Kitty Out.

Dear Blog-type peeps...

I am Outtie. (and not just of the closet)

Vacation (part 2) starts...

...NOW!

Heading to Québec City tonight.

Tomorrow morning, Sainte Anne-de-Beaupré to say a prayer for my Dad, and then we keep heading East til we arrive at my Parents in Cole Harbour.

...And then after... a couple of days the peace and serenity at our summer home in Hampton PEI.

I will be computer-free until Monday Sept 3rd, at which point I will regale you all with pics and stories of all the lobster we ate, the incredible sunsets we saw and all the fun-ness that vacations entail...

...smell yas later.

Quote of the Week (19) * Special Edition*

"Lady, you REEK!"

~ Misster-Kitty
a.k.a. Shawn Ellis

- - -

So, a 'lady' got onto the #100 this morning a few stops after mine, and ended up standing beside me. No big whoop... or so I thought....

About as long as it took me to think 'no big whoop' her smell hit me. The force of the stench that wafted off her was PHE-NOM-I-NAL! The cheapest, funkiest musk perfume. Picture if you will, something from that Drug-Store standard, Coty...I imagine it's called something like Muskkk or some such. Oh, and add to that the smell of baby powder!?!?!?

Before the bus made it to the next stop I was literally coughing non-stop, and not because I wanted to be a bitch, I really couldn't stop. By the following stop I was actually retching! The stink was so profound I was dry-heaving. All I could think was 'three more stops, three more stops.'

Between the next two stops I actually pinched my nose closed and gave her a dirty look. The stop before mine I decided I needed to breathe and so I started to get up from my seat to get away from Mrs Stinky but in doing so I has to breathe HER in again and so, start coughing again.

...Misster-Kitty had had enough.

As I stood up, I looked her, full on, and said... "Lady, you REEK!", then kept on walking toward the door, coughing all the way.

The walk from my final bus stop to my office is about 5 minutes, all of which I continued to cough.

I know I've bitched about noxious smells before but never has ever had this reaction...
...that was 90 mins ago and I can still TASTE the reek in my mouth!

It's Official

Shawn and Didier's Bed & Breakfast is officially closed for the season.

See ya next year!

- - -

Now back to walking 'round nekid!!!

Quote of the Week (18)

Ok, this is more accurately a 'Headline of the week', but it's my blog, and since technically I'm quoting a news article, it's still me 'Quote of the week' ...

"Australian woman killed by amorous pet camel "

~Unknown.

Associated Press.

Ok, so while I find that indeed it is sad that a woman died, you HAVE to read this article and then tell me if you don't just awkwardly giggle a bit...

- - - - - - - - - -

Associated Press

BRISBANE, Australia -- An Australian woman was killed by a pet camel given to her as a 60th birthday present after the animal apparently tried to have sex, police said Sunday.

The woman, whose name was not released, was killed Saturday at her family's sheep and cattle ranch near Mitchell, 600 kilometres west of the Queensland state capital Brisbane, state police Detective Senior Constable Craig Gregory said.

The 10-month-old male camel -- weighing about 150 kilograms -- knocked the woman to the ground, lay on top of her, then exhibited what police suspect was mating behaviour, Gregory said.

"I'd say it's probably been playing, or it may be even a sexual sort of thing,'' Gregory said, adding the camel almost suffocated the family's pet goat by straddling it on several occasions.

Camel expert Chris Hill said he had no doubt the camel's behaviour was sexual.

Hill, who has offered camel rides to tourists for 20 years, said young camels are not aggressive, but can be dangerous if treated as pets without discipline.

The fate of the camel was not known.

The woman was given the camel in March as a birthday present from her husband and daughter. "She had a love of exotic pets,'' Gregory said.

In shock!

Ok, so I'm not the BEST speller in the world, but then that's what's 'spell check' is for right.

