Closet-Case

From the "You ain't gonna believe this shit" department, I give you:

Homeless woman caught living in closet for a year

gimme gimme gimme

50 days and counting.



I cannot wait!

Missing Mother Markus

Harvey Korman
1927-2008

Jeremy who?!

Well... It's all over for the season, and god knows WHEN the next season will begin... my guess is sometime near the next melennium...

Action-packed, and I don't mind saying they went very fast through a lot of plot. HOLY SHIYTE!

Only one question, well ok there are lots, but let's just start with... Jeremy WHO?! 'Splain please...

tonight, tonight...

....wont be just any night...

CAN.
NOT.
WAIT.

WANT! v2.0

I don't think this actually requires a comment...

Hop in Mitzi, we're gonna go get our nails done!

Roller Coasters, Androgynous Cartoon Idols and All the Bugs You Can Eat

...And thus went Sunday Afternoon.

La Ronde opened it's doors LAST weekend, but then what idiots would go over to La Ronde in the miserable cold and rainy weekend that was? No. We waited til this weekend, and boy howdy, did we pick a great day!...

Blue sky as far as the eyes could see, a nice 22'C and not THAT many people... at least the overly obnoxious tweens n snot nosed teenagers were at acceptable levels.

We actually started the day with Brunch at Chez Cora's with Jason and Franco. It was after all Jason's birthday. And he doesn't look a day over 35 [*cough* 41 *cough*], and THEN we went to La Ronde...

We also got Season's passes and got a decent deal too. $75.00 instead of the $81 and change. And if we coulda found two others it would have been only $65, but even still since a daily entry is already $38, we're more than breaking even on the second visit. And considering we'll be there likely 4-5 times... money in the bank!

As this was Jason and Franco's cherry poppin' visit to La Ronde, we bee-lined over to Le Monstre. While the wait was a tad long (about an hour) - because only ONE track of two was open and the asstards only had one car running instead of two, it was well worth it cause it's a great old wooden number.

The only REAL down side is the fact that we are directly at the height f Shad Fly season and La Ronde is on a low laying island in the river. As soon as we made the initial drop, arms in the air, doing our best opera imitations, screaming our fool asses off, I think all four of us swallowed about a pound of the dam bugs. A tough lesson was quickly learned... keep your mouth shut.

We then went on over to the Goliath and were able to go on it twice in about 40 mins, which was great, because the Goliath is the most amazing ride there. And fortunately there were not a lot of Shad there, I guess because this is an extremely open structure as compared to the other roller coasters that twist and wind in on themselves and offer lots of shade for the BUGgers...

After a bit of strolling we rode the Vampire, another great ride, sadly INFESTED with the shad, so by this point we called it a day...

But not before we were able to answer this most intriguing of Animated Mysteries... What does Fred Flintstone wear under that man sized orange and blue fur suit...


...the answer ....



So apparently Pebbles was adopted, just like Bam-Bam... Who knew?!

From there we went home for a wee bit then headed over to friends Kenny and Richard for a BBQ to polish off 4-5 bottles of wine with other friends Ric and John and to again, help Jason celebrate his 35th [*cough* 41st *cough*] Birthday.

Fan-tab-u-lous weekend people.
Fan-effin-tab-u-lous.

So what did y'all get up to?

Paradise Found v2.0

Well it was a long time coming but the condo is nearly there. I finished painting the last room (the boudoir) - started yesterday, ended today. YAY! The colour: Unicorn White. (I KNOW! WTF?) Anyway it's an incredibly soothing brownish grey (I KNOW! again it sounds fucked, but really, it's nice!)

Then onto the roof top deck... as you will recall, back at the end of April - beginning of May, we had the deck extended, from it's original 15 x 15 impotence, to it's now full 25 x 20 grandeur. Well, since that time, the weather in Montréal has been basically dah-shitz. Well not so today. So up to the roof me and the Man went to plant some 25 odd flower boxes.

... et voila...

Once the flowers fill in a bit more I'll post some more...

Come next weekend, you know where you can find my fat ass... lounging, sippin' a mojito or two, reading a good book, soaking up some cancer and just feeling the vibe of summer.

four queens and a joker

I added some new links to the right side of me blog...

Some fabu new blogs I've been reading for the past couple weeks. If you like some catty, bitchy, queeny, painfully entertaining blog reading there is none better than (in no particular order):

~ the notorious j*o*e
~ mitzi's clutter from the gutter
~ shirley heezgay
~ the daily martini
~ tilly screams

It's up to you who is a queen and who is a joker... ;-)

sucky --- no-sucky

So some days can suck and some don't, some are a bit of both. Case in point: today.

No-Sucky #1
I am not working today (at least not the regular 9-5er)

Sucky #1
Even though I was off today (see No-Sucky #1) I still had to get up at a decent hour (8:00am) because of...

Sucky #2
I had to go to the Montréal General for blood work, for my annual.

