Limes with Orange

Okay, it's October now and time to start thinking about Halloween (or All Hallows Eve, if you want to be olde worlde about it; or Samhain if you want to be Celtic about it; or Day of the Dead if you want to go the Mexican route). I'll most likely be attending the Dio De Los Muertos Halloween Extravaganza being hosted by Jadesong. It's going to have a crazy variety of musical acts along with fire spinning and sphere juggling and other cool stuff. So now I just need to give some thought to Halloween costumes.


Do I go as your basic witch? It's what I tend towards but maybe I've done it too many times. Or I could stick with the witch theme but just be a little more on the pretty side. Or the sexy side. Or I love this gothic fairy. I mean, she's a little on the skanky side, but if you can't be skanky on Halloween, then when? LOL. Or I could go another way altogether and celebrate the superhero theme of my screenplay and go as Supergirl. (Though it looks like I might need a little help filling out that particular top! But I have faith in modern bra technology to provide the necessary assistance.)


P.S. This costume website that I've been using has a haunted house backdoor that can get you a decent discount. To find it, go to the homepage halfway down and click on the comma in the line that reads "Our Store now has over 14,000 masquerade items for you to choose from!"

Labels: fashion, fun, special days

I just found out that the Plaza Cinema is holding midnight showing of Grease this weekend, complete with costumes and singalong! So, as a warm up for tomorrow night, I've posted three songs from the Grease soundtrack to My Music Box in the sidebar: "Summer Nights", "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" and "We Go Together".

And here is a link for the lyrics to all of the songs from Grease (there is the odd error here or there but, by and large, they're mostly accurate): Grease Soundtrack Lyrics.

Labels: film, fun, music

I've recently been spending a little too much time on a particular forum where we've been chatting a lot about how people find love. It's no surprise that the subject of online dating has come up a few times.

As I've mentioned before, I have done the online dating thing in the past. Sometimes with much success, sometimes not so much. One of the things I came to realize is that I'm a little too offbeat for many of the people I've met on those online dating sites... a little too quirky, a little too dark.

But now there's hope for those of us that reside in an alternative world: goth dating. So I actually signed up for this one. I'll let you know if I have any luck with the gothic guys!

Labels: dating, fun

This post is for my friend Mandy and her daughters, as well as all of the other young girls looking for a bit of wholesome internet fun. The Doll Palace is offering Free Coloring Pages. This section of their website has a wide selection of pen-and-ink artwork that you can colour online with a great palette of colours to choose from. It's super easy… you can do it with just a few clicks of your mouse. Then you can print it out or, if you've registered with the site (for free, by the way), you can save it online and invite people to look at your creation.


And if you want to colour something other than what they have available, you can upload your own pen-and-ink picture. (FYI: you'll need to make sure that the outline on the drawing is completely closed, otherwise color filling will not work as expected.) Then you can also share your uploaded artwork with your friends and give them a chance to colour your drawing, too.

They've got a whole bunch of different categories to choose from, whether you're wanting to colour animals, holiday scenes or various characters from Anime, Disney and… just for you, Brianna… Bratz!

And here's my little confession… it's not just fun for kids!

Labels: fun

Several years ago, when I was visiting Chicago and getting to know the city on my own, I would have loved to have something like an audio travel guide. What I did have was a booklet with information on historical buildings and maps and so forth... but you try looking at a piece of architecture and reading about it at the same time. I don't know about you, but I find that rather tricky as I can only ever get both eyes to look in the same direction at any given time.

At this time, Variant Guide only offers audio guides for Moscow and Paris, but they promise that Barcelona is coming and more cities will follow. So far these are all cities that I would love to visit, so I think they've certainly started well. Now I just need to get myself across that big pond and put these audio guides to use!

Labels: cool stuff, fun, travel

Actually, they're called Low Bid Auctions, but I like my title because it reminds me of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, which is neither here nor there. (Wow, digression in the first sentence… I think that's a first for me.)

