their own skin over the one they love and the scene with the helicopter. Other than that, the ending was predictable and didn't hold the same "hopeful" feeling of the first film. I actually expected way more gore but this time, they had much of the happenings from the "infected" character's perspective but that meant that the camera shake made things a little unclear...

So my opinion is to see it at your own risk. Not because of the subject matter but because it didn't seem all that well thought out...

For those of you who saw Hot Fuzz, you'd be amused by the reference to Sandford in the above mentioned film. It'd make sense, really, as the villagers of Sandford pretty much behaved like zombies anyhow...

Hey! There's not really much to say except that I wanted to wish everyone a great weekend. Today, in my corner of the world, it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day and they are promising that it'll be all weekend...

Oh, and happy birthday to Tee. You're one year older and that means that time is going to start flying by... Have a great day!

My pottery teacher is having a collaborative art showing of Ikebana, ceramic works and Japanese tea ceremony at Gallery Sola in Vancouver. It looks to be really interesting and if I have a chance to be in Vancouver on May 27, 2007, I'd certainly check it out!

The artists participating are:
Atsuko : Mishoryu Ikebana Vancouver
HiDe Ebina: Ceramic artist
Omote Senke Japanese tea ceremony school, Vancouver Ogura alliance.

Tea ceremonies will be held at:
1:00 - 1:50 pm
2:30 - 3:20 pm
4:00 - 4:50 pm

There will be a $5 fee to attend the tea ceremony with a maximum of six participants for each ceremony.Please contact HiDe Ebina by email for a reservation. If you prefer to attend a specific ceremony among three above, please let us know.First come first serve for the reservation. HiDe can be contacted at mail@hideart.com

Please note: Viewing of Ikebana and ceramic works will be restricted during the scheduled tea ceremonies.

Regular viewing hours are as follows:
11:00am to1:00pm
2:00pm to 2:30pm
3:30pm to 4:00pm
5:00pm to 9:00pm

Gallery Sola is located at:
HiDe Ceramic Works Studio
#310-338 West 8th Ave, Vancouver, BC
between Yukon & Alberta
Telephone: 604-875-6002

If you'd like to take a look at some of HiDe's other works, check out his website.

Not long ago, I was reading this post on TAG about the writer's feelings on the whole Facebook phenomenom. I was happy to see that there was at least one other person on the planet that didn't really like the whole "online community" situation and that it wasn't just me trying to be a stick-in-the-mud. I was beginning to feel like I should just go into a cave and hide so as to avoid being added as a "friend" by someone.

It's ironic that, since I was having a conversation with someone about this on Friday that I have received about ten emails telling me that I have been added to someone's list. Ironic because I thought that we were already friends and that I didn't think it necessary. The whole thing just seems kind of strange because it makes it easier to share things online than it is to go out there and meet all sorts of new and interesting people.

I suppose it won't be too long in the future that we'll all be able to stay in our homes and not have face-to-face contact with anyone. We'll be sharing things online and will be spared the whole inconvenience of having to deal with people out in the "real" world.

You might suggest that having a blog is really doing the same thing. I am, in a sense, part of a larger community of folks who all want to address the world and what's going on around us. I just don't feel that blogging is the same as being a member of Facebook, myspace, mixi and any of the other networks. These communities just seem like another way to prove how popular a person is...

I have no visions of grandeur about my blog as either people read it or they don't. What I feel about the other types of networking is that people get caught up in who's out there reading them. I have friends who spend a lot of time on MSN looking for their friends that are out there in cyberspace. What's wrong with just calling them up and asking how they are instead? If we were really concerned with who is out there then maybe we should keep in better touch.

Anyway, I didn't mean this to go on & on. I'm just questioning the value of something like Facebook in a world that is already on a downward slide towards us avoiding each other in a physical sense into a place where it's just so easy to stretch or ignore the truth.

I'm going outside to enjoy the sun and see how many people I can meet and strike up a conversation with.

Sad news today. Canadian artist Myfanwy Pavelic passed away this week. You can read about her life and her passing here. She was an amazing artist and she will be sadly missed.

Hmmm. It appears that there's been a study to show that children aren't key to women's happiness. All those years that my gran used to tell me that the only way that I'd be happy is to find a man, get married and have children wasn't all that wise after all.

