Oh, I had some serious misgivings about watching this movie. Directed by Mike Judge, who will forever be known for bringing us Beavis and Butthead, this is a movie about the dumbing down of America. It is funny. Luke Wilson has an amazing low-key comedic style that keeps this movie from being one long fart joke. The language and sexual content has earned it an R rating but I didn't find either overly offensive. Would I go looking to watch this movie again . . . probably not because it really isn't my style. But it definitely is worth seeing once and if it were on TV late at night I might watch it just because it is simple and entertaining. So, kind of a mixed review on this one. Funny and Luke Wilson on the pro side. Dumb and not note-worthy on the con side.
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Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz guitarist, singer and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Angel Eyes" and reached the Top 10 in Canada with the songs "I Think I Love You Too Much" and "How Long Can a Man Be Strong". Born in Toronto, Ontario, Healey was raised in the city's west end. He was adopted as an infant; his adoptive father was a firefighter. When he was almost one year old, Healey lost his sight due to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. His eyes had to be surgically removed, and he was given ocular prostheses. Healey began playing guitar when he was three, developing his unique style of playing the instrument flat on his lap. At nine years old, his musical talents were showcased in an interview on the TVOntario children's programme Cucumber. When he was 15, Healey formed the band Blue Directi...
Happy publication to Elegy for Opportunity by Natalie Lim and Supergiants by Kyle Flemmer, both released today by the stellar Canadian Press, Wolsak & Wynn. About Elegy for Opportunity: In Elegy for Opportunity, Natalie Lim asks: how do we go on living and loving in a time of overlapping crises? Anchored by elegies for NASA's Opportunity rover and a series of love poems, this collection explores the tension and beauty of a world marked by grief through meditations on Dungeons & Dragons, Taylor Swift's cultural impact, the all-engulfing anxiety of the climate crisis and more. About Supergiants: For millennia humanity has looked upwards and traced stories in the night sky, projecting our human wants and desires outward. In Supergiants, Kyle Flemmer turns his gaze in the other direction. What does our reach for the stars say about us? Working with the technical language of engineering and astrophysics, Flemmer reorients the reader within our galaxy. Both of these cosmical...
Today's Writing Prompt: Banned Books Unfortunately, your country is now under the control of an extremist regime, and all literature other than religious texts has been banned. Do you give up your books to stay safe? Or are there certain books you make an effort to conceal and preserve? If so, which ones are worth the cost to you? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_censorship_in_Canada
35563 Huron Rd., Goderich, Ontario N7A 3X8 Located in the heart of Goderich, Ontario, the Laithwaite Apple Park Statues offer a charming blend of agriculture and artistry. This farm, nestled in the scenic countryside, is a testament to the beauty of nature intertwined with human creativity. Visitors can wander through the orchards, admiring not only the bountiful apple trees but also the stunning array of sculptures scattered throughout the landscape. From delicate statues depicting local wildlife to larger-than-life abstract pieces, this unique farm provides a serene setting for a leisurely stroll or a moment of quiet reflection. The Laithwaite Apple Park Statues seamlessly marries the rustic allure of a traditional farm with the elegance of outdoor art, making it a must-visit destination for nature lovers and art enthusiasts alike.
I am starting to believe Leonard Maltin is a genius . . . LOL . . . I've been finding and watching the movies he mentions in his book 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen and almost every one has been a hit with me. I've never even heard of the movie The Great Buck Howard . Buck Howard is a magician and mentalist who used to be popular. John Malkovich is both charming and convincing as a man who has deluded himself into believing that a major comeback is just around the corner. His comeback event is to put 100s of people to sleep at the same time. Just as the crowd is beginning to fall asleep, Jerry Springer is in a traffic accident and all the press leaves. Colin Hanks is an aimless law school dropout who becomes the Great Buck Howard's assistant and roadie. Buck isn't very easy to work for but Colin admires his work ethic and showmanship. The actor’s real-life father, Tom, was one of the film’s producers, and appears briefly as t...
Today's Prompt: Party Animals At social events, where are you usually found? At the bar? Dancing by the band? Welcoming your friends? Behind a bush with a 'friend?' Or are you the kind to avoid the whole thing and stay home? I like to "work" the room when I'm at a party. You just never know what interesting people you might meet or what interesting conversations you might have. This is fairly new behaviour for me. I used to be the one with a drink in my hand and a fake smile on my face, wondering if someone would talk to me or how long I would have to stay before I could politely leave. I have taken that experience and turned it around because I assume someone else might feel that way and my saying "Hi, I'm Pam, and you are?" could change a long lonely evening into a chance to make a new friend.