Well when I wrote the post about skating with my nephew Raphael I typed on the work 'vinegar'. I accidentally typed 'viniger'. Now, I'll admit that that is a little embarrassing. What is MORE embarrassing is what was suggested as a replacement of the word.

I've taken a screen shot, as, quite frankly I cannot even make myself type the word(s) And No 'vinegar' was not in any of the suggested replacements...

Tell me I am not the only one a little shocked by this....

Sunday at the rink with Raphael.

No this is not the musical sequel to "Sunday in the Park with George" (worth seeing though, you can rent the production with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters)

No, this was the afternoon with Didier's Sister, Brother-in-law and Nephew... Raphael.

Raphael as I mentioned in a prior post is a sweet kid 7 years old, teensie. He's originally from Bangkok. They adopted him 2 years ago. He's quite the spit-fire. Full of snips 'n snails n' puppy dog tails... or as we say back east.. full of piss n' vinegar. (colourful to say the least) Seems back in France hes rather athletic. Practising 6-8 hours a week in gymnastic type things.

For a Thai kid living in France, and only having briefly seen ice and ice skates once before, he did pretty well. Now that's not to say that the amount of time he spent actually on his skates, as opposed to his ass, or face was almost equal, but I've never seen someone, child or adult with more determination. His little hands would get soooooo cold that every few minutes, Didier and I would hold his hands and go round the rink a couple times, just to warm them up.

Even in the hour we skated with him he improved. By the end of the hour he could make one complete tour of the rink without falling... completely. ;-) No matter how much he fell, he always giggled and got up faster than you could ask if he was ok, and like a little fire cracker was off again. It was a fun afternoon!

He'll sleep good tonight.
(Last year when Didier's other Sister's family was here, we took both her nephews, Sacha and Dimitri to the rink. And that night they slept like logs. Well I say night,, they both crashed HARD before 8 pm, as opposed to their regular 10+pm bed times... (if we only knew that a few days prior!... two young boys, on vacation have more energy than an H-Bomb!) My recommendation to ANYONE hosting ANY company with young children... go to the 'Atrium Le 1000' for an hour or so... the kid(s) will sleep well, and you'll have an evening off!

After that we went for an ice cream (I know you'll all shocked by that) Ben & Jerry's They all got a combo with Cherry Garcia. I got a combo with Coffee Coffee buzz buzz! and Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl. . Yum. Yum. YUM!!

We then casually walked back home...

A short but eventful outing.

We're having them over on Tuesday night for a dinner, as it's their last night in town. We'll look at their vacation pics... all 800 or so of them! ;-) (they took, at last count 580, and Didier and I took another 200 or so.) Then that's it, we are well and truly visitor-free for the season.:-)

We are the Champions.

So, on Saturday night, we had friends over for dinner. Hugo and Evan.

Hugo I've known for years (6+) and Evan, we've met only once prior, very briefly on rue Notre-Dame while watching the Fireworks competition in July of 2005. Didier and I had just started dating, and Evan had just moved from Nova Scotia to be with Hugo. So we were then, two new couples just starting to create lives together. A little over two years later we finally are all together in the same place again. :-)

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I should also now just say a thank you to Hugo, as he is my Computer Obi-Wan... when things are bad, he comes to my rescue...Thanks Obi-Wan!

---

So we had a nice dinner, did a little BBQ... had a few drinks, talked, laughed, compared families... Evan and I are both Bluenosers (from Nova Scotia) and for the purposes of this post... the Anglos. Hugo is from Québec, and Didier from France, hearafter known as the Francos. :-)

After dinner, drinks and some chit and chat, we went over to Drugstore, (a bar in the village...actually just at the end of our street) and went to the pool hall down stairs to shoot a few games. As we were four, we had to decide how to make the teams. Now we could have gone one couple vs the other, we could have also gone Tall vs Short, Big vs Small, Age vs Beauty, but better still we went with the tried and true... English vs French... or rather... Anglos vs Francos.

