Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hope

I'm not super-duper political. Some people in my family are, and many of them have a long, strong history of supporting the NDP.

I'm a little more flexible in my leanings... I tend to vote for leaders, not parties. Although I must say that since I began voting, I have not yet voted Conservative... I wouldn't rule it out, if someone came along who inspired me.

Since this is a blog about things I like, I really feel like coming out and saying it... I like Jack Layton. I don't "hate him the least of all the candidates"... I actually like the guy. I liked him at the last election, and I liked him at the election before that one. I voted for him on both those occasions, and I'll do it again.

But the real reason for this post isn't to impose my views upon anyone. We all have our reasons for throwing our support, or not, behind a leader or party, and your reasons are as valid as mine, even if we may not agree. My real reason for this post is this:

I found it here. It is wicked cool, right?! I like the way it makes this election feel more important, by playing on Obama's rise to President. I think that's important. I have to admit I felt election-fatigued from the day it was announced. I wasn't even sure I had it in me to vote this time - my apathy loomed large. But now, I'm inspired and excited.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011

I am not obsessed with TV.

Just stating that for the record.

However, there are a number of shows that I enjoy, as we all do, on occasion. For some reason, I've found myself to be rather enamoured of the opening titles of a few of them. Like, I actually enjoy watching the opening titles because they are clever, or cute, or the music is good, or they're just well-crafted. Is that weird? Here are a few that I absolutely LOVE...

The IT Crowd - the show is brilliantly funny, the characters are some of the best in the world and the humour is smart and silly. But the opening theme really says it all.




True Blood - the first two seasons were fantastic. It has been inconsistently good since then, but I can never get enough of the opening theme... it's just so shocking, vivid and artistic (and also slightly NSFW).






The Whitest Kids U' Know - Um, so this show is really not for the sensitive or squeamish. The first few times I watched it I loathed it, but if you can get past the shockhorror comedy style of The Kids' sketches, it is actually really, really funny. It isn't the kind of show I'd recommend to most people I know. The opening theme is great though!






(I probably should have warned you that it's kind of an earworm...)

Those are just a few of my favourites. I know there are tons of other great opening themes out there in TV land. What's your favourite?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Rainy Saturday

It's cold and gloomy and yucky outside. I need something light and colourful to cheer me up...


Saturday, April 9, 2011

Gentle Jolt

Well. Just now, I got the proverbial slap from Cher that made me snap out of it.

I've been making excuses for not doing much (any) photography lately... it's cold out, I'm tired, I have to feed the cat, it's my day to do nothing... but the biggest excuse? There's nothing nice to look at out there.

This time last year, my neighbourhood was blooming. Spring came early to my neck of the woods in 2010, and it was warm and sunny, and I was enthralled with the beauty of nature around me. This spring has not been like that. It has been cold and dreary, and while my allergies are telling me that something somewhere is pollenating, everything still looks brown and lifeless, and not particularly inspiring.

Then this morning, I check the weather network to see what kind of a day is predicted - it's part of my morning ritual... I look outside, try to guess the temperature and how the day will play out, then I check the weather predictions.

Anyway, I came across these images, both posted by Stefan Gatti-Cavanagh:




Both were taken not so far from my neck of the woods. Apparently, I have been ignoring what is right in front of me... I've been waiting for some brilliant and flamboyant show of spring to stop me in my tracks and take my breath away.

I am suddenly appreciating the meek and gentle nature of this Spring's character.

And though I do have work to do today, when the afternoon reaches its peak warmth, I am going to go out and find something sweet to photograph in my neighbourhood. I know it's there, because it has now been reignited in here.

You can view these images and others here... but they change frequently, so I don't know how long they will be up.

Friday, April 8, 2011

We get on like cats and do....lphins :)

My dear CrowNologist,
Because I know you are a cat lover like me, this one's for you...





Found today on Cute Overload...
My daily source of joyful endorphins!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Feeling's Mutual.

While I was riding the bus on my way home from work, I overheard someone say that Mutual St. is a one-way street. At first I was mildly amused, thinking it was just some clever wordplay. But then I realized that Mutual St., where it intersects with Carlton St. in downtown Toronto, is in fact one-way. Then I laughed out loud and startled the woman sitting next to me.



I love that I can just say this on here and no one will look at me funny.

Anyway, a little story about Mutual St. I used to live a little further east and north of the area depicted on this map, on Sherbourne St., just off Carlton... also lovingly referred to as "Cracktown", although when people asked me where I lived I aligned myself with quirky Cabbagetown, the next neighbourhood over. So one time I was walking home from work along Carlton, and right at the Mutual St. intersection, some guy jumped out of a car and emphatically brandished a gun at the two guys walking in front of me, screaming at them that he was going to shoot them. I have never darted out into traffic to get to the other side of the street so fast in all my life. I think I almost got hit by a streetcar.

Ah, Mutual St... Good times.

PS - There's a typo on that map! See if you can spot it...

Monday, April 4, 2011

Eye Candy.

You know, I don't really "get" photos of food. I'm not saying that food can't be photographed beautifully... I just don't find food to be a particularly inspiring subject matter. And yes, that includes such iconic photo-foods as cupcakes and macaroons (sorry... macarons).

But this photo...
It's so not about the food.



I found it here.