No-Sucky #2
As I was leaving this morning to head to the Hospital for (Sucky #2) I thought I'd better take my mini portable radio so I should listen to the Mix (which I heart) in case they mention my name for the Mix-96 PAYDAY contest. I was no sooner out the front door, walking up the street to get on the Metro when they announced my name! I turned and ran back the building, ran up the four flights of stairs, rushed in and called right away (You've only got 9 minutes to call) and voilà! just like that I was $96.00 richer. ... I was also outta breath, and just a skotch light headed! lol

Sucky #3
I missed the bus when I got out of Guy-Concordia Metro, so I had to schlep up the hill to the General. Yea, sure. Go laugh, keep in mind I've also not had any breakfast because of the 14 hour fast for the blood work

Sucky #4
I had to walk up 6 double flights of stairs cause the elevators at the General move slower than

No-Sucky #3

Due to No-Sucky #2 (and likely Suckies #3 and 4) I was late getting to the Test Centre at the Montréal General, but that was GOOD 'cause instead of getting there early (along with everybody else) there was only ONE person waiting before me. I was literally in and out of there in 10 minutes! A record I assure you! - I was once there 4 hours!

Sucky #5
As I said I'm not working my 9-5er today, but as soon as this post is done I'm dismantling the bedroom to paint it... OK I actually LOVE painting, but I'd rather be out on the rooftop deck right now planting the flower boxes, I guess that's gotta wait til tomorrow...

- - - - -

So while the Suckies out-number the No-Suckies, when you look at what the No-Suckies are, they win, hands down!

Hope your day is a No-Sucky.

Jazz Hands Hams

I don't know why I love Jazz Hands as much as I do... I guess 'cause they're just so damned over the top, which is so completely the opposite of me. :-)

Haa-cha-cha!
For more hilarity check out icanhascheeseburger.com and ihasahotdog.com

Hedley like the Wolf

I caught the newest video by Hedley called "Never Too Late" and I don't think I've ever been so impressed with a video. It's a complete and utter duplicate, down to the smallest details, of Duran Duran's "Rio" The only difference, is of course the song itself, and maybe just a couple cute little site gags. ...and if you ask me the eye candy is better in the new version.

It's rare, except at Christmas that feel the urge to share video with y'all, but this video is just that good... the song, well it's ok. heh

And so, for your comparative viewing pleasure, I offer you:

Duran Duran
Rio
(1983)



Hedley
Never Too Late
(2008)

And just to knock the wind out of all of us late-30s and 40 somethings...

Jacob Hoggard, the lead singer of Hedley was born in 1983. One year after Rio was released.

Ouch.

Laos and Togo and Belize...

Oh my!
(I'll let you know what this is all about in a couple of days)

*update May 28 2008*

So basically, I was wanting to see what would happen to my ClustrMaps in conjunction to my post and it's accompanying 'Labels', but then as Didier commented, Laos blocks the Internet to it's citizens and I guess they ain't got any in Belize and Togo... So aside from my cute take on "Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh My!", and your intrigue, this post, like poor Molé dies... belly up.

Those were the days my friend...

...we thought they'd never end.

Looks like the party is over for diabetics and coffee... *sigh*

This is extremely sad and depressing news. I'm by no means an addict, but I generally have at least one cuppa joe in the morning with my breakfast. On the weekend I'll have 2 or 3 to start the day... Alas, no mo'.

Looks like me and NGB are shit outta luck for a cup of happy with out breakfasts from here on end, because lets face it, decaf is for pussies.

Morning Coffee
R.I.P.

And the Cheese stands alone...

Could she have been any less excited?! I really don't think so. Mark, yes. He was in ecstatic.

Kristi, pull the pickle outta yer arse hun, you just won the Mirror Ball... you know the trophy you said you wanted to win.

Whatever... next season... bring on the himbos!

Dancing [and yes, Singing] with my Predictions

Like Shirley MacLaine, I'm going Out On A Limb... and I'm going to make my personal predictions as to how tonight is going to go down.

Before I do, let me just say this; it's not personally how I want it to be, as I'm not particularly fond of any of the remaining Celebs. I wanted Marissa to win, cause Big Girls are Beautiful (jeeze I'm channelling Mika tonight too...) But since I can't have it my way, this is what we're left with...

Jason will be cut first, leaving...




And then, for better or for worse, but mostly because of countless thousands of women and gay men, we'll be left with...

At least that's how I see it, but then, who knows... cause as I recall the judges get the final say..., in which case...

Like I've said before, I think the judges (excluding Len) are complete and total twats.

So lets see what's gonna happen...

And for those of you watching American Idol (and seriously, it's not like it's any better) I'm predicting ...

...David Cookchuleta will win.

Seriously, I haven't a clue, nor do I care, but I thought I ought to try and reach out to you AI lovers... after all you put up with my endless ramblings re: DwtS.

So no matter what your addiction... D-List celebs schlepping their groove-thangs, or fresh chickens clucking their own anthems, may the best man, woman or she-man win.

Dancing with the... ahhh who cares?!?