The first game was a little shaky... Hugo and Evan play fairly often, but were a little out of practise. I haven't played in about 10 years, and Didier played once, back about 12 years ago... Just as well it was Evan and I and Hugo and Didier, this way the teams were a little more even.

Well the first game eventually went to the Francos... as did the second AND the third games... To say we Anglos were feeling a little depressed was an understatement. Hugo and Evan went for a smoke break an Didier and I racked the table for the next game.

When the smokers came back, Evan and I looked at each other, connectted. Whether out of desperation or a new found confidence we attacked the table. We won the next match, and the next AND the next.

It was now Francos 3, Anglos 3, and now down to the final and deciding match. The rubber match. The tie breaker. The game to show just who would be victorious and gloat like sons of bitches!


The final score...
Francos 3
Anglos 4

Well what did you expect? The Post title is "We are the Champions." not "Ils sont les Champions." ;-)

Awwwwww yea! We kicked their asses! If this were a World Series, or the Stanley Cup, Evan and I would now be the most famous athletes out there. To come back from an 0 and 3 and then win the next 4 games... well my friends, that is magic. Ask Evan and I what were doing next, and we'll manically scream into the cameras...
"WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

---

Didier and I are off this coming weekend for the East Coast, so the re-match won't be until mid-September, but I'll let you know who wins...

(psst... it'll be the Anglos again!)

When bad things happen to good computers...

First the good news... both my computer babies are back in the land of the living.

Now the bad... the laptop is not going to make it. The screen is starting to go, and well, being a laptop, once the screen goes, so too does the laptop... The cost of replacing a screen on a laptop is pointless... The issue now is what sort of 'golden years' will the laptop have? Could be a day, week, month, year... ya just don't know...

What I do know is that I'll be putting money aside for a new one... preparing for the inevitable... (I've already copied off all the data I need... pics, music files etc... ) Now it's just a waiting game. I'm hoping for the best and will be taking her with us on vacation next week... one last HORRAH, to copy pics from Camera to Disk. - as this will be the first summertime visit to Nova Scotia and his first to PEI ever, there will be lots of pics! (not promising any posts before Sept 3rd but then, you never know)

Jazz Hands!

Sometimes you just need a smile...

...hah-cha-cha!

IT'S ALIVE! ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

Well, my old trustworthy Desktop 'Mandingo' is back up and running!!!

And it only cost $35 to get him a new heart, to get the juice pumping back through his veins!

Kitty Happy.

Now, if we can only resurrect the laptop...

Fingers crossed!

Confessions of a computer killer...

My name is Misster-Kitty and I kill computers....

About 6 weeks ago my desktop computer died... it was only the power supply, but with all the activities in recent weeks I've not had time to go shopping for a new one, replace it and hope the motherboard was un-affected(fingers crossed). Things have been ok since I also have a laptop and have been using it...

...and then last night at around 9:30 I went to use said laptop, and guess what?

... now I'm a serial computer murderer. The damn thing won't boot.

I don't know what it is that I do to them, but trust me, you don't want to be my computer... your shelf life is automatically cut in half if you're mine...

I've got a friend coming over on Friday night to see what he can do to help...

- - -

All this to say that my posts and comments will be much reduced for the next few days...

Thar they blow...

Hurricane season is upon us and while hearing about 'Flossie' in the Pacific Region...

I got to thinking... first of all, who names anybody, much less anything 'Flossie' in 2007?! Shouldn't that name be reserved only for Flappers, or Dental Hygiene Mascots?! ...anyhoo, after I got past the shock of 'Flossie' I thought it might be interesting to give all the hurricanes in a single season themed names. So here goes...

My theme naturally, (or un-naturally) is: "the Gays". For the most part all are real people; historical figures, writers, singers, actors. There are two fictional characters (from TV) and one mythical figure (from Greek Mythology; a nod to Maria. Albeit a ribald naughty nod). As for 'Z' I had to dig deep, but lo there were a few to choose from!

enjoy...

