Good News for People Who Love Bad News

This morning I'm reminded of an album title from alternative band Modest Mouse, their 2004 recording (yes it's been that long), "Good News for People Who Love Bad News".

Did you know that CBC.ca actually features a page dedicated to Good News Only? Yep they do. Headline snips like "- Car sales increase in July: New vehicle sales climbed 5.3 per cent, to 126,665 units, in July compared to the same month in 2008, Statistics Canada revealed Tuesday. Led by increases in Ontario, sales of both passenger cars and trucks were up". So this means that CBC employs a department that has to initiate and maintain this portion of their site. These folks go through their news feeds, sort them and feature them as part of the Good News Section. Cool eh?

Besides the excitement this morning of the Olympic Flambe (yes, I call it flambe - think a lit baked Alaska dessert) arriving in Canada - Victoria, there are apparently hoards of negative, unemployed losers getting ready to not only protest, but literally aiming to attack torch-bearers and extinguish the flame. Huh? Unbelievable.

I wonder why protestors don't focus on something that they can make a positive difference with, instead just destructive measures. For God sakes - go serve food at a downtown Eastside shelter, volunteer with community policing, be a Big Brother or Big Sister - but please, don't be a big fat loser and try to fumble an upstanding citizen as they take part in something very exciting and positive. I work for a Mayor who presides over a Venue City. Trust me, we're busy. I could give a rats ass about the Olympic Games - never has interested me. But I will say this, our community is demonstrating the best and I believe baby. I believe because I know that there are a large number of regular citizens willing to showcase their community in the best possible light and to allow other citizens to make a difference for something really positive. I see it every day.

Beginning today, the Olympic torch will travel not only through BC, but across the whole of Canada, the world's second largest country. It is in fact taking its longest journey ever. We will see it pass through our West Vancouver community on February 11, 2010 and the process of selecting citizens to be a Torchbearer is a great deal of work, all of which is undertaken by people who take a great deal of pride in their jobs. This people, is a good thing. This is - Good News. So, stop moping around and see what exciting energy is about to hit the deck.

And before I sign off on this Friday morning, tongue-in-cheek, I leave you with some Modest Mouse, from the esteemed album noted above....

Romeo Dallaire

Romeo Dallaire, originally uploaded by Carina Sorensen.

This morning I had the pleasure through work, to attend Romeo Dallaire's special engagement at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby. This man is a true Canadian and nothing less than a hero. His speech this morning gave me an entirely new sense of our country. I would see him again and again if it was possible. It was just amazing.

I'm not in the mood for anything but this new album

Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson's Break Up album is so great...

Jim Wright Shoots Pete Yorn Music Video from BERNSTEIN & ANDRIULLI on Vimeo.

Halloween is a BIG thing at the District...particularly HR

This is hilarious when you know these people. Thanks to our Halloween-loving Moira, our HR Department shines with their spirit of fun way before October 31st. Did I mention I love this place?

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Saturday's To Do

monday's list., originally uploaded by sfgirlbybay.

I gotta keep track of a a few things today while the sun is streaming in and the Fall chill is in the air.
Chris is moving today. I'll let the guys do the heavy lifting - since I'm more the type to help him set up his kitchen and unpack dishes or hang pictures and rearrange the furniture.

I'm on my way to Soda to get my lid done, another 200 quid, then I HAVE to find the frame for the certificate being presented to Gordon Smith at Monday night's Council Meeting. Not too much pressure?!

At 4pm I'll jet over to the Ambleside fields for Federal infrastructure funding announcement with the District and of course the Mayor. Then back home, feed Buddy, wrap a gift and out with neighbours to a real house-warming gathering for ex-Georgian Manor residents. I'm excited to see their new house since when you live in a condo for so long you develop serious house envy. I'm thrilled for them, just as I'm happy for my brother getting into a new place - a work project actually.

