Free at last *sigh*

Summer vacation has begun! Finished my last exam on Monday night, now I can be useless and do nothing with a pure conscious! Great feeling that is :)

I *heart* ZiZou

*singing like Weezer* "Say it ain't sOoOoOoOo...." can it really be that "Zinedine Zidane a annoncé sa retraite internationale ." *sob* yes it's true, he's retiring from international soccer. That blows. He's so amazing. Sure he's a bit bald, but come on, he's wicked on the field. Interestingly enough Nutmeg* and I were discussing ZiZou's skills one day during the Euro Cup Nutmeg is a HARDCORE English fan (wanker!) whereas I was rooting for les bleus. Anywho we got onto the topic of Beckham vs. Zinedine lol and it took the turn of "If you could hook up with either Becks or ZiZou would you chose?" Nutmeg of COURSE chose Becks b/c of the crazy cash he makes on endorsement deals and because he's so pretty, i know he's so superficial (Nutmeg that is)*tsk*tsk* I on the other hand chose ZiZou, and no not just because he's French and therefore infinitely cooler than Becks, but because of his skills. Come on he was paid 46 million Pounds to go to Real Madrid *cough* Nutmeg, which makes that a world record fee. Well Zizou I take my hat off to you and bid adieu! International soccer is just not going to be the same without you! It's a good thing you're still playing for Real though :)

*Nutmeg: (male)(although some might say female)friend from high school who bears an uncanny resemblance to a hamster. Shauna had a hamster named Nutmeg so now the nickname is stuck for LIFE.

It's Caper Time!!!
Speaking of people I admire I really like Quincy Jones. I like Zinedine Zidane. I like well made commercials. Which means I loved the whole Adidas "Road to Lisbon" (you need quicktime to see it) campaign. When I see things like that it makes me wonder what the hell i'm doing in Canada. Europe. Europeans are so much more creative than we are! *sigh* You can put on anything and carry it off with such flair, if only I too were gifted with an intriguing accent and impeccable clothing. They are just so much cooler than us North Americans. Their commercials.

Armchair Athletics
Currently I hold the Canadian Armchair Athlete's title. I can't play sports but I'll darn tootin' watch 'em on the tele! It is with GREAT joy I welcome the Olympics into my home tonight. The next 13 days for me mean PURE unadulterated sports watching, Triathalon, Discus, Hurdles yes...even Speed Walking *woot*woot* I'm stoked.
Bring it on!!!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I must confess I do like snow...well I like the first snowfall and that's about it. Snow after the first snowfall = dreary Canadian winters and we all know how great those are! Not that I should complain because those poor people in the prairies get it so MUCH worse than we do in Toronto with our stupid "Lake Effect snow." Snow however is only supposed to be outside when it's cold. NOT in August. Richmond Street was closed again yesterday for freaking Cindrella Man. Traffic was disgusting and the amount of humanity outside gawking was ridiculous. Why can't they shoot on a weekend is what I'd like to know. So why were all these people outside? Other than to see Russell Crowe, there was snow out!!!! The entire street was covered in snow, the Model T Fords, old fashioned trolleys, everything covered in snow. By the time it hit five though most of it had melted :(

The Warsaw Uprising
This past Sunday marked the 60th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. It's difficult for me to think about the uprising without thinking about the ordinary people, how they wanted to rise up against the opression and take a stand. Those individuals that wanted to make a change; they weren't alone in Poland all across Europe the underground resistance was working. It makes me think of modern day Iraq.

Oh YES Wyoming!

(*sorry, but blogger's being stupid today, for some reason i can't post my links in properly...i'll try to fix it up when i get home!!)
This is old news, but I love the Seinfeld/Superman tag team action for those online commercials. *SIGH* I LOVE SEINFELD, his show is right up there in my list of fave TV shows (along with The Office, Blackadder, Monty Python's Flying Circus... the list can go on...) I haven't quiet decided on Curb Your Enthusiasm yet. It's almost like watching Seinfeld with a different character playing Jerry. I know Larry David was one of the creators, but the similarities are often eerie *shudder* Well back to those commercials. I think there should be a musical written about Toronto, just like for Wyoming. That way I could use lyrics from the musical as the title for this blog entry. What I would have really liked to say is "OH YES TORONTO."