Alexander (the Great)
Boy (George)
Cole (Porter)
Derek (Jarman)
Ellen (Degeneres)
Freddy (Mercury)
George (Michael)
Harvey (Fierstein)
Ian (McKellen)
Jack (MacFarlane) [will & grace]
Katherine (K D Lang)
Liberace (Wladziu Valentino Liberace)
Madonna (Ciccone Ritchie) *
Nathan (Lane)
Oscar (Wilde)
Priapus **
Quintin (Crisp)
Reginald (Dwight) [Elton John]
Sappho ***
Truman (Capote)
Ursula (LeGuin)
Vita (Sackville-West)
Walt (Whitman)
Xena (of Amphipolis) [xena, warrior princess]
Yves (Saint-Laurent)
Zhao (Chinese emperor 86-74BC)


* While not technically gay, Madonna has had a couple of lesbian affairs, and besides thousands of gay men want to be her.
** Priapus. Greek fertility God. Son of Aphrodite and either Dionysus, Hermes, or Adonis (hence his being a fertility god I guess!)
*** Sappho. Greek Poet. Lived on the isle of Lesbos. Liked to write about the ladies. (say no more)

Things I learned from our houseguests...

1) Socks. All socks must be decorative. Have little images on them, funky coloured stripes or words.

2) Orange. This is a highly underrated colour that must apparently be worn at all times... At least one of the following should be orange: shirt, pant, shoes, socks, knickers, glasses. (I thought this rule only applied to Leopard print, but what do I know?)

3) The Weather Channel (MetéoMedia). Apparently this is one of the most interesting television channels. You should have it on all the time. And even though it broadcasts with an approximate 20 minute loop, keep it on at all times and watch it as much as you can.

4) The Bathroom Door. This MUST be closed at all times. Even when there is nobody in the bathroom, keep that door shut. Consider this is a game, meant to increase the size of your bladder and lower intestines AND the time you can 'hold it' because you always think the room is 'ocupado'. And no matter how often you DO open the door; walk past it mere moments later and it will be closed.

5-a) Coffee. Apparently we only think we drink coffee. We don't. No coffee served in North America is REAL coffee; only brown coffee scented water. It's never strong enough.

5-b) Coffee grounds. It is perfectly acceptable to put 1/2 lb of coffee grounds into the filter of a 14 cup coffee machine (this will put the coffee grinds to the top of the filter rim before any water passes through the filter, but that's ok). Then and only then is it even remotely considered Coffee.

5-c) Coffee aftermath. When placing 1/2 lb of coffee into a 14 cup coffee machine the after effects are thus:
- Each cup of coffee will have approx 3-5 mm of sediment at the bottom and possible dome more resilient grounds floating at the top.
- The Coffee grinds will expand enough to actually partially lift the lid of the coffee machine.
- No matter how much cleaning you do, grinds will remain in the water reservoir for more than 2 weeks.

6) Champagne. It is always the right time to pop a cork and share a bottle of Champagne.

Quote of the Week (17)

"Procrastination is not the problem, it's the solution. It's the Universe's way of saying: 'Slow down. You move, too fast. Listen to the music. Whoa, Whoa. Listen to the music. Because, music makes the people come together. It makes the Bourgeois and the Rebels. So, come on people now, smile on your brother and everybody, try to love one another. Because, what the world needs now is love, sweet love. And I know love is a battlefield, but boogie on Raggae Woman, because you're gonna make it after all. So celebrate good times. Come on.'

I've got to stop. I've got to come to my senses. I've been out riding fences for so long... Oops, I did it again.

Umm, what I'm trying to say is... If you leave here tonight and you don't remember anything else that I've said; leave here and remember this - Procrastinate now! Don't put it off."

~ Ellen Degeneres

The wheels on the Bus...

...go round and round, and up and down, and in and out...

- - -

By accident last night we saw the film SHORTBUS. It came on just after LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (another great movie!)