Tomorrow I'll drop him off some fall flower pot for the front porch - maybe a pumpkin too. Gotta leave the blogger site now. Procrastination begins at home.

See you at the movies!

Two Words: Meryl Streep!, originally uploaded by nbklx17 / Sandy.

Last Friday, the boss and I went to see Julie & Julia. She had already seen it a few weeks before, but she was definitely eager to go again and to have me join her. We had a fabulous time and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's inspiring and entertaining. Great for gals to see together. In fact, my friend Moira and I are going to the Matinee this Sunday. I'm excited for her to see it because it will give her a boost for sure.

The Smiths and The Cure Found in The Drums

NME is reporting that Boy George is impressed with the band "The Drums", saying they remind him of The Smiths.



Note to John Goodman: Can you get the CD? I'd like to do the review if you haven't covered them yet.

Susan Boyle Is Going To Drag'em Away

Susan Boyle's first single will be an amazing cover of Rolling Stones "Wild Horses". Although I love the Sundays' rendition of the song, Boyle's take on it throws the tune far beyond the imagination. I can see this bushy-eyebrowed gal has showed them all that exterior beauty isn't any indication of talent. Her album entitled, of course, "I Dreamed a Dream", and will set new records in the stratosphere. It's release isn't due until November and will be offered on Amazon.

Monday morning, big week, coffee is going to be required every morning

It's hard to leave your bed
The cooling hot summer sheets
Hangover hanging on by the fangs
Walk to work on wild feet

And get to the back door
Look around then turn the key
Turn on all the lights
Take down the chairs and make things neat

Hey there coffee girl
Beautiful and disaffected
It was perfect till
He came along and wrecked it

Your favorite mix tape
You popped it into the deck
Don't care it's out of date
Old Cat Power and classic Beck

Beware purveyors of cool
With their compacts of one
Taking canons to fools
When all you need's a BB gun

Hey there coffee girl
Beautiful and disaffected
It was perfect till
He came along and wrecked it

One night he'll make you choose
I am sorry but he will
The hardscape or your shoes
When the moon's behind the hill

Hey there coffee girl
Beautiful and disaffected
It was perfect till
He came along and wrecked it

Hey there coffee girl
Hey there coffee girl

My big brother Mike will be soooo jealous

The weather is beautiful this morning and a chunk of us are now really excited about the outdoor concert this evening. I can't believe I'm going to see Neil Young. It's crazy. I know Sarah McLachlan and Sheryl Crow are cool and nice, but I've been holding my breath for Neil.



I remember when I was about 20 years old and dating an adorable fellow ten years my senior. He had a million vinyl records in crates that took up his living room walls. He really introduced me to Neil Young. It was his admiration of Young that intrigued me and I was able to understand the fascination.

The album Harvest was the backdrop to a summer all those years ago - backyard parties with patio lanterns, eating fresh caught crab and drinking margaritas. I loved "Alabama" and "Damage Done" - Young's storytelling songwriting is fierce.

So why the big deal? Well, if you're a music lover and your tastes exceed JR Country or Virgin Radio, then you hear Neil Young and you just get that he's an amazing talent and a rock institution. It's raw 1970's.


Shot by famed musician photographer Tom Sheehan

Tonight, fingers crossed and breath held, when Neil takes the stage, and begins Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black), I will be beside myself.

One more day to go

Ambleside Park on the shores of West Vancouver; the venue for Saturday night's concert, Summer Sessions, presented by the Sarah McLachlan Foundation.

I drove through the park last night after work to see how things were setting up. Well, the setting is amazing....the view from Marine Drive...those white peaks are the VIP tents for the concert.
Once you're inside the Ambleside Park....

Man in the Mall

Yesterday I spent some quality time at Park Royal Shopping Centre. The change in the weather brings on some instinct from the days when you were a kid and your mom dragged you to the mall for new school clothes. At some point, this annual excursion actually became something to look forward to. But remember the agony? Mom would be picking out dork clothes and you argued for the femme-fit Jordashe jeans to no avail. I got a lot of striped turtlenecks - in every possible shade. That's what I recall anyway.