The strange thing is that I find myself thinking about having children all the time. I mean it's part of the human biology, no? The urge to procreate and further the species. And, while I wouldn't mind having someone to share my life with and have children with, I sometimes cannot fathom the idea of bringing children into this troubled world. There are always wars (even though we have these days to remember the fallen and swear never to have it happen again) or the planet has been polluted and the technological "advances" are creating havoc with the delicate species that also inhabit it.

I wonder what the parameters for the study that is documented in the story above. How do we measure this happiness and is this something that makes all of those who don't have kids feel better. It's funny because the other day I read an article about how women don't need to be married to be happy and that any thought that singles are "losers" was not to be believed. It certainly made me feel better but I wondered - again - whether it was just a ploy to make single women feel better about the fact that they weren't.

Any thoughts?

It's sunny again today. Unbelievably, it's been two days in a row! At least today, I remembered the sunscreen...

I find it ironic that my last post talked of having more fun yet in the days following that post, I spent most of the time either tending to my long list of things to do (stuff like laundry, cooking, cleaning, finances, etc) or watching tv. I cannot say that it was the slightest bit fun catching up on all of those things and with my new "plan", I'll be more careful not to let huge projects accumulate as well as not going nuts with the spending thing. I know I've said this before but I just have to get serious about sticking to the plan. Which probably means that I'll be having less fun than I've been having lately. Sometimes it sucks being an adult but I suppose it's about time...

In the meantime, I will take a few minutes to share something that happened:

Yesterday, while having coffee with a friend, I saw David Suzuki wandering through the streets of Victoria's Chinatown. I don't think that he was here for a presentation, so I guess he was just wandering around. It's funny who one sees when they go somewhere that they don't usually spend time. Had my favourite Chinese restaurant not been closed, I wouldn't have seen him.

Was it a coincidence that I was thinking about sunburn (due to my lack of sunscreen) and saw David Suzuki at the same time? I had been thinking that it was pretty warm yesterday and saw a woman who could have been me because she was pretty close to being the same colour as a lobster... It was freaking hot in that cafe.

There's only 15 more days until the Björk concert! I looked at my calendar and was amazed that it was so close. It seems like it's been forever since I bought the tickets...

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome Tee back to Victoria. I know I said it yesterday but it's good to have him back - if only for 12 days - and I sincerely hope that he is successful in taking care of everything that he needs to while he's here. He knows what will happen if he doesn't. (insert happy face here)

Anyway folks, have a great day!

I've been thinking lately that I need to have some more fun. So, I was searching the internet and I found a place that sells Space Hoppers.

All I can think about now is that I want one.

Also found on my walkabout through cyberspace, I found a list compiled by DJ Mark Riley via his listeners, is the Top Ten Worst Music Lyrics ever. I was surprised by some but the one I have to agree with is "Africa" by Toto. (Funny, nowadays, when I hear "Toto", I think of the Japanese toilet company...) Any thoughts on this list? Do you have any additions that you would like to see added?

I suppose it's taken me a while to get into spring and I know that I am officially into it because I've been bit by the cleaning bug. Yes, it's once again that time...

On Monday evening, I started by going through the stuff I have in storage and consolidate it so that it takes up less space in my basement. Armed with rubber gloves that keep the dead creepy-crawlies and the dust from touching my skin (I have a dust allergy), three hours passed by and I finally got the job done. It felt good to get one of the many things on my list completed. The trouble is that, now that I've started, I cannot stop.

Monday was the basement, last night was my closet and who knows what it'll be today...

Yesterday, I found a British released poster for the film "Sid & Nancy". It reminded me of that summer in 1986 when I took my first overseas holiday and that I stayed in a small bedsit in near Notting Hill Gate in London. I saw the film at a small theatre that was across the street from Boots and had enquired about buying the poster there only to be told that they had to return it to the distributor. This specific copy was brought back by some guy I worked with back in the day. I've been thinking of selling it. Anyone interested?

The biggest bother with this type of thing is that what seems like a million projects spring from the dust that is raised with the whole cleaning thing. It means that one can no longer procrastinate because the thing that has been stopping me from acting on the other "projects" no longer exists and thus there is no room for excuses.

What I really long for is the time and room to do those projects that I have been putting off. It also makes me wonder whether there ever truly exists a time where there is nothing at all to do. On the one hand, I think a time like that that would be a great thing but I can also imagine that I'd be pretty bored if it did.

Here's wishing that the cleaning project from hell is soon completed...