A few months back friends of ours in Ottawa, Chantal and Darren, recommended Shortbus to us, but we never got around to renting it. Last night was the premiere on the Movie Network and so we watched it.

...how does someone describe this movie... well there's a lot of sex in it, graphic, conventional and non-conventional sex, straight sex, gay sex, bi sex, group sex, S&M, B&D, and on and on and on. There's a lot of sex! And that sex is real, all the sexual activity that is filmed was live, real, boy on girl, girl on boy, boy on boy, girl on girl... sex. BUT, and here's the thing... it's not pornographic, or lewd, or gross, (even the straight sex, heh!) or gratuitous. There's a detachment from the actual sex on the screen. It's integral to the plot of the movie.

It's about a group of people in NYC, that get to know each other, through a sort of underground sex-club/cabaret/lounge. It's far more about their replationships with themselves as well as each other, rather than their sexual activities. It's just that through their sexual lives you get a handle (as do they) on the rest of their lives.

The film was written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, the same person responsible for HEDWIG and the ANGRY INCH. In fact he was also HEDWIG him/herself. And there's a feeling of Hedwig in Shortbus, that freeing, exhilarating, age of Aquarius-enlightenment and down right irreverent view of life. This is no more true, certainly, than with the music, and evocatively so of the last number of the film "In the End"

I think what I liked most about this was that it's not a Gay film, although there's a major sub-plot with a gay couple/triad; and it's not a Straight film, although it's got a straight couple or two, and it's not even a BI film... It takes all the "Us vs. Them", the 'differentness' if you will, from what is Gay, Straight, Bi sex / life. More importantly that in the end we're not all that different... Sure, WHO we may love, sleep with, share our lives with may be different, but that we DO all love, sleep with and share our lives is the same. This film captured that for me.

I want to see this one again, in fact I've already decided I need to get a copy for my DVD collection. It's been a long time since I've seen a film I want to buy.

The tagline of the film is "Voyeurism is Participation". It's nice to know that even as you watch life go by sometimes, you're still a part of it.

- - - -

Misster-Kitty is gonna give this flick 9 hairballs outta 10.

Got a Favour to Ask..

I got a call from my folks tonight... my Dad finally got his results back from the biopsy done two weeks ago. It's official. the big C. All we know now is 'lymphoma' What type... not sure. How bad... not sure. Treatment... not sure. He's now back in line to meet with an Oncologist...

So, If y'all wouldn't mind, say a prayer, think a happy healthy thought, or send some positive energy in my Dad's Direction...

Wayne Malcolm Edward Joseph Ellis.

We're not done with him yet.

Thanks.

I'm Baaaaack

And I got a lot of Back-Bloggin' to do...

Stay Tuned!

Rehab.

Sometimes Lady Luck looks at you and doesn't knee you in the groin or spit in your eye... no no, some times she looks at you, blows you a freakin' huge kiss, licks her lips and mouthes... 'call me'

Well I got the call on Friday actually, from my boss, asking if I'd care to take Monday off? Um... what sort of question is that anyway? "Do you want to extend your vacation by a day, miss work on Monday and actually have a chance to recover from the previous 10 days of drinks, men, drinks, men and drinks and men?" Um HELL YES I'll take Monday off! Thank you very much indeed!

So, yes Maria, HA!, me no workie today. :-)

Didier had the day off as well (his was previously scheduled...) It was the PERFECT day to not go to work... torrential rain and GORGEOUS thunder... we stayed in bed til 11:30am !

It was the last day for the Toulousians, so once the rain stopped and it seemed that it might not rain again they made the most of it and went to the Botanical Gardens. So while they were admiring Mother Nature's work, me and the Man stayed in. And we decided a day of Rehab was in order. We did no laundry, no dishes, no housecleaning... We plunked our asses on the couch and watched first "Failure to Launch" ...What can I say, I'm a romantic comedy whore... and if you add in Mr MM (Matthew McConaughey) then I am sooooo all over it. And I have to say it was a cute movie...

