How I Met Your Mother Does Entertainment Weekly

So earlier this week my sister decided that she HAD to buy the last book of the Twilight series. Don't ask me what it's called because I can't remember* (read: don't want to remember). I of course was expected to take her to get it and I thought I'd run some of my own errands which included stopping into Shopper's Drug Mart. While in the checkout line The Best and Worst of 2008 edition of Entertainment weekly caught my eye and I thought i'd indulge by picking up a copy. little did I know that inside would be the most amazing feature ever! The cast of How I met Your Mother (my favourite sitcom!) reenacted some of the most popular stories in western entertainment for 2008. Check out the wicked-fantastic shots! I squealed with joy when I opened my magazine, hopefully you may get some of the same pleasure out of it... also check out the catchy theme song ("Hey Beautiful" by The Solids) to HIMYM here!

What the ....!? Bromance-Schomance The Brody Jenner Story

okay, which MTV exec got high and decided to give the Brodster a show of his own? Probably the same one who thought Whitney Port would be an intriguing person to follow around NY. This kind of shameless capitalizing on the success of The Hills (t a n g e n t a l e r t: everytime i say 'the hills' that annoying little 'aa-aa' the backup singers do from the song Unwritten pops into my head followed by the little jingling bells that make up the base of that horrible song t a n g e n t o v e r) and if we go back a few years, Laguna Beach makes me shake my head and ponder the meaning of life. Well - that was a lie, more like makes me involuntarily shudder at the fact that I used to buy into this crap - sorry still-loyal followers but that is exactly what all these shows are (excepting the second season of Laguna which was legendary) CRAP! All that aside, BROMANCE? REALLY? isn't Frankie enough friend Brody? He's definitely enough friend for Brody for ME to watch. Also ... Don't even try to tell me that Frankie and that guy from Gossip Girl don't creepily look-a-like. Trust me guys - you don't need to watch this shit parade because I already know whose going to 'win' this competition (I use the term 'win' losely here because I think we can all appreciate that winning a contest to be the 'bro of someone like Brody Jenner is the equivalent of winning a signed B44 C.D. [yeah that boy band - if you get down one me] or the opportunity to perform a solo dance routine in front of an audience of your peers, or winning a free mechanical pencil and not being supplied with lead ... I could go on but I think you get my point). So let me break the contestants down for you in no uncertain terms:
Sorry Chris but the Brodster don't chill with someone who has worse than 20/20 vision. it's rough but it's fact. I'm prety sure he'd also dump you as soon as he saw that you're still rocking those tennis wristbrands - those things were cool when I was in middle school - choose a new fad. you are not his new bro.

Michael: your brows approaching chola status - in future, don't pluck - for now, you are not Brody's new bro
Luke, Luke, Luke. What can I say? There really is nothing that could possibly salvage your chances of winning given that you're wearing a blazer that you either stole from Miami in the 80s or was designed by Lauren Conrad (burn). You are not Brody's new Bro

Check out the rest of the candidates for yourself right here, or not, I really don't care but I'm going to put my money on this guy to take the cake. (I use the term 'cake' loosely as a cake has NOT been promised to the 'winner' and the prize actually promised is no where near as acceptable as delicious baking)

Underappreciated Artists Need Love Too

Adele is so underappreciated (I don't even care if those two words actually go together like that or not). Her voice is so lovely and I just thought I might spotlight her here in my own small way. If you haven't already, check out some of her stuff...not just 'Chasing pavements'.

Cold Shoulder, Many Shades of Black, Make You Feel My Love (excellent Bob Dylan cover) are a few of my favourites. Amy's not sending anything decent our way soon I'm sure, Duffy is still coasting with Rockferry so satisfy your need for soulful uk talent with Adele.

I know I know - some will say she's getting a dandy bit of attention - but not enough in my books! =)

Joyeux Noël

So Christmas came and went and it was lovely and I was busy being Chrismasy with family so I didn't blog. That is a good thing. Now that the holiday is over and I have a little bit of free time on my hands I thought I'd give a summary of my celebrations and be done with Christmas for another year - *sugh* (typo, but i'm keeping it).

Christmas Eve was nice. My mum and step dad came over to my dad's along with some neighbours from our street and we ate lots of delicious food.

That night I got precious few hours of sleep as a I went to bed at 2am and was awoken at 6 but my sister who was extremely excited to get to open presents. we finally all pulled ourselves out of bed a 7:45 and opened Santa's gifts before enjoying a delicious breakfast and finally opening our presents at around noon. I recieved many thoughtful and fun gifts including baking supplies a book of poetry by Blake, Guess Who?, and a homeade ornament from Laura. We then went to my aunt and uncle's for Christmas dinner, which was amazing and overindulgent.

