Tiny Bunny Visitor

Meet Pinky. She was born on December 16th. She has lots of brothers and sisters, but is the smallest of the litter, and her mother has been ignoring her a bit. So her owner brought her into the clinic for a little extra care and attention.

A. brought Pinky home last night and she will stay with us for a few days. We'll keep an eye on her and make sure she is fed regularly (with cat milk substitute!). But she is nearly of an age where she could start on solid food, so we'll see how she gets on with that.

In the meantime, she is beyond adorable. She sleeps most of the time, but is quite alert and curious when awake. Hopefully in another week, she will be bigger and stronger, and can go home to her littermates.

Merry

From my vintage postcard collection.

Warhol Live

While in Montreal last week, J. and I went to the Museum of Fine Arts to see an exhibition, Warhol Live: Music and Dance in Andy Warhol's Work. I really enjoyed it - and learned a lot about Warhol in the process.

The exhibition started out by looking at the teenaged Andy's fascination with Hollywood stars. It then moved on to his lifelong love of classical music and dance. I wasn't aware that he'd done stage designs for dance companies - but one of the more interesting rooms in the exhibit replicated one of his designs. It consisted mainly of pillow-shaped silver-foil balloons, filled with a mixture of gases which enabled them to float just above floor level; the dancers then performed around them, to a cacophonous soundtrack. It went down a storm with J.'s five-year-old daughter A., who came with us to the exhibit and who had a ball playing with the pillow-balloons.

However, most of the exhibition focused on Warhol's interest in music. There was a big display of all the many album covers he designed over the course of his career. Quite a lot of attention was given to Warhol's management of the Velvet Underground, and later to his involvement with Studio 54 and Interview magazine. However the best part of the exhibition, in my opinion, was the room which attempted to replicate the atmosphere of Warhol's Silver Factory, which featured a large divan in the centre of the room covered with throws and cushions. Visitors are encouraged to crash on the cushions while trippy colours and patterns are projected onto the walls and ceiling, and tracks from the Velvet Underground are played.

All in all, a fun and interactive exhibit. It's moving on in the new year to San Francisco and Pittsburgh. Highly recommended!

Duran in Montreal

Last week, I spent a few days in Montreal visiting with J. We took in a show by Duran Duran at the Metropolis club, which was fantastic. The band looked and sounded great, and the crowd was enthusiastic.

I put an album of concert photos over here on Flickr, as well as two video clips on YouTube - "I Don't Want Your Love" and "Save A Prayer". I'm lucky I got those, as I filmed them on my digital camera right in front of the security guard. He very nicely asked me to stop recording at one point - lucky he didn't threaten to take away my cam....

Reno Woes

And so it begins.

Has there ever been a home renovation project in history that has gone smoothly and according to plan? I think not. And true to form, ours has gone off the rails before it has even started.

Our project - gutting our old kitchen and enlarging it - was meant to begin in early October. My stint in hospital in September obviously delayed things by a couple of weeks. Then, we had a major problem. The contractor we wanted - a guy we have worked with before - announced he was no longer available. Due to poor communication between him and our designer, he thought we were no longer interested in having him do the work, and so he took on another job that would keep him busy through to December.

We decided that we really wanted this guy to be our contractor, and that we would wait for him. We agreed upon a new date of January 2nd, to begin the work once the holidays were over. And in many ways, this was for the best, as we spent October and November doing stuff that should have been done over the summer - except that we could never get a hold of our designer. I met with cabinetmakers, ordered the sink and tap, priced countertops, and decided on a lighting plan. Things were going very well.

Then today, we got the rug pulled out from under us. A. called the contractor, only to be informed that he has decided not to take on our job after all. He cited continued communication problems with our designer, and said he felt he'd not been treated with respect. So instead of contacting us earlier with these concerns, so we could resolve them, he decided to walk away from the project, three weeks before it was due to begin. He did give us the name of a colleague who was willing to take on our job - but even still, we are pretty shocked at this turn of events. We really trusted this guy and it was the last thing we expected from him.

Anyway, the project will go on. A. seems resolved to act now as project manager himself, and do as much work as he can. He'll take a few weeks off work in January, to get on with things. I suppose the silver lining to this cloud is that this will probably save us a bundle on labour fees, which would be a good thing. But still, we could have done without the aggro. Gah.

On the Rhodes

Interesting story in the paper last weekend about recent trends in the awarding of Rhodes Scholarships in Canada. Apparently, in recent years, many of the award-holders have been immigrants from war-torn or otherwise unstable parts of the world. All are incredibly accomplished, of course. But I think it just goes to show how competitive these elite awards have become. Of course, the bar has always been set extremely high. To wit: the year I finished grad school in Halifax, a guy from Saint Mary's won a Rhodes. He had straight As, was quarterback of the SMU football team, and tutored little kids in his spare time. But it seems like nowadays, to win a Rhodes, it's no longer enough to be an athlete with a minimum 4.0 GPA and an impressive record of volunteer work. Now, it seems, you need all that *plus* a degree from the School of Hard Knocks.

The article raised questions about whether Canadian-born applicants from secure, "pampered" backgrounds are now at a disadvantage when it comes to competing for the Rhodes. I wonder if there may be some validity to this, given my own experience. Earlier this year, I received notification from the Commonwealth Scholarship Plan - the funding scheme which allowed me to do my doctoral degree in England - that awards tenable in UK have been subject to massive funding cuts from the British Government. While it was decided to continue offering Commonwealth Scholarships to qualified candidates from developing nations, those for candidates in developed countries like Canada and New Zealand were to be eliminated (thankfully, they have since been partly reinstated). Many reasons - some of which were rather insulting - were given for this decision, but one of the most troubling was the suggestion that scholars from developed nations don't need all-expenses-paid funding. Because we're all rich and pampered, obviously. On the contrary, I can say with certainty that if I had not been a Commonwealth Scholarship recipient, there is no way I'd have been able to do my doctorate at an English university - not when tuition fees and living on a shoestring budget cost over $30,000 per annum in the mid-1990s.

So I have a bit of empathy for the Rhodie-wannabes who may feel a bit hard done by, just because they come from nice middle-class homes. But then again, life ain't fair. When I was applying for funding to do my doctorate, I remember being encouraged by a few of my professors to consider applying for the Rhodes ("They don't *all* go to jocks", as one remarked). But I knew there was no point, without a stellar extracurricular record. And I remember feeling a little resentful about that, because if I hadn't had to spend every summer plus 10-20 hours a week during the academic year working part-time, in order to pay for tuition and residence, I would have had all the time in the world for student clubs and volunteering. So to my mind, the selection criteria for the Rhodes Scholarships discriminates against economically-disadvantaged applicants, also.

