I know it seem slightly OCD to track all the movies one sees in a year. But meh, we all have our quirks. This year, I tracked all the movies I had seen for the first time. (This doesnt include all the movies I saw again, only the new ones.) I think I'm missing a couple, but here is my almost complete list, in almost chronological order. I wrote reviews for some of them, but I will save that commentary for another day.
What can I say about the list? There are some exceptionally creative artists who make films. There are some awesome directors whose films would be so much better if they had a good editor. There are some films that I wonder how they ever got made.... and this was good year for zombie movies...Overall though, 2009 gave us some real gems in film and a number of suprises.... Some of the discussions these movies inspired were very interesting.
As the chaos of holiday celebrations is about to finish and as we are about to welcome in another year and begin a journey into a new decade, these are the things I hope. I hope you are full with love. I hope you find peace in yourself. I hope the next year fills you with joy and laughter. I hope you make many new memories and have many new adventures.
Wishing you and yours the best of love, health, and happiness in the coming year.
Now normally, I would never advocate for interaction with the yellow snow.
The yellow snow is the warning sign for where your neighbourhood animals have used the world as their urinal, largely a spot to avoid making snow angels, getting material for snow fights, and always, the last snow bank you want to be thrown in.
Recently, however, the brewing community has come out with another gem, called Yellow Snow IPA. This yellow snow, is awesome! Made by Rogue brewery out of Portland, Oregon, US, (http://www.rogue.com/beers/beers.php) this stuff is like a party in your mouth. If you like hoppy beers with lots of flavour, I recommend checking this one out.
When I was in university, my mother would send my father with boxes of care packages. As my father would bring in the box, there would almost always be a collection of my friends hovering around to see what my mom had cooked for us. Its funny, when I lived at home, my mom barely cooked, but when I moved away, she sent food almost weekly, and not just for me, usually for a collection of 8-10 people who she "adopted" along the way. One of the treats she sent was her famous banana bread. This stuff was awesome. She would almost always send two loaves and it was usually gone within 5 minutes of the package being unwrapped. Her banana bread recipe is still with me. Most of my moms recipes were neatly typed on index cards, filed in a little metal box that was always in the kitchen. The well used ones, are now yellow and stained. The banana bread recipe, the only one I have used consistently in all these years, sits on my spice rack. Usually during bouts of insomnia, often during the holidays, sometimes just when i buy too many bananas, or you know, even when I'm supposed to be packing for a month long trip, I find myself in the kitchen making banana bread.
I love the stuff. I love the memories and moments it connects me to of my mother. And I love that my banana bread is damn good. I'm not uber confident about too many things, but I will own this one. This stuff rocks. Here is footage from my most recent foray into the goodness bananas make. Incidentally, I made this one, as I was preparing for a 5am trip to the airport. In case you are wondering, it makes great airplane food. This my friend Lucky charms. I consider this my banana bread "awesomeness" testimonial :)
Friday, I watched Zombieland. (yay! Zombie movies..) Let me just say you should not read further if you have not seen the movie and don't want to know what happens....I'm about to spoil it for you.
Let me just start by saying that when one goes to a Zombie movie, you enter with certain expectations, or rather, you lower your expectations.
You don't evaluate a zombie movie on the same scale with which you would rate a indie movie or arthouse film. The scale is really about how bad it is, how gross the effects were, what was the most interesting zombie kill, how inappropriately clever or cheesy the dialogue is, how absurd the plot is. You rate it, on a Zombie scale.
I loved this movie. Don't get me wrong, I know its bad, that it had so much potential...blah blah blah....... But it made me laugh out loud, it had some of the best zombie kills I've seen in awhile (with the exception of Dead Snow, which should be another post, but I digress.) So the zombie kills - kill by piano drop, kill on an amusement ride, kill in a prize booth, and a zombie attack in a toilet. Classic!
In terms of absurd plot .....it wasn't a fantastic plot, but it had elements I appreciated.......I mean, seriously, how can you not like a movie, that has a alpha male hero obsessed with twinkies and Bill Murray, a sidekick who has that Michael Cera cadence and awkward geek factor, a re-enactment of a scene from Ghostbusters, and a great soundtrack. It also had a list of zombie survival tips which I found probably more amusing than I should.
Therefore, Zombieland = AWESOME.
Thank you for the shameless escapism, I feel full on my weekly cheese consumption :)
Meet Frank, hes my green plant, gifted from co-workers husband.
Franks a good plant, doesn't make a lot of noise, quietly cultivates in the corner and brings beauty to my apartment. I'm happy to say, although its been touch and go at times, Frank is still alive and thriving after being adopted eight months ago. He even has a few siblings that live out on the balcony. But this is about Frank. Way to go my friend, thanks for hanging in there.
