The ultimate demonstration...


Have any of you out there seen anything about this story? The clip above was presented on Al-Jazeera about a man in the US who lit himself on fire in protest to the war in Iraq. They suggest that this story was never really broadcast in the States because the western media chose not to. It was forwarded to me by a friend in Japan who almost never sends these kinds of bulk emails and from that, I knew it was something that I should see.

So, I watched. And I wasn't surprised that we'd heard little about it. I also wasn't surprised that it was Al-Jazeera that picked the up on the story of Malachi Ritscher - a man who stood up for something he believed so passionately. It's too bad he had to die but it would be even more sad if this story never got out...

Nowaday, it seems that we cannot go anywhere without hearing about Jamie Oliver. One constant, it seems, is his knack for stirring things up and it seems that he's at it again.

On the heels of his school dinners in the UK series, this chef (who, by the way, a British friend deems to be a man with an unusually large tongue) is embarking on another series. Now, Mr. Oliver will take on British cuisine with the help of Channel 4. It appears that he will be starting in the town of Rotherham where the whole school dinners thing too place.

Britain, in many people's books, is not known for its cuisine. I'd be interested to see where Jamie goes with this one.

I suppose I cannot really comment on this one. Being somewhat culinarily-challenged myself, I'm only qualified to sit on the sidelines and see where this is going... And, surely, even I can learn from this one...

By the way, we're still getting small flurries here. Wasn't spring supposed to start last week? I can hardly believe that it's almost April & we're still getting snow. It's a strange thing, actually, because the sakura have been blooming for a few weeks now and so along with the pink "snow" of the cherry blossoms, we have the real deal as well...

On this past long weekend, some friends and I went for lunch at one of our new favourite restaurants, Kissako Green Tea Cafe. It was a perfect Saturday and the weather was quite nice. It really felt as if spring had arrived!

After lunch, we walked through Oak Bay, looking in shop windows and noting the eclectic mix of shops. Because the weather was nice, it was a great way to walk off the food that we "hoovered" off of our plates. It was especially nice because a couple of the folks that were there would soon be leaving the country for a very extended period of time - perhaps forever...

It was on this walk that we happened upon a beautiful flower shop. In the window, there was a small penned area that had live chicks (the avian kind) in a wonderful spring display. These are the things that I remember of spring and easter when I was a child - not the bunnies and chocolate that they have nowadays. To my younger friends, they were simply "so cute". To me, it was extremely nostalgic.

I was hoping to share the pictures that I took on my mobile with you but I'm still trying to figure out how to get them. When I get to that level of understanding, I'll post them.

(You know, sometimes I imagine that I appear a little like a cave woman. Not unlike my ancestors of way back, I feel like I could just throw a rock at the damned phone and the treasure inside would spill out. )

Anyway, spring seemed a little short-lived. On Sunday evening, we had a small snowfall. Hmmm. So much for the nostalgia!

Wel, dyma i chi ddefaid da!

I received some Welsh humour in an email this week and it took me back to my time in Froncysyllte, North Wales. I remember it quite fondly and remember as well the sincere kindness of the folk that I stayed with there after meeting them on a cross-Canada train trip several years earlier. This email reminded me of my arrival that fateful evening in the neighbouring town...

A Welshman, a sheep, and a dog were survivors of a terrible shipwreck.

They found themselves stranded on a desert island. After being there a
while, they got into the habit of going to the beach every evening to watch the sun set. One particular evening, the sky was a fiery red with beautiful cirrus clouds, the breeze was warm and gentle - a perfect night for romance.

As they sat there, the sheep started looking better and better to the
Welshman.

Soon, he leaned over to the sheep and put his arm around it.

But the dog got jealous, growling fiercely until the Welshman took his
arm from around the sheep.

After that, the three of them continued to enjoy the sunsets together, but there was no more cuddling.

A few weeks passed by and, lo and behold, there was another shipwreck. The only survivor was a beautiful young woman, the most beautiful woman the Welshman had ever seen.

She was in a pretty bad way when they rescued her, and they slowly nursed her back to health.

When the young maiden was well enough, they introduced her to their evening beach ritual. It was another beautiful evening - red sky, cirrus clouds, a warm and gentle breeze - perfect for a night of romance.

Pretty soon, the Welshman started to get "those feelings" again.

He fought them as long as he could, but he finally gave in and leaned over to the young woman, cautiously, and whispered in her ear ... "Would you mind taking the dog for a walk?

When I arrived in Llangollen, my friend welcomed me with "Welcome to Wales! Where the men are men, and the sheep are nervous..." Thanks so much to S & D for that time and thank you especially for such a nice memory... my week has been extremely challenging and it certainly brought a smile to my face!

Still on the subject of Wales, I came across this photo essay by Robert Haines that was printed in the Guardian online entitled Wales: Into the West in which the photographer captured the vanishing valley life of his town in Wales. Merthyr Tydfil is in Southern Wales and these photos that Haines has presented here definitely have the flavour of a time gone by. Personally, I love these types of photos...

Anyway, have a great Easter weekend all. Me? I'll be dreaming of green pastures halfway across the world and a home away from home next to the canal!

Mae fy hofrenfad yn llawn o lyswennod, everyone!

I've heard about people dying from consuming seafood, but I've never heard of this before. Is this an example of revenge of the sea creatures?