I'm just glad I got through the system when I did, before tuition fees got really crazy and things like scholarship schemes were increasingly viewed by politicians as frivolities that could be easily cut from budgets. I wish the current generation luck in pursuing graduate work. Funding for education just ain't what it used to be, and the era of fully-funded studies for all those of sufficient merit is disappearing.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

We planned quite some time ago to bomb down to Wolfville this weekend, for a little getaway. Unfortunately, on Friday night, Mother Nature decided to spring a freak early snowstorm on us. We got nearly 30 cm of snow by Saturday morning, which put the kibosh on plans to head out early and take in the Wolfville Farmers' Market. After A. spent several hours digging out the car and then cutting a path out to the main road, we got on our way by early afternoon.

On arrival, however, our B&B (the aptly-named Gingerbread House Inn) did look like something off a biscuit tin. The photo above was taken this morning, outside the doors of our suite. It was all very wintery and picturesque. Plus, we had a great meal last night at Tempest Restaurant. The chef has recently returned from a two-week Slow Food conference near Milan, and to mark the occasion was offering a four-course Northern Italian tasting menu last night. Delicious stuff - though a guilty pleasure as one of the courses was tagliatelle served with stewed rabbit sauce. I thought of our evil foster-bun Gnasher while enjoying it...hehe.

Marquee Club Closing - Again

I've been hearing on the radio this morning that the Marquee Club is closing its doors for good. (Even the CBC Radio 1 programme Q reported on the news, just a little while ago).

It's a great shame, but probably inevitable. The club's owners announced in early 2005 that they were shuttering the place, due to the high cost of bringing acts to Halifax. Within months, however, they were opening for occasional shows. The last year or two, things seemed as busy as ever - but now the news that they are shutting again. As the Marquee is one of the premier live music venues in this city, it's definitely a loss. But I suspect something will come along and take its place in due course. I just hope that when it does, it's located more centrally downtown - my biggest gripe about the Marquee has always been that it's on Gottingen Street. While I'm sure rents there are cheap, I never felt terribly safe going there at night.

Last time I planned to go to the Marquee, it was to see Bloc Party in September - but I ended up re-selling my tickets cos I couldn't go. Looks like that was my last chance....

Shame and National Identity

In time for Remembrance Day, an unsettling story in Saturday's Globe about efforts that are currently being made in some sectors of Spanish society towards acknowledging the horrors of General Franco's fascist regime. But "truth and reconcilation" comes to some more easily than to others, and with atrocities having been committed within living memory, plenty of Spaniards seem happy to let sleeping dogs lie. While they may have a point, the example of Germany certainly shows that genuine atonement is possible. A very interesting article, on a country we don't often hear much about on this side of the pond.

Birthday

I marked my 36th birthday on Saturday November 8th. It was the nicest birthday I can remember in a very long time.

It helped that it was a Saturday, as usually I am at work on my birthday and am lucky most years to get in a rushed dinner afterwards. This year, J. flew in from Montreal the night before, and we started the festivities that evening with seeing Feist play a fun show at the Metro Centre. Saturday morning, I breakfasted like a queen on blueberry pancakes and Mimosas, courtesy of A., before heading over the road for a manicure. By the time I got back, J. was ready to go and we had hours of pootling around the shops at the Hydrostone and in some of the antiques emporia on Agricola Street.

By late afternoon, we headed downtown in good time for our appointments at Spirit Spa, where I was scrubbed and slathered in mud before being wrapped in plastic and left to stew for a bit, whilst an aesthetician administered a scalp massage.....aaaaaaahhhhh. By the time I regained consciousness, it was time to head home, get dolled up, and go down to Gio, a fantastic new resto at the Prince George Hotel. The consensus was that it was our best dining experience in Halifax to date. Champagne was sent to our table on arrival by a member of staff, an (apparently very satisfied) client of A.'s. I ate elk for the first time, and for dessert they served up cherries (my favourite fruit) in multiple ways. Oh, and the wine was fabulous, and I tried some scrummy pear cider. Just a great evening all round, and a fitting end to a very indulgent day.

Frost/Nixon

Saw Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan at Neptune last night. I'd really been looking forward to it as I've heard so much about this play in the press lately (it's also been staged in Toronto and Vancouver recently). It didn't disappoint - it was excellently-written. I did wonder a bit about the two lead actors, though - they were certainly competent, but I wasn't wowed by them. As a result, the final scenes of the play - where Frost elicits Nixon's confession of complicity in the Watergate scandal - weren't quite as compelling and dramatic as I imagined they'd be. It will be interesting to compare this production with the film version that is currently in production; the film stars the original cast members who premiered the show in the West End and on Broadway (Michael Sheen and Frank Langella).

I certainly came away from the play wanting to see some of David Frost's actual interview footage with Nixon for myself. Luckily, YouTube is full of clips, so I'll be checking some of that out very soon.

Halloween = Bah

Or so say the English, at least. I was really interested to read a story in last weekend's Globe (new link) about the growing popularity of Halloween in England over the past decade. It's a surprising phenomenon - certainly when I lived in England in the mid-1990s, Halloween was a non-event. In some schools, you might find kids having little Halloween parties in class, but that was about it. All the autumnal hijinks were reserved for Bonfire Night on November 5th.

It's all changing now though, it seems - and there's plenty of grumbling in Blighty about what is viewed as a distasteful, over-commercialised North American import. I did a little Googling out of interest and found that consumer spending on sweets, decorations and other Halloween-themed items has boomed over the past decade, since retailers figured out that plugging a new holiday to children (who in turn harass their parents to buy stuff) was a potential goldmine.

I don't think it would be such a great stretch for the English to celebrate Halloween - the holiday originates from their Irish and Scottish neighbours, after all. But it would be a great shame if the rise of Halloween in England meant the eclipse of traditional Guy Fawkes/bonfire celebrations. What a boring world this would be if everyone adopted the same practices.

Book Club

So I recently joined what looks to be a very cool book club. My friend C. has been a member for a number of years, and invited me to check it out. Not only is it an opportunity to read some great books (many of which I probably would never have picked up otherwise), but it's a much-needed chance to get out and meet new people. I went to my first meeting on Monday night. There were about eight very interesting women there, all professionals mainly drawn from law and academia. And one of them is the newly-elected MP for Halifax, which is pretty neat (said she's still hoping to attend meetings whenever she's home from Ottawa).

We spent about half the evening talking about this month's book, The Watsons by Jane Austen (which I enjoyed, surprisingly - I've never been a huge fan of Austen, but I might have to give her another try). The rest of the time we drank wine and debated what to read over the coming months. November's book is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, which I have to get stuck into fairly soon if I'm going to get it done in time. I'm slightly creeped-out by the prospect, but keeping an open mind....

