Post Gig Stupor

Choir concert was fun with an audience of over 300 people. Feeling hungover/burnt in a post-gig stupor today. Went to Aphrodite's for sustenance and regeneration, which was forthcoming. I made apple sauce yesterday before the rehearsal which was very grounding. We had Oyama duck confit with Anne's blueberry sauce for dinner. Real mincemeat pie with port for dessert. After being on the kale diet for a month it was like a dream from a land far far away on a planet in a distant galaxy.

I have a real job interview this week and am wondering what the hell I am going to wear. Argh. In a moment of insanity I thought I should make something to suit the occasion.

The witch hazel is blooming all over the city. Delightful.

Warm and Fuzzy

Feeling very warm and fuzzy after the storytelling gig last night. I so enjoyed everyone's contribution, felt honored to be a part of it and it SOLD OUT. Fabulous! Please support Raincity Chronicles. They are awesome. More, more, we want more.


Went to have my humus at lunch today at choir practice only to find it was moldy. WTF! I went to the service station to see if there was anything there I could eat, but I wandered around muttering like a mad woman and shaking my head. WHY cannot we have decent food available before 10 am in Vancouver? WHY is there not a law against the shit they sell at gas stations? I think someone should do an art piece where they turn a gas station into a destination snack bar. What would that look like? Answer: France.

Why cannot we give art and food the proper respect it deserves? TELL ME WHY!!!!?

TISIIWOT: tweets I'd send if I was on twitter

Tickets are sold out for the storytelling event tonight at the Salt Building! Just chillin' until the gig.

Looks like there might be a food truck nearby at 6pm. Smart! Is there anywhere to eat in the Olympic Village besides foraging in the ditches beside the Athlete's village? See, I'm too wordy for Twitter. Fail.

The Mary Tyle Moore theme song in French

OMG! I have to learn this and sing it with mah uke.

Pretty is as Pretty does

The Sphinx and the milky way discovers an awesome quote by Fran Lebowitz.

Street Food City

If you are down at the VAG in the next couple of days check out the gathering of the food trucks at Street Food City. Hopefully the lineups won't be too long!

Monday Monday

Happy Chinese New Year! Hope you get to have a big feast to celebrate. Me, I'm on prison rations these days. Winter greens and kale soup. This is the third week, the novelty has worn off and I am grouchy and craving apple pie. Yesterday I made miso kale soup. Big whoop.

Anyway, Catherine and I went to the premiere of my play which was fun. The actress did such a good job. I was thrilled! The small theater was packed out, and I'm glad the event was such a success.

Thrilling news: I have a monologue about my love of dairy that's gonna be published in an anthology. Yeah!

In the meantime I've got to practice for the big concert coming up on Sunday and the storytelling event on Friday. No notes for the storytelling, so I have to memorize my bullet points. And I have to make sure I don't go over seven minutes which is way too easy for me to do! So many stories, so little time.

Glaciers of Nice

Glaciers of Nice Blog.

These folks look cool. I am intrigued by the Sumi Ink Club idea.

Burdock Kimpira

Oh how I love the woody, earthy nuttiness of burdock. I made kimpira today, grating the burdock, rinsing it twice and then sauteing it in olive oil with a touch of sesame oil. I added fresh oyster mushrooms and about 2 tbsp soya sauce mixed with honey (in another saucepan). Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and wow, it is delicious. I think I'm going to try putting burdock in the next batch of kimchi as well. The kimchi turned out really well and I've been putting it in borscht, on tofu and on my red cabbage cole slaw. I think next time I'd make one batch without ginger so that it's a bit more versatile. Ginger tastes weird in borscht to my taste. That's taking fusion a step too far!

I'm really looking forward to a 4 hour workshop today with the Push fest. Fun!

Amarillo was a lively piece of physical and visual theatre. I enjoyed the layered imagery and the physical rigor of the work.

Balance, Push, Pull

I was given a free ticket to the show called Amarillo at the Push Festival tonight and I'm really looking forward to it.

My ten minute play is also showing this weekend at the PuLL Festival, which I'm stoked about. It's at the Carousel Theatre on Granville Island, tickets are only five bucks and drinks are a toonie!

And this big announcement: I am telling a story at the Raincity Chronicles event called "What Feeds Us "on Jan 27. The tales will focus on the theme of eating local. Cool!

And then there's our High Spirits Choral Concert on Jan 29. Busy Bee!

The Flower Duet: The Oliveira Sisters

I feel that this is one of the best versions of the duet we've found a video of so far. The soprano has that lovely light soprano of the ingenue and her sister has that lovely mature sound with a darker tone. There's also a real warmth and connection between the two women which is missing in other performances of the "park and bark" variety.