OH YES TORONTO :)
I love Toronto (more than I love Jerry Seinfeld), but sometimes I wonder about this fair city I live in. It's hurting. Badly. Our city is full of beautiful people. Who can't dress. The other night on the Subway I saw a woman whose earrings were made out of TOONIES . That's right. Toonies. There is no excuse for that. Last week in the morning on the way to work we got stuck between Victoria St and Bay on Richmond b/c there was no electricity in the street lights. Why? Because they were shooting Cinderella Man (the new Russel Crowe boxing flick) outside of the Bay and needed to use old fashioned street lamps. Thus I was delayed from getting to work on time AND was hit on my super gross techies with mullets who were old enough to be my dad *vomit.* Although I see this whole Hollywood North thing as Canada prostituting itself for some US bling I realize how much cash it brings into our cash strapped film economy...total conundrum if you ask me. Well I'm yet to see Russell Crowe but the set is pretty cool. They've turned the Bay into Madison Square Gardens, and it looks better as MSG than anything else so far. In other news it looks like I will not see Ja Rule either. Freaking guy was right across the street from me last week too for his court appearance!! And you guys KNOW how much i LOVE his music. Some people have all the luck

A Love/Hate Relationship with the Scarborough Rotary Ribfest
So it's already established that I'm a pretensious snob when it comes to cultural things. I'm sorry but I'm just not a Ribfest sort of person. Mullets scare me. The music of Twisted Sister gives me nightmares. The 80s must go away. It is however possible to find the 80s in its purest most concentrated form at certain social gatherings. Like NASCAR (Elspeth can attest to this), and the Scarborough Rotary Ribfest . At first I loved it, because it gave me the entire house to myself on Friday night, which was AMAZING. I don't remember the last time I had the house to myself, to sit around and do absolutely nothing with no one around. As opposed to sitting around and doing nothing with the entire family around. Refreshing. The however came Saturday. That's when I began to despise my liberator. The Ribfest had to go. I couldn't HANDLE the BAD 80s music interspersed with bad Country and Western. I love music from the 80s The Cure rock (and they're coming to town next week for their Curiosa Festival!) but not blared from Thompson Park and invading my afternoon nap time! Even Oliver was unimpressed, he felt threatened by a mini Pomeranian and went and hid on the front porch ;) All in all, Ribfest can take a hike next year. However, one highlight of Saturday. I rode my bike down St.Andrews by the old church just after the downpour. There's something about being outside after a heavy rainfall. I think it's the smell, you know that damp earthy smell...

The Interpreter
There are very few things that will make me seriously consider moving to the States, particularly New York city. Among the few: Having the Beastie Boys , Interpol AND the Strokes living within a close proximity and being available for summer BBQs whenever I want them to come; scoring that dream job with the UN . I'm not big into watching movies in theatres, mainly because I think it's highway robbery to force someone to pay upwards of $13.00 for a movie that would look just fine on a TV screen. Buuuut, I'm TOTALLY stoked for the Interpreter, because for now I'm going to have to live vicariously through Nicole Kidman until I actually score that dream job at the UN. It's the only movie that's ever been allowed to actually shoot inside the General Assembly. Which is pretty wicked if you ask me.

...Well it's the beginning of August, so that means I need to go on my magazine run at lunch!!! As Fez would say, "I say good day"

Calling All Pakis

Please let me introduce you to Kraftwerk, agruably the best synth group ever...here is their ode to  le Tour de France.

Tour de France (Etapes 1, 2, et 3)

Tour de France

Radio Tour information

Transmission television

Reportage sur moto

Camera, video et photo

Les equipes presentees

Le depart est donne

Les etapes sont brulees

Et la course est lanceeTour de France

Les coureurs chronometres

Pour l'epreuve de verite

La montagne les vallees

Les grands cols les defiles

La flamme rouge depassee

Maillot Jaune a l'arrivee

Radio Tour information

Transmission television

Tour de France

 

For those of you who know French...sorry...I couldn't get any of the accents in! 

Now for those of you who are unilingual...the translation:

 

Tour de France

Radio Tour information

Broadcast television

Reports on motor bikes

Video camera and photo

The teams are introduced

The start is given

The stages are burnt

And the race is underway

Tour de France

The timed riders

For the truth trial

The mountains, the valleys

The great cols, the defiles

The red flag is overtaken

Yellow jersey at the finish

Radio Tour information

Broadcast television

Tour de France

 

Good luck Lance!!!!