Do you remember when you were a kid, flying kites ? On windy days, you barely needed to run with the kite, you just threw it into the air and watched as it twisted in the breeze. Other times, on less perfect kite days, you had to run with your kite and almost will it to fly. But the excitement was in getting it into the air, and seeing how high you could make it go.
Yesterday, was a perfect kite day. It was sunny and warm and there was a relaxing breeze that seemed willing to embrace the company of kites in the sky.
I sat in the park most of the afternoon. It was there that I met the community kite maker. This older gentleman came and sat beside me on the picnic table and proceeded to make a half a dozen small kites. They were made out of plastic bags, sticks and string, all of which he pulled out of his small bag. As he finished each one, he hung them around the park for other people to enjoy. He seemed to be well known and well liked at the park, and lots of people volunteered to fly his kites. It was an interesting afternoon, and reminded me of kite adventures in my childhood I had forgotten.
To the kite maker, thanks for the conversation and for sharing your creations with all those that crossed your path.
Pancakes are fun. They are meant to be shared. They are a new creation every time. Sometimes, if you get the batter just right, you can mold it into various cartoon forms. When I was a kid, my relatives would sometimes make me bunny rabbit pancakes. In those moments, I was always amazed at how my breakfast could be so cool. Not much has changed. One of my favourite scenes in a movie is in Uncle Buck when John Candy uses a shovel to flip a GIGANTIC pancake. Truly awesome.
I inherited a stack of old cookbooks from my mom. There is one in particular that has been invaluable. It has been my reference point for breakfast food as well different ways to cook meat and bake sweets. "The Better Homes and Gardens - new Cook Book",7th edition, not sure what year. But its old. You can tell by the hard binder, the yellowed pages, the pictures, the fonts used, the stains that pepper many pages. Its helped a couple generations of my family create their masterpieces.
When I began to get more confident in cooking, I began to try out different recipes on my friends. (Thank you for your willingness to be experimented on). Page 79 is where I learned to make pancakes. Initially, I ventured into general pancakes, not taking too many risks, as not to upset the delicate pancake balance. But eventually, I got really good at it. I built confidence. I experimented with different ingredients - fruit, chocolate, coconut. (My recent favourite is banana coconut - which turn out particularly yummy if you brown the bananas a little by adding them only in the frying pan.)For the emerging cooks like me, I share my adapted Pancake recipe and instructions....
Pancakes Recipe adapted from Better Homes & Gardens: new Cook book p. 79.
1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder (wise not to confuse this one with baking soda as the results are ...not good)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons salad oil
Mix up ingredients. When the batter starts to rise and bubble, you are ready.If the mixture is a little runny or you feel its too liquidy, add a couple tablespoons of flour.
Use a big pan. Heat the pan ahead of time (2-3 mins ahead, depending on your type of stove. - if you have a gas stove, you will need less than a minute). Put the stove to Medium heat. You can check if its ready by sprinkling a few drops of water on the pan, if it bounces, you are good to go.
Put some oil in the pan, then add your pancake batter. You may want to try and start with smaller ones first, until you get the hang of it. When little bubbles start to appear across the whole pancake, it is time for you to flip it. Usually the first side takes the longest.
This post goes out to my awesome friend Nixie, my official pancake tester, and my courageous friend embarking on a big adventure across the pond. Miss you.
To be honest, winter is not my favourite season. I have often felt that I was meant to have been born in a warm country because of my aversion to the cold, and my love of the sunny seasons with the beautiful flowers.
But winter isn't all bad, there are some things that are awesome about it, the way the snow can look magical, making snow angels, going snow tubing, having snowball fights and making snow men. There is something truly majestic about dropping backwards into a patch of untouched snow and making your snow angel creation. Only to try and get up ever so carefully without wrecking your art. And snow tubing, well is just fun. Jumping into an inner tube and then being pushed down at hill in what feels like lightening speeds. Only to arrive at the bottom with a scratchy throat from screaming (that might just be me), and full of adrenaline, because you survived.
Me & my friend Jean Jean (making her first ever snow angel! I think she did a stand-up job!)
In February of 2008, Toronto was hit by a series of huge snow storms. This particular one introduced me to my neighbours and reminded me about the kindness of strangers.
The thing I have noticed about winter weather, particularly when there is an impending storm, is that it sometimes inspires an unexplainable comraderie. As a kid that comraderie was the celebration of the Snow Day....and actually as an adult too....yes, I admit it, I was the one who danced shamelessly around the office when the president of our company sent us home during a storm. The Snow Day is representative of play time. Its like an unexpected gift, where as a kid, you were outside to build snowforts and go toboganning as soon as the radio announcer mentioned that the buses for your school were cancelled. As an adult, (for me anyway..) it often means a hibernation day, where I get to wear pj's all day, without guilt or shame, cause you know....we are in emergency conditions...and watch my favourite movies. In some circumstances, it also means going outside to have fun in the new fallen snow.
