The Story of Me in movie-tiiime

I don't watch a lot of movies, but seem to have gone through a phase lately. Here's the ones I remember.

Borrowed:
The Shining
Empire Records
My Dinner With André (rewatched)
That Hamilton Woman

On the planes:
Sex and the City 2
Knight and Day
A-Team (rewatched)
Aurélie Laflamme (watched best parts, already read the book)

On TV at hotel or mum's:
Sex and the City 1 (rewatched while flipping)
Wall Street (rewatched)
Deepa Mehta's Fire (kept telling myself I had to go to sleep, and yet kept watching)
GI Joe
Pineapple Express (rewatched)

TV at home:
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (rewatched)
Made of Honor (quite dumb)

Rented with Fernando:
Me and Orson Welles
Death at a Funeral

Cinema:
Step-mummy and I saw Inception.
Fernando and I saw Social Network tonight. Very good. Probably a good date movie, cause there's lots to talk about after.

How songs fall into my life

Sometimes an old song comes back to me which I Must Own. Today it was: Boys in the Street by Eddy Grant.


(Good heavens--I adjust the width of my blog and NOW youtube comes up with a "custom size" option. Bahstads.)

Then there are songs I used to own on tape, and thought I had in mp3, but didn't! - Revolution by Arrested Development.



And a song I heard in an ad for a TV show. (If I was a musician's agent, I would so try to get their stuff in ads. SUCH good marketing.) "Short Change Hero" by the Heavy (Sounds like a funeral dirge at first, but then it gets funky!)


Music I get into way after everyone else did. Duffy's "Hanging On Too Long."


Bands universally acknowledged as great, and I'm not sure I love them enough for whole albums, but LOVE the occasional song. The Roots' "How I Got Over." Don't you even just love the title?


Best of album for the husband: Phil Collins. ("Against All Odds" really is one of the greatest lovebreak songs of all time. And with heavy drums--how unusual is that?)

Swedish Conspicuous Consumption Part 2

I behaved today (mostly) so we went to Ikea. Here's the sofa-bed we chose. One of the others I wanted to try was too low (headaches) and the cushions slanted so that if you sat back you were looking at the ceiling. The other we tried had the crummy sort of pullout bed (the old fashioned kind - heavy & crap mattress) and it was too shallow. I have long legs, so a shallow couch means your legs aren't supported all the way to the knee--totally uncomfortable.

This one is high, supports my whole leg, is cheaper, and the bed is much better. Only drawback, it doesn't have removable covers. Will probably Scotch Guard it. I also think we should buy something fuzzy and staple it to the ends for the cats to scratch. (The beige would have matched the curtains better, but... too stain-able!)

Got the curtains I wanted.

And cheap pillows to match.

And the other expensive piece we bought is this 6 foot long sideboard. It's for the kitchen, to replace a rickety plastic shelf I'm using to hold my appliances. I want somewhere to put all my lunch tupperwares and bentos. I think the cats will like it.

When it comes to patterns, though, Fernando and I have opposite taste. We bought a frame today, but heaven knows how we'll find a poster to go in it. Maybe if it's a poster with cats in it. Cats playing poker?

50 Questions - What's your least favorite word?

Most women would put "panties" on the list, myself included. Some sort of universal aversion to having a different word for women's childhood underwear?

Any others?

just testing

I just discovered I can change the width of my blogs, which means I won't have to always adjust youtube video width. This is a test post to fix it. ...But great songs too. ;-)


One of the comments on youtube: "oh my gawd.. i can relate to this song.. being a IBO born and raised in America. when i lived in my true home for 3 years (Nigeria) surving there was tough but western union saved my life at times.. this song is the story of my life."

Vacation 2010 - The Historic Moment

Earlier this week the City of Richmond, BC, was voting on whether to ban the sale of dogs in pet stores. My mother wanted to go, just to make sure the room was filled with supporters, so I went with her. Some guy gave us little signs to wear (Adopt, Don't Shop), and the room was super packed. We listened to a couple hours worth of people defending either side. The people on the pro-ban side brought some very interesting and effective stats and proof that pet stores often get animals from puppy mills. The councilors voted unanimously for the ban, the first city in Canada (see the article excerpts below.)

I forgot to bring the boys for this historic moment, so my mum, brother and I staged a Dramatic Recreation in front of City Hall.

Richmond city council voted unanimously on Monday night to draft a bylaw amendment that would ban the sale of dogs in pet stores, in what the B.C. SPCA is calling a "landmark move against puppy mills."
While several U.S. cities already have such a ban in place, it is the first time a decision of the kind has been made in Canada.
"The City of Richmond showed such leadership being the first in Canada," said Lorie Chortyk, general manager of community relations for the B.C. SPCA. "We're really hoping that this is something other municipalities will see as the progressive way to go."
...

Bryson said U.S. taxpayers spend about $2 billion each year to house and euthanize unwanted animals.
American cities with full bans on live animal sales in pet stores include Hermosa Beach, South Lake Tahoe and West Hollywood in California; Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables, Lauderdale Lakes, Flagler Beach, North Bay Village and Opa-Locka in Florida; and Austin, Texas.
Albuquerque, N.M., imposed a ban on the retail sale of all companion animals in 2006. Since then, animal adoptions have increased by 23 per cent and euthanasia at city shelters has decreased by 35 per cent, said Bryson.   (Vancouver Sun)

Vacation 2010 - Aberdeen Center and other things

The Brother visits my hotel one day. We sit and gossip with the boys.

 Usually each visit I go to one beach-walk with my mum and the Brat Pack, and act as official photographer. Ahh! Papparazzi!

Cool Rock 

Fast Eddie with his aardvark tongue.

 

Sassy, watching over the crew. 

Foster dog: Quinby, Quincy or Q B. 

Foster 2: Baby Cyrus.

They all try to fit on her lap.

 On the last day the boys and I made an outing to Daiso, to get some bentos.

Then we had a bad lunch in the food court. 

 This is the view from the Aberdeen Center's food court.

This store specializes in real looking miniature things.

 And finally, near one entrance to the mall there's a market, with vegetables, meat etc. Keep in mind, this is a fancy looking mall, with a water fountain show that keeps time with bad Muzak. Richmond is largely Asian, which makes it a mysterious and interesting place.

And everyone has a cell phone, so it was hard to find a pay phone to get a cab ride back to my mum's! But I eventually found one, and here we wait for our ride.

And then we took the red-eye home. Here the boys were singing: "Another suitcase in another haaall..." I think they'd had enough of traveling.