 

State Farm Insurance + Pakis = Scarborough

More news from the workforce!  Here's an e-mail that I got today, which made me laugh.  I'm thinking of putting this on the bulletin board at church ;) 

Subject: Casting Call - Lights, Camera, Action - I need your help

State Farm has an immediate need to recruit culturally specific talent to appear in photos for some new marketing materials. We are seeking representatives from a variety of South Asian cultures, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to name a few, between the ages of 10-70

If you know anyone who is interested in being talent for State Farm print and video work please have them call or email me for more information and to book an appointment for the casting call.
We are holding casting calls next Tues and Wed between 10am and 8pm at 100 Consilum Place (State Farm building across Scarborough Town Centre).  The appt will take approx 15 min - you can come in groups.  We will take a head shot and do some videography.  

The photoshoot will take place in Toronto from Aug 23 - 28, 2004.  If you are selected, you will be compensated $20 US/hour for your time 

Please pass this on to any of your friends and family that might be interested - especially children, parents and grandparents.  Thanks for your support .   
Cheers

Email Address : rehana.damji.idcn@statefarm.com 
Phone Number:  416.290.4324 
Rehana Damji Canadian Zone Marketing Analyst State Farm ®

If anyone's interested call her and let her know or hit me up.  Labro you're still South Asian right?  At least the last time I checked ;)

 

Bubbles?!

Yesterday I had to come home via the good old TTC.  The Subway was disgusting because the car I was in had no airconditioning and I was wearing a black blazer which I couldn't take off due to the deoderant I got on the bottom of it in the morning.  As usual I was a goner by the time we hit Castle Frank station.  Things got a little more exciting on the bus ride home though.  Long story short I saw a little girl who could have EASILY pass off as Bubble's daughter!!  She had the same glasses, but her's were sparkly pink :D  It was great, I couldn't stop staring at her, she was like 9 and was wearing all pink, but man...she would've made a great addition to the show b/c she belonged in a Trailer Park annnd she was super cute.  To top it all off I had my favorite bus driver, she's so nice and always talks to me...the best part of it all is that she looks like Blondie, who I love :)  I'm not alone on this either, ask Gina and she'll vouch for me.

 

I took Oliver to meet Rocky, our neighbor.  We were in the backyard and Rocky chased him and he almost fell into the pool, luckily he stopped just in time.  My heart was in my throat!  On a lighter note, Aiya's back from Algonquin!!  Which isn't really earth shattering because I most likely won't see him until Saturday anyways :P

In Your Eye Imperial Oil!!

So yesterday I'm at work and doing my thing when I get a request from a radio station in Calgary for the current Imperial Oil (aka ESSO) creative.  Long story short, guess who  managed to single handedly LOSE the ENTIRE mp3 library...yes the same library that contains EVERY SINGLE radio spot produced thus far this year for all our clients.  Yup.  It was I.  After 7 minutes in a cold sweat I discovered that I had accidentally moved the mp3 library to a different file...my technological ineptness is really getting the better of me these days
 
Ollie...*barf* I know, but that's what my dad calls him
Olivier was very bad yesterday and that made me sad :(  We took him to Ranjan Bappa's place and he was so good, he would come when we called him etc etc, but he attacked me in the car!!!!  He's so small he doesn't know how to bark or growl, so on our way home he decided to try out growling AND biting...OoOoOoOo he felt my wrath, let's just say he won't be doing that again.  LOL Ammi got so scared of him she refused to go near him the entire evening b/c she thought he'd attack her and Thathi wanted to give him lumps (which I would never let him do!)  He was sad yesterday b/c Aiya has gone camping to Algonquin with K-OS and company and there was no one at home for him to give kisses to or take out for a midnight leak!
 
Comrade D...?
If I weren't a Christian I think I'd be a communist...well maybe not a hard core Chairman Mao communist but maybe a socialist (which contrary to popular belief I am not, *cough* yes Gloria I do believe in open markets lol).  Actually come to think of it, probably a much more watered down version, and let's play it safe here and say NDP , I think I could give Olivia Chow AND Jack Layton a run for their money ;) Although it sometimes feels like I'm the only lefty drowning in a sea of right wing family members mumsy reminded me this morning of some key facts.  Apparently grand-uncles on both sides of my family were commies!  And not just commies either, but card carrying involved commies.  Go figure, I guess it skips a generation, (like diabetes supposedly does).  Speaking of communists, I saw a guy today outside at Nathan Phillips Square wearing a red KGB T-shirt complete with sickle.  He was like 13, and probably doesn't have a clue as to what the significance of the KGB is...to add to the irony of it all there were little Polish girls and boys dancing on the mainstage!
 