Seriously, I don't care who wins tomorrow night, as long as it's not Kristi, and here's why:

a) There was no challenge for her in this competition, she was a professional Ice Skater! Which, really, is dancing to begin with, so UNFAIR ADVANTAGE.

b) Sure she is technically spot on, don'tcha think you'd have been a little shocked if she wasn't?! But c'mon, you can have a great technical dance in ice skating and the artistic elements suck ass, and in ice skating you basically your scores would suck, whereas on DwtS, they love it even more... well TweedleDumb and TweedleDumber (aka skank judges #1 and #2) do anyhoo...

c) I want to see progression, improvement, and most importantly... Entertainment. I saw none with Kristi. Yes, it was amazing to see her near perfect scores out of the starting block, but where do you go from there. A great part of this show, for me at least, (and maybe I'm the only one) is that you want to see someone with little to no talent in the ballroom come out at the end dancing dances that make you say, 'WOW! I could never do that'. You want your socks blown off. You want to be impressed with where the celeb came from to where they are.

d) Like the ice she's best know for skating on, her dances were often cold, devoid of any emotion. Hell, even Priscilla showed more emotion in her face and she's only got the one...

e) The judges couldn't see a good dance tonight if their lives depended on it... Granted I think Jason and Christian both fumbled in the opening and truly Kristi won that round, but in the free style she sucked more ass than an airplane toilet with an air pressure leak... I won't say it was Jason's best dance, but there was a consistency and a fluidity that was greatly lacking with Kristi... the set up into each of her lifts were awkward and took away so much. And even more shocked was I when I actually liked Christian's free style and thought he deserved higher scores. Kristi's scores!

- - - - -

Well it's clear that Kristi will win tomorrow night, and all I can say is what-BLEEPING-ever.

- - - - -

Pray to the gods that next season is better than this one turned out to be. And to "libhom', I second your motion for Porn Stars Celebs and raise it to only Male Porn Stars (although based on your Blog profile's occupation of "Butt Pirate" I'm going to assume that "MALE" Porn Star was assumed... Heck I'll even allow Ron Jeremy as a wild card token hetro...

Under Construction

The phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day" is an extremely precise description of our on going roof top terrasse expansions. While the construction itself was completed a couple of weeks back, the process of furnishing and planting flowers and otherwise fabbing-up the place is an "in progress" process that given this weekends abysmal weather may only be completed by July 29th... 2009.


Don't get me wrong, me likey shoppie, but after this weekend I very well be through shopping for good. Couple that with the realization that I DO need a few more things, ie: 2 more planters, more flowers and more lanterns and I realize how being a monk in some distant and remote Himalayan temple with no personal worldly goods seems an attractive alternative.

- - - - -

Saturday.

We borrowed friends Franko (aka Frank.N.Stein) and Jason's jeep and headed out to the the stores to get some newer, more substantial (read: not white plastic) patio furniture. Here's what we soon discovered...

a) that shit is expensive
b) a lot of that shit is poorly constructed
and
c) good help is hard to practically impossible to find.

Stop # 1 was WalMart. In fact it was Mister's first ever visit to WallyWorld and he seemed overall rather impressed. After battling through the throngs of every language known to man (EXCEPT French or English) and an ice cream at McDo, we made it out to select patio furniture and ended up doing rather well on the chair front and found six nice metal stacking chair with a sort of nylon mesh seat fabric that will let the rain through and is still cushy to the tushie.

And as well we got two chaise-lounge in the same style. Fully adjustable to aid in our relaxation (should the sun ever decide to show it's face again)




...and we got two little occasional tables for placing all those empty mojito glasses (should the sun ever decide to show it's face again)

What we couldn't really find was a table that we liked. So we decided to take what we got and leave. Easier said than done. While the back seat folds down in our friends jeep, it's still a jeep, and those chaise-lounges should be called chaise-longs. It was impossible to get all 8 chairs in at the same time, and even though we had a lot of help from an employee there, we finally threw in the towel and tried to reach our friends Richard and Kenny (who have a pick-up truck) The employee even lent up his cell phone to call. Alas no one was home, so onto plan B...

TWO trips from Wal-Mart to Home. So we loaded the ChaiseLONG into the jeep, and a few misc. shirts we picked up and I left Mister at WallyWorld and I made a quick 30 minute return trip. We threw the six remaining chairs in the back and went over to Canadian Tire at Marché Central. And can I just say here and now, that the staff at Wal-Mart on Decarie are GODS compared to the shit treatment you get at the Pneu. We DID find a great table but were not convinced it was THE one, and besides with the chairs in the back there was no way to get them home, so we just went home. Unloaded just as it begun to rain.

- - - - -

Sunday.

We picked up our friends jeep again and this time went first to Reno Depot on St- Jacques. Nothing at all. Shite, Shite, Shite. (cute staff tho) Then a quick ice cream at McDo we made it to another Canadian Pneu. The staff couldn't have been more useless had they tried! I swear every question was barely answered with a no, and upon receiving the last 'no' I turned and said "Let's go this place is useless and so are the staff' the employee started to spew forth countless reasons why the largest of the companies Garden centers doesn't stock any water fountains. Whatever Mr. Minimum Wage, we got it... you got shite for stock and we're leaving to spend our money elsewhere!

