that canadian girl

Latest adventures…

  • I love Sundays

    I used to hate Sundays. Now, I love them.

    Especially today, as there’s an extra hour that’s magically added itself to the usual schedule. And who wouldn’t wish for extra hours in the day?

    I got to sleep in indecently late, lazing around for a bit thinking of the day/week ahead, have a shower, eat an entire large mango, put a load of laundry in the machine, go for an hour-long “jog” (we’re not talking Olympic running here, but hey at least I’m trying to get rid of my fat ass!), 20 minutes watching the end of the dreadful MTV Europe Music Awards, where poor ol’ Xzibit seemed to wonder why Europeans liked that kind of crap music (it was some really crummy Italian momo singing at the end, apparently the song of the year for Italy), having an other shower because of the hour-long jog, and guess what! It’s only just gone 12 o’clock!!

    I still have all afternoon to do whatever I want, and then this evening, we’re going to see the League of Gentlemen live! To quote Mark Gatiss on their own website, “You have to throw yourself into it with real gusto. With this show, we’re burlesquing the burlesque. We’ll have to invent a new word for it!” I’m bracing for the worst because I’m not a big fan of panto, a British Christmas season tradition, but I’m in love with the Royston Vasey characters so I’ll most likely enjoy seeing them interact with the audience. (For the non-Brits, About.com has a reasonably good intro to panto here – and if it sounds really silly, it’s because it is!)

    I’ve only seen one amateur panto, last Christmas, and I wasn’t too impressed, but this time, they’re fantastic actors and writers, so I think I can trust them to entertain!

    Mmm time to go have lunch… Going for a jog makes me ravenous!!

  • Charley in New Town

    I took a peek into the British National Archives, after hearing so much about old content being made available online.

    It’s worth watching Charley in New Town, as it explains how the New Towns were built in post-war Britain.

    “In the immediate post-war period ‘New Towns’ were considered to represent one of the main hopes for the future. Designed to alleviate overcrowded inner cities by building in less populated areas, the scheme was ambitious. It resulted in twenty-nine ‘New Towns’. Twenty-three towns in England and Wales and six in Scotland, Stevenage being the first.

    Other towns such as Harlow, Hatfield and Basildon were amongst the first New Towns built between 1947 and 1950. New Towns took the overspill population from London and other big cities. They also provided much needed accommodation for people living in hastily built post-war prefabricated houses.”

    Some of you may remember Charley from Prodigy fame? Yep, this is where the sound bites came from for the 1991 track!

    Charley says: Always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere

  • More Canadians in Britain

    Beavers are being re-introduced into the British landscape for the first time in 500 years. Granted, they’re the European species rather than the American one (which is apparently more destructive), but it’s still six little friends for me!

    “It is vegetarian so it should not deplete fish stocks in rivers and the beavers could also help keep waterways clear of debris.”

    Can you picture the beavers using Tesco trolleys to build a dam? Oh thank you Beebs for the funny mental picture…

  • Il fait noir, noir, noir, Je veux voir, voir, voir

    Clic Il fait clair, vive la lumière!

    We have just added a light on timer, which turns on 40 minutes before the alarm goes off. It makes waking up when it’s still dark much less painful! *yawn*

    Remember, we’re changing the clocks this weekend so it should get vaguely easier!

  • Wonder why the internet was slow today?

    This could explain the lag issues some people were complaining about today…

  • New vision, express

    I finally got off my butt and went to get new contact lenses. It’s been probably about 4 or 5 years since I last wore contact lenses, but these last few months, I really felt I had enough of glasses so I went to Vision Express and for £15 a month, I can regain my sanity! (And lose/rip contacts as often as I wish and they’ll replace them!)

    Now I just need to sort out my out-of-control hair… A good cut and a homemade Couleur Experte in Cerise de Cassis and Dark Mahogany Brown and I’ll look acceptable again!

    Have a great weekend kids, it’s only just starting!

  • Jamie's Great Escape

    Mr. O is at it again! This time, he’s run off to Italy to learn to cook from the best!

    For once, I’ve managed to catch a TV series right at the beginning, and I highly recommend it to food addicts. Jamie and the infamous hippie van visited Sicily’s Palermo for a first cultural shock.

    If you’re tempted to grill fish Sicilian-style, the recipes can be found here. My guess is that they’ll add the recipes each week after the show, so keep an eye on that link!

    Channel 4, Wednesdays at 8:30pm

  • Given names throughout the years

    Came across an interesting link today. Wondering whether anyone else was crazy enough to name their child Peach or in what year the name Zula was at its most popular? The Baby Name Voyager will tell you.

    Shame they don’t cover French-language names, as I’d be very curious to look at some names’ popularity.

    I’m afraid this is the kind of site that’s better viewed on a Windows computer for full effect. My Mac’s not handling the page too well…
    * later *
    Nevermind, it’s working fine in any browser, our internet connection is just a bit slow tonight!

  • And the award goes to…

    MYSTERY CARROT AWARD
    MYSTERY CARROT AWARD
    for website adequacy

    Me, me, me and me! I’m feeling selfish tonight.

  • Are bloggers shy?

    Help me understand something.

    There are however many millions of blogs on the net now (just check BBC News for the latest estimates, they won’t stop harping on about the novelty that is blogging), the typical bloggers are techy young men, and trendy young women. I’m working and living in that type of environment day in, day out, yet I know so very few bloggers.

    Sure, I’ve got one work colleague who blogs, I’ve talked a couple of friends into keeping a Blogspot diary while living far far from home, but that’s it. The concept of blogging doesn’t even seem to be that familiar within quite technical social groups, so I can only imagine how right the BBC article is about current expressions Brits seem to be most familiar with (because I’m not repeating that word on my blog).

    Either I am surrounded by bloggers, who smirk when I turn my back because they’ve been wiser and haven’t told anyone about their blog, or it simply isn’t half as popular as the media makes it out to be. Do the regular bloggers blow stats up out of proportion? For the sake of statistics, I’d be the owner of 5 blogs, even though only two are live nowadays.

    In no way do I think blogs are the be-all and end-all of new trendy technologies, but why do none of my real-life observations match the supposed worldwide estimates?