Walk Off The Earth

We've entered Lantern Season, and the end of the school year which means my "free time" seems to have vanished and been replaced by more chaotic work shifts and working on lanterns.  The month leading up to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival is always hectic and chaotic for me, though I'll admit that nothing quite compares to last year.

Because of this frenzied time, I have gotten behind in e-mails, blog posts, facebook messages and just about every other kind of communication I'm supposed to have responded to.  My most humble apologies if you are among the people who are wondering if I'm ignoring you (I'm not!) I  just need more hours in the day and days in the week!

Despite this, I have spent a smidgen of my time perusing YouTube (usually to wind down my frenzied brain before bed) and was reminded of why I like Walk Off The Earth so much.  They're funny, creative and talented.  Most of you are probably familiar with their cover of Goyte's "Somebody That I Used To Know"  where all five of the band members play the same guitar:

But my favorite so far has got to be their cover of "Little Boxes" the song by Malvina Reynolds that Pete Seeger made famous.  I think this video is rather brilliant!

Hey, look at that!  I connected Folk Fest with Walk Off The Earth via Pete Seeger - aren't I clever?  Hello? Anyone?  Oh, never mind.

So, while I'm busy pulling out my hair trying to build this years lantern, enjoy a little of the genius that is Walk Off The Earth by clicking the above.

Dad's Tools

My favorite spot as a baby.
Dad's hair went grey shortly after this!

In honour of Father's Day last weekend, here's a little recollection about my dad.

One morning I woke up as usual, got ready for school, then went upstairs to get my breakfast and grab my lunch before getting a ride with dad.  He was already up, sitting in his chair, a grumpy expression on his face.  When he saw me, he audibly harrumphed.  While my dad was in no way a morning person, this was a little far on the grumpy scale for the average morning, so I raised an eyebrow and asked something along the lines of "what's wrong with you?"

Dad's face got red and he spit out "how could you?!"

Completely flabbergasted, I raised my hands in surrender and asked him what on earth he was talking about. I'd only been up for fifteen minutes or so, and couldn't imagine what I might have done to get into trouble in that short time.

"How could you leave all of my tools outside in the rain like that?!"

"Uh, dad I haven't touched your tools..."

"You lined them up along the side of the house and left them there to rust overnight in the rain!"

"No, I didn't.  I swear!"

Fuming now, he said "YES YOU DID!"

"Dad, why would I do that?  I swear I haven't gone near your tools!  I certainly didn't leave them outside! What are you talking about?  Where are they?"

"Alongside the house! In the rain!"

"You've been outside already?  You've seen them?"

"Well, I... Harrumph!"

"Dad, I swear I didn't touch your tools, and I'm sure mom didn't either.  If you don't believe me, go look!"

So he did.  He came back a few minutes later, rather flustered and confused, having found that all of his tools were safely where they belonged in the tool room, not outside laid out against the house to rust in the rain.  Turns out he'd had a rather convincing dream and when he woke up, thought his dream was real. That was the first and last time I got in trouble for doing something in someone else's dream!

It's Officially Lantern Season!

We turn this...

...into this.

Which lit up looks like this.
(My Serenity Lantern)

It's official.  It's lantern season!  First blood was drawn in the Folk Fest lantern workshop today, at the hands of some evil bamboo and dried glue and tissue.  Several of us are sporting minor cuts, and at least one person got burned by the hot glue gun. I'm sure there are many more slivers, nicks and hot glue burns to come but all of the minor injuries seem well worth it when you see the finished products lit up. For three nights, you get to feel like a rock star as everyone  is mesmerized by the lanterns you've built weaving through the night crowd.  Now if only I could figure out what to build this year...

My Elliot.

                    Jacquie's Spock.

Maureen's Tardis and Lin's K-9 & Dalek

It's Curtains For You

This weekend I dog-sat for my mom while she went on an adventure with her garden club.  It was while I was staying at her house that I remembered one of the things that she does that drives me nuts.  Whenever mom tidies the house in anticipation of company, she likes to close the shower curtain to hide any clutter that might be found in the tub area.  She's done this for as long as I can remember.  I hate it!  I actually go and open the curtain slightly any time I see this.

I saw Hitchcock's Psycho at a rather young age - possibly too young.   I don't remember the specifics, but I think I may have snuck in when my dad was watching it late one night.  In addition to this, over the years there have been numerous scenes in movies and television shows where someone has been hiding behind a shower curtain waiting to do something nefarious.  Every time I go past a closed shower curtain, I feel the need to make sure that there isn't anyone hiding there waiting to attack me.  I know it's irrational, but I can't help it.