After our dose of MM we decided to deep into our couch potatoness and watched the last 5 episodes of 'the 4400' from Season 2 . I know I've said how much we like this show, but day-yam I'm so into this show. We have Season 3 on loan now as well and I'm chomping at the bit to start watching them, but that won't be possible for the next week at least as we still have house guests... Philippe de Rennes and Benito de Barcelona (gets in on Tuesday night) so I'll just have to make due with these 5 episodes for now... Season 3... you'll soon me ours!

Not a drop of alcohol passed our lips today; plenty of water, but no alcohol... heh! gotta give the liver a day off once in a while... It was either that or get a transplant... and well Human Livers are expensive... the choice was clear.

For now, it's back to the working man's world... *sigh*

La Vie En Rosé

On the Seventh Day...

Gawd said,

"Go out unto the fabulous masses and enjoy the day."

It was the big day at Divers/Cité today. Three big stages with music and dancing and general fabulousness. A lite lunch and we were un-collectively out the door...

-I headed over to Parc Emile Gamilin to check out the La Grand Bal Disco... not so much a Bal as people lazing on the grass (what there is) and a few up dancing in the heat of the early afternoon. All were entertained however with Disco Classics from the 70's.

-Philippe and Joel (the Toulusians) were off to the Olympic Park.
-Philippe (from Rennes) went over to the Latino party at Divers/Cité.

-Didier putzed about the house and then met up with me, and then we met up with Philippe and we grabbed a beer in the parc.

After an hour or so, and after we watched a bit of Patsy Gallant's show, I gotta tell ya... our little gay hearts just did not seem to be in it...

6 Pm Back to the house, nap time awaited...

The plan was to eat at 8 pm and get back to the park for V.Nus' tribute to Madonna and the Confessions Tour, but instead we ate at 9 pm, and then got chatting around the dining room table. And then we opened a bottle of Lauren-Perrier Rosé Champagne (one of my favs) that Philippe brought...and then... just for comparison you understand, we opened a Bottle of Piper-Heidsiek Rosé Sauvage Champagne... The Former being lighter in colour, more bubbles and far dryer, the Latter having a wickedly deep and intense pink colour, fruitier and more mellow on the tongue. And then we all got REALLY chatty... Champagne will do that for ya! Hell I was even able to keep up with all the conversations going on.... heh! It was well to late to go see V.Nus, in fact the show was over before we even left the Dining Room table. So we all sauntered out to the back balcony and just kept on chatting...

It got a little nippy, so Didier got out the Chartreuse and we had a nip. Chit 'n chat and a lot of giggling.... and soon the champers had it's inevitable effects and after a few rounds of yawns we called it a night.

Sweet Rosé Dreams...

What a Drag.

Booze being what it is, many of us were a little hung.... over this morning. When I say 'us' I mean everyone but me... Seems I'm the only REAL boozer in the group.. Gay, Irish Ancestry, and grew up in the Maritimes... booze is as natural to me as breathing... Seems while everyone LOVED my Sangria, it's a little too much for some...

When we went for late (2PM) Brunch, I of course had a Bloody Mary, the rest had coffee... armatures!

Today was all about re-charging batteries, so after brunch, the boys (Didier, Joel and Philippe) went over to Parc Jean-Drappeau to go to the 'gay day' at the pool. Sun and a few laps were what their Dr ordered... Personally I did a little shopping' cause it's good for the old gay soul, and then I drop off my purchases at home and headed for the Terasse at the Aigle Noir, following My doctor's orders, Dr McGillacuddy that is. ;-)

I met my friend Dan who was there on the Terasse keeping his husband Mike company. (Mike works at the Eagle and was lucky enough to be working outside on the Terasse.) It was a PERFECT day for just relaxing, sipping a few brew and watching all the boys go by. The sun was out but had lost it's bite since the humidity was gone. A few clouds and a nice breeze and good company... the day just fell away. Chatting and sipping beer and chatting, and 'window shopping' and sipping beer and laughing. A truly ideal day.