Off to Homo Depot, and my gaaaaaaaaaaaawd the staff there are gorgeous, aren't they. I'll even forgive a little ignorance on their merchandise cause the staff is nice to look at. But not only are thet good lookin' but they know their shit. Saddly tho' what they were sellin' we weren't buying... at least not today (and not legally ever! heh) SO one last shot Canadian Tired (Alexis Nihon) And lo, what to our wandering eyes should appear, but the table we finally decided we wanted. A nice hexagonal number with smoked tempered glass top. It's true what the say... the third time's the charm. Almost. Guess what. There was no way in hell it was fitting in the jeep. SO we put it on hold, bought a few bads of earth for planting and headed to the Atwater Market...at 4 pm on a Sunday of the Victoria Day long weekend... death wish have we.

40 Minutes later, the jeep was crammed to capacity with verdant splendor and we retreated to home. Unpacked the jeep. I got the cedar trees replanted into larger pots and the lower back balcony planters filled with earth and floral splendor.. I even got the gay signature flower this year, one that I've always loved... Pansies! :-) And then... guess what... rain.

- - - - -

Monday.

To hell with it, we went for Brunch with our bestest fag friends: Kenny, Richard, Michael, Constantine, Jason, Franko and Kevin. Well... we thought we were going to brunch. What self respecting resto in the bloody gay villages DOESN'T serve brunch on Victoria Day... a day named for and in celebration of a QUEEN... well I'll tell you... Food. That's who. Whatever, they had a good table d'hote. We had an enjoyable meal even as the sky threatened '40 days and 40 nights'. Then we split up: Didier and Kenny in the Pick-up were off to get that damned hexagional table, I and Richard walked over to do some grocery shoppin', Michael and Constantine stayed to sip their wine (they're professionals) and Franko, Jason and Kevin went home.

By 3:45pm it was done. The new table was now up on the deck...


...and we had all the furniture we were gonna buy and it was all on the roof. Some on it's side and some in a box, but it was there. Along with plants in a corner and empty planters all around. Did I mention the monsoon?!?! and I ain't talking Edina or Saffie.

But wait, what's this?!?! at 5:30pm the rains stopped, the clouds parted and the sun re-appeared. we assembled the table and then ran back down stairs. JEZUZ it was cold!

SO... at the end of a 3 day weekend where we should have been able to completely prepare the roof top deck for a summer of fabu-entertaining, we are...

...under construction...

Happy Victoria Day Weekend!

snOHw YEAH...

I forgot to mention...

...on Saturday night into Sunday we had SNOW in Nova Scotia... 3 cm fell out to Halifax International Airport, and they had 5+ cm in Cape Breton...

I tried to bring some home, but well, there was only a snowball's chance in hell it would make the trip back... so instead we brought home lobster!

Exit, stage left - The fat lady has sung, er, um danced

Well I think you and I both knew she wouldn't make it to the end, but I still voted for her every week. And I still say she was my favourite.

Alas all the diabetic coma inducing sweetness and smiles could not keep her in the finals. Time to take your curtain call Marissa.

Can't tell you who I want to see win this season's finale, because quite frankly none of the final 3 couples do a thing for me. SURE, I'll watch, but will I relish it to the very end? No.

I wonder what would happen if all the celebs were mediocre looking next season, none with pornographic measurements... how even would the judging and voting be then?! ... I'm just saying...

Mother's Boxing Day

Well, since the official Mother's Day was spent in mourning and the funeral service and interment of my Grandmother, Didier and I thought that Monday might be a slightly less emotionally charged day to celebrate with Mom...

We started off with giving her a card and some certificates to Chez Cora's (these have quickly become the gift of choice between my patents and Didier and I for all occasions: Birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Anniversaries, and so on. We all love brunching there, and fortunately they are in Halifax as well as, of course here in Montréal) and and an assortment of potted houseplants in a massive teacup. :-)

We then went out to Peggy's Cove (A regular haunt of not only Didier and I when we are out East, but too, of my Parents, as well as a place Mom used to take my Nan on special occasions...). We had a nice dinner, full of delicious seafood, and the requisite Gingerbread for dessert.

And then we took a little walk out to the lighthouse. It was a windy day, but alas the tide was not in our favour, so no fabulous breaking waves were to be seen...

It was windy, AND sunny enough however for us to bundle up and have the ubiquitous wind swept hair... well all except my father... ;-)

And after waiting and infinitive amount of time for some French Tourists to move out of camera range* I popped off a couple timed photos, of which this is one...

A wonderful day was had by all, and on the return drive home we stopped off at the cemetery to ensure all was well, said a quick hello to Nan, then headed over to her house for a little bit of work and ended the day at y Parent's watching the last Vicar of Dibley DVD, a series we all absolutely adore.

All in all, not such a bad Mother's Boxing Day...

Farwell my friend

We had the funeral service today for my Grandmother. I'm sad. heartretchingly sad, but at the same time I know where she is...

In Body, forever in some of the most dramatic and beautiful land ever created... just a few minutes drive from Peggy's Cove. She's back to the land [and sea] where she was born; in East Dover. With her parents and their parents, with her Husband, and Brothers and more family.

In Mind, at complete peace.

In Spirit, in my heart and my mind until my last day.

- - - - -

This was another of the pics we took back on October 19th 2007

I'm gonna miss the old bird. Aside from losing a Grandmother, I've lost a dear dear friend.

Saved in the Arms.
by the Rankin Family

They carried my old friend to the church yard,
My eyes cast slowly to the ground.
The preacher read her her last words,
Then they lowered her body down.

