Wordless Wednesday

It weathered other recessions, and even survived a giant Chapters store opening down the street, but between superstores, the current sluggish economy, and now e-books, our local independent book shop just didn't stand a chance of surviving for much longer.

I wasn't surprised to see the note posted to their window, explaining why they were closing next month when their lease ended, and thanking their loyal customers (me definitely included) but I was saddened.

I walked into the book shop and I wanted to drink it in, because I had this odd deja-vu feeling of being a kid in my favourite record shop, with its bins of vinyl albums, and how faraway, and long ago that feels. Standing among the aisles of the now heavily discounted books I got the distinct feeling that much like the record store of my childhood this particular experience is rapidly changing to the point that it will very soon be no more.

I have many fond memories of being a kid, and looking forward to going to the book store with my Mom or Dad, and buying my precious Nancy Drew books. I'd usually buy 2 at a time and have them finished within a week, when I'd start bugging my parents to go back to the book store. Sigh......

This love of reading, and the book shop has never left me, and even today I am far more likely to be found hanging out at a fave book store both new/used or be buying a book than almost any other item.

I wonder what book shops will be like in another 5 years? What will they look like? How will they feel? I have a clue based on how the local Chapters is now displaying their Kobos, and e-reader accessories front and center, with computer terminals set-up for easy browsing, and purchasing. These are surrounded by other items like blankets, and candles, and even food stuffs. You have to walk quite a way in to start browsing the books.

Coffee table and photography books will probably survive in their present formats, as may paper calendars, but I really believe the e-book will dominate in the very, very near future, which for an old time book lover is bittersweet indeed. Its not that I am against progress, and I do see the many positives that e-books possess, but I do feel another bit of my childhood is slipping away forever, and that makes me nostalgic.

Good-bye wee bookshop, with your always brilliant, quality titles (because the seller actually cared what he stocked) and your friendly approachable staff that made me feel that they too loved books, I will miss you.

Yesterday Matthew and I took a lengthy walk, and afterwards decided to treat ourselves with a visit to our favourite West Toronto roti shop!

The Friendly Trini's offers real home-style cooking, and the photo below just simply does not do their yummy food justice. They had recently been closed for renovations and we were excited to learn through their Facebook page that they were back open for business with new hours.

Matthew and I ordered two chicken rotis, mine with extra hot sauce, and the jerk chicken special, which comes with rice, and salad. I can tell you the food was delicious, especially on a very cold blustry winter day.

The restaurant is located very near to the Dundas West subway shop. The shop is clean, and like its name the service is very friendly. If you are in the neighbourhood, and like Caribbean food I definitely would say check them out. They do eat-in, and take out.

Gattina's Saturday Photo Hunting: Old

The following collection of photos was taken at the Royal Ontario Museum, which has a lot of old things.

This photo does not do this display justice.

Maybe you guys can help me with this one? I forgot to write down its story and history, and am a bit baffled by it.

Lovely old cross

I believe this is King Henry VIII

Who can resist a knight in tarnished armour.

Happy Photo Hunting! And thank you for stopping by.

Upcoming Themes For Gattina's Saturday Photo Hunting

March

3 fluffy
10 power
17 creative
24 shoes
31 artificial

I love boots, heck I love shoes, but I actually love wearing boots more! I have a few good pairs of well broken in boots for different occasions, but I never tire of boot shopping even if its only online window browsing so to speak.

Come browse boots with me! I've brewed up a pot of blueberry green tea, and am ready for some relaxing online shopping.

Check out these great adventuring frye boots. I snagged the pic of the pair that most caught my eye, so you can check them out too.

I love the look of these. They remind me of the pair the character Laurie wears in the AMC The Walking Dead tv series. If I were to get a new adventuring boot these would be high on my list. I have a feeling that after breaking these in they would be uber comfortable, and long lasting. For me the most important thing is durability in a boot, and these look like they'd be tough. Not as certain about the colour in the photo though, I do like tans, and light brown, but in this style I think black or a dark grey might work better.

My second choice in hot adventuring boot is the frye melissa button knee high. Another great look, but I hesitate on knee high boots because I have fairly big muscular calves, and whenever I try on this type of style I have great difficulty finding any that will fit properly, especially rain boots or Wellies.

If I want a knee high boot I definitely have to go in store to try them on first, but I do enjoy getting ideas from online browsing, and getting the scoop on sales.

What do you think, which are your fave pair?

Wordless Wednesday

After eagerly anticipating the release of The Woman In Black with Daniel Radcliffe I finally got to see the film! Part of my enthusiasm stemmed from the brilliant book by author Susan Hill, that is one of the few fictional ghost stories I've had the pleasure of reading that genuinely induced nightmares. In the 80's, I believe, the BBC adapted the story for a tv version that I also found to be quite good and genuinely chilling. In all honesty I felt that this story deserved to be told via a much bigger budget, and a big screen.....