Article by Annie Joan Gagnon Published Online January 30, 2008 Last Edited November 17, 2016 Jean Leclerc (a.k.a. Jean Leloup), singer-songwriter, novelist (born 14 May 1961 in Québec City, Québec). Leloup’s talent and genius first made him a hit with young francophones in the 1990s, and ever since, he has continued to develop his art and captivate French-speaking audiences. Regarded as an anticonformist artist, he has projected an eccentric persona and gone by many names, such as John the Wolf, Johnny Guitare, Roi Ponpon and Dead Wolf. But despite his extravagance, Leloup has proven an authentic, complex individual. Childhood and Early Career Jean Leclerc spent part of his childhood in Togo, where he lived until he was 8. After that, he returned to Québec for a year, then left again for Algeria, where he discovered his passion for music. Like most young people of his generation, he was heavily influenced by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, but he was ...
Whether you know it or not, you have probably seen the art of Ruth Abernethy. Ruth is the sculptor who created the installation of Queen Elizabeth II at Queen's Park, the Glenn Gould sculpture in front of CBC studios, and the Liu Xiaobo piece in Ottawa. Her art, which has been installed coast to coast, has inspired many conversations among many Canadians. (She's also the only non-American to sculpt Abraham Lincoln!) Ruth’s new book In Form: Life and Legacies in Bronze , was released by FireFly Books on September 21, 2024. We’re honoured to have her join us for this Power Q & A to talk with us about her singular path to international acclaim. Read the interview with Ruth here .
ear·worm /ˈirËŒwÉ™rm/ Learn to pronounce noun 1 . a catchy song or tune that runs continually through a person's mind. 2 . short for corn earworm . Choose language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Bangla Basque Belarusian Bosnian Bulgarian Burmese Catalan Cebuano Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Kinyarwanda Korean Kurdish Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Mongolian Nepali Norwegian Nyanja Odia Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Scottish Gaelic Serbian Shona Sindhi Sinhala Slovak Slovenian Somali Southern Sotho Spanish Sundanese Swahili Swedish Tajik Tamil Tatar Telugu Thai Turkish Turkmen ...
Today's Prompt: Alliteration This is an amusing little prompt. Using the first letter of your middle name write as many words as possible in 1 minute that start with that letter and that describe you. Able Artistic Affable Angry Abnormal Absorbed Addicted Addlepated Abrupt Absurd Agitated Admiring Adviser
Today's Prompt: Sandwich That's right, sandwich. Describe your ultimate sandwich. I actually have THREE favourite sandwiches. My happiness sandwich is peanut butter and bologna. My I'm stressed sandwich is cheese slice, Spanish onion, mayo and salt. My holiday sandwich is turkey, stuffing, cranberry jelly and mayo. All three should be on whole wheat or whole grain bread whenever possible. What's your favourite sandwich?
A unique railcar museum located at 76 Victoria Terrace in Clinton. CNR School on Wheels Museum Looking for something to do on a summer afternoon? Visit the CNR School on Wheels Museum in Sloman Park. The seasonal museum promises an entertaining and educational experience revolving around local and provincial history. From 1926 to 1965, Fred and Cela Sloman, along with their young family, spent ten months of the year on a railcar travelling through the Northern Ontario bush. The car was part of a program called School on Wheels that provided education to students in remote Northern Ontario. The railcar served as both a classroom and a living space for the Sloman family as it moved along a 150 mile stretch of track between Capreol and Foleyet. The car would travel connected to a train, before being left on a small piece of side track for several days while Fred Sloman taught the local children. The car would hook up to another train and continue on, leaving homework for the s...
This movie was recommended in 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen by Leonard Maltin . . . Baadasssss! I wasn't sure I would actually be interested in the movie. It tells a unique story that I was so sure I couldn't mesh with. But then I saw the list of actors . . . MARIO VAN PEEBLES JOY BRYANT TERRY CREWS OSSIE DAVIS DAVID ALAN GRIER NIA LONG RAINN WILSON T. K. CARTER SAUL RUBINEK PAUL RODRIGUEZ VINCENT SCHIAVELLI KHLEO THOMAS LEN LESSER SALLY STRUTHERS ADAM WEST GLENN PLUMMER JOHN SINGLETON TROY GARITY . . . and decided to give it a shot. The movie is gripping. The language is often a bit hard to take, i.e. they say a lot of words I don't want to hear, but I get that Mario Van Peebles is going for gritty realism and so the language is "necessary". I was going to watch the movie on Hal's computer while I cleaned my desk. A few minutes into the movie all thoughts of cleaning were gone. My eyes were glued to the ...
Today's Prompt: Lost Describe an object that you have lost. I am starting to believe there must be some organic reason why I keep losing stuff. It may be the old age, the fibro or maybe even the diabetes. Yeah, I'm a real prize these days . . . falling apart AND forgetting things. I try to blame Hal but it doesn't always work . . . . . . although the other day when I went to upload some geocaches to my GPS the cord was lost. I remembered Hal having it in his hands and I told him to put it back where he found it because I keep all the cords for all my electronics in one specific place . . . so I don't lose them. He had put the cord in my camera bag. I don't know why. Hal is also the person who lost my wedding, engagement and family rings for two years. http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2012/06/case-of-missing-jewelry.html But these days I can't always blame Hal. I put the phones down and can't remember where the...