The Omnivore's Hundred

My sister-in-law pointed me towards this blog today, with its listing of the Omnivore's Hundred (i.e. a list of 100 things every omnivore should try at least once). Cos I'm easily bored and distracted at this hour, I present my results here.

Things in bold I have tried. Any comments in parentheses are my own.

1. Venison (wild and farmed)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (blee)
5. Crocodile (though to be honest, it might have been alligator...)
6. Black pudding (dbl blee)
7. Cheese fondue (in a remote resto perched on a Swiss mountainside, no less)
8. Carp (meh...tastes like mud)
9. Borscht (of course - I have a Russian granny)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (like a salted rubber band)
12. Pho (lots of, in Vietnam)
13. PB&J sandwich (heh...how can you tell the author of this list did not grow up in North America?)
14. Aloo gobi (shockingly, I never tasted Indian food in my life until I moved to England)
15. Hot dog from a street cart (?! See no. 13)
16. Epoisses (Wikipedia says it is regarded as the "king of all cheeses" in France and has been banned from public transport because of its smell. Gotta git me some of that.)
17. Black truffle (in miniscule shavings)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (sure...blueberry plonk from Lunenburg County Winery is pretty ropey. So was the stuff my dad had a go at making, when I was a kid).
19. Steamed pork buns (think so...in a breakfast buffet in Hanoi)
20. Pistachio ice cream (yummy - very hard to find)
21. Heirloom tomatoes (thanks, Halifax Farmer's Market)
22. Fresh wild berries (oh yes, multiple varieties - I grew up in the country and they grew in the backyard)
23. Foie gras (lordy, but it tastes like sin)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (*stomach heaves at thought*)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (mmm...there's a jar in my fridge right now)
28. Oysters (blergh...they may be a local speciality, and beloved of gourmands...but I can't get over the snottiness factor)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (sounds very tasty though)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (I dunno about the sourdough bowl thing - but I'm awarding myself half a point for the chowder)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (eurgh)
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (half point for the cognac only!)
37. Clotted cream tea (aaaAAAHHHHHhhhh...food of the gods)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (erm, not since I was about 20...)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (not if you paid me!!!)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (not a "take risks with my life" kinda gal, thanks)
47. Chicken tikka masala (I prefer korma, though)
48. Eel (ick)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (Tim Horton's forever!)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (La Fin du Monde...merci, Quebec)
59. Poutine (MERCI BEAUCOUP!)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (?!)
65. Durian (you can smell it everywhere in Vietnam)
66. Frogs’ legs (they really DO taste like chicken)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis (a morsel...blecchhhh)
69. Fried plantain (in Venezuela - very nice!)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (never did work up the courage to try the latter, in France)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blinis
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (wtf?! not on your nelly)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (escargot? yeah, super tasty)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (*smacks lips*)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (aw hell yeah!)
85. Kobe beef (it's on my to-eat list...if I ever save up enough money)
86. Hare (*hangs head in shame*)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (nasturtiums, pansies, violets, rose petals...all very nice)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (lol)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (overrated...keep the lobsters simple!)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (er, no thanks...)

I got 58 out of 100. Not bad for someone who was a very picky kid, and would turn up her nose at just about everything.

Glaswegianish

I think maybe I need to buy the Glasvegas album. It's just out, apparently, and folk across the pond are all abuzz about it. I heard an interview with the band and some snippets of their music today on the Music Weekly podcast (again! thanx Guardian), and I found myself listening intently. Since this kind of instantaneous attraction to a particular band's music is a fairly rare occurrence for me, I take notice when it happens.

[Two music-related blog posts in a row...blimey!]

Out of the Murky Depths...

Lots of bands these days stage comebacks - but some are more surprising than others. Yesterday, when catching up with some episodes of the Guardian's Music Weekly podcast, I nearly fell over when I heard that Shelleyan Orphan are back after sixteen years of wandering in the musical wilderness. Remember them? Unless you were a cultish devotee of Star Hits magazine in the 1980s, probably not. I always found them strangely intriguing...but then again, anything labelled as "Pre-Raphaelite pop" is bound to have that sort of effect on me.

Anyway, their new album "We Have Everything We Need" is out next week.

Preeeeezenting...Kitchen Designs!

A very exciting development last week in our kitchen renovation plans - we received some AutoCAD drawings of our new kitchen design, courtesy of one of the cabinetmakers we are considering for the job. Check 'em out below! (click on any picture to see an enlarged version)

1. A top-down view of the new space:Note the doorway at the centre bottom of the drawing - this is the doorway into our current mudroom/entryway. At the moment, there is a full wall just to the left of the doorway, dividing the space in two (present kitchen to the right, small pantry/study/whatever to the left). This is the main wall that we are knocking down, to enlarge the kitchen space. The heart of the new kitchen will be located where the pantry room is currently. Our existing kitchen space will house my desk, a sewing area, a broom closet, and a large peninsula.

2. Galley Kitchen - South Side Elevation:
We are going with white, painted-wood Shaker-style cabinets in the new kitchen. The tall cabinet to the right will be a pantry cupboard for food, with pullouts like this. It will be full-length, though, without the two lower drawers as shown above.

We'll be putting in a new window in this space - the current window is tall and narrow, and set below the height of where the new countertop will be. And speaking of windows, there's a mistake in the above drawing - they've drawn in a large clock on the wall at the right, but there's actually a window there.

I'm planning on getting this sink, and this faucet. We will retain the existing flooring, which is beautiful 2 ¼" red oak that is original to the house. I'm still deciding on the countertops, but I think we are going to go with a grey-green quartz (engineered stone) - it's beautiful and nearly indestructible, but damn it's expensive. As for the backsplash, I'm planning on glass mosaic tile, in shades of green - maybe like this.

3. Galley Kitchen - North Side Elevation:
There's a mistake in the above drawing - the fridge and the cabinet unit containing the wall oven and microwave will be switching places. Lots of money being sunk here on all-new stainless-steel appliances: this fridge, this induction cooktop, this chimney-style extractor hood, this microwave (which will be built-in above the ovens) and this double wall oven. Originally, we were going to get a single wall oven and maybe a warming drawer, but when we priced those two things together, we found a good double wall oven that cost less!

We're planning on having cabinet drawers, instead of regular cabinets with pull-outs - more efficient use of space, and easier to get at your stuff. Countertops and backsplash will be as above, with the backsplash tile laid all the way to the top of the chimney hood, where it meets the cabinetry.

4. Desk Area
This space is where our sink and dishwasher are currently located. The tall cabinet at left will be a broom closet, with space for the vacuum, cleaning supplies, etc. The desk will serve as my home office, mainly - though I envision using it for sewing projects as well.