....sadly after seeing the film I have changed my mind. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a terrible film, and some of the effects used to portray the Woman In Black were terrific, but overall I felt the story veered too far from the book, and did not adequately explain the story enough to create a sense of true horror. It felt flat, and in my opinion had I not read the book, nor seen the BBC tv adaption I would have been lost as to the point, and left with several unanswerable questions.

I did think Radcliffe put in a great performance as Arthur Kipps, as did the rest of the cast, and the set locations were spot on. It was in the telling of the story that I became disappointed. Much need scenes such as Alice Drablow's funeral were cut, while others that were pointless to the story, in my humble opinion, such as the crow flying in through the chimney were added.

I do not want to give too much away and post spoilers, but my reaction after seeing this film was meh...and its not because I am a fan of gore, in fact the opposite is true, and this story does not need it at all to be frightening. I have heard some complain that those who critise this film are obviously missing the gore of torture porn horror, and I want to make it very clear in my case that is absolutely not true.

Maybe my expectations were too high going in because of the standard set by the book itself or the fact the tv version was just so much superior in creating a horrific atmosphere despite its much lower budget. I did want to adore this film not only for the story, but because it is a Hammer film, and I was genuinely rooting for Daniel Radcliffe, who just comes across as a great guy, and actor, unfortunately it left me rather cold, and disappointed, with a strong desire to revisit Eel Marsh House in the not too distant future through the wonderful storytelling of Susan Hill's book.

For the first time in ages I used Interac at a shop I've been doing business with for years, and my bank account got compromised and drained.

And yes I do have the card with the chip that is supposed to prevent theft. Ugh!

I almost always prefer using cash for my purchases, but I was picking up some expensive prescriptions for Matthew, and with the holiday today I had wanted to make sure we had them for the weekend. My gut was telling me to go up to the bank and just get the money out, but for expediency sake and because I was in a very trusted shop I thought what the heck I'll get dinged for the service charge, and will save the time.

Unfortunately that decision has cost me much grief and inconvenience. Yesterday morning the bank called to say they put a stop to all transactions via my bank card. It was flagged when the transactions were coming from overseas, and I had just used the card an hour prior in Toronto! Now I have to wait until the branch opens tomorrow (its a holiday in Ontario) for them to begin their investigation. Apparently it may take a week or more before the mess is straightened out, and my money reimbursed.

They say these types of crimes are victim-less because they are non-violent, and because eventually the bank will reimburse me, but I can tell you I still feel like victimised.

Gattina's Saturday Photo Hunting: Circles

There are several examples of circles within this photo that I took outside of a building at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds last year.

Here is another view of the building's entrance.

If you look above the doorway there are grotesques which are placed within circles.

Here are some close-ups

This looks like a cow or a bull to me

and perhaps a "green man" .....

Happy Photo Hunting! And thank you for stopping by.

Upcoming Themes For Gattina's Saturday Photo Hunting

February

25 old

The bayonet's of these historical re-enactors end in a very sharp point!

Happy Photo Hunting! And thank you for stopping by.

Upcoming Saturday PhotoHunt Themes:

February

25th ~ Loud

PhotoHunt

Photo Hunters

Yesterday I had an appointment up at Yonge and Sheppard and for the first time had the opportunity of checking out one of the TTC's new subway trains. It's actually rare that I'm on the Yonge-University-Spadina Subway line so it was a bit of a treat to be able to travel on one of these new trains. I found it to be clean, roomy, and much more comfortable than the old subway cars. The trains are completely digitized with signs that show the next stop and which side of the train you'll need to exit. I must say well done TTC!

Now hopefully the city can get it together, and either get back to Transit City or another new plan for improved service. As a regular rider my concern is keeping it affordable, comfortable, and clean.

Photo Source: TTC

Wordless Wednesday

I met my Valentine while touring a former insane asylum, which by the way, is a great story to tell future grandchildren. I took notice of him after a strange young woman began telling the tour group of a mysterious crash of a DC-10 that had gone unreported in the Barrie Ontario area .... at the exact moment I was about to explain to her that surely had an aircraft the size of a DC 10 crashed in Barrie Ontario, someone would notice, Matthew leaped into the conversation and took the words right from my mouth. Well, I thought ... he certainly is a lot swifter than he looks, especially for a gothy looking ghost guy.

After our first meeting we became fast friends, and thick as thieves, so to speak. At the time it was a bit of a surprise, but after two years of developing a strong friendship, and myself actually setting him up on dates, it became quite clear that we in fact were a duo. I think we came to this realisation after looking at some footage of an on-site ghost investigation where we were constantly by each other sides. The camera saw, perhaps something that wasn't so clear to ourselves at first.