4 or was that 5 pints of draft later and it was time to head back home for a bite to eat, and then it was off to... yup... a drag show! (Bet you were wondering when the subject line would kick in)...

It was the 10th Anniversary edition of...

Mascara (La Nuit de Drag), a perennial favourite of homos, bi, trans and straights alike. An open-air show, part of Divers/Cite. Hosted by Mado... naturally...

It's the one Divers/Cite event I refuse to miss. Well to be truthful it's the only one I even WANT to go to!;-) At any rate, it was a great show as usual. The crowd is always in great spirits and the show does not disappoint.

It's a regular Who's Who of the Drag Community... Mado, Nana, Nicole, Miss Butterfly, Dream, Tracy Trash, Popline, Marla Deer, Sheena Hershey, V.Nus, Michelle Dorion and so on and so on... all true performers.

After the show was over we took a leisurely stroll through the village, grabbed a bite to eat at Resto du Village and called it a night.

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I'm not sure what it is that I lurv so damned much about Drag Queens...

I did Drag once for fun. It was a theme party My Ex and his roommate and I had. Drag Mandatory (for Men and Women) It was a blast, and the three of us really went full throttle... We went out and bought shoes, dresses, make up, the works. We had a professional hairstylist do our hair, and a make-up artist do our makeup and nails... shaved our legs and arms and backs, I even got my brows plucked! As hard as it was walking in 3 inch heels, what really made the transformation complete were the nails. As soon as you have them on, everything you do with your hands is different... maybe because we were hyper-sensitive to the new length and how we had to hold things differently, but it changed not only how you used your hands but how you moved. It was fun and maybe some day, but then again maybe not...

I have a fascination with Drag Queens, I don't want to be one, but I somehow am secretly jealous of them... I love the classic movies... La Cage, Outrageous, victor/Victoria, Priscilla of course... but then there are more modern day flix I totally Love... Girls will Be Girls, (if you've not seen it you MUST!) Sordid Lives (while not a drag movie in itself, one of the main characters is, and this is a MUUUUUUUUUUST!), Connie and Carla (a ganster plotline,love story, drag AND Broadway showtunes! ) and even Little Britain, they do GREAT DRAG! There's just something wickedly amusing about it all that I adore...

My only guess, is I was a Drag Queen in a previous life, or I'm gonna be one in my next, and this is just the homework for a successful career to come.. Who can say?

Sometimes life is a Drag...

House Party

While Didier and I have had a few small dinner parties, we've yet to have a big party, and so our plan for many months now has been to have a shin-ding, a blow-out, a par-tay. We decided to combine a House Warming, with Didier's 40th birthday, our 2 year anniversary and Pride. It was scheduled to take place during both our vacations as well as while friends were visiting from France. There was about 30 guys here. and a good time was had by all...

The invite was for 7:30 pm and the first guest to arrive was none other than Mr. Bruno TickleBear! And no sooner did he arrive than so too did an phenomenally intense downpour that lasted 1 1/2 hours. Now, I don't personally blame Bruno, but the next time I see him if it rains I'll become highly suspicious...

It rained and rained and rained, and men continued to arrive, arrive, arrive...



Men, men men,

and food, food, food...

and drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks! I was a Sangria Machine, making pitcher after pitcher, and it would seem it gots a lot of em, a little tipsy.

Finally the rain stopped and we slowly but surely all ended up on the roof...

Many pitchers of sangria later it was 2 am and time to call it a night.

We had a blast and so too, it seems did our guests.

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Need a good Sangria recipe sure to please...

1/2 mikey of Peach Schnapps
1/4 mikey of Vodka
2 bottles red wine
2 cups OJ
1 litre Gingerale

Add Sliced Orange, Lemon and Lime and strawberries. (I freeze the berries, cut in half... they act as your ice, after all who wants to water down their drink?

Enjoy... We did!