I think I may put down a wood desktop here, just to save a bit of money as the quartz counters are so expensive. We'll be replacing the window in this area, as well, with something a bit larger and set lower - so you can see outside while sitting at the desk. As for the floor, we'll be tearing up the grey ceramic tiles that are currently there. We are replacing them with reclaimed red oak floorboards we bought from a local architectural salvage yard, which will be sanded and refinished to match the existing floors in the current pantry room and dining room (at least, I hope that will be the end result!).

5. Peninsula between kitchen and dining room
We're going to take down a section of wall currently separating the kitchen and dining room - the place that houses our ancient wall oven and microwave at the moment. This is a weird-shaped space, intersected by a brick chimney, so custom cabinets are the only option. The main feature of this space will be a peninsula, which will be built where the wall currently stands now (I'd have loved an island, but the room just isn't big enough for one).

Here's a view of the peninsula from the side:
There will be lots of open shelving, for cookbooks and whatever else we might want to display. Also, we'll have a TV here, on one of those swivel-arms, and hopefully a small set of speakers - which the intrepid A. can wire into the existing house sound system (all controlled wirelessly via iTunes on the computer in the basement, naturally!). I'm still looking for just the right pendant lamp to hang over this area - one in this style, probably.

Under the countertop, the peninsula itself will house all our various recycling bins - viz. the two doors you see in the foreground. And on both sides (not just the left, as shown in the drawing) there will be a small countertop overhang of about 8 inches, so we can have stools on either side if we want. I think this spot is going to be very well-used - lots of room to spread out paperwork, do food preparation, or whatever. As the current kitchen suffers from a serious lack of counter space, this will be fantastic. Plus, it provides somewhere that guests can sit and chat with the cook, as it also will serve as...the bar!
This final drawing shows the peninsula as seen from the dining room, as well as a view of the entire new space. The cabinetry you can see at the left of the picture will now change its configuration - the upper part will have glass doors and will serve as a liquor cabinet (freeing up valuable space in my dining room buffet/hutch). The lower part of that area will house a small, dual-zone wine fridge (the pic above has the wine fridge housed beneath the peninsula countertop - that will change).

Well, there you have it. It's a really exciting plan, I think. Whether it will look just the way I hoped when this massive project is done is another matter entirely, of course. But it's a great start.

Sarah Palin Scares Me

For obvious reasons, I only just got around today to watching Katie Couric's infamous first interview with Sarah Palin. To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement. God almighty...how in the hell has this woman ended up where she is?!

The bit where she talked "foreign policy" was the most insane. I actually sat there with my mouth hanging open in shock, as she wittered on about Israel, Iran, Good Guys/Bad Guys, and how she can see Russia from her house (or something). One might possibly excuse her lack of eloquence; not everyone has the gift of the gab (though it's certainly a skill that can be learned). But how is it possible that someone so utterly uninformed and ill-prepared is poised to potentially become the Vice-President of the United States? It makes me sad and embarassed for women in politics, to see this nim-nut elevated to such a lofty height. There's also no doubt that her presence on the Republican ticket makes America look reeeeally bad (not that your average Republican voter gives a rat's arse about what the rest of the world thinks, though).

Katie Couric herself looked stunned at Palin's inane answers to her questions. Hell, based on this interview, Palin would have a hard time managing a question-and-answer segment in a beauty pageant. I think I'll be tuning in to the Vice-Presidential debate on Thursday, just to watch the spectacle; Joe Biden will doubtless wipe the floor with her.

Culture in Danger

I'm not exactly a big fan of the Quebec cultural scene, but I do think this video (made by a group of francophone artists who wanted to make a point in anticipation of next month's federal election) is excellent.


http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhgv85m852Q

Vive les phoques! Hahaha...God, Stephen Harper is such a complete and utter berk.

Clear-Cut

Most of yesterday afternoon, I was serenaded by the sound of chainsaws just outside the house. A city work crew has been busily cutting down trees on the property next door to us (a small apartment block).

The work is being done in preparation for a widening of the main road onto which our little cul-de-sac opens. The part that runs past the apartment building is set to have new sidewalks and a new retaining wall built. These are both good things, but we hadn't appreciated just how many trees would need to come down before the work could get started. Fortunately, nothing on our own property was touched, but it was still a little close for comfort - especially as one of the best things about our property is the number of mature trees which surround it (and shield us from the traffic in the roundabout, just a few hundred metres away).

I tell you, if I were a resident in the apartments next door, I'd be pretty pissed off right now to find that my once-leafy view had disappeared!

Crash

I gave myself a good scare earlier this evening. I was down in the basement, trying to navigate around one of the bunny gates, when I tripped and fell. I'm fine - I landed on all fours, skinned my knee and got a big bump and bruise on my elbow. But afterwards I sat there and cried hysterically for about ten minutes, cursing myself for being so stupid and careless and panicking about what might have happened if I'd landed on my belly.

I've been meaning to write a long pregblog entry (and will soon), but this evening's episode is pretty typical of the bouts of (mainly groundless and irrational) fear I've been having the past six weeks or so. I've always heard that it's a pretty common experience among pregnant women, but that doesn't make it any less difficult. Gah. *exhales*

That's not to say there haven't been lots of good things too - next time, I'll be sure to blog about those. :-)

Paris Walks

When visiting a major city (particularly a historic one), I always try to sort myself out with a walking tour while I'm there. Not one of those generic-type tours where you find yourself part of a great horde, led by a guide with a lurid umbrella or gaily-coloured scarf on a stick, mind. I'm more interested in smaller tours that explore specific neighbourhoods, or historical events, or themes, in some depth. I find that on a good walking tour, I spend far more time looking around and appreciating my surroundings than I would if I had my nose buried in a guidebook half the time.

So this morning I found myself on the Paris Walks website. I discovered them during my last trip to the city in 2002, as a result of their affiliation with the absolutely excellent London Walks. On that particular trip, J. and I did a Paris Walks tour of the Père-Lachaise cemetery, and very enjoyable it was, too. This morning, I downloaded their brochure and schedule of walks for September, and damned if I don't want to do pretty near all of them!

If I do get to Paris next month, as planned, I'll definitely aim to do a couple of these. A two-hour stroll in some historic neighbourhood and a wonderful meal in an out-of-the-way bistro...what else would one require for a perfect day in Paris?

We're DFL!

My friend J.'s aprocryphal Olympic blog, DFL, is back once again and reporting on last-place finishes in Beijing. And with only days left to go, I see that Canada is currently top of the DFL pops! Heh...there'll be handwringing in the national sporting press about that - I can see it now.