And that is the story of how a geeky girl who was totally into UFOs got together with a ghost researcher, and founder of a ghost society. I must admit though I have always had a very dark streak, gee, my choice of Valentine's card should clue you in to that.

So 10+ years since our first official date, and despite the predictions of a break-up after 2 months by a rather lousy psychic, I would like to wish my Matthew, my BFF, my partner in crime for life, and evil stepfather of my girls a very Happy Valentines Day!

Je t'aime,

Your Sue
XOXOXOXOX

Image Source: Vintage Cards

With the brief return to Canadian winter over the weekend, I decided to snuggle in with a hot chocolate or two and power American Horror Story. This new horror mini-series had been recommended to me by a few good friends, and after viewing all 13 episodes I can enthusiastically say I loved it!

The show focuses on the lives of the Harmon family Ben, Vivien and their teenage daughter Violet, who move from Boston to Los Angeles after Vivien had a miscarriage and Ben had an affair. The house they purchase unbeknownst to them is known throughout the city as "The Murder House" and is haunted by several of its former inhabitants, and those spirits of people who died usually violently on the property.

While watching the show I couldn't help but thinking this is kinda like The Ghosts Of Motley Hall only for adults, which is probably in part why I enjoyed it so thoroughly.

After watching Season One I'm not surprised at all that Jessica Lange won the Golden Globe for her portrayal of Constance. Her performance was brilliant, as was the rest of the cast.

So I'm definitely happy to hear there will be a Season Two with a different cast and locale, which is the best way to do it imho as a mini series each season.

Another one worth watching if you are not already into it is The Walking Dead. The second half of this season aired last night, but no worries if you've missed it or do not have cable as you can always watch it through Netflix.

Finally Being Human (the British version) Episode Two also aired last night. I am not sure how I feel about the show with virtually all of the original cast killed off, and what is seemingly almost a switch in genre for the show. With George and Mitchell, and Nina gone, and only Annie left, my hope is the three new characters that were introduced in the opening of this series will be strong enough to carry the show. I'll give it a few episodes, but honestly I am worried that the show's new focus on a dystopian style future and war with vampires, as opposed to the interplay of a ghost, werewolf, and vampire simply living together and attempting to fit in with human society will lead the show into jumping the shark so to speak. So sad, because I thought the show was brilliant, and original as it was, and perhaps should have ended when the two lead actors left the show.

On that note Becoming Human held much promise, and perhaps a continuation of that storyline would be worth exploring.

A vintage photo of my Mom circa 1964. I miss her, and think of her every day.

Happy Photo Hunting! And thank you for stopping by.

Upcoming Themes For Gattina's Saturday Photo Hunting

February

18 circles
25 old

A broken heart ......

Upcoming Saturday PhotoHunt Themes:

February

18th ~ Point
25th ~ Loud

PhotoHunt

Photo Hunters

.....to one of the smartest, and coolest people I know.

She made her debut 22 years ago today, and has been one of the best things I have done in this life. Happy birthday wishes for my incredibly intelligent, and beautiful daughter Sarah.

Wordless Wednesday

Having Graves Disease my eyesight is a constant concern, and once a year I have my eyes examined for any sign that the autoimmune disorder might have started attacking my eyeballs, which is thankfully paid for by the Ontario government. I also wear glasses for myopia, so have my prescription checked at the same time. After having a richmond eye exam to see if there is any change, I look forward to checking out the newest designs in eyewear. I prefer the ultra nerdy look of brainy specs, and do think of my glasses as a fashion accessory, even my oldest pair that are held together in part by tape.

This year is exciting because I have a $50.00 gift certificate for products and services at Optical Eyeworks, which is has a huge inventory of glasses and sunglasses to choose from. I was scoping out their website here: http://www.opticaleyeworks.ca/ earlier this morning.

I will post up a review after I have checked them out in person, and yes post photos of the new specs when I've got them. What I like is this is a one hour service and therefore if I do need a new set because my prescription has changed I won't need to wait around for them.

Matthew and I are not big sports fans. So, yesterday while many of our friends were busy with their Super Bowl festivities we took advantage of the mild weather, and sunshine to take a hike through High Park.

During our hike we noticed construction of a new building, and we decided to check it out.

We both noted that the building was filled with bales of hay, which seemed rather curious.

We looked around and found this sign, which explains that this building will be the new home of the Children's Teaching Kitchen. It also explains that the hay bales are part of the environmentally friendly design of this neat structure.

How cool is this! It makes me miss when my own kids were little, and could be part of such a fun project.

Will definitely visit again to see the finished building!

The most downloaded show in PRS history is called Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory, and is very timely with Apple posting record profits and giving 60 million dollars in stock options to its top 6 executives, and the President of USA's state of the union address where he says its time jobs were brought back to America.