So besides my Friday evening purchase of a brand new 24" iMac, I could still muster up some energy to cruise through the stores for some dress slacks. I wear a lot of dress slacks for work. And of course pop in to every shoe store on the North Side. And while I slunk around Hudson's Bay Company, I had to chuckle and of course privately commend myself for not being guilty of one of life's most cruel and ridiculous hazards: The female taking their boyfriend or husband to the mall while she shops for clothes. UGH. Why the torture girls?
Trust me - this is not reality:

Just looking at these pathetic men is utterly bewildering. Why, oh why do they allow themselves to be subjected to such lunacy? It's like they've been abducted (or wish they were). My God - the dazed look on their faces and the ding bat who never tires of pendulating something on a hanger in front of his blank stare and asking him, "What do you think of this colour?"


Well gals, I have some news for you. He couldn't give a crap. You're literally killing him. Stop this nonsense and let the poor creature out of his shopping captivity.

I don't have a boyfriend, but I can tell you this is not something I would ever subject my love bug to. It's just not right. In fact, there ought to be a law. And if he wants to shop with you, you may want to see if he's also storing his Judy Garland CDs in the trunk of his Miata.

So girls, go forth and shop. Shop on your own. You'll cover more ground. You won't look like a human torture machine and your boyfriend will be much happier. Trust me, this will be your best buying decision.

back and forth

bw 80s 3, originally uploaded by tim caynes.

"My life is spent in a perpetual alternation between two rhythms, the rhythm of attracting people for fear I may be lonely and the rhythm of trying to get rid of them because I know that I am bored."
- Cyril Joad (1891-1953)

20 years later and I still love this movie

The message from the Universe

normal vector, originally uploaded by zeissizm.

I know what it's like. I've seen it played out a few zillion times.
You're waiting for that magical day when someone makes the connection and recognizes who you really are. Maybe they'll first catch the sparkle in your eye. Or perhaps they'll marvel at your insights and the depth of your spirit. Someone who will help you connect the dots, believe in yourself, and make sense of it all. Someone who will understand you, approve of you, and
unhesitatingly give you a leg up so that life can pluck your ready, ripened self from the branch of magnificence.

Well, I'm here to tell you, your wait is over. That someone, is you.

Good thing you rock,
The Universe

Life of a Married Woman

My recent edition of Geist had a story entitled "The Secret Market", which caught my eye because of the photo in the middle of it. It was an old black and white of a woman from maybe the 1960's peering through a movie camera, with a hand-written message across it which read, "I got back with my ex because I needed editing software." Are not secrets more delicious when shared anonymously? Of course they are! Frank Warren is the brain and creator behind PostSecret, his online project of postcards sent to him anonymously with someone's unhinged secret. I suppose unloading a secret is therapeutic, but really, there are few secrets I care to know about, however I think the orphic message of getting back with your ex because he's got some superior software is deliciously intriguing. I really don't know if it's all that bad of a concept, after all, who among us hasn't compromised with our love relationships - or lack of them.

Meanwhile it's Sunday and tonight the 3rd season of Mad Men airs - the greatest show on television. I confess that my own compromises have left me wondering what would be so bad to be Betty Draper. That stunning life veneer of ambition, love, home and garden - with its crumbling failure on the interior. Staggering handsome, lying, cheating and misrepresenting husband - that's the trade off. But man it sure looks gorgeous from the outside doesn't it?

Smegged

Like the AGA in the English cottage, the Smeg fridge is a classic.

Spike on Smeg

Spike on Smeg, originally uploaded by Ciaranz.

Very cool. While Googling Smegs, I came across this charming photo. I love the name Spike for a cat - I think it's hilarious. But so is Bernard - pronounced Burn-erd of course. I would love a new pale pink Smeg - who wouldn't?