Mind, China is currently in second place - and as J. has noted, high numbers of DFL finishes seem to be typical of host nations. But time will tell whether the top spot will remain with our home and native land! :-D

European Holiday

Some months ago (back at the end of May, in fact), we booked a trip to Europe for the fall. We'd been planning this trip for a couple of months, ever since my sister-in-law L. and her husband M. moved to Luxembourg City earlier this year to take up new jobs in banking law. It has been four long years since I've been back to Europe, and a return is long overdue.

We have planned a two-week trip from 21 September - 5 October, flying with Condor (Lufthansa's charter wing) from Halifax to Frankfurt, direct! (Luckily for us, an awful lot of Germans seem to enjoy holidaying in Nova Scotia.) We arrive in Frankfurt very early on 22 September, and from there will take the TGV straight to Paris. I have never been on a high-speed train before, so that should be interesting. Our routing is direct, and will take us from the main station in Frankfurt to the Gare de l'Est in central Paris in under four hours.

In gay Paree, we have rented this apartment in the 4th arrondissement (a snip at 700 euro for the week!). As this will be my third trip there (and A.'s second), and we have already seen and done the big touristic sites, we are planning a very leisurely week of toodling about, sitting in cafes, strolling the boulevards, and doing whatever takes our fancy. For the last two nights, we will be joined by L. and M. (hence the rental of a slightly bigger apartment, with a pullout couch for them!). We'll all have a little time in Paris together, before heading up to Luxembourg City on 29 September. We'll stay with L. and M. for the following week. We don't have too many specific plans for this part of the trip - luckily, L. and M. have a car, so we will do some sightseeing around Luxembourg and probably in Belgium and Germany too, since they are so close by.

This will be my first trip to Europe in the autumn (I've always done springtime before - as a student, travelling anytime after the start of September was obviously a no-go). Happily, it is of course wine harvest time, and the Moselle Valley of Luxembourg is scattered with fine wineries where one may stop in for a tour and une petite dégustation. Unhappily, I can't enjoy a single drop, since I am with child. However, I've decided that I may instead just have to master the "swish'n'spit" method of wine tasting. Just because I can't drink the wine, doesn't mean I can't taste the wine, right?

This is shaping up to be an awfully good trip, I must say. However, I am all too aware that it is, of course, dependent on my good health and there being no major problems with my pregnancy before departure. Have an appointment with my GP in mid-September, so I guess I will know then for sure if I am truly able to get on that plane or not. Crossing my fingers - and have booked trip cancellation insurance, just in case the axe falls!

Asia Trip Stuff

Finally. I've now written, sorted out and uploaded my travelogue and photos from my recent trip to Vietnam and Japan. The photos have joined the rest of my albums on Flickr; I need to figure out a satisfactory way to start importing those to Facebook, cos I can't be bothered uploading that many pics to two different locations!

I also made a couple of little videos, while in Japan. This one (not the best quality, unfortunately) is of a Shinto wedding procession. This one was taken on the Metro (subway). These two are of the Tokyo skyline at dusk - west and east. And last, I made a video tour of the bathroom in my apartment - just cos. You'll just have to watch and see!

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=XbmXXossKJQ

Kitchen Update

After a very slow couple of months (during which I began to wonder if this project was really going to get off the ground, or not), there have been quite a few developments over the past week, with regard to our kitchen renovation project.

We finally got our kitchen designer/neighbour to sit down with us last Saturday, and we asked some pretty frank questions about timelines. She assured us, however, that she'd checked with the suppliers and we should be able to start this job on schedule, by early October, and complete it before the holidays. Needless to say, with a baby on the way, completion has suddenly become much more critical. There is no way I am coming home from hospital with an infant if my home is still a building site - and I was prepared to delay the entire project by a couple of years, if required, to prevent this happening.

However, things are looking good. Last weekend, we reviewed three new floor-plan layouts that our designer had drawn up, and chose the one we liked best. The overall plan is to shift the working space into what is now the little pantry room, after the wall between it and the current kitchen gets knocked down. The new kitchen will be galley-shaped - I'd hoped we could do a U-shape, but it turns out we haven't enough space. But a galley is quite efficient, so I'm happy enough with that. The remaining space (where the sink and oven are located now) will become my desk/sewing area, and a peninsula/bar area with storage. It's a very nice plan, and I'm excited to see how it will turn out.

The next steps now are choosing a contractor and a cabinetmaker. Our neighbour is considering three contractors at the moment, and will be asking them to quote on the job very soon. Also over the next couple of weeks, I need to decide which of three local cabinetmakers to use - or whether to chuck all that in and go with an Ikea kitchen!

In the interests of getting started even earlier, I think we are going to plan to set up our "camp kitchen" at the beginning of September, down in the basement laundry room - where we will do our cooking and washing up while the work is being done upstairs. It already has a laundry washtub, with hot and cold running water, so we'll set up a table and chairs, our little bar fridge, the microwave, and a hotplate, which should keep us going for a little bit. Once that job is done, then there's no reason why demolition work can't begin. A. is thinking about doing this himself, with a couple of assistants; they will rip out the old cabinets, take out the old appliances for disposal/resale (we are only keeping our current dishwasher), tear up the tile flooring (we hope to save the wood flooring), then take down the walls. Whatever work we can do ourselves will of course save us money - plus, I think A. is quite looking forward to bashing things with a sledgehammer. ;-)

Originally, we had been looking at a start date of 5 October (the day we return from our holidays in Europe) for this job. But if we could get the demolition work done before we leave, then there's no reason why the contractor couldn't come in and start working while we are away (with our neighbour to supervise things - we will only be a phonecall or email away, after all).

So, things are definitely looking up. Very good to be able finally to start making some concrete plans. I will doubtless start a Renovation Diary here, chronicling the delays, cock-ups, and other woes we will inevitably encounter. But the end result will be totally worthwhile, I'm sure of it!

Am I Turning Into a Hippie?

You can be honest and just tell me, you know. It's OK.

I've finally signed up for one of those organic food box schemes, where you get fresh produce delivered to your home regularly. To start with, I've set up a standing order for the "Dogma Box" (in which all the produce is not only organic, but also local), to be delivered every second Saturday. I admit I'm more interested in the fact that the produce is local - though things should get interesting in the winter, when I imagine we'll be eating a lot of apples, spuds and other root vegetables.

But for now, I'm looking forward to enjoying a nice variety of local fruit and veg over the coming months. The service sells lots of other organic/local/ethical foodstuffs as well, which you can add to your order if you want. This week, I tried to add bread and pastries from Boulangerie La Vendeéne - certainly the best bakery here in the HRM - but my order got lost somehow. Ah well, next time.