The US president is correct not only because Americans desperately need jobs (we Canadians do too) but because companies like Apple are making these record profits on the backs of human beings treated so horribly that no one in the USA or Canada would even contemplate such working conditions, which are more like a horror/sci-fi film than any experience we in North America would consider real. Plants that hold 400,000 plus people, 30hr long shifts, no rotation of manual labour so hands are quickly ruined permanently, sitting and talking are not allowed, employees as young as 12, complaints are handled by black lists that are put out by the ministry of labour insuring anyone who complains will not be able to find employment elsewhere, suicide nets......its seems surreal, but it is reality for the people that made your iPhone and do not have the pleasure of owning one themselves.

In all fairness its not just Apple, but all cheap electronics that we enjoy and throw away when the next must-have gadget gets released. And I am guilty of owning these products too.

For those interested and who listened to that radio segment (I defy anyone to listen to it and not cry) here is a petition demanding an ethical iPhone 5.

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/ethical-iphone/

Please consider signing the petition. Ultimately the power does rest with the consumer.

What is extremely disturbing to me is that Foxconn is opening up another plant in Brazil.........

I will never be able to hold another piece of technology in my own hands without stopping to think whose hands put this together, because as Mr Daisey points out I was one of those people who copy/pasted an image of tiny robots (like a Japanese car plant) putting together my iPod never considering or even asking for the truth of how it was made.

I personally would happily pay a $100 bux or more for an item say manufactured in the USA or Canada so that I could be certain the product was not produced so horrifically. I think most tech lovers would.

Thank you Mr Daisey for opening my eyes, we do need to know, no matter how awful and ugly the reality of the manufacturing of our beloved tech is.

I was shocked and saddened to learn through the Facebook group that Jamie Ray-Smith known through the blogging world as TNChick and the founder of the original Photo Hunters lost her Dad on January 24th to a brutal murder. My thoughts and prayers are with Jamie and her family. I cannot imagine what they are going through.

Among the brush, and the twigs, holding her seed filled hand out, as still and flat as possible, a wee bird says hello to the kiddo.

Happy Photo Hunting. And thank you for stopping by.

Upcoming Themes For Gattina's Saturday Photo Hunting

February

11 vintage
18 circles
25 old

Upcoming Saturday PhotoHunt Themes:

February

11th ~ Heart
18th ~ Point
25th ~ Loud

I have to admit something from the get go, I have never seen a single episode of Jersey Shore. I do not subscribe to cable, and even when I did I was not a fan of most of the realty tv show genre. The plethora of realty tv shows that dominate cable, in part, is why we finally decided to get rid of cable, 200+ channels and never anything to watch.

Yesterday during a Facebook convo Snooki came up in passing, and a friend of ours had no idea who she was or why she was being referenced in an obvious negative way. This got me to thinking, I have not seen her show, my own kids are not fans, I do not really follow celeb gossip sites, and I have not read her book, yet I do know of her, at least in a very cursory way. And what I do know of Snooki tends to be either wrapped up in snark or downright negative.

So perhaps out of boredom or because I genuinely wanted to know more about her (I lean heavily towards the former) I did a bit of research last night.

Before becoming a realty tv personality Nicole Polizzi aka Snooki studied veterinary care at a local college. Apparently her break came when she was spotted on an episode of Is She Really Going Out with Him? by the casting directors of Jersey Shore. In 2009 she was considered the breakaway star of the show apparently upstaging the rest.

So how much of Nicole is really Snooki or vice versa. How much of the Snooki persona is real? Intelligent tv viewers know to take all of these "realty" tv shows with a grain of salt. I once heard it put best by a former paranormal realty tv personalty who said, the only difference between what he did and an actor is that he played "himself" or at best a caricature of himself. I'm willing to bet this is most likely true of Snooki as well.

Yes, I know she has been arrested, and in the process grabbed many more headlines and got compared publicly by a judge no less to Lindsay Lohan. How many Hollywood celebs in the past got tons of publicity out of minor violations, and charges that left one wondering whether it was all just to grab some headlines. In the land of la la isn't it all about having them spell your name right?

The truth is that most likely only Nicole's closest family and friends know how much of Snooki the realty tv personality is just a put on vs Nicole herself.

Her character may be distasteful or off putting to some, and it is highly doubtful she'll be remembered for her brilliance, she is very young though so I wouldn't completely count her out at this point. However with that said, in a country which is seeing mass foreclosures and bankruptcy Nicole was paid $32,000 for an hour lecture at Rutgers University. The money she was paid for appearing on WWE with Trish Stratus (hometown gal) was more than many Americans will see in a year including veterinary technicians. And while I would personally not want to be on her life's path, as I sit here getting ready to prepare my bi-monthly grocery budget it is hard to completely fault her particularly as she really isn't harming anyone, and the only thing she is perhaps exploiting is herself.

Image Source: Wiki Creative Commons Licence

Wordless Wednesday