Church Videos

Watch this video for your laugh(s) of the day!



News

Exhibit Showcases History Of Rental Housing In Toronto

10 Secret Stressors

4 ways to keep the brain sharp

Creative Tuesday #8 - Easter

Here's my contribution to Creative Tuesday's Easter theme. Please join in the fun, you don't have to be a real artist and everyone improves with practice.



Here's the original Cadbury 'Fruit and Nut' bar inspiration. I quickly drew my sketch before it disappeared! You can't take chances like that around our house.



News

Bacon and cheesecake have an effect on the brain similar to heroin and cocaine: study

Earth Hour

I walked to church this weekend. The priest gave a most serious homily addressing all the recent front page media about the priestly scandals. He resented that it was front page news but at the same time apologized and was ashamed at their behaviour and went so far as to say they should be removed from their duties. He reminded us that the upcoming Good Friday is a day of fasting and no meat.

On Saturday night, we turned off all the lights at 8.30pm to observe Earth Hour, but we kept the TV on because we were in the middle of watching 'So you think you can dance' and we wanted to see Kate Gosselin. She wasn't very good, but the judges were kind to her. And she's good for the ratings I heard.

News

Earth Hour Power-Down Results Dimmer Than Previous 2 Years In Ontario, B.C.

More runners hitting the streets 'barefoot'

One step spice blend

The other night I was looking for a quick way to prepare a package of Tiger shrimp that I had bought. I had this one step spice blend from Clubhouse called 'garlic plus' that I've hardly used and decided to simply shake some over the shrimp and saute in canola oil for about 4 minutes per side. They were delicious and perfectly cooked in their shells. They suggest using the spice blend for garlic bread and roast vegetables, so I'm going to try doing those sometime.

News

French thrill-seekers willing to pay to get kidnapped - can you believe this?

At age 16, Justin Bieber's riot inducing charms are an unstoppable global force

The Trappings of Fame

I saw the movie 'The Blind Side' with Sandra Bullock recently and loved it, although it makes you teary-eyed in a good way.

K and I are fans of Justin Bieber. He's developed a lot under Usher's guidance. I think he might be the next Justin Timberlake, and I think he has a great voice. He has all the right moves and fits the teen idol profile perfectly. K told me Usher gave Bieber a Ferrari and he has started taking driving lessons because he's now 16. There is absolutely no privacy in the internet age, you can see everything on youtube, including him learning to drive. Oh, the trappings of fame.

Try this neat colour test.

News

Busy hospitals have lower death rates

Japan unveils willing dental patient -- a robot

Families Can Now Borrow Free Passes To Toronto Zoo At Select Library Branches

How cold was it in Florida?

How cold was it in Busch Gardens, FL, during the recent cold snap?

In this instance, a picture is worth a 1,000 words!


DAMN COLD!!

The Prom Dress

Well, L and I found her prom dress, here it is! We fell in love with the aqua colour and the fit, it seemed to have the 'wow' factor on her.



News

Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea - L and I found this story kind of funny


Hospital gowns go designer

Internet not going to kill the TV star

Study: Last Supper paintings supersize the food

Pretty Dress

Here's a photo of a pretty dress my friend S noticed in a store window.



On a more practical topic, here's some zucchini I recently bought, can you believe the size of them? I just grilled them (cut into chunks) in the oven at 400F for about 10 minutes with olive oil, salt, pepper, basil and onion powder. Yum!



News

Replace saturated fat with 'good fats' to cut heart risk

Micro-tears

Micro-tears in her resistor muscles, was the physiotherapist's diagnosis on L's tennis arm yesterday. He did an ultrasound on her arm and gave her a set of regular exercises to do. She's to wear an elbow brace, lay off the tennis and hopefully be recovered in about 6 weeks, next appointment in a week. Never a dull moment.

Meanwhile, my friend S noticed another nice prom dress at the mall, so we have to go check it out asap!

K went to the orthodontist and the good news is that his braces may come off in another 4 weeks or so! It's been almost 3 years.

News

Part-time clerk lands $20.6M jackpot

The Beast File: Google ('HUNGRY BEAST', ABC TV)

Multidrug-resistant TB a serious global threat: WHO

Internet usage overtakes television watching: Report

Bridal Show

My girlfriend S and I happened upon a Bridal Show on our walk yesterday. We couldn't hang around for the Fashion Show, but there were a number of vendors set up in a room. A catering company let us sample marshmallows that we dipped into a lovely chocolate fountain. We had a choice of white or dark chocolate. There was a photography company there with exquisite wedding albums on display, a graphic designer specializing in hand made cards, a lady that performs wedding ceremonies, a local hotel offering wedding packages, etc. etc.