Here is what we got, in this week's delivery:

(l-r: carrots, beets, Swiss chard, turnip, new potatoes, tomatoes, a cucumber,
a yam, mushrooms and lettuce)

While I could go and buy all this produce - and bread from La Vendeéne - at the Farmers' Market on any given weekend, this system is so much more convenient. I hardly ever manage to drag myself down to the Market early enough on a Saturday to beat the crowds. Having all this stuff brought to our house every two weeks will, I hope, compel me to eat more healthily as well as learn some new recipes and cooking methods. Otherwise, most of it will become very expensive food for our rabbits!

As for the hippie thing, even if having an organic food box delivery doesn't mean I have to start growing my hair and smelling of patchouli, I am well aware that it is, at the very least, high on the list of Stuff White People Like. Heh.

Farewell, Black Wabbit?

Well, it's taken a whole year of fostering - but it looks like we may finally have found a home for the black rabbit. One of A.'s clients recently lost one of her bunnies, who was part of a bonded pair. She'd like to get a new companion for her remaining rabbit, and A. has been telling her about the little black bunny we've been looking after since last summer. She's decided to try introducing the two of them, to see if they will get on; A. will take the black bun into the clinic tomorrow, and hand her over. If all goes well, then this lady will adopt her.

I will be sorry to see the black rabbit go - she's so beautiful, and has a really nice temperament. But she deserves a permanent home, and a companion (which she does not have at the moment - we've tried putting her with Timmy and Fawn, but Fawn is such an aggressive little monster that there have been endless fights between them). So I'm spending some time communing with the black rabbit tonight as - with any luck - she'll be leaving us for a nice new home tomorrow.

X-Files Movie

Went along to the cinema to see the new X-Files movie, I Want to Believe, last night. Maybe I'm too sentimental, but I enjoyed it well enough. The storyline had a fair few holes, mind, and sitting there in between a vet and a medical doctor, I heard periodic snorts of disbelief from time to time. Then again, plenty of classic X-Files episodes have involved wacked-out medical freakery (Eugene Tooms, anyone?), so suspension of disbelief is definitely required.

Given that I never expected this film would see the light of day, I was happy enough with it. I'm not sure how well it will do at the box office, though - X-Philes will obviously check it out, but beyond that, I'm not sure how broad its appeal will be. As for myself, I was just content to wallow in a little nostalgia for a few hours.

Up the Duff

Well good Lord, I appear to have fallen pregnant. :-)

I've been spreading the news amongst family and friends for a few days now. But this afternoon I broke the news to the boss at work - so now I guess I can make it public knowledge.

As of today, I am 13 weeks and two days along. Since I'm all old and stuff, I've had two ultrasounds already, one of which was last week. We watched the screen in amazement as the sprog (which is only about 3 inches in size at the moment) bounced away merrily, hiccuping and waving its miniscule arms and legs. For me, it all started to become real at that point.

The next few months are gonna be a ride, that's for sure. But we are very excited, especially as it's taken A. and I rather longer to get to this point than we thought it would. In the coming months, I will doubtless morph into Dull Preggo Lady and will fill this blog with all sorts of ruminations and weird stories. Hee hee...stay tuned.

Stars

Just in from seeing a show by Stars, who were back in Halifax tonight after several years. They were actually here to close out a two-day festival, Summersonic, being held on Citadel Hill. Last time I saw them play was in January 2005, at the Marquee Club here in town. I bought festival tickets for today, but in the end decided only to see Stars. Part of the reason for that was the weather - in true Halifax form, it started raining just as we began getting ready to go out (argh). Otherwise, I might have gone down early to check out Wintersleep, who played just before Stars and are not bad. (Ironically, the only other time I've seen them play was when they opened that Marquee show for Stars over three years ago).

Anyway, I sucked it up, put on my rain gear, and we headed out to the show. We got there just a couple minutes before the band hit the stage and it being a festival, they only played for about an hour and a quarter. Which was fine by me, as it was a great set and we didn't get too soaked in the process. The band seemed in fine form (Torquil acting like a pretentious prat, as usual), and the setlist was great. Interestingly, they mentioned that they'd been asked to open for Paul McCartney at his bigass free show in Quebec City tonight - but bless 'em, they turned it down to headline in Halifax instead.

If there was anybody there tonight older than A. and I, I didn't see them. I always feel ancient at these sort of events - all the more so because I find myself clucking at the teenagers running around in miniskirts, tanktops and flipflops, teeth chattering from the cold and rain. Oh, and I had to keep moving around to avoid the dope-smokers - second-hand inhalation is about the last thing I need right now. ;-)

Reading and the Internet

Interesting piece on The Sunday Edition this morning. Maryanne Wolf, a researcher on child development, reading and language, was talking about the impact of the Internet on our reading abilities. With so many of us getting our information from the web now, Wolf argues that this is encouraging us to read on a much more shallow and superficial level than before. She's particularly concerned about the impact this may have on kids who, in the Google age, may end up never acquiring the skills inherent in deep, analytical reading - and may impair optimal brain functioning as a result.

My friend C. recently told me about Wolf's latest book on the subject, Proust and the Squid: the Story and Science of the Reading Brain. I should probably pick that up.

Wonderful New Garden

Did I ever come home to a surprise last week. While I was in Asia, A. singlehandedly finished most of the landscaping work and re-laid a new lawn, out in the garden.

About a week before I left, we had a truckload of topsoil (about 14 cubic metres' worth) dumped in our driveway. By the time I got back, it had all disappeared, save for a small pile. A. used it mostly to even out and raise the overall level of our existing lawn, which was in a pretty poor state and full of moss and weeds. Once the surface was limed and the new topsoil spread out, he then re-seeded - remarkably, this was done just two weeks ago! After plenty of daily watering, the new grass sprouted after just four days, and it had its first mow over the weekend. It's growing far more quickly than I would have imagined.

Here are some of the results:


Where the two sections of brick pathway intersect in the above picture, there used to be a large hedge. A. dug most of that up and replanted it up the slope, in the first terraced level visible (the next step up is the new, flat level of our driveway, which used to slope down to just behind the original position of the hedge). The result is that we have gained a bit more lawn on this side of the garden, as well as a nice wide new flowerbed which gets a lot of sunshine.

A couple other views:


In the picture below, you can see more of the work A. did with the grey stone landscaping bricks (which just need their capstones fitted before they are finished).


I think it all looks great - a huge improvement over what we inherited when we bought this property. I'm really happy with it.

Sayonara

Wow - what a great couple of days I've had here in Tokyo. Just what the doctor ordered. I've packed in a fair bit, but have had lots of relaxation time too. Spent Saturday night prowling the streets of East Shinjuku and the Golden Gai. On Sunday morning, I strolled in the beautiful forest and gardens of Meiji-Jingu, before visiting the impressive Shinto shrine there (and got to watch two wedding processions to boot!). Early evening was given over to shopping and strolling around more of the huge department stores surrounding Shinjuku Station. And today, another mix of old and new. This morning I visited the Buddhist temple of Senso-ji; this evening, I headed south to explore the massive Roppongi Hills, a sprawling complex of shopping malls, restaurants, residences, cinemas, parks and gardens, a stadium, and art galleries. Perhaps the best thing there, however, is the tower onsite - from the roof of which there is an incredible 360-degree view to be had over the entire city. I went up at twilight, and it was super.