On the topic of lefties and right wingers...Thanks to Roshan I have discovered an American conservative magazine that doesn't make me want to shove PaperMate pens in my eyes b/c of irritation.  Say hello to the National Review.  My preferred source of American politics is still Harpers but National Review is a decent alternative.  (Although David Frum is a contributor *shudder* [Fanners and I had a BAD experience with him during a taping of Studio 2 he RUINED the discussion and talked out of his arse for most of the evening])  The other day I read an article called Sleepless in Suburbia  which made me laugh because it was so true...even though the author is right wing ;)  Here's an excerpt, but whenever the author says Lefty, or left replace it with right winger or right:

"Lefty friends. There are a number of people I am very fond of, who are Left. For reasons I don't completely understand, this troubles me. I suppose it is the tension between liking them as people, and thinking their opinions are silly. Short of converting them to my point of view, or vice versa neither of which, of course, ever happens  there is no way to resolve this tension in their presence, so I take it to bed with me and it pops out at 3 A.M. like a hernia."
 
*sigh* I couldn't have put it better myself!!  This one's for you Gloria, Roshan, Warren and pretty much everyone else I went to High School with ;)  But don't fret, I don't lose any sleep over you guys.  You just irritate me.  Sometimes.  No.  Most of the time.  I LOVE YOU.

PS:
Lotsa interesting tid-bits of news  floating around today.
Prime Minister Martin has selected his cabinet members 
Philippine President pulls out her soldiers from Iraq 
It's the 35th anniversary of the U.S. Lunar Landing 
The UN wants Isreal to scrap its version of the Berlin Wall 

To My Adoring Public

I'm back!!!  I thought my blogging days were over, but due to the demands made by my fans worldwide, I have decided to come back from retirement and throw my hat back into the ring. 
 
Who are we kidding here??  You shameless people want to see pictures and hear stories about my dog and I'm too lazy to send out e-mails.  So I'm just going to post them up here...as soon as I figure out how to use the digital camera...and we all know how long that might take...

Spawn of Satan aka Oliver
So, we are the proud new owners of a Jack Russell Terrier named Oliver (you can see a picture of him here, http://www.petselect.org/jackrussel.htm he's the 2nd puppy from the bottom).  He is really cute, but jebus it's scary how similar he and my brother are!! 

1.  They have the same birthday, May 22. 

2.  When he's angry he goes to sleep (just like everyother male in our family.)

3.  Beware of the morning dragon slaying breath.

4.  All physical activity is preceded and followed by a nap.

5.  Enjoys irritating me.

Convention 2004
Another convention done and finished with.  Other than the 14 hour drive that was SO NOT WORTH it, this was definitely one of the better ones.  The "sleeping arrangement" was easily the hugest contributing factor...*sigh* it was like being 10 again, but without boys dominating the all night conversations...wait a minute... 
 
Some highlights (in no particular order):
~ Seeing Abi

~ Crashing Abi, Debbi, Gloria and Joyce's room

~ Finally being able to shake off the "unaccompanied minor" title

~ Seeing Mr. Edlington walking around on campus (in a Canadian Flag t-shirt nonetheless) and thanking God I was in a car :D

~ Thathi wearing his prescription sunglasses during the worship service b/c he left his regular glasses at home and couldn't see

~ Seeing Joycie, Debbie and Vindhiya in black vests

~ Harassing Uncle Noel

~ Roshan's car = not having to walk. Anywhere.

~ Abigail's first steps!!

And now I'm back with only a  nasty head cold (courtesy of Gloria) to remember my time in Lynchburg with.

Gah, I've Succumbed

Okay...yeah i'm fully aware of how much i totally knock people who have blogs and here i am with one of my own. I'm not even going to attempt to justify this b/c nothing i do or say will EVER make it right! Step 1. Getting a blog. Step 2. Listening to bad emo music and crying in a corner of my basement. My downfall is nigh!

It's a pretty crappy looking little blog, but there's nothing i can do about that either...no one needs to be reminded about Mr. Vermont's grade 10 computer class...so most likely this'll continue to be crappy :D. Don't really have much to say so until next time!

P.S. Damn you Beastie Boys...get out of my head!!!