Boxing day I headed to Niagra falls with the other half of my family and hit up a corny wax museum and haunted house before going to the Copacabana Brazillian Steak House - meat, meat and more meat and no her name was not LOLA - and then enjoying martinis at the hilton penthouse lounge. All in all a delightful Christmas!

Here are some more photos including Daisy (the dog), the Lockness Turkey (my uncle's creation), and FOOD! Also is Joseph from Guess Who not foxy?

What I'm listening to: Love You Lately - Daniel Powter (old, I know, but so damn catchy!)check it: http://www.mp3raid.com/search/download-mp3/1/lately_daniel_powter/1.html

I'm so slick I'm sliding into the Penitentiary

One thing I love about returning home for the holidays is that I get to visit friends that I don't often see otherwise (I know I sound like some little old lady - but it's true). One of these friends, Ivana (check out her blog: Tombe le Neige ) shares my oft ridiculed love of documentaries. But not just any sort of documentaries - documentaries about gangs, violence and prisons - oh my! Perhaps I should start at the beginning of this obsession of mine and like most obsessions ... it starts with Oprah ...

When I was in highschool I used to come home at the end of the day and turn on Oprah. I don't like Oprah very much - if at all, but sometimes she has good shows ... sometimes. My favourite recurring guest is the always amazing Lisa Ling - whom I adore and admire almost as much as Tina Fey. Lisa often presented hardcore documentaries on crazy happenings that Oprah didn't even know existed and I loved it. I hold Lisa at least partly responsible for my unsatiable desire for knowledge about the not-so-nice side of America.

Okay, back on track: I went over to visit Ivana, not once but twice this break and we indulged in 3 documentaries from the 'Lock Up' series on MSNBC. I don't know quite how to explain the joy I get from learning about the dangerous activities of prisons or the things that come out of prisoner's mouths. I decided to give you a list of my top quotes from the three episodes I watched:

"You livin'... but you dead"

"DANIKA!!!"

"I come home drunk. I wanted some and she didn't wanna take it and called the cops"

"I'm sooo slick - I'm sliding into the penitentiary"

"Booty"

These pearls of wisdom were just some of the most awesome things I got to experience while watching these documentaries. Ivana and I also discovered the Key to the CONVICT CODE. Hold on to your hats 'cause it's a doozy. No it's not minding your own business, or even letting that jerk with the handprint tattoo take your bitchin' blue hat while you are playing chess. No, it is something much more simple ... but also complicated. In order to survive inside the chokey you need to SING. yup. We discovered that not only was the guy who sang the most happy, but he made the other prisoners happy and that means they won't knife you when you're heading to chow.

Another point of interest is the programs available within the penn walls. I'm not talking about making license plates, I'm thinking more along the lines of sewing classes the Hug-A-Thug program and my favourite Amer-I-can group! One thing is for sure, whether worrying about staying a live or if you sewed those dresses properly - prison these days is anything but boring!
(note: the pictures in this post are from Ivana's visit to Kingston this summer. Kingston has a lot of prisons - bad times, but also a Penn museum - good times!)

It's Christmas ... In OAKVILLE!

That is the name of a song I kid you not. It's not a good song ... it's not even remotely tolerable (like Same Old Lang Syne or *gasp* Christmas Shoes)... but it is my hometown's very own christmas song so I gotta represent. I'm pretty sure though that most of the people of Oakville will lie and tell you they've never heard it. I've been settling (sort of) back into to Oakville life and by that I mean I've been feverishly running around doing other people's last minute Christmas shopping. I decided to bring my camera along to capture some of the sights downtown oakville and all around. Check out pictures from the snow storm and my brother's shovelling attire below as well. Here is a link to Jamie Dryden's website (singer and songwriter of Christmas in Oakville): http://www.draytonproductions.com/christmas/

"Do you think that's bad or do you think that's normal?"

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS HAS RETURNED ... sort of. I was looking on youtube for a flight of the conchords season two preview and was pleasantly surprised by a NEW full episode from season two! Follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q69TgUH9Euw&feature=related to see the new episode in its entirety. Its not their best work, but I did laugh out loud multiple times and that is good enough for me! The songs weren't that catchy, but I'd love to get a hold of some Femident. Murray as usual stole the show in my eyes ... in fact it seemed as if he was the main star of the episode. The second season officially starts sometime in January so I guess I'll have to busy myself with my season one Dvds until then!