Tomorrow morning I'll be packing up, then heading for the airport around noon. My flight is not until 5.00 pm, but I want to bag a bulkhead seat if I can, and take advantage of last-minute shopping opportunities at Narita Airport. The flight to Toronto takes 12-odd hours, so hopefully I can access laptop power on board in order to work on my travelblog, and maybe sort through my photos too.

This has been a wonderful trip, but I'm ready to go home. :-)

In Tokyo

After two quite tiring final days of work in Hanoi, I was very happy to arrive last night in Tokyo. Getting from the airport to my accommodation was a snap - this city is a model of efficiency and organisation. I'm staying in a very comfortable and well-equipped studio flat at the Oakwood Shinjuku Apartments, which are every bit as excellent as the reviews on TripAdvisor suggest. This morning, I spent quite a bit of time checking out the various gadgets and controls with which this place is equipped - the neatest of which are all in the bathroom. Getting myself cleaned up this morning took a bit of time, since I had to decode the instructions for the bathtub and shower first!

I've been taking it very easy today - not only because I'm in need of a rest after seven days of work and constant socialising, but also because I've had some, um, gastrointestinal upsets for the past couple of days. Since I want to take full advantage of the range of amazing food available here, I'm hoping I'll be better by tomorrow. As it stands, I went to the local grocery store this morning and bought some bland things to eat for today (bananas, bread for toast, yogurt). But even going for groceries was a bit of an adventure, as you might imagine. I always enjoy going to grocery stores in foreign countries, and here in Japan the offerings are even more unusual than those in the West.

Went out for a stroll for a few hours this afternoon. Shinjuku is a bustling, major neighbourhood in Tokyo, and just a half-mile from my apartment there are three major bus, metro and railway lines. In addition, there's a vast array of shops, including several huge department stores. I went into one this afternoon called Odakyu, which has about 15 floors and sells just about everything you can possibly imagine. Obviously, there is a massive selection of cutting-edge electronics here, the likes of which I've never seen. I spent some time checking out mobile phones, most of which do just about everything short of sing and dance. I saw some very neat ones that include both cameras and digital TVs! And not that expensive, either. I'd love to get one, but have absolutely no idea if they would work in Canada. I contented myself with buying some bejewelled decals like these to jazz up my phone at home, like pretty much all Japanese girls seem to do. If I can't have a cool Japanese phone, at least I can give my existing mobile some Japanese-style bling.

In the basement of Odakyu (as is apparently the case with all the major department stores here) there is a supermarket and large food court. The range of foodstuffs on offer was amazing - the seafood department alone was probably more diverse than any I've ever seen in my life! I also saw some examples of the odd Japanese predilection for premium fruit and veg. You can buy ordinary produce here, of course, at prices that are similar to what we would pay in North America. But certain posh shops have departments devoted to the highest-quality varieties of fruit and vegetables, which are picked at their peak and meant to be consumed immediately, to taste them at their finest. I saw boxes of grapes for $30, a tray of six peaches for about $45, and a glossy, basketball-sized watermelon for about $95! Unreal!

It's still pretty hot here, though not as bad as Vietnam - today's temperatures were in the low 30s. The next few days are meant to be a little cooler, though, with a chance of rain. I'm taking some time to do email and blogging now, and will probably go out again in an hour or two, once the sun has set and the temperature has dropped a bit. Just east of here is an area which is apparently quite well-known for its nightlife, so I think a stroll is in order. Normally, as a lone woman traveller, I wouldn't go out at night in a strange city by myself, but the streets here are packed until well past midnight, so I feel quite safe.

More updates to come...

Last Night in Hue

We depart for Hanoi tomorrow night, but have had a wonderful stay in Hue. I'm so glad we had a bit of free time built in to this visit. Our friends at the university here have been very warm and incredibly generous hosts - in fact, we've hardly been left alone for a moment. We spent yesterday making a field visit in the morning to one of the local fishing villages here, and then in the afternoon were taken sightseeing to an area south of the city which is littered with the tombs of Vietnamese emperors. We toured two tomb complexes, both incredibly interesting. Coupled with the sights of the Citadel (which we will visit tomorrow), it is no wonder that Hue has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There's some amazing history here, and quite a romantic atmosphere as well.

We spent this morning meeting with our other partners here in the city, and then touring their learning site, which was further outside of town than we went yesterday. In addition to visiting two fishing villages on the lagoon there, we also went out in a traditional (and very rickety) wooden fishing boat - lovely to be out on the water for a bit, if only to get a break from the oppressive heat!

We've just come in now from a fantastic dinner, hosted by our friends here at the science university. As is usual, there was a procession of about 8 different courses, all of which were delicious and beautifully presented (I felt like a fool, snapping pics of the food - but really, it had to be documented).

Tomorrow is our last day in the city. We will have another university meeting in the afternoon, and then will be taken sightseeing and shopping in the afternoon. A great end to a very nice stay here in Hue - which I much prefer to Hanoi.

Arrived

OK, so I'm in Vietnam. Arrived here in Hue City last night (i.e. Friday morning in eastern North America). Remarkably, it was an uneventful trip - no delays or lost luggage. The 15.5-hour flight to Hong Kong was grueling, but at least I had a bulkhead seat and was able to prop my legs up, so I was far better off than most. The plane was really nice (a Boeing 777), though there's never much to do during these flights other than eat, sleep and watch movies. I got through four (The Other Boleyn Girl, 27 Dresses, Shine a Light, and Charlie Wilson's War), plus a few TV shows.

Friends of ours from the university in Hue - two women who've come to Dal to study under the aegis of our project - met us at the airport on arrival, with bouquets and much fanfare (which was lovely, but a little embarassing). The hotel is quite nice - better than the one we stay at in Hanoi - and it was a relief to finally get some sleep last night, after having been on the go for about 32 hours since starting the journey on Thursday.

Today is about rest and practicalities. We got ourselves sorted out with wireless connections this morning, and in a little while we will be taken to the bank to get some currency. Tonight, we've been invited for dinner at the home of one of the project leaders here, which I'm sure will be very nice.

Oh, and the weather? Argh. It's 9am right now, I'm sitting in an air-conditioned hotel lobby, and I'm already a little sweaty. We can expect temperatures in the high 30s this week, with very high humidity. Gah.

