Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Best of You Tube: Pigeon Riding the Subway

I thought this was so funny, I had to share:



This video was recently taken on a Toronto subway.
Notice how nonchalant the passengers are.

I love my city.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

If I Had More Time

Not exactly sure what's going on with me lately but I feel anxious.  I'm wondering if that has anything to do with the fact that I have too much on my plate?
One of my favourite expressions is, 'if there were only more hours in the day'. 
The problem is, if I did have these extra hours, would I use them wisely? 

With my extra hours I would do (or at least attempt) the following:
  1. Spend more time with my Grandmother
  2. Resume my French lessons so I know what I’m eating whenever I go to Paris
  3. Watch every movie that has ever won the Academy Award for Best Picture
  4. Volunteer
  5. Clean the dust bunnies from under my bed.  Btw, who thought to call them ‘bunnies’? They’re hardly cute.  'Dust Rats' is more appropriate.
  6. Take my dog for more walks
  7. Paint my kitchen red
  8. Write more
  9. Take a speed reading class so I can finish the books piled on my nightstand
  10. Spend more time at the museum
  11. Have coffee with friends more often
  12. Sit still more often
  13. Think of get-rich-quick schemes
  14. Play tennis more
  15. Dream about having more time
Making this list was harder than I thought and I'm sure I've left something out.

What would you do with more time?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Just More Questions.....

What do you do when the one person who has inspired you dies?

Do you carry on your journey or do you take time off to mourn or do you stop what you love to do altogether?
That’s what I’m struggling with today. I’m asking myself, ‘what’s the point?’

A few months ago, I made the decision to start blogging about my other love, fashion. I was thinking about starting a fashion website & blog for years but never really had the balls (or the time) to do it properly.

Then, one October day in 2009, I suddenly got the creative urge to do it and blogged about it:

Blog Post: October 6, 2009

I started my fashion blog the very next day....I’m still in the process of creating more and more content and will hopefully grow a good following soon…it takes time to develop but I don’t have to tell you guys that.
However, after hearing the news today that Lee (Alexander) McQueen has killed himself, I’m questioning everything.
My number one question is how can someone so brilliant and talented want to end it all at 40 yrs old?

Perhaps the fashion world really is.....irrelevant.  Or maybe I'm just being dramatic.

I’m so fucking distraught over a person I didn’t know. It’s strange. But it means something….I just don’t know what.

Below:
one of his most brilliant shows...in my opinion. SS 2005
RIP Alexander McQueen

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Oscar Nominations 2010

Here we go again, kids! It’s Oscar time.
I love this time of year—I’ve been Oscar-obsessed my entire life.
Sometimes, the little gold man surprises us with the nominations and other times, not so much. This year is a ‘not so much’ year.

Most of us saw these nominations coming but there were a few surprises in each category but nothing out of the ordinary like nominating The Hangover for Best Picture. (This film won a Golden Globe Award. Writing it in my blog feels even more strange than saying it out loud)
But, I digress.

Here are some ‘WTF’ moments and ‘OMG, I’m so happy!’ moments and ‘Not a Surprise’ moments within the main categories:

Supporting Actress:

Vera Farmiga : ‘OMG’ I love Vera.

Anna Kendrick : ‘OMG’ & ‘Not a Surprise’ She’s my Oscar pick but Maggie G will be tough to beat

Mo’Nique: ‘Not a Surprise’ & ‘WTF’. I’m sorry, I just can’t get over the fact that someone from a movie called Phat Girlz is now nominated for an Oscar.



Penelope Cruz: ‘Not a Surprise’ & ‘WTF’ The Academy loves Penelope. Perhaps they can understand her when she talks. I certainly can’t.

Maggie Gyllenhaal: ‘Not a Surprise’ Could this be Maggie’s year?


Supporting Actor:

Christoph Waltz : ‘OMG’ ‘OMG’ & ‘OMG’. He plays a calm but raging lunatic that can speak four languages, beautifully. He was one scary ‘basterd’ in this film. He’s my Oscar pick.

Woody Harrelson: ‘Not a Surprise’ He’s got some serious Oscar buzz swirling over him

Stanley Tucci: ‘WTF’ I guess I should see The Lovely Bones. I liked the book but the movie has mediocre reviews so I decided to wait for the DVD rental.

Matt Damon: ‘WTF’ I still haven’t forgiven him for The Informant. I fucking Hollywood massacre for the eyes & ears, not to mention the most boring film of all time. I WANT MY $ BACK, MATT!!!!

Christopher Plummer: ‘Not a Surprise’ The Last Station is on my ‘must-see’ list

Upset:
Sharlto Copley for District 9 deserved some attention here.



Best Actress:

Gabourey Sidibe: ‘Not a Surprise’

Helen Mirren: ‘Not a Surprise’ Oscar buzz, buzz, buzz

Sandra Bullock: ‘WTF’ & who did she blow in Hollywood to get all this awards attention this year? Whatev. Never liked her, never will.

Carey Mulligan: ‘OMG’ & ‘Not a Surprise’ She’s my Oscar pick but Meryl played Julia Child perfectly-this one is a very close race

Meryl Streep: ‘OMG’ & ‘Not a Surprise’ It’s funny how young Hollywood complains about lack of good roles while Meryl, in her fifties, keeps doing her thing. When you got it, you got it.


Best Actor:

George Clooney: ‘Not a Surpise’ but he won’t win.

Jeff Bridges: ‘Not a Surprise’ Jeff Bridges will take it home.

Colin Firth: ‘OMG’ & ‘Not a Surprise’ Colin will get his Oscar some day but not this year

Morgan Freeman: ‘WTF’ I have ZERO interest in this film

Jeremy Renner: ‘OMG’ He’s my Pick. He deserves this award but I think the Academy will give it to Bridges

Upset:
Where’s Viggo? The Road was totally ignored. Interesting.




Best Picture:

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds  My Pick! But this is a race between Hurt & Avatar
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Adapted Screenplay:
(It's difficult for me to pick the best screenplays as I haven't seen a couple of the noms yet but I LOVED An Education & Up in the Air)

Ditrict 9
An Education  My Pick!
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air   My Pick!


Original Screenplay:

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds  My Pick but I think Hurt will take it home
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up


Director:

Avatar
The Hurt Locker  My Pick
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

Usually, the Best Picture winner & Best Director winner go hand in hand.  I think this will be a battle between Bigelow & Cameron.  I would love it though if Tarantino won.  I think Inglourious Basterds is his masterpiece.
What do you think?




So, it looks like I have some movies to watch before the big night:
A Serious Man
In The Loop
The Messenger
The Last Station
The White Ribbon (nominated for Best Foreign Film)


I probably won’t bother:
Invictus
The Blind Side
Precious
Crazy Heart
The Lovely Bones