Okay, what the heck am I talking about? It's a new site called Bid4Prizes. It's definitely a new take on auction sites because the LOWEST UNIQUE bid wins. Yep, I said LOWEST. But I also said UNIQUE. So, if you bid 2 cents on a plasma TV and a whole bunch of people bid 1 cent and a whole bunch of people bid 3 cents but nobody else bid 2 cents, you could actually win a plasma TV for only 2 cents. Granted, that particular scenario is unlikely… but you never know.

Unfortunately, right now it looks as though they're in between auctions. I admit that I'm curious what will go up on the block next (they actually had an SUV for auction before). Whatever it is, I'd be tempted to bid $1.08. Why? Well, some of you may already be aware that I'm a math geek (and proud of it). Back in grade five, my math teacher had each of his students pick a favourite number from the times tables… anything from the 1's to the 12's. I picked 9 x 12 = 108. Partly because the 9 times tables are the coolest (1 + 0 + 8 = 9… and so on and so forth), partly because of all the exponents involved (3 ³ x 2 ² = 108… sheer mathematical elegance). Like I said… math geek. *points at self*

My only reservation about this site is having to provide them with my cell phone number. I'm not particularly keen on that. Mind you, I got over my concern about using my credit card on the internet ages ago, so I could probably get over this, too. But the point is moot for me anyway, since it's only open to U.S. residents. (Oh well, I don't get to play in the auction, but I also don't have to have Bush as a president… you lose some, you win some… right now, I think I'm still coming out ahead.)

Labels: cool sites, cool stuff, fun

Here's an idea I can get behind… an opportunity to win a free DVD burner, shoes, champagne flutes or any number of other prizes, without having to pay to sign up, without being obligated to buy anything, without getting spammed to death. I know, it sounds too good to be true. But WhoGets.com is for real. No scam site here, they simply get their profits from advertising. And this is a pretty clever advertising method, dontcha think?

Me… I think I'll try for the DVD burner.

Labels: cool stuff, fun

There's a new online dating site called Just Say Hi that has one important distinction from other online dating sites… it's completely free. And I don't just mean free to sign up and make a profile; it's actually free to contact people. What a concept! And it's got forums which makes it much more of a community than the dating sites I've used in the past. And it even has testimonials about members by other members, which is kind of a cool concept.

Having said all that, I'm not sure I have it in me to do the online dating thing again. Three times was not a charm for me. But don't let that discourage you. After all, I did meet someone online that I ended up dating for a couple of years. So it might work for you... and here's a completely free dating site to help you find out.

Labels: dating, fun, odds and ends

In honour of today being Friday the 13th, I've included 13 links to sites that reference Friday the 13th in one form or another.

1. Friday the 13th, 2029
Exactly 22 years from today, Friday the 13th will be a lucky day... when asteroid 2004 MN4 does NOT hit the Earth.

2. Greenpeace: Friday the 13th is here
Watch your worst nightmare unfold.

3. Urban Legends at Snopes.com: Friday the 13th
Why do some people believe that Friday the 13th is a day fraught with peril?

4. Care2 eCards for Friday the Thirteenth
Celebrate the day... from the safety of your own home.

5. Friday the 13th Quiz
How much do you know about this superstition? I only got 3 out of 8 and was told I would have 7 years of bad luck.

6. Is the 13th of the month more likely to fall on a Friday than on any other day of the week?
Enquiring minds want to know.

7. Friday the 13th Horoscope: Scorpio
Just follow the links to find your own horoscope for this "unlucky" day.

8. PsyBlog: Is Friday the Thirteenth Unlucky?
A bit of scientific research leading to no solid conclusions whatsoever.

9. Friday the 13th History & Cartoon Fun
The lighter side of this day.

10. Friday the 13th Special: Debunking the Myths of Bad Luck
Black cats and broken mirrors... what do you believe?

11. Friday the 13th: Film Theory Essays
You knew I had to start heading in this direction, didn't you?

12. Friday the 13th - From Crystal Lake to Manhattan (8 Movies)
Sometimes you just gotta go with the obvious. I'm actually not much of a Jason fan, though, give me Freddy over Jason any day of the week (pun intended... in hindsight).