Saved in the arms of my loved one,
Saved on her gentle breast.
Saved in the arms of my loved one,
I lay my weary head down to rest.

The church bell tolled for the rich man,
The church bell tolled for the poor.
I shed a final tear for my old friend,
For never will I see her no more.

Saved in the arms of my loved one,
Saved on her gentle breast.
Saved in the arms of my loved one,
I lay my weary head down to rest.

- - - - -

Love ya Nan.

Happy Moew-ther's Day

...to a purrrrfect Mom.

... and to all Moms out there...

Homeward Bound

We're headed off to Halifax this morning. We'll be staying at my folk's place. And as I've already arranged, I will stay one night at my Grandmother's house, to say a more personal goodbye. Most likely Saturday night.

Saturday we will be at the Funeral home, with the funeral being on Sunday ...Mother's Day. It's gonna be an emotional rollercoaster of a day for sure. We're thinking we'll actually take Mom out for dinner on Monday...

And then before we know it, we're back in Montréal on Tuesday aft, just in time for Mr's Doctor Appointment.

Thanks again to all of you, you know who you are. You're caring and support have been a real bolster for me and Didier, and I'll be sharing with my folks when we get home. (They already know about y'all from my Dad's chemo treatments)

The next time you hear from me I'll be Down East.

Angel

It's a sad day for my family.

It's a sad day for me.

As you know my maternal grandmother has been ill these past few months. On Monday night she was taken back to hospital from her recent arrival in a nursing home.

A couple weeks ago she had insisted that my Mother or Uncle take her home to pick up some summer clothes. They knew once she got inside that house she would not want to leave so they would not take her, instead went to pick up anything she wanted. We know now that she simply wanted to go home to die. That is where her husband passed on, and it's where her Mother had also passed on. It's where she wanted to meet her maker as well. I think, had she told them this directly they might have relented and taken her home, but being the cranky ass that she was so often in life, they only envisioned her not wanting to leave and causing a commotion. I only hope she forgives them for not taking her home.

She had been recently suffering from abdominal pain. At the hospital on Tuesday morning, the Doctors said it was likely a perforated stomach, or cancer, or both, they couldn't say for certain. My grandmother knew what was going on, where she was, and where she stood. Having been a Nurse for many a year, she knew.

She bluntly refused any diagnostic procedures, surgery or treatment that would prolong her time on Earth. She was ready to go. I think it takes a very strong soul to say, "I am ready to go, please do not interfer." That she was conscious, my Mother and Uncle could not over rule her decision. They put her on an IV drip and administered morphine to aleve the pain.

By Tuesday afternoon she was in a deep sleep. One she would only wake from for a few minutes that day.

- - -

Today as a part of my grieving process, one that begines often before the physical loss, I decided that I was going to ask N@ to play a song for my Nan on her request nooner show. Knowing the Mix's music dept as I do I thought I'd better do some checking first (It's incredible, but the Mix only had 6 CD's and only one untouched by Timbaland. So you really have to check if they have the song you want. ) I asked her to check if they had Angel by Sarah McLachlan, to which she replied yes, but that it had only been played a day or so ago on the show, so would not be in rotation again for a while. So as a second check I asked about Angel, by the Eurythmics. She said they had it and that it would be played today.

I replied back quickly asking that it not be played that I was only checking in advance, but it had already been put into today's show and by this point it was only 15 mins or so to air time. So I said, that would be fine to play it. I forgot to ask her to mention it was a dedication, but then in retrospect, it didn't matter because I know my Nan knew. 1000 kms away, in her hospital bed, I know she knew.

The song aired at 12:10 pm. I send a quick thank you to N@ then after the song played I went out of the office for a few minutes. On my return at 1:30 pm there were two phone messages; one from my Mother and another from my Father. I called my Mom who was on her way to the funeral home. Nanny had passed away at 12:31pm.

- - -

I'm going to miss her terribly, as I miss all of my Grandparents. I love all my Grandparents, but she was, I have to say the closest to me, I think in part because we were so similar. Our birthdays were only 6 days apart. We shared the same passion for gardening. We both are more opinionated than is really good, we know, we both just don't care. We both nurtured a very healthy fantasy world (it's what we Pisces do so well) We are both emotional, and love hard.

I'd like to share a couple of pictures of the old bird... I'm hoping they are some of her favourites, they are some of mine...

This first one was taken in 1931. She was 18 at the time. It was at her family home in West Dover, Nova Scotia. Pictured with her is her dog Whisky and her older sister Beulah.

This next photo is taken in 1941, again at West Dover. This is her family portrait. The Newburys. My Grandfather Cyril, my Nan, my Uncle George and my Mother Gloria.

This next pic is from Christmas 1961, a mere 8 years before I landed on Earth. If you look closely you will see her little friend Timmy the Budgie sitting on her shoulder. As both my Mother and Nan have told me, this was how they would often be in the living room listening to music.



And this last photo, was taken on October 19th 2007. Didier and I had gone to Halifax for a belated Thanksgiving, to spend time with my parents (Dad had just started 6 month course of chemo for lymphoma) , and to visit with my grandmother who was in hospital. It brings me such unparallelled joy that this woman, who at 94 years of age and having really, never spoken a word with my directly of my 'persuasion' so unabashedly accepted, welcomed and loved Didier. She never ceased to amaze me with the love she could give, but even this was beyond the top for me. It was, truly one of the happiest days of my life. I'll never for get it, as I will never forget her.

