Holiday

I'm currently away in holiday in Toronto visiting with friends and just hanging out. Next week I'll be in NYC so hopefully I'll have some stories to tell when I return! Until then...!!

Ode To Vancouver

This was the opening that George Stroumboulopoulos used for his Vancouver stint last week:

Movies: Just Go With It

Just hear me out.

Jennifer Aniston has made some shitty movies as of late: The Bounty Hunter and Love Happens, to name a couple. So, when I started to watch Just Go With It, I was not expecting much. Like, at all.

Add to that, the fact that I am not a fan of Adam Sandler either. I think the only movie I really enjoyed that he was in was The Wedding Singer, and that was more due to the 80s setting and Drew Barrymore. So, strike two.

However, as this movie about a guy who lies about being married in order to score women progressed along, I found myself actually quite enjoying it and laughing out loud at certain parts! Put in a surprise appearance from Nicole Kidman, whom I forgot was in the film, and I had to admit that I was liking this movie against my better judgment.

So with that said, if you want something light and fun, and doesn't suck as much as Reese Witherspoon's How Do You Know (that movie was HORRIBLE), then yeah, why not Just Go With It?

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Friday Funnies

Here's some things to make you giggle on a Friday!



Amy Sedaris' Golden First Date:

Amy Sedaris' Golden First Date from Amy Sedaris

So I Should Probably Stay AWAY From the Meth Addict, Yes?

I've been desperate lately when it comes to the dating/romance/whoring department.

Which is why I found myself on Facebook the other night, looking at people with boyfriends, crying to myself, and asking "WHY THEM!!!!" and just wondering how horrible people in the world can find a match, but I can't? Maybe I'm even more horrible than they are? I don't know. Take my crazy coworker for example, he's been in a relationship for 11 years now. Sure, he's completely unhappy, but he's also certifiably insane, and yet he managed to find someone to love him and live with him and all that jazz.

Anyway, this led me down a dark and dangerous road when I ended up flirting with a guy I had talked to a year or so ago. I see him online every so often and I usually ignore him because when we first talked, he had told me that his favourite DRUG OF CHOICE was "Tina" and at the time, I had no idea who "Tina" was, and in fact, "Tina" is codename for Crystal Meth. (Crystal = Christina = Tina, Get it?)

So yeah, Crystal Meth fucks up your life, and I really didn't want a part of that. So why then on God's green Earth did I purposely seek this guy out and begin flirting with him? We were thisclose to meeting up the other night when I finally came to my senses and realized, Nah, I really don't want to get involved with a Meth Addict, do I?

I took a poll amongst some friends, and the consensus was pretty much the same: NO! Stay away!! He'll just steal from you! He'll have no teeth in a month! He's gonna tie you up and then not even listen to you when you scream to be let go because he's too busy craving his next fix!!

Okay, fine. Fair enough. Good advice. I'm staying away. Maybe I should send him this Kristin Chenoweth intervention and hope that it cures him and maybe THEN we can go out on a date??? Just saying.

Soran 4 Japan

I went to my niece's high school talent show last night, and sat through 2 hours of teenagers hip hop dancing, gymnastics, martial arts, piano playing, cultural dances, and a lot of karaoke-styles singing performances. We had a girl dressed to the nines singing Don't Cry For Me Argentina (quite well, actually), a duo of electric guitar players singing Duran Duran's Hungry Like The Wolf (nice song choice, dawgs!), but then out of all the mediocrity that befits a high school talent show, we had one beacon of light.

A group of students got up on stage and announced their goal to help raise funds for Japan's earthquake relief. They pointed out donation buckets outside the doors, and then went into a traditional Japanese dance called the Soran. Who knew that I would learn something at this event, let alone enjoy myself!

Anyway, they also filmed it so they could share it with people on YouTube. Here it is for your viewing pleasure!

Chromeo, oh Chromeo....

I'm having a Chromeo kind of day!

Strombo!!!

Yesterday I went to a taping of CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. Tickets were hard to get since they were snatched up when he first announced he was bringing his show to the West Coast. I got on the waiting list and managed to get the call saying I had tickets reserved for me! So I was totally stoked for Strombo!!



The show we saw featured guests leader of the federal Green Party, Elisabeth May; rapper and actor Ice Cube, and a performance by singer Hannah Georgas. There was also an interview they wanted to pre-tape with CBC journalist Ian Hanomansing. The show itself was a well run machine, and basically what you see on television - political, humorous, lighter than a news program but not your average nighttime talkshow either.