Off to Asia (A Day Late)

I'm headed to Asia this Thursday, for a work-related trip of about two weeks. I'll be spending the first week and a bit visiting four of our university partners in Vietnam. Once I'm done with work, I'm having a short stopover of four nights in Tokyo - a place I had planned to visit last winter, before that trip got cancelled. Very happy to have a second chance to visit again!

Originally, during this trip we were also going to visit the fifth university partner in our project, who are located in Iloilo, Philippines. But we were shocked to learn yesterday that the city has been very badly flooded as a result of Typhoon Fengshen, which struck the Phillippines last weekend. It is pretty much a disaster zone, with no water or electricity - so obviously, we immediately cancelled our plans to travel there and spent yesterday trying to rearrange our flight itineraries in order to avoid the Philippines altogether. We are also very worried about our colleagues there, and hope that everyone is safe - though the devastation to property is sure to be terrible.

So instead of departing tomorrow morning as planned, we will leave a day later, on Thursday, and will travel directly to Hue City, Vietnam, for meetings with two of our partners there. We will carry on next Tuesday evening to Hanoi for more meetings, and will be finished work by next Friday (4 July). My boss will head back to Canada that day, and I'll travel on to Tokyo that night. I return to Canada on Tuesday 8 July.

I expect to have internet access for much of my trip, and so plan to blog throughout. Watch this space.

The Road to the ICC: Paved With Good Intentions?

A troubling story from Steph Nolen in The Globe and Mail this weekend, concerning the possible role of the mighty International Criminal Court in the continued propping-up of Robert Mugabe's murderous regime in Zimbabwe. The so-called "Charles Taylor Effect" will certainly give the ICC's detractors more fodder for their criticisms, that's for sure. This article is a sobering reminder that when it comes to justice, one size definitely does not fit all.

[As an aside, I see that the Globe has finally abandoned its stupid practice of locking online articles and restricting access only to subscribers - about time, too.]

I Want to Believe

Continuing with the sci-fi theme, I only found out very recently that there is a new X-Files movie due out in late July. How in the hell have I managed to miss that news?! The X-Files was one of my all-time favourite TV shows, and was required viewing for many years - even towards the end, when the series went on far longer than it should have, with predictably lame results (I still can't forgive Chris Carter for the sheer ignominy of the Lone Gunmen's demise).

The new movie is called The X-Files: I Want to Believe (naturally!) and is supposedly set some years after the original series ended. Apparently, this movie was meant to be made and released only a year or two after the TV series ended in 2002, but various delays and squabbles meant that it's only getting a release now. It's all been a bit hush-hush, with very little news leaking from the set over the past year. I wonder if that's a good thing or not, though - if devoted fans like me are only just hearing about it now, it doesn't say much for building pre-release excitement.

No matter, though - I'll be at the cinema on opening weekend, to get me a long-overdue dose of Mulder and Scully and their criss-crossing flashlight beams. Woot!

Gaiman for Doctor Who?!

Holy crap. There's a rumour going round that top fantasy author Neil Gaiman may write an episode or two for the next series of Doctor Who. Which, if true, would be beyond amazing.

*crosses fingers very tightly*

Dinner and a Movie

Last night, we went for dinner at Morris East, a new downtown hipster hangout that opened last summer. The main feature of its kitchen is a fancy wood-fired oven, which is used in the production of the resto's central offering: artisanal pizza (the kind with a very thin crust and posh toppings, like arugula and goat cheese). We quite enjoyed it. Fun atmosphere, tasty food, efficient service and reasonable prices. I'm sure we'll return.

Afterwards, we headed over to the cinema, as I've been anxious to see Prince Caspian, the latest Narnia film. As is to be expected, it looks great - it's wonderful how, with technology now, they can really do justice to the fantasy genre. All the magical creatures of Narnia were well-represented in this film; the visualization of the chivalric mouse Reepicheep was particularly good! Performances from the human cast were fine too, with the actors who played the Pevensie children in the last film returning for this one. The adaptation from the novel was quite credible, with perhaps one exception (a scene involving the return of the White Witch, which I felt was unnecessary). By the end of the movie, the stage gets neatly set for the next installment in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. All in all, it was solid and respectable enough - though I felt that there was a little too much emphasis on big, macho battle scenes. I'd have liked more magic and wonder, and less in the way of sweaty men with big swords running around yelling "yaaAAAarrrrRRGGhhhh!"

But that's just me. ;-)

Sarah Slean

Saw Sarah Slean play live last night, at the arts centre on campus. Her current tour is called the "Books & Ballgowns Tour". How could I not love that?! (And indeed, on stage she wore a very fetching teal taffeta cocktail frock, complete with chiffon "wing"!)

I've always liked her music (some of which can be heard here), and am glad I went to see her show. She's quite the kook, though adorably so. Her opening act, a guy from her band called Royal Wood, was good also. I'd recommend you go see her, but Halifax was the last stop on her tour!

Speaking for Herself

Just finished listening to a CBC radio interview with Cherie Blair. She's got a memoir coming out soon, Speaking for Myself, which I first read about in the Globe a few weeks ago.

I'll be picking that up, I think. I've always admired Cherie, despite (or perhaps because of) her general excoriation by the media. Must be difficult to be a fiercely intelligent, ambitious person in your own right, but knowing that history will forever view you in the shadow of your spouse.

Fleet and Garrison Ball

Went to the Fleet and Garrison Ball last night down at CFB Stadacona - the first time we've attended in several years. It was a good time - only about half the numbers of 2005, but a nicer atmosphere. This year's theme was the 1940s, and the organizers did a great job. They had reprints of interesting wartime posters up in all the rooms and corridors, a screening of Casablanca in the chill-out room, and copies of old Halifax newspapers on all the tables in the dining room (many of which I surreptitiously filched at the end of the evening, to take home and peruse at my leisure). Even some of the guests made an effort to dress according to the theme, which is always fun - although two or three ladies seemed a bit confused about fashion history, showing up in Flapper-style dresses and sporting feather headbands.

Dinner was sumptuous, as is to be expected at mess events - though whether we'd have been offered such dainties during wartime is debatable. ;-) We had:

Spiced Grilled Quail
White Asparagus Soup with Truffle Oil
Blackcurrant Sorbet
Beef Wellington and Lobster Thermidor
Caesar Salad
Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

Afterwards, though there were two bands and a DJ on offer, we spent much of the evening in the ballroom listening and dancing to live swing/big band music (which seemed fitting, given the evening's theme). Later on, we had cocktails in the Bridge Bar at the top of Juno Tower, which has an outdoor terrace with a stunning view of Halifax Harbour.

All in all, a lovely evening - and of course, I always love any excuse to get dressed up and indulge my inner glamour-puss.