K was printing invitations to his upcoming 15th birthday party in April.

L is seeing a physiotherapist today to get a consultation on her tennis arm. It sounds to me like a tendon problem that's not going away.

News

Acupuncture can spread serious diseases: experts

Scientists hide gold with 3D "invisibility cloak"

It's Spring

In this part of the world anyway.

I'm going for a walk with my friend S, to get some much needed exercise.

L unfortunately didn't move to the next round in her university scholarship application, but is still eligible for a smaller scholarship. She's fine with that, knowing that this sort of thing is very competitive. She did get accepted into a prestigious program at another university. She actually applied to eleven schools and is waiting on a few more responses.

Here are some more photos from Barbados. We discovered they had afternoon tea with the most delicious little finger sandwiches and pastries, what a treat that was.



Here are a few shots taken in Bridgetown, the capital city:




They have a nice airport (pictured below) with duty free shops. In fact, I looked into the 'Diamonds International' store out of curiosity. They weren't busy in there and this particular white-gold necklace took my breath away. The salesman encouraged me to try it on and told me a bit about the high quality .83 carat diamond pendant with many facets. The duty free price was US$6,800, compared to a $9,000 street price. I would've taken a photo of it, but it's not allowed for security reasons. No, I didn't buy it!



News

Recycling your closet hang-ups

Back from Barbados

This was my Bahama Mama cocktail, I think it was called. Our west side hotel provided a free shuttle to a sister hotel on the south side of the island, so we thought we would go see what it was like there (and have lunch and a drink). The water was turquoise coloured with a bit of a surf.

Here's a photo of our beach. For me, there's nothing like swimming and floating on your back in a warm ocean with gently lapping waves. We had a great time. It rained on our 3rd day there, just that one day. But it hadn't rained since last October, so everyone was happy and I was glad for the plants.




Barbados is a lovely small island (21 by 16 miles). It's not a poor country like some of the other islands and they boast a 90% literacy rate which might be higher than Canada's.

Well, I better get back to laundry and settling in.

Creative Tuesdays - Falling

Here's my contribution to Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesdays Falling theme.

Here's a bit of trivia L told me yesterday. She learned at school that manicures are expected of women in Brazil. Being seen in public without manicured hands means you are not respected as much by society.

I won't be posting for the next week or so, have to finish packing. See you all when we get back from vacation!

News

Researchers back cancer-fighting properties of papaya

3D TV's

It was bright and sunny yesterday, perfect spring weather, people sitting on park benches. The general conversation on the street is 'we've been lucky this winter'.

It's still chilly in Florida according to my sister. One of her new puppies got into her laundry basket and took off with her lingerie. She had to pull a jacket on and chase him around outside to retrieve it. She was so mad.

I noticed they will soon start selling 3-D TVs. It's hard to keep up, and what do you do with the perfectly good TV's that you already own?

News

Samsung, Panasonic start selling 3-D TVs this week

Smart or Stoopid

Here's a fun little test for you today. I passed but was barely paying attention so I think I could've done better. But I think the older you are makes some of the questions easier to answer.

L is suffering from a stomach virus, hope it doesn't last long or spread, sigh. She wants to have a manicure and pedicure before our trip! K passed his French unit test, staying alive as usual.

Yesterday, I went for an evening walk in the spring-like weather. The sidewalk is a bit muddy, but who can complain? I stopped into the confectionery store on Main Street and saw this little boy, who couldn't have been more than 11 years old, paying for his ice-cream with his debit card. I thought that was a little young, but he seemed quite capable.

News

Honk (official video)

Aging men are jumping on the beauty bandwagon

Australian researchers say fat is 'sixth taste'

Barbados

Spring Break starts soon for the kids so we will be heading off to Barbados! Everyone's excited. I always stress over packing, have all kinds of lists, and hate to forget anything.

Check out the cool hot springs article below, I'd love to visit (and soak) in every single one of these!

And in another article below, it seems the UK has a plan to start monitory garbage bins. I'm pretty good about the garbage I throw out, but that would take some getting used to.

News

World's Coolest Hot Springs

Waste watchers? UK group fears trash bin spies

After doctors die, medical records not always secure

Spring Flowers

It's a warm weekend (10C/59F) for the time of year, the least I could do was pack away my winter flowers and bring the spring ones out! This consists of maybe 4 pots, including my snowdrops pictured here. Even the birds can't tell the new silk flowers from the real thing these days.