We celebrated Art's Birthday at W2 today with tea by Trolley Bus and a "digital" cake. Had some really interesting conversations, then came home and made a curry with tiny brussel sprouts from the market. Coconut milk, tomato paste, mango, fresh garlic, ginger and tumeric, onion seeds and a generic curry powder. I had a hankering for curried popcorn so I made a big batch to share with Ules. I also made salmon cakes and potatoes for the boy. I had a nip of Catherine's raspberry vodka for dessert. It is her summer garden in a bottle!

The Dublin Quartet: The Flower Duet

This is a lovely instrumental rendition of the song by Delibes. It's peaceful to look at while imagining you are in the sunlit room with those women.

Kimchi

I'm gearing up to make kimchi this weekend, so headed to Granville Island to pick up Korean chili flakes. Also picked up some fresh lime leaves for Thai soup and they are on sale for two for one right now at Seven Seas. I bought some awesome chocolate sables at PICA. They are so chewy and chocolately, and have a nice hit of salt so they win the cookie of the month prize. Yee Haw!

If you are near GI, check out the show at Gallery Jones. They have a couple of brilliant Leonara Carrington pieces.

Meteor Sighting Confirmed

Looks like other people saw the meteor, some with quite dramatic descriptions. There is a website called Lunar Meteor Hunters where you can enter what you've seen. I saw the meteor when I was looking due west from Vancouver.

11JAN2012 Mike Helena MT 1950 MST 3-5 seconds ESE-WNW Green turning white in fireball brighter than moon or Venus none observed Observed while driving westerly on cloudless evening; arcing downward so ruled out fireworks due to trajectory; disappeared behind mountainous horizon

11Jan2012 Gary lockhart Port Angeles, WA USA 2145 2 SSE-NNW Brilant White light moon none streak then ball flare. Appreared to burn up over northern British Columbia, Canada

1/11/2012 Jessica Macgregor East Sooke, Sooke British Columbia,Canada 21:40:00 5 to 10 sec Came from behind me south and went down in front north in the bay Started off white like shooting star then the head got bigger and the tail was white moving to the head was bright orange with red like a little fire ball with a long tail and green just b4 it disappeared was beautiful Brighter then the moon No As it got closer to the water got bigger and brighter and then it was gone no noise at first I thought it was a shooting star but the way it fell and how bright it was was like nothing I've ever seen

11jan2012 gary maccormack victoria bc canada 21:43:00 2 sec sw-ne very large brighter not apparent at first i thought it might be a flare but it was moving much too fast

1/11/2012 Hilary Canty Olga, Washington, USA 21:45:00 5 seconds NW, direct drop Bright white center, orange flame like surrounding Moon Looked whole and on fire Sure was a wild sighting and made the dog walk memorable!

1/11/2012 Erica Seattle Wa., USA 21:40, Pacific 2 sec Northwest, and fell straight down Blue green very bright none none

1/11/2012 Diana Port Angeles, WA USA 21:30:00 3-5 seconds straight downward trajectory Heard a loud roar, then from my living room window, saw a huge white ball of light falling straight down toward the Straight of Juan De Fuca, about a mile from my home on a hill above town. As bright or brighter than the moon and looked from the distance about half the size of the moon Only saw the huge bright light then it fell out of view behind trees. I don't know if the huge roaring sound just before that was connected, although I opened my door and there were no planes in the sky, then right after that I saw the meteor.

1/11/2012 Brooke Whiterock/South Surrey, BC 21:49 pst Maybe 5 - 10 seconds by the time I was asking the rest of the people with me if they were seeing it or saw it it was done It came from behind me over my head in a Northwest direction No sounds it was bright white and than seemed to get brighter and than disappear As bright as a sparkler Yes as it passed over my head it looked like sparks were flying of the tail of it It was the most coolest thing I have ever seen.

Heavens to Mergatroid!

I was coming home from choir tonight and I saw a ball of flame falling from the sky. Weird or what?

The Secret Lives of Books

Something to lift your spirits: an animation shot and created in Type bookstore in Toronto.

A Picnic Invigorating

Someone's just sent me a link to a story about French Beekeepers occupying Monsanto. Yes, that's who the kids should be occupying. The article was probably translated by Babel Fish so it has some lovely weirdness. I'd like to go to a picnic invigorating--sounds like beaucoup de fun! Ooo missus!

If I Won the Lottery

I would buy my friends the outfit of their choice from this echt collection of art deco inspired Ralph Lauren Collection from Fall 2011. Then we'd all hop in vintage cars and go to Gastown for cocktails.

An Italian Sense of Time

I watched this animate with my son. It describes cultural and personal differences in a sense of time and he has some interesting insights on the difference between cultures in Northern and Southern Italy.