13. The Gematriculator
And finally... How evil is your website? (Okay, not directly a Friday the 13th reference, but as far as I'm concerned it fits the general theme... and it's my blog so that's all that matters. )

Labels: film, fun, odds and ends, quizzes, special days, weird stuff

I've just been tagged by the Desert Island meme.

Skeet chose me as one of five blogger companions to be stranded on a desert island with. Unfortunately, I assume I can't choose Skeet to be one of mine… pity, there's a gal who knows how to get rid of bugs. And I'm thinking that deserted islands probably have bugs. Me no like bugs. Though Skeet did say that she would try to get the island wired and cabled so me so I could keep up with Battlestar Galactica. Now there's an idea that works for me. So who will I select to keep me company on my deserted island with satellite hook up?

1. Kat — I don't know if Kat does the meme thing, but I think every community needs to have someone who can keep things real. And nobody keeps things real as well as Kat does. Then there's the added sarcasm bonus. Life without a hefty dash of sarcasm is just plain dull. I don't much like dull.

2. Brett — Do you know why they don't send donkeys to college? Because nobody likes a smarta$$. Unless they're actually funny… which Brett happens to be. And if I'm gonna be stranded on a desert island, I'd better have someone who can make me laugh so hard that I spurt coconut milk through my nose. I don't know if Brett's a memer either (is that even a word?), but I'm taggin' him anyway.

3. Patrick — If we're gonna be on a deserted island, I assume there will be a lot of cooking by campfire. And I definitely want ghost stories around that campfire, so Patrick's the man for that.

4. Robyn — And speaking of cooking, I think it would be smart to invite along someone with a blog full of yummy recipes. (You should see her oh-so-easy mud pie recipe… my mouth is watering just thinking about it.)

5. Terry — I figure anyone who celebrates Alfred Hitchcock Day must be the kind of grrl I can have a good ole pop culture conversation with. And if we're stranded there for a year, that'll be a must. Pop culture stuff is oxygen to me.

As Skeet did before me, I'm promising solar-powered laptops with coconut-wireless connections to my fellow castaways. I mean, we ARE bloggers after all. I might be able to live without my Tim Horton's coffee (oooh… bad example… okay, Timmie's will be air dropping coffee onto the island, too)… let me try this again: I might be able to live without my car, but not my computer.

Labels: blogging, fun, memes

I just found this site that's kind of fun; it generates a cyborg based on your name. I entered my real name at first but I ended up as a "Cybernetic Artificial Repair Android" which didn't thrill me. So I used my internet name instead. I like this one much better:

Get Your Cyborg Name

Labels: fun, memes

Okay, I'm not actually "leaving today" but I wouldn't mind making "a brand new start of it in old New York."

I've often thought that I wouldn't mind living in New York City. For starters, since Torontonians (which I still consider myself) believe that Toronto is the centre of Canada, I've already got the right attitude. I mean, don't New Yorkers believe that New York is the centre of the known universe? Okay, so that's not actually why I would consider moving there. Well, not for the attitude, I mean. But New York is kind of the centre of the world… at least the world of art and culture, at least in North America.

But now that I'm trying to make a go of it with independent film, is that the right place to be? Am I better off moving to Vancouver? (I will NOT move to L.A.) Or back to Toronto? Or to Montreal? (No, I think the Francophone Quebecois filmmakers would not welcome me with welcome arms.) Then again, there's so much indie art stuff happening in New York, there must be a thriving film community there.

Mind you, I haven't actually been to New York since I was a teenager (and I don't even want to think about how long ago that was), so maybe I should start with a visit. I do have one high school friend who lives there now that could be my tour guide. I don't know how big her place is, though, so I may have to find someplace else to stay. The last time my mother went to New York, she stayed at the Hotel Chelsea. She said it had a great atmosphere and was very reasonable. I remember finding a quote about it when my mother asked me to look it up on the internet:

"The building sits on 23rd Street with the air of a great dame who finds herself in the midst of a party of her social inferiors but instead of complaining decides to join right in the fun."
~ The New York Times

And lo and behold, this site that I was checking out about New York listed the Chelsea as one of the best New York City Hotels for folks on a budget. The site also lists best NYC attractions, restaurants and clubs, all of which helps a grrl plan her trip. And then, should I actually decide to move there, there's even a page about moving to New York. If the site had more links to the places it talks about, it would be even better. But it's a good launching pad.