However, it's what went on during the breaks that made the whole experience! George was both totally gracious and a total potty-mouth. He swore every other word, answered as many questions as the audience could fire his way, and just seemed really approachable, genuine, and intelligent. He was such a good speaker, told stories about favourite interviews, bad guests, and his ethic of having no goals because he believes that setting goals sets you up for failure, and he'd rather live in the moment. He pontificated about his love for hip hop, talked about his radio show (only when asked), and proclaimed how much he loved bringing the show to Vancouver because of the audience/fan base he has here.

I find him so frickin' sexy, not just his looks but his intelligence and knowledge of various topics and his openness. He's got a dark edge, listens to heavy metal, races motorcycles, has an immense knowledge of politics and history, looks like he could beat the crap out of me, and is gay friendly which totally makes my day. Marry me, already!

It was a swell evening, and tonight there's more of it! Not only is he doing another show taping, but if you follow him on Twitter, he's set to announce a secret gathering for his followers to show up for a public screening of the new Scream 4 movie! Be there!!

No Trespassing

I went to see the latest Morris Panych play The Trespassers at the Vancouver Playhouse last week.



It's the story about a teenage boy and his relationship with his grandfather and eventually his mysterious death. It was on the slow side, in my opinion, and I didn't find the story gripping. The play jumped back and forth in time, which sometimes works for me, but in this instance it just seemed messy and all over the place. There were no surprises, so nothing was keeping me on the edge of my seat. All in all, meah, a bit of a disappointment.

Movies: When Love Is Not Enough

Here we go, its another period piece starring Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper. Winona loves those movies where she can get all dressed up in clothes from another time period, doesn't she? Well, she hasn't been up to much lately, though is slowly rebuilding her career, and thank goodness for that!!

This made for TV movie is from the Hallmark company, which is clearly evident when you watch it. It's sappy and tells the story of how the support group for friends and families of alcoholics, Al-Anon, was formed. Unless you're a big Winona fan, I say Skip It.

I totally miss Winona, and she was definitely one of my favourite actresses back in the day! Whether it was her turn as an original mean girl in Heathers, (to which there MAY be a sequel in development!)



or her role as an angst-ridden teenager in Mermaids with Cher and Christina Ricci,



I enjoyed her gothic role in Dracula, but wasn't that keen on Little Women or How To Make an American Quilt.



I absolutley loved her and wanted to be her in Reality Bites, dancing around in the supermarket to My Sharona.



Of course, there was Girl, Interrupted but everyone knows that Angelina Jolie was the one who stole the show there.



I squealed in the theatre when I saw her cameo in Star Trek.



And of course, she was in Black Swan, but not nearly enough for my liking! I loved her as the bitter drunk dancer has-been. And to me, she was the highlight of that movie!

Movies: Working Girl

I took a trip back to the 80s recently when I watched for the first time, the movie Working Girl, starring Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, and Harrison Ford.

It's very much a "mean boss"/"secretary does good" type of movie, in the vein of say, The Devil Wears Prada, but with much less fashion sense. Although, I really did quite enjoy all the 80s outfits, hairdos, and makeup that was going on. I mean, this was actually how people dressed back then and it was normal and not over the top at all!



The movie also featured the likes of Joan Cusack and Kevin Spacey, as well. It was fun but predictable, but I'm glad I finally got to see it.

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Saturday Afternoon Art

This past weekend, I finally got to visit the Rennie Collection at the Wing Sang building in Chinatown! To get in, you have to book a time through the website but they only have certain timeslots available, most of which are during the workday. Finally they had a weekend opening, and I made the reservation.

The building is the oldest one in Chinatown, dating back to 1889 built for Chinese Canadian entrepreneur Yip Sang and his four wives. You can read more about it here. Once inside the building, we were greeted by a student from the Emily Carr art school, who proceeded to give us an hour long guided tour of the building and each piece of art on display.

The current exhibition features Amy Bessone and Thomas Houseago, individual artists in their own right, but also a married couple. Below are some pieces from Houseago, whose sculptures I found more interesting than Bessone's paintings. And of course there's the Martin Creed piece featured on the exterior of the building. Of note is an upcoming Martin Creed exhibit that will take place after this one closes down.

If you get a chance to visit the gallery, do so!

The Best and The Brightest

It wasn't the best, nor was it the brightest, but it was reasonably entertaining. I only watched it for Amy Sedaris, whose lines seemed to be written just for her, if not by her. The movie is about a young couple who move to New York and try to get their five year old daughter into a kindergarten class at a private school, competing against other parents and children trying to do the same thing.

It's a comedic mess, that will help pass the time in a snap.

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