- - - - -

I didn't realize just how appropriate and profound the lyrics were to the song that N@ played today until just now as I checked them online...

ANGEL
by the Eurythmics.

Underneath this canopy of snow
Where fifty-seven winters
Took their toll
Where did you go?

And I believed in you
I believed in you
Like Elvis Presley
Singing psalms on a Sunday
(Where did you go?)

Well she's gone to meet her maker
Back to where she came from
Come to save her soul...
Come to save her soul...
Come to take her home
'Cause it's late and past
Your bedtime
Well past bedtime

Angel
My angel
Fly over me
Angel...

She took her life
Within her hands
She took her life
Within her own two hands
And no-one can tell her
What to do now

And I believed in you
I believed in you
Like Elvis Presley
Singing live from Las Vegas
(Where did you go?)

Well she's gone to meet
Her maker
Back to where she came from
Come to save her soul...

- - - - -

I love you Nan.

Exit, stage left - History repeating itself

November 15th 2006 MARIO Lopez and KARINA SMIRNOFF are eliminated.

May 6th 2008 MARIO and KARINA SMIRNOFF are eliminated.

You'd think that any superstitious person woulda seen this one comming a mile away...

As way of public service to Karina, here's a suggested list of Clebrities, Althletes, Polititians etc she way wish to avoid in the coming season[s] of Dancing with the Stars:

-Mario, Nintendo mascot
-Mario, American R&B singer
-Mario Aerts, professional cyclist from Belgium
-Mario Ančić, men's professional tennis player from Croatia
-Mario Andretti, American race car driver
-Mario Batali, American chef
-Mario Been, Dutch football (soccer) player and manager
-Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet
-Mario Berlinguer, lawyer
-Mario Bezzi, Italian entomologist
-Mario Botta, architect
-Mario Capecchi, Italian-American scientist
-Mario Caserini, Italian film director
-Mario Cipollini, professional road cyclist from Italy
-Mario Condello, australian gangster
-Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York
-Mario del Monaco, Italian tenor
-Mario Dumont, Québec politician
-Mario Elie, retired basketball player
-Mario Frangoulis, Greek tenor
-Mario Gentile, former municipal politician in Toronto
-Mario González, Mexican boxer
-Mario Jean, a stand-up comedian and film and television actor from Quebec, Canada
-Mario Kummer, East German track and road cyclist and manager
-Mario Lanza, Italian American opera tenor and Hollywood movie star in the 1950s
-Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., better-known as Perez Hilton, celebrity gossip blogger (no, wait... this would actually BE a good choice!)
-Mario Lemieux, Québec retired professional ice hockey player
-Mario Lopez, actor and television host
-Mario Matthias, drummer for the German indie rock band blackmail
-Mario Maurer, Thai actor and model
-Mario Melchiot, Former Chelsea and Birmingham, Dutch international football (soccer) player
-Mario Mendoza, former Major League Baseball infielder
-Mario Mijatovic, Croatian football (soccer) player
-Mario Monicelli, Italian director and screenwriter
-Mario Monti, businessman
-Mario Monticelli, Italian chess player
-Mario Napolitano, Italian chess player
-Mario Piu, Italian DJ
-Mario Puzo, author
-Mário Sabino, Brazilian judoka
-Mario Salieri, Italian porn director
-Mario Sammarco, Italian operatic baritone
-Mario Sandoval, singer-songwriter member of the Mexican Pop duo Lu
-Mario Savio, American political activist
-Mario Scaramella, Italian lawyer
-Mario Soldati, Italian film director
-Mario Sorrenti, Italian American photographer
-Mario Sperry, heavyweight martial artist from Brazil
-Mario Stanić, former Croatian soccer player
-Mario Testino, Italian Peruvian photographer
-Mario Tremblay, Québec professional ice hockey player and coach
-Mario Vazquez, former American Idol 4 contestant and singer
-Mario Williams, American football player
-Mario Winans, R&B singer
-Mario Zagallo, Brazilian football player and coach

Did I miss anyone?

Fingers crossed

Got a call from Mom this morning. (calls at 6:30 in the morning are never good) My Nan is back in hospital. It's not looking good. Perforated stomach, or cancer, or both, they can't say for certain at this point. Regardless, she is refusing surgery, so the next call I get might not be good.

I know she's 94 and she's lived a full life, but I'm not done with my Grandmother yet, so she can't go.

If you've got a bit of positive energy can you spare, send it to IC in the palliative car unit at the Halifax Infirmary, there's an old broad that could use it.

Thanks.

Dear Carrie Ann and Bruno... part two (the bitch is back)

Apparently I was not clear the other week in my letter to the two of you. I'm not sure how I could possibly be any clearer than:
"Please.
Shut.
The.
Fuck.
Up."

I can only guess that it was the politeness of my request. The word 'please' I guess, was rather confusing to the two of you. So, with that in mind, allow me to be a little more direct...