I've just read Willful Behavior by Donna Leon. So far I think it's my favorite book in her series about a Venetian detective. The writing style is elegant and the pacing is excellent. I also love the way she describes the food culture in Venice and the big family lunches that Brunetti's wife Paula cooks when she is not teaching. This is very satisfying armchair traveling. It wouldn't surprise me if this series is filmed for television.

I picked up some lovely winter greens at the market and have been chopping the kale and bok choi and mustard greens into really small pieces to make them edible while they are still raw. Add to this a mustardy lemony dressing and roasted almonds or herbed walnuts and this is so good with bits of blue cheese and some buffalo sausage on the side.

Hot Tweets

This is hilarious--the Calgary Philharmonic orchestra warming up with tweets sent in by Calgarians.

Paint it Black covered by Supercute

I love what these girls are doing. They rock the ukuleles!

A Tyrant's Palate

The Way to Understand Kim Jong Il was Through his Stomach. A fascinating article from The Daily Beast about the "malignant narcissist" and his love of gourmet food.

A really nice product: Pacific Northwest Calendar.

P's sick in bed so I went to the market on my own to pick up the usual suspects: a bag of Galas, bag of Yukons, bag of greens, buckwheat brownie, loaf of Chris's bread, package of bratwurst, as well as High Crow's breakfast bars and blondies. I also picked up some macarons from French Made baking--surprised to see them at the market since they now have a cute little storefront location on Kingsway near Broadway. The Coma food truck was there for the first time, so I indulged in some Bulgogi tacos. I am so hooked on this Korean/Mexican fusion truck food. Love it! I think I may have to learn how to make kimchee. Anyone out there who can teach me?

I Shall Be Released

Joni Mitchell and Mama Cass? I love it.

Cloud Seeding

Das Boot Camp has begun and we are being productive. We have been writing until our fingers are cramped and can work no more. We have been cooking whole grains and chopping cabbage until the wee hours of the morning. We have been eating grapefruit whether we like it or not. We have been singing and learning our choir music, even the ones we despise. Moohoohawhawhaw!

And yet, there has been room for laughter, small pieces of cheesecake, a few of Michelle's awesome cookies, and a piece of Aphrodite's pumpkin pie. We are sore and stiff, but comrades, we are doing this for the good of the family, the city and the nation. We march on in the dim light of the sad, rain-drenched city that cares nothing of its artists in the front lines. Vive le revolution!

Remember to take your vitamin D, sisters.

Oh and I am researching cloud seeding for a performance piece. The subject seems to drive the conspiracy theorists crazy.

Mel Torme Sings Nocturne for the Blues

Written in 1939 by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers. Originally an instrumental, I'm not sure if Torme wrote these lyrics. He does a lovely job, but I'm not sure about the use of the strings as this song was made for the sax, don't you think?

A nocturne for the blues played on a bro - ken heart string
It's wailing out the news my baby is gone from me.
Dark shadows in the rain, a tel - e - phone that won't ring
Just mem - o - ries re- main of lovers that used to be.
I miss the laughs and the fun, my spot in the sun
When I was the one one and only.
The music and lights, those wonderful nights
The morn - ing is the time we'd kiss.
The laughs and the fun, my days in the sun,
They're over and done, and I'm lonely;
Don't ask me to hide the heartbreak in - side
The gleam - ing spark is gone, the light went dark.
This nocturn for the blues took all and left me nothing
Nothing but the blues 'til baby comes back to me

Moves Like Jagger: A Cover

Sweet, funny and oddly sexy. I found this via Cover Me Songs.

2012 Year of the Boot Camp: Not for Sissies!

This is the Year of Discipline. No whining and whinging! This is the year to Get Things Done.

This is the year to develop recipes for Abstinence, Sustenance and Decadence.

This is the year of Playing Hard and Working Hard!

This is the year of the Ukulele!

This is the year I write, sing, make art on a regular basis.

This is the year of the Regime, the Program, the Schedule.

This is the year of the Upgrade.

This is the year of finding a job that allows me to keep volunteering and giving to the community while keeping body and soul together. A year of giving to the friends and family who support me.

"You cannot dream yourself a character, you must hammer and forge yourself one."

--Henry David Thoreau

But first . . . I have to get over this wretched cold. This is my second day in bed with sinus pain. I made some hot tea with rose infused honey and lemon and Peter made me nourishing rabbit soup from the bunny he braised for dinner last night. We popped the sparkling mead he bought me for Christmas and toasted the New Year.

This year I am really going to focus on the idea of stocking the pantry--having foods and condiments on hand to help us be more creative with our everyday cooking. Let's start with pickles! I love having pickled veggies with my meals.

But first . . . I have to create a space for the foods in the pantry!

Have a fantastic 2012 and let's hope there's another Mayan calendar buried somewhere that carries on where the old one left off!