Labels: film, fun, pop culture, travel

At the open mike night a couple of weeks ago, one of the artists that caught my attention was Marsha Meidow, director of the Vagina Monologues. She read one of the monologues from the show and, having never seen the show and not really knowing what to expect, it blew me away. So beautiful and yet so disturbing at the same time. Delivered in Marsha's breathy girlish voice... it was haunting.

Marsha also works with Safe Haven, a program for young girls at risk of prostitution and exploitation. So Marsha and Monologues producer, Shone Abet, decided to put on this carnival to raise money for the program. I think it's a great idea. And I wish like anything that I could be there, but I start my IN:Camera Film Production Workshop the following day, so I think I need to take care of myself and take a quiet night at home. Otherwise I would be at the Femme Fatale Carnivale in a heartbeat. There are going to be burlesque acts, fire eaters, belly dancers and all things strange and sexy (strange meant in the best possible way, of course)! Oh what crazy adult fun!

For those of you who want to go (please, please go!), it's this Valentine's Day (as in tomorrow) at The Twisted Element Nightclub, 1006 11th Ave SW. Tickets are $25 at the door and $20 in advance at Blame Betty, 829 17th Ave SW. Have fun! And don't do anything I wouldn't do...

Labels: cool stuff, fun, politics, pop culture, weird stuff

Without going into the genesis of my good mood (that has been lingering since Saturday), I figured I would simply post a video to express it. Granted, it's not exactly representative of any warm and fuzzy feelings accompanying my particular happy happy joy joy, but it's Ren & Stimpy so it's fun (and a little weird and wacky, which makes it even better). Enjoy:

Labels: fun, odds and ends

I really need to start hanging out over at YouTube.com. I came across these videos at i-am-bored.com, but they're both originally from YouTube:

Salvador Dali - Lanvin Chocolate (Dali starring a commercial?!?!)
Rap Wizard of Oz (Israeli music video for "kele-6" rap group)

Very weird. Kinda fun. Enjoy... or not... according to your taste.

Labels: fun, music

What do you get when you cross The Onion with Wikipedia? The Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. One of their "in the news" briefs:

Months of lower than normal temperatures across the globe have caused government agencies to declare global warming a total fucking joke. Scientists are now sounding the alarm (requesting funding) for an impending ice age.

This could be fun...

Labels: fun

Was chatting with my friend Brian yesterday (the previously mentioned erudite guitar player) and he sent me this image that he created of the guys in his band:



(In case you're wondering, Brian would be the one with the guitar.)

Naturally, it made me want to create my own South Park character, so Brian directed me to Planearium's South Park Studio, Version 2. So many options! So much fun!

I tried to post the image I came up with yesterday but there were Blogger glitches. In the meantime, I ended up going back and improving (IMHO) upon my character. Eventually, I came up with this:



A quick Google search later, I discovered that you can also go to South Park Studios Create-A-Character, but they don't have as many options (no lipstick?! no eyelashes?!) so it's not quite as much fun (well, not if you're a grrl).

Now excuse me while I go make South Park characters for everybody I know.

Labels: fun

The weekend's festivities are concluded and the need for secrecy has passed. My aunt et al organized a surprise anniversary party for my cousin and his wife... they eloped last year (and apparently they're more gullible than I thought... they truly had no idea that anything was up). A mock ceremony was held under a pink beribboned arbour (the happy couple sooo not being frilly pink people), the "officiant" read from the Guinness Book of World Records (about the fattest man ever recorded... which seemed fitting given the title of the "wedding"), the "vows" (which included "old lady" references and a few "boomshackalackas") concluded with "booyas" and there was not a dry eye in the house because everyone was laughing so hard. The ceremony was followed by merriment amidst a sea of wacky wedding hats (optional attire) and a midnight lunch. All in all, great fun... and a valuable life lesson about what will happen to you if you deprive my family of a wedding in the first place!

Labels: fun