So that you can share in my fear:

The Original Shower Scene From Psycho 1960

The Loony Toons Shower Scene Spoof

The Wicked Witch

The Wicked Witch

Whenever my mom calls me, the Wicked Witch Of The West's theme song from The Wizard Of Oz starts to play. Some may find this harsh or darkly funny, but the truth is, mom wholeheartily approves of her ringtone!

Don't believe me? Let me give you a little backstory. When I was in Brownies, mom was one of the leaders. She went from Snowy Owl to Brown Owl - former Brownies will understand what those titles mean. Every year we'd go camping in the summer. Brownies got to camp in cabins, while Guides and Pathfinders had to camp in tents. One year the leaders decided we would have a theme for the camp - The Wizard Of Oz. We coloured and heated up shrinkydinks of Dorothy and The Tin Man, called the path leading away from our cabin the yellow brick road, and each of the leaders took on the moniker of one of the characters from the movie/book. My mom chose - you guessed it - The Wicked Witch of the West!

We were all very well aquainted with the plot of Mr. Baum's story, so a few of the more mischievous Brownies and I got together and plotted to reenact one of the scenes from the movie. We got a bucket that was usually kept next to the fire pit in case of emergency, filled it with water, and placed it on the front porch. We got the most innocent-looking six-year-old girl to call my mom over to the cabin, then when she was standing under the porch, we dumped the bucket of water over her head.

Luckily for us, mom has always had a healthy sense of humour. She played the part perfectly, screaming and calling out "I'm melting! I'm melting!!" while pretending to sink into the ground.

5 Reasons My 5-yr-old Nephew Is A Better Painter Than I Am

I wrote this in March 2010 when N was still 5 (he just turned 8!)  Some of you may have read it before, but I haven't shared it here, and it is a typical story that shows my follies so I thought it might fit right in.

Five Reasons Why My Five-Year-Old Nephew Is A Better Painter Than I Am...

On Tuesday I moved the furniture into the center of the room, covered the floor with plastic and taped off the edges & trim to keep the new blue paint contained. As I began painting the edges, N, who lives upstairs, came down and asked if he could help me paint. I sent him to get mom-approved painting clothes on, and he soon came back with his own little paintbrush, a boatload of questions, and much enthusiasm.

At one point he informed me that I was helping him paint... He also announced that if Nana came over and helped us, she might not see what she was painting and end up painting him... So being the gracious soul that he is, he decided he'd paint her first. *g*

N was awesome at painting the corners and bottom edges where the white molding was taped off & the roller wouldn't reach. He showed a surprising amount of patience waiting for the fun part. Once he got his own mini-roller, he covered about 75% of the bottom half of his wall. Not bad considering his age & obvious height disadvantage!

Here are five reasons why my five-year-old nephew is a better painter than I am:

1. He did not drip paint on his own head when painting above him.

2. He did not drip paint on the head of his fellow painter.

3. He did not get several splotches of blue paint on the white ceiling.

4. He did not get blue paint on the white electric sockets. There was an incident with one light switch, but his silly aunt may have possibly spooked him into doing that when warning him not to get paint on it. Who is this crazy woman anyways?

Last, but not least...

5. He did not step in the full paint tray, knock it over, spill blue paint all over the floor, then proceed to spread it one squishy footprint at a time around the (thankfully) covered floor.

No... his Aunt Neen did all of those things.

***************************

In the spirit of home improvement disasters, I give you "When Father Papered The Parlour" by Billy Williams.  I remember hearing a recording of Celia and Sharon singing this song when I was little.

Les Drogues Sont Stupides.

Les Drogues Sont Stupides

Tonight I was digging through boxes looking for something which I never did find, when I came across some interesting papers from my school days.

Patrice may be the only one who will truly appreciate this, and please excuse my atrocious french grammar, but here goes... In grade eleven or twelve, (I'm not sure which, I just know it was in 1996) I handed in the following assignment for French class.

Garfield on Drugs.

Anything in brackets was added by my teacher. "Les Drogues sont stupides.  Le tabac donc idiot.  L'alco(h)ol ce n'est pas branché.  Ils ont un effet de très discernement.  Aider faire le Canada un pays sans drogues.  Juste (Simplement) dites non!  Un(e) Drogue-Liberté Garfield  -  Garfield avec les drogues.  Le choix est (le) vôtre."
Babylon.com's helpful French-English translator spews out the following translation:"The drugs are stupid.  The tobacco therefore silly. The alcohol that is not connected. They have a effect of very discernment. Help make Canada a country without drugs. Fair (Just) say no! A drug-freedom Garfield - Garfield with drugs.  The choice is yours."