Read about it in "Jumping eagle ray kills boater off Florida Keys".

Bizarre, don't you think?

Temper, Temper

I was eating lunch with a colleague today and we ended up talking about a film we'd seen in the 1980's that had a profound effect on us both. That musical film was Starstruck. I hadn't thought about it for a while and it was one of those films that was quite inspirational. Since I saw it, I've always walked off the beaten path.

I headed back to the office after stuffing my face full of food and searched out video clips on the internet and I just had to share this one with you. After all, I've been in a horrible mood all week and after watching this one, I felt much better.

Funny as well, as it's been years and I've reverted back to that same hair colour that I had at the time. Now I remember the inspiration for doing it in the first place.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Just a reminder to all of you that thought they might forget...

It's ホワイトデー today!

That's White Day for those of you who are unfamiliar with the characters...

Again with the music stuff. I started out a while back referring to Moby and then I read this article in the Guardian online and just had to share it because it made me laugh (especially the reference to Timbaland)

I just want you to know that I'm not really obsessed with Moby or anything but you have to read this review of his new video from the Guardian. Oh, and you can watch it too...

I suppose that I'm just in a really bad state-of-mind because I've not had any caffeine for two days. I was thinking this morning of writing a poem about it but my head is spinning around and I couldn't focus on the process of putting down these streaming thoughts on paper. If I get around to it, I'll try to remember to share it with you.

Actually, caffeine withdrawal makes me incredibly irritated so I was surprised when I found the Moby thing so amusing. This past couple of days I've been really annoyed by office politics. I guess in my idealist mind, I expect that with all of the good things that have been happening around the office, that things had changed. However, I was disappointed yesterday to find that things hadn't really changed. I wasn't really angry at anyone except for myself for being so naive to believe that there would be any sort of improvement. Oh well, life goes on.

Maybe it's time to reconsider what I want to be when I grow up...

Oh, and is anyone out there having trouble with the change to Daylight Savings Time? It was much earlier this year because our neighbours to the south decided it should be and we here in Canada, foolishly got on the bandwagon.

Seriously, is it any surprise that people from countries other than ours think that Canadians & Americans are exactly the same? Especially when we blindly follow the US policies like this. Next, we'll be changing all of our money to the same colour. As a Canadian, of which I am proud, I just wish it didn't look like our government spent all of their time trying to appease the powers in the US. It just feels like the current Canadian government has no backbone.

I'll finish by telling you that I'm not in a bad place right now. Life is actually good. I'm just trying to get my head around this week.

I'm sure I'll be better... just as soon as it's no longer dark when my alarm goes off in the morning...

And the band plays on...

It seems that music seems to be a common theme with me lately. It's something that I spend a fair bit of thought on as of late. This train of though has caused a bit of a musical turn these days whats with Bjork's recent goings on (did you hear that the Chinese government is now cracking down on all international artists since her outburst in Shanghai?) and the news of Jeff Healey's passing and the Moby interview. Today though the music has moved from that of celebrity musicians to those of a more everyday nature...

I was reading an article from the Guardian Online about a school band in Yorkshire that is keeping the declining brass band genre alive. The article "Blowing in the Wind" tells of the Hebden Bridge junior band and the everyday students that are members. It's really quite inspiring to read articles like this. Just when we begin to fear the disappearance of traditions , we find a group of young people who take run with these same artforms and make them their own. It really is an inspiration!

The article itself has a couple of really good photos of some members in the article taken by Benjamin McMahon who is now a photographer AND a past member of that same school band. You can find the whole project under the heading of brass on his website. I just love his work as it looks like he really captures the "rock star" image of these everyday people.

I must say that on a day like today, when we're all still recuperating from losing that extra hour of sleep because they moved the clocks ahead this past weekend, that it's really great to have such a wonderful article about some truly inspiring kids to shake the cobwebs out...

Have a great week everyone!

Declare Independence!

As you all know, I just adore Bjork and her music. Last year's concert was a highlight of 2007 as far as I'm concerned and I really enjoyed her finishing up with "Declare Independence". It had such and amazing energy.

Well, it appears that this particular song caused quite an uproar in Shanghai just recently. Apparently, she angered people by making a strong political statement. You can read about it (and view a short video) entitled "Bjork's Shanghai surprise: a cry of 'Tibet!'" where she commented on the plight of Tibet at the end of the song.

Wow. You gotta appreciate someone standing up for what they believe in...

All I can think is "you go girl!"

Otaku girls unite!

I had wondered how long it would take for the next trend in the whole "maid cafe" industry would be and Reuters online has an article about the next level of geek cafes in Japan...

Entitled "Boy cafes, sexy comics feed Japan's girl geek boom", it discusses the trend of "boy cafes" that are based on boy-love manga series in Japan. Would it fly here? Would the patrons be considered paedophiles?

I had an idea for opening a maid cafe myself not so long ago. It would be a typical maid cafe except it would have an extra little punch. Male patrons that would be interested could pay an extra $50 and go into a darkened (and padded) back room where Sailor Moon would proceed to kick their asses...

Canada (and the world) lost an amazing music talent today. Jeff Healey, legendary blues, rock & jazz musician passed away at age 41. His contribution to the Canadian music scene will be missed.

If we are lucky, they will release the album that he was working on before he passed away.

Rest in Peace.