I dare ya not to like it

Chicago Instrumentalist, Andrew Bird, does his rare vocal appearance on this single "Imitosis", from the album Armchair Apocrypha. Great tune, intriguing video.



he's keeping busy
yeah he's bleeding stones
with his machinations and his palindromes
it was anything but hear the voice
that says that we're all basically alone

we were all basically alone
and despite what all his studies had shown
that what's mistaken for closeness
is just a case of mitosis
sure fatal doses of malcontent through osmosis
and why do some show no mercy
while others are painfully shy
tell me doctor, can you quantify?
the reason why

The Fascination with Grey Gardens

I don't expect everyone to understand it, but for me, it was the moment I laid eyes on the photo above that I became completely mesmerized by the story of the Bouvier Beales.
After her husband abandoned and consequently divorced her, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale shut herself away from society and reality, into her East Hampton mansion named Grey Gardens. The eldest child, "Little Edie", followed her mother unwillingly, motivated by despair, broken dreams, depression, and a strange nervous condition which caused her hair to fall out. More intriguing is the disfunction of the controlling relationship Big Edie had with her fragile daughter. Even as a middle-aged woman, Little Edie couldn't seem to escape her mother's control or judgement and they lived together for many years as the home descended into absolute squalor. In the early 1970's cousin Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis donated several thousands and organized major renovation and restoration to Grey Gardens so that her Aunt and Cousin could continue to inhabit the home.


The 1975 documentary was the brilliant creation of brothers Albert and David Maysles, who captured many moments of madness and the poetic disability of these eccentric women. In some respects, Grey Gardens the film was the first of "reality tv" and when it was brought to the big screen in 1976, it was to critical acclaim.





They had many, many cats living in the house with them. Even a few raccoons. When City Health Officials entered the home in the early 1970's the attendants could hardly breathe from the stench inside.

Young Little Edie as an East-Coast Socialite in happier times

Doesn't this image remind you of the cover of a New York Dolls album?




Today, Grey Gardens has been completely restored, and the legacy of two tragic lives continues to draw people's fascination.

Little Edie

Little Edie, originally uploaded by spins LPs.

I'm obsessed with the story of the Beales, little Edie and big Edie, and of course the third character in the story really, the backdrop to the madness, their home, Grey Gardens.

Not much for WEDDINGS, but if you can shake up tradition, then I say go for it

THIS is absolutely BRILLIANT. Happy Friday.

"One Safe Place"

After re-watching the movie "The Upside of Anger", I again attempted to purchase the closing song online. It's Marc Cohn, "One Safe Place", and it's unfortunately not found on iTunes. I can't find the soundtrack to the film either. It's weird. More investigation. The video below isn't great - but I really love this very poignant song.


How many roads you've traveled
How many dreams you've chased
Across sand and sky and gravel
Looking for one safe place

Will you make a smoother landing
When you break your fall from grace
Into the arms of understanding
Looking for one safe place

Life is trial by fire
And love's the sweetest taste
And I pray it lifts us higher
To one safe place

How many roads we've traveled
How many dreams we've chased
Across sand and sky and gravel
Looking for one safe place

Bud's going to the Doctor's this morning

Fuzz-face is going to see his doctor which he hasn't had to see in years. He's giving signs of having a urinary infection - peeing OUTSIDE the dirt box, not eating properly and obsessed with 'certain' body parts. Geesh. I hope he's just going in for a quick inspection and diagnosis. I can't stand having to put the little guy under stress. But I can't have him in discomfort either. He goes to a place called "All About Cats" - which is good. No noisy dogs to scare them. Just a bunch of laid back cats. Maybe he'll get a pedicure while he's there. The staff is in for a real treat with Mr Miserable. But what a cutie pie.

Someone just drove up and parked with this blasting out of their car

And you know, it actually made me smile.

Michael Jackson - Don't Stop
by fred04dj