Hey fucktards skank judges. Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up now. Shut the fuck up tomorrow night. Shut the fuck up next week. Shut the fuck up next season. Just, Shut the fuck up.

You're as useful as tits on a bull. You're phenomenally rude, consistently reward poor performances and have your smoke blowing lips so far up the pretty people's asses that it looks like the dancers are blowing smoke rings outta their own lips.

Giving Christian scores of 10 is just truly beyond the pale. You pathetic lame ass, douchenozzle asstards. Yes, he did well and deserved a bit of praise for continuing because of his injury, but those dances were not perfect, with or without an injured arm. And to try and state as you did, on live international TV that it "didn't show" only makes you look like the fuckity ducks that you are. Just like how Priscilla Presley's facial expressions were "remarkable"... She's only got one fucking expression and that's "Dude! What the fuck?! Help me, my face is fucking frozen."

...which brings me back to you: Skankalina and Skankisimo...

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

DROP THE FUCK DEAD.

DIE ALREADY.

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.

DIE DIE DIE!

Thanking you in advance,

Misster-Kitty.

PS, since I already know that my aforementioned requests will be ignored, here's a thought... maybe you two could let Len finish ONE critique without interrupting him. Huh? Coulda? Maybe? huh?

Quote of the week (20)

OK, it's been a LONG while I know... move on...

- - -

Over heard in the Men's Room today at Lunch...

"Cookie, is that you?"

OK, Not so much 'overheard' [by me], as spoken by me. But it WAS over heard by some guy at the urinals, and I'm sure he feared for himself as I was in full on swish when I spoke...

Cookie is an old friend of mine (Alex Tsang) whom I have not seen in about 4 years! When I was exiting the men's room today he was entering... I recognized that face and instead of doing the polite thing and saying "Alex, is that you?" Cookie just tumbled outta my gay leopard print hand bag of a mouth. I mean you call a person "Cookie" for 7 years and that's all you know, ya know?!

WHY "Cookie"? Well, he's younger than the rest of us, smaller than the rest of us, sweet as all get out and WAY MORE innocent, nay, naive than, well, 99.9 % of the world population. I should really post on a couple of the more classic pranks we did to him...

Anyhoo, it was a riot running into him here in the washroom... He's just started working for another of the Divisions here in the head office.

SMALL WORLD

Mimi and Florence.

Two and a half weeks ago I felt as if I were on my death bed, (as you will recall) and Didier was there, nursing me along the way.

Well, now it's my turn. :-) and I go there willingly.

Didier has been under the weather for over 2 weeks now. It started back on Friday April 18th. He'd been coughing, congested and fevered for a couple days and by that Friday, he was down for the count. He called in sick to work, made a Dr's appointment for Saturday and went back to bed. On Saturday the Dr said "Flu"... and so he took it easy, bed rest, Tylenol and lots of cough syrup and juice... He stayed home on the following Monday and grudgingly went back on Tuesday, based on deadlines and workloads he felt compelled to complete.

Slowly but surely he was improving during the week, but no great leaps made. By the weekend of the 26th/27th we were now both sick, coughing constantly, in tandem so it seemed so that sleep had become a thing of the past.

By Wed the 30th we actually both seemed to be noticeably improving. That was short lived however...

We went over to our friends Jason and Franco's place for "Ugly Betty Night" a double feature this week of not only U-B but also LOST, as neither Didier or I saw last weeks episodes and our friends kindly PVR'ed em. Along with five other friends, (we were nine in total, and of that nine, five of us were under the weather. Curse the psycho warm\cold weather) So it was BBQ-steaks and two Ugly Bettys, a little bit of coughing,a few drinks and some homemade cantelope ice cream, then the first LOST (the previous week's taped episode) At 9:50pm we thanked out hosts again for a wonderful meal, evening and taping U-B and LOST and quickly scurried home to catch the current evening's episode (thankfully, living 2 blocks apart allows for such timely exits and entrances...)

By 11:00pm Didier was decidedly a bit sicker, and running another fever. By Friday morning he was having difficulty breathing; his chest was very tight, he was coughing and choking and now running a fever of 103.7'F (39.8'C) He called into work 'dead'. Having to leave for work, I left strict instructions: "Go see your Doctor this morning, and if he's not available go to Emergency."

I got a call at work by about 11:30am or so, he'd just got back home from the Emergency at St-Luc and it was confirmed... Pneumonia. 2 weeks of antibiotics*. Not good, but coulda been worse I guess... I mean he didn't need to be hospitalized. (Thankfully.)

I got home on Friday evening, checked in on my little guy who had by now perfected his Mimi imitation from La Boheme (heh) and aside from juice and ice water and the odd Tylenol, had been and continued to work on his transformation into a Bat and sleep in 'the cave' (a.k.a. master bedroom) I passed out myself on the living room sofa, tired as much from the week's work as my own nagging cough. I got up periodically to check on Mimi, get a new fever reading and fill the ice in his glass.

8:30am Saturday I got Mimi up and prepared to get him to see the Doctor (an appointment he made before going to the Emergency, just in case that didn't pan out... you can only wait in a stuffy Emergency room waiting room so long). We cabbed the whole 6 blocks down Rene-Levesque and waited til 10:40am for his 9:50am appointment. Within a few minutes of seeing the Dr, answering a few questions and asking a few of our own, Doctor wrote a note excusing Mimi from work til the 16th. Bed-rest and little else on the agenda.