Jason Robert Collett is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. He has released six solo studio albums, and is a former member of Broken Social Scene. Collett was born in Bramalea, a Greater Toronto Area suburb. He began writing songs at a young age to escape the boredom of his suburban life, and cites Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and Nick Lowe as influences. Eventually, Collett moved to downtown Toronto where he worked as a woodworker and carpenter, doing renovations and custom home building, while he pursued his music. In the late 1980s, Collett co-founded the band Lazy Grace with Kathryn Rose and Kersti McLeod, performing every Monday at Toronto’s Spadina Hotel at the popular indie music gathering, Radio Mondays, alongside The Weakerthans and artists on the record label Arts & Crafts, who would perform and write songs together. Collett has mentioned how Radio Mondays were great community-building events, with five or six artists on stage at a time. Around 2000, he w...
Happy Publication Day to RuFF by award-winning author Rod Carley, published by Latitude 46! RuFF is Carley’s highly-anticipated fourth novel. This historical fiction transports us to Elizabethan England, where we witness Shakespeare struggling through a midlife crisis while trying to win a national play competition to secure the King’s business. Hilarious hijinks ensue, with whip-smart dialogue and a captivating tale that touches on salient social issues that persist today, including equality, justice, and censorship. Humour and incisive wit combine to create a compulsively readable and thought-provoking novel from this Leacock Award long-listed author. We know RuFF will be a favourite book of the year for many. Praise for Carley: “At times I found myself both laughing and cheering out loud! The dialogue is some of the best I have ever read. The descriptions are transportive. Not only can you see Elizabethan London – you can smell it!” —-Heidi von Palleske You can gra...
Today's Prompt: OMG Have you recently seen a peer (another parent, a coworker, a friend at school) do something that shocked you? These kinds of events make our jaw drop because people we think we have a lot in common with turn out to be totally different than we thought. What happened? Yes I have witnessed some of these jaw dropping events . . . I guess I assume that all people who think would have similar opinions on certain subjects especially gender-bias, racial and religious-bias and so on. I will say that my husband and I got into a HUGE fight years ago when I heard him declare, upon watching a news report about making O Canada more gender inclusive, that that was a stupid idea and that the anthem has always been a certain way and should not change. I crushed him with facts and realities, including how the anthem first came into being and the number of times it has already been altered. And then the knock out punch was to wonder why I wasn't as Canadian as...
It's time for the next installment of Tanka Tuesday! Tanka is a form of poetry similar to haiku. It's short, and the lines don't need to rhyme. The just must have a set number of syllables: 5/7/5/7/7. Today's tanka prompt is friends. We share together We work and play together Sometimes we're silly Sometimes we are serious My friends are like oxygen
This is the Folmar (aka Bayfield) Windmill, North America's only wind-driven sawmill, located in Bayfield, Ontario. The mill is now closed to the general public, although tours can be arranged with the landowners. It can also be viewed from the road. The Folmar Mill is located on the south side of Huron County Rod 13, about 3 kilometres east of Highway 21, south of Goderich. The mill remains privately owned, while further restoration is underway.
Today's Prompt: What's in a Name? Does your name have a meaning? If so, what is it? My mother named me Phyllis. She thinks it is a lovely name. It is not the name that fits me. Phyllis means "foliage" in Greek. (I kill houseplants) In Greek mythology this was the name of a woman who killed herself out of love for Demophon and was subsequently transformed into an almond tree. It began to be used as a given name in England in the 16th century. Fortunately for me my initials were P. A. M. and my grandfather started calling me Pam. Pam is a name that is comfortable to me. The meaning of the name Pam is all honey.
Nine Lives. Captivating. Emotional. Very different. Those are the words I have come up with to describe this film. I don't think it will be everyone's cup of tea but I liked it. The movie is actually a series of vignettes about turning points in various women's lives. Some of these lives have a connection, albeit tenuous at best, but most do not. They are just a study of pivotal moments. The filming is quite interesting. Each vignette is continuously filmed rather than a series of scenes. And when the story ends, that's it. The cast is totally all-star: GLENN CLOSE ROBIN WRIGHT PENN HOLLY HUNTER SISSY SPACEK KATHY BAKER AMY BRENNEMAN ELPIDIA CARRILLO DAKOTA FANNING LISA GAY HAMILTON MOLLY PARKER MARY KAY PLACE AMANDA SEYFRIED STEPHEN DILLANE WILLIAM FICHTNER JASON ISAACS JOE MANTEGNA IAN MCSHANE SYDNEY TAMAIIA POITIER AIDAN QUINN MIGUEL SANDOVAL LAWRENCE PRESSMAN