Sleepless nights, sleepful car rides and ABBA!

Yea, well, as I said it was a very sleepless night... I think between the two of us, we got a good 12 minutes sleep... Not great considering we're only at the mid-point of a week's vacation... but what can ya do?

We had a pleasurably breakfast and then headed down to the Byward Market again... Time to SHOP! :-) YAY!

I don't know what it is about the Market, but I LURV shopping there. Picked up some cookie cutters for me Ma, and some cards, and some spices and them incredible kick ass orange nougats from 'Made in France' on Dalhousie... certainly worth the trip!

Then time to eat at Zaks... a 50's Diner type place... Best damn Lemon-Lime Milkshake I ever had! YUM!

And then it was time in all the 30' heat and 38' humidity to get a little relief... we all piled back in car, cranked the A/C and then sweet sweet peaceful sleep....

When we got back to Montréal it was 33' heat and 42' humidity... Hmmmm Can we go back to Ottawa?

After a couple hours under the home A/C cranked on HIGH we headed on over to Mi Burrito and then made a bee-line for Cabaret Mado for the evening's festivities...

MADO chante ABBA!

And sooner than you can sign MAMMA MIA! the day, and the show were over....

(for more on Mado Chant ABBA click here)

Road Trip - Ottawa

I think we'd be considdered rather poor Hosts if we did not take our visitors to our Nation's Capital for at leat one day... so we all piled into a rent-a-car and headed west.

Captain Didier...

Co-Pilot Leo and Navigator Misster-Kitty...



And the passengers... a.k.a. ... Les Enfants!

We landed in Vanier first at friends Andre and Francis and then made way directly to the downtown. We walked from the Byward Market , past the Mint...


... and over to the cliff face overlooking the Rideau Canal and Parliment...

Then 'round the Chateau Laurier and up to the Hill...

Self Portrait...

Look up, Look waaaaaay up!

As it happened we were there just in time for a guided tour. You get to see the House of Commons...

Walking the Halls you see lots of Portraits... Personally, If I was Liz I'd be a bit miffed at the size of my protrait. Next to her Father and other family members... she seems a little ... well... Little!

Ole Victoria knew how to give good portrait!

We then went to the Senate, these are the inside of the main doors..

and the Library...

All are incrediblly impressive when you are there. The camera just does not do any of them justice.

After the guided tour, you're allowed to wander and wonder... I took a ton of pics... surprise I know!... here's a few of the Main Hall...

We then went up the Peace Tower. (I never knew there was an observation deck there before!) After a short elevator ride up you are greeted to 360' views of not only the Hill but the city as well.

The Back...

...and then down in front...

...and WAY WAY UP!

I think this impressed me more than anything... not because it's all that high, but just the complete surprise that the observation deck was there and open, that and the Memorial Chapel inside the tower itself where all the books containing the names of all the armed forces, men and women that dies in service to Canada are kept. Whether you believe in the previous or current wars, armed conflicts, it's peace keeping missions and so on that Canada was/is a part of it's a very powerful place... You cannot help butfeel awed.

And this impressed me just tha much more... this is just over the door to the chapel...

After that... A quick walk around the hill to see the recently restored Library facade...

... visit a few queens...

Ole Victoria

...and Lizzie the Second...

After that, we headed back to the Market, had a drink at the Look Out, and then went for a quick bite to eat at the Black Thorne and then off to a friends condo in Gatineau to watch the fireworks competition at the Lac Lemay Casino. Suffering from Fireworks withdrawal we needed a fix... It was Venezuela...

Not bad, but they do not broadcast the music that accompanies the fireworks so you lose a bit of the intesnty. As well, it's a much smaller competition with only Competitors and the a Finale by the casino itself.

*Sigh* ... now we have to wait til December for the Winter Festival fireworks... *sigh*

After that we headed back to our friends Andre and Francis... for an incredibly sleepless night! It was still over 30' after midnight and *sniff sniff* no A/C! ARG!