L went to her first BYOB party (bring your own booze) last night. She took some coolers for her and a friend who didn't dare even suggest it to her mom! She seems to have a cat allergy and wouldn't you know it, the people had a cat so she came home a bit early. She has tons of homework anyway.

There's an interesting news article below that says Canada will soon start making plastic money that is harder to reproduce.

News

Polymer cash tougher to counterfeit

Lunchtime coffee break best for fighting diabetes

Teamwork-Ya gotta luv the Brits!

That's the title of this hilarious video. My friend said:

"My 90 year old father sent this to me!

Men have it so much easier, don't they!!!!!!!!!!

Have a good Laugh"



News

Toronto mallgoers take a stroll through giant colon

Seven foods chefs avoid right now

Cell Phones Reveal Predictability in Human Movements

Happy People Talk More, and With More Substance

Pretty Flowerpot

It was another bright, sunny day yesterday. I stopped in at McDonald's for my free cup of coffee (it was busy of course) then headed off to the grocery store. This lady at checkout purchased a pretty pot of pinkish/yellow chrysanthemum flowers. I commented on how pretty they were and she said she felt she needed them, she had just finished a kitchen renovation. I wonder if that meant she was a kitchen designer or if she had suffered through having it done by people.

As you may know, I'm an Adam Lambert fan. I was going to post a video of 'Adam Lambert on SYTYCD Australia'. A friend noticed they have 2 male background dancers performing as a couple. I had missed that the first time I watched the video. It means Australia is more tolerant than the U.S. Unfortunately they pulled the youtube video due to copyright restrictions.

News

Vitamins stored in kitchens could become useless

Google: Desktops Will Be Irrelevant in Three Years’ Time

Two Simple Ways to Be a Happier Parent

Diabetes warning signs often ignored, research finds

Inspiring Words

Lilly's Life has a lovely post about this wonderful senior who runs a soup kitchen. These words 'When I asked her why she does it, week after week, she said, “You don’t do it because you enjoy it, it’s because it’s your responsibility. You are doing what is right. Enjoyment is not enough”.' inspired me. Perhaps this reflects on the true meaning of a fulfilled life.

I'll try to remember this when I feel bogged down by responsibility!


News

Robot Teacher in Japan (video)

Cancer society stops urging docs to offer PSA test

Some fish oil supplements contain high levels of PCB, test results show

Coffee Wars

It was 6 or 7C yesterday (43F), bright and sunny. It seems like an early spring.

One of L's friends stopped by to drop something off on her way to an evening class of some sort. She had just gotten her driver's licence the day before. I can't get used to these young girls driving themselves around all of a sudden. My 16 year old niece in the U.S. just got her own car, the gift of independence, I guess. K and his friends took the bus to the mall for lunch. They had the time of their lives. I'm happy to hear that they returned in time for class.

My sister recommends this recipe for Butterscotch Chews and sees them as a new school bake sale item.

McDonald's restaurants are offering free coffee all day until March 14th. Tim Horton's has their 'Roll up the Rim' coffee cups at the same time. You may find a valuable prize under the rim. They are even running an online contest in Canada and the U.S.

News

The Twitter Experiment (video)

The ten most addictive sounds in the world

Creative Tuesdays - Clock

This is my contribution to Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesdays 'Clock' theme week. Mr. Toast takes the time at the end of each theme to create a beautiful collage of all our contributions. It's a work of art in itself and you are welcome to join in at anytime.

I don't seem to have to go much further than Wikipedia these days for my inspiration. I discovered this 'Platform clock at King's Cross railway station, London'. As I drew it, I noticed the most beautiful details, the intricate design, the colours, it's even a 24 hour clock.

Canada Won

Wow, it's March! The weather's mild and spring-like, if wet and slushy.

I had a busy day yesterday. Met my friend S for coffee in the morning, then we walked to Main Street. I saw a nice dress and decided to bring L over later on to try it. We ended up doing a bit of prom dress shopping, but didn't find any real winners. I tell you, it's prom dress season, it's busy and a lot of girls already have their dresses on order. There was a mother of the groom trying dresses on, I think I helped suggest the right colour for her. The dress seemed to just make her glow. S would love to work part-time in a dress boutique, she loves this stuff.

Then the US/Canada hockey game began in the afternoon. It was very tense. M and L were so loud about it. Thank goodness Canada won. As an aside, there were a couple of men boutique shopping with their partners and I overheard them hurrying the women along as they had to be home in time for the game! M also heard another couple arguing at the gym earlier in the day, he told her to hurry up because he had to get home. They closed Yonge Street in downtown Toronto due to all the excitement. It was full of celebrants.