By 11am we were back home and I got Mimi a little something to eat (the first food since Thursday night), he took his minivans , er I mean antibiotics, and was sent back to bed.

After making a quick list I was off to the Grocery Store collecting what foods Mimi requested along with some Ensure and a little extra soup, soup and soup... By the time I got back home I had morphed into full-on Florence Nightingale-mode, to match his Mimi-mode.

The remainder of the weekend included much sleeping, pill taking and fever by good-patient Mimi. Sleep, checking in on Patient Mimi, and movie-watching** by faithful Florence.

- - - - -

I can't help but wonder how a parent feels when one of their children is sick. I mean, there's only so much you can do. You can check on them a million times an hour, wish and hope that they get better quick, cater to their wants and needs and still after all of that, feel completely ineffectual, 110% useless and incapable of doing enough to actually improve their condition...

I checked on Didier as often as I thought would just border under the line of acceptable - show my concern and readiness to help, while not raising his blood pressure by hounding him. You want them to rest, but you want to be sure whatever they need, you're getting for them as soon as possible. Asking questions while trying not to ask too many and upset them. Putting food in front of them, asking them, telling them to eat,they have to eat, when you know damn well when you're sick you don't have an appetite and being told to eat just makes it worse.

So yea... I don't have any kids, and I'm glad, 'cause I don't think I have the heart to see them sick. Dealing with the one you love, who's also a grown adult is hard enough, because there's nothing more retching to your hear-strings than when someone you love is ill. If it were a little child, my heart would completely break.

- - - - -

...and how was your your cold, wet and windy weekend?

- - - - -

Mimi is convalescing peacefully this week, Florence will run a double-feature at Lantheus Medical Imaging during the day and nurse Patient-Mimi evenings.

- - - - -

* not so much pills as small minivans. Bright Yellow and in pairs. 'Cause really, why try and swallow one Minivan when you can swallow two!?!

** Florence can now recite whole segments of dialogue from Beauty Shop which appeared to run 24-7 over the weekend (in reality he only watched it 3 times) He also realizes he really enjoys a Queen Latifah flick... (Last Holiday, being tried and true) Also on his list of features: Monster House, Meet the Robinsons (twice) Music and Lyrics, The Jerk and The Hunt for Red October (not necessarily in that order).

MY Lost Island.

Do you watch LOST?

Are you feeling MORE LOST that the people on the Island? I know I am.

I love the show, even with the remaining shorter seasons, and this season's delay and then strike imposed hiatus and then even shorted number of episodes... I guess it's just expecting too bloody much that they'd start clearing up a few things rather than convolute things more....

And WHYYYYYYYYYY don't people shoot the asstards when they have a chance? It seems they are so fickle when it comes to shooting someone and then... not so much. Case in point: When Martin Keamy has a gun to Alex' head (Ben's not-daughter) and threatens to kill her, either Sawyer or Locke could have easily picked him off... and yet they do nothing and allow Ben to do even less than nothing and see Alex shot-dead. Cut to a flash-forward scene a few minutes later and Sayid assassinates some guy he doesn't even know, based only on a comment Ben makes that the guy was actually only NEAR where Sayid's wife was killed. (we have no idea if the guy actually had anythign to do with it... only that Ben, wants the guy dead... which really means very little)

WHY are they only trigger happy when it makes things MORE complicated, rather then seriously thinning the herd when the targets are complete pricks, bastards and psychos ?!?!?!?

Honestly, I really wish this story and islandwere real and I were there. I think at this point there would likely only be myself and maybe a handful of other people left alive on the island:

-Me
-Rose (She always has the best lines and best 'tude looks)
-Bernard (a bit of a dweeb, but hey, Rose sees something in him right?)
-Danielle (I love me some crazy French!) ;-)
-Alex (2nd generation crazy French)
-Carl (2nd gen crazy French needs a hobby)
-Sun (DUDE! She's preggers... and she has a good sense of what's evil and not)
-Jin (Who else is gonna talk all Korean to Sun... besides he's kinda hot)
-Claire (Arron's mommy)
-Arron (Claire's baby)
-Charlie (1- he's a musician and we all need to be entertained, 2- he's sorta Arron's adopted Daddy and 3-hot)
-Hugo (c'mon... it's Hugo! ...and worse comes to worse and we have to resort to cannibalism... he's at least a good solid month of meat and if not and if we get off the island, he's a mega millionaire! okay, okay, and the guy is just nice)
-Libby (She's Hugo's lady... and again, I like me some crazy)
-Sayid (hot)
-Desmond (hot and Scottish accent. .. that's soo sexy)
-Sawyer (yup... hot. OK, I know, it's a sad trend... but HEY! it's a 'deserted' island)
-Vincent the dog (wuf wuf)

Pretty much everyone else... gone. Either because they were particularly evil, particularly stupid, or particularly annoying... or all of the above.

Plain to see....MY Lost Island would be a lot more happy.

Chewy White Rabbits!

White Rabbits!

White Rabbits!

White Rabbits!