The other kind of comraderie inspired by snow storms is the kind where complete strangers help you out, simply because they can.
On one day which we got sent home, my car got stuck on the street as I was attempting to drive up a short distance to my driveway. The plow had not yet been down the street, and i could not go fast enough to keep the momentum up through the snow. I spent a good while driving up and down the street, but kept getting stuck on one part. Finally one of my neighbours came out of her house (in her Pj's) and pushed me out. She and another neighbour then helped me dig out my driveway. I have lived on my street for almost four years, and it was the first time I had even had a conversation with this woman. Yet she took time out of her day to help me. Just because she could. How awesome was she?
A few days later, a snowplow left a nice package of snow at the end of my driveway. Tempting fate, i tried to drive over this lovely package in an attempt to push the snow down so I could get into the drive. I was thinking I would have time to shovel it later. As my car is fairly low to the ground, and this was quite a pile of snow, I got stuck. I left my car there for many hours because there was no one around on my street to ask for help. I tried digging out the snow, adding salt, pushing the car, stamping my feet, cursing, wishing, praying.....but nothing seemed to work..Later in the day, I saw a neighbour and asked her if she could give me a hand. She and I tried for awhile to no avail. And then, this man, a total stranger, drove by. He saw us trying to move the car, backed up and offered to help. Within minutes, the car was unjammed, and he had helped me put it back in the parking space. My neighbour then helped me dig out the snow, and clear the driveway. My car would have been there for days if they had not helped. I was touched by their kindness.
On another of the snowstorm days, I chose to take the bus to work. On one precarious hill on the way to the subway station, well after we had passed the bus stop, the driver stopped to let this woman struggling to wade through the snow to catch the bus. If he had not stopped, she would of likely been waiting there for another half hour in the bitter cold and slush, no where near a bus shelter. I have been on this bus many times, and have never witnessed the driver stop for someone like that during rush hour. It was a kind gesture and it was nice to see.
These are only the things I witnessed and experienced in that short time. I'm sure, that it happens every day. It deserves to be celebrated, and I hope it happens more. This posting goes out to the kindness of friends and strangers. For people caring about one another, simply because they can.
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of going to another Jason Mraz show in T-dot, with one of my very good friends.
Jason Mraz was joined by K'naan, (a hometown Toronto musician), G.Love and Special Sauce, and Bushwalla, who hosted the evening. To say that the evening was amazing doesn't really begin to sum it up. All of the musicians were solid in their own right. But what was even cooler was the atmosphere that Jason & co. created, which was one of community. Interesting how that can happen in a big venue, I suppose its about people being willing and open to it. But it was a really enjoyable experience.
I had never heard K'naan, but really enjoyed his set. His stuff reminds me of a fusion of styles, hip-hop, reggae, rap. I liked it. Particularly the song "Wavin Flag". (Here is an acoustic version he did on CBC, earlier this year.) The interview he does with Jian Ghomeshi on the same show, (I think its called Q), is worth checking out as well.
I'm hoping to hear more of his music soon. Apparently they are back in T-dot later this fall. In the meantime, I will have to listen in to all that Youtube and Myspace can offer up.
K'naan's set.
G. Love and Special Sauce were good musicians as well. I didn't really know much of their stuff, but they reminded me a bit of Blues Traveler, particularly with the way the lead singer played his harmonica. Bushwalla was a good choice for host. Hes fun and the friendship and connection that he and Jason Mraz have showed in their interaction. Check out one a video the two of them did called "I Like Freestyle". I also enjoyed his song "Ghettoblaster" which he played for us that night. Funny Guy. Great host.
As musicians...Jason Mraz and his band don't disappoint. I mean seriously, hes this down to earth guy, his music is fun, thoughtful, and lyrically and musically interesting. I like that hes diverse and not confined to any one kind of genre. I hear elements of jazz, reggae, hip hop, and I'm sure other styles. He's got guitars, keyboard, two types of drums and a full horn section! I mean really, how can you go wrong with a horn section? On one song, he almost sounded like he was singing opera, the way that he hit the notes. On another he broke out into a rap, and then had K'naan and G. Love come out on stage to rhyme with him. It was a cool moment, and I enjoyed experiencing it. He played many of the songs I wanted to hear, and even some I was hoping to hear, but didn't expect to, which is always a pleasant suprise. It was an awesome show. The one thing he didn't play, that I was hoping to hear, was his version of The Rainbow Connection. That's a song I grew up with and has a special place in my heart, and I would love to hear him play it live. However, it is all good, just gives me incentive to go see him play again :)
Mraz set.
I enjoy Jason Mraz's music, but also enjoy following his blogs and to hear his perspectives on the world. In my opinion, he creates this inclusive, positive vibe and just generally encourages people to be good human beings in their interactions with with each other and the world. He shares his experiences, but he also brings you along for the ride, encourages you to be better. I like it....maybe you will too.
