3000 WHEELS!!!

the last friday of every month is critical mass day, and cyclists from all around Vancouver come to ride through the streets. but the last friday of BIKE MONTH is extra special so HUNDREDS of people come to play! the goal was to get 3000 wheels taking it to the streets. we heard that 1700 heads were counted cycling over the granville bridge!!!
it was a beautiful day for a ride.















"the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways.
the point however, is to change it." :: Karl Marx ::

for the price of an orange mocha frappuccino...

you can purchase Helen Stellar's 4 song release I'm Naut What I Seem.

and say you had planned to biggie size that icy frappallappa beverage, and maybe hit it with a few extra shots of espresso - you could instead purchase yourself their 2004 release Below Radar.

me and you and everyone we know

i am actually not sure that i have EVER laughed this hard.



see this film.

homeless

a collaboration between 2 musical heroes of mine :: Ladysmith Black Mambazo sings with Sarah Mclachlan.

my mom and i used to watch a VHS recording of the Graceland concert, while she folded laundry on the weekends.

there is a Sarah Mclachlan song connected with every major event in my "adult" life.

I have never seen either of them in concert. Mambazo will be in Vancouver on October 29th of this year, and i will NOT miss it!

salad or salsa?

SALALSA...?
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can corn
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped tomato
as much as you desire chopped fresh cilantro
(i toss in the whole bunch cause i'm crazy for the stuff)
splashes of lime juice
splashes of balsamic vinegar
pinches of ground cumin
salt to taste

15 minutes - "delicious and nutritious"
use as an appetizer with chips, or serve with quesadillas as a meal.

tea marvelous tea

and speaking of best "evers"...

as it says on the box: "Bengal Spice has a sweet, creamy flavor that adds a sumptuous quality to this medley of herbs and spices! This zesty blend is an exotic taste adventure with cinnamon, ginger and cardamom to awaken your senses. A hint of vanilla smoothes the flavor and adds a bit of sweetness."

"There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea." :: Ralph Waldo Emerson

warning: beyond ridiculous content

these are the dudes of The Lonely Island.
i think i could really build a life for myself in Awesometown.
you may regret watching this video.

chocolate divinity

i know of no other dark chocolate that is so rich and so smooth (yet affordable) as Lindt's Swiss Dark Chocolate (and i am irrefutably THE expert on the subject).

you won't be disappointed.

"And, God forgive me, it melts ever so slowly on your tongue and tortures you with pleasure..." (Chocolat 2000)

goûter le rêve

montage of highlights from Franco Dragone's awe-inspiring show at the Wynn in Las Vegas. most recommended for those who have already seen it and those who will never get to see it.

beware the time vacuum

click and click and click some more. go!

evil genius

seriously. watch your back.

(i can't stop laughing. this lil devil is so dang CUTE!)

gusto de trozo

check it out. some kickin mixed media that i stumbled upon.

cbc archives

A Lost Heritage: Canada's Residential Schools
numbers 1 and 8 are particularly worth watching.

watch them because we need more peace, hope, and understanding.

taste of ian ross

see his play fareWel. it will challenge and sadden and amuse you.
Ross on the character named Nigger:

'There's a lot of internal racism on reserves, and that's a common nickname if your skin's darker. But by using it I'm also reinforcing one of the play's themes, the power of language. The word has a history and a context, but we still choose to give it power. Some believe you shouldn't use it, others believe you should reclaim it. I'm in the second camp. We can't just not say a word and have it go away. Then you're giving it more weight.'

i'm torn. words like gay, retarded, faggot, and bitch have all been used in the past to persecute and take power away from groups of people. many people, including myself, simply choose not to use these loaded words. but if my goal is to remove the power from the language, is not using it enough? do we need to go further, and "reclaim" these words, as ian ross has suggested? if so, how do we go about doing that?

visit to the lake

i breathe more deeply when the lake is in my lungs.
thank you erin for giving me that calm.
now your lake is within.

my last visit to the vancouver art gallery

Brian Jungen produces works of transcendent beauty and stabbing social commentary. Cetology (2002), the massive whale skeleton of white patio chairs (yes those cheap, plastic, everywhere chairs), is both heartwrenchingly, and structurally impressive. taste his art.

the music of sheena grobb

sheena's beautiful voice was grown on the manitoba prairies, just 3 miles from my front door.
have a taste.



(photo by Chad L. Friesen)

i can afford to be less selfish

my hero David Suzuki has made a list of 10 things we can all do to improve our home. and shoot! are they ever easy. all he asks is that we take on THREE over the next year. i am publicly committing to the following ::

1. Reduce home energy use by 10%: A more energy-efficient home will lower your utility bills and reduce your impact on the environment. Heating accounts for nearly 60 per cent of energy use in the average Canadian home.
2. Eat meat-free meals one day a week: The production and processing of grains requires far less water and land than does meat.
3. Buy locally grown and produced food: Buying locally reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from food transportation. One study estimates that the average meal travels 2400 km (1500 miles) from the field to your table.

let me know which three you choose.

tread lightly as you travel

i commute by bicycle, but my roundtrip flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas released 800 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air! (the equivalent emissions of driving my 1997 Subaru Impreza wagon to and from work, everyday, for OVER a year)
...but i've GOT to fly!! so, carbon offsetting is the way i will continue to travel, without negating all my other environmentally conscious efforts. there are many options, but i chose the Vancouver Energy Renewal Cooperative because they are local.

we must change

see it, then tell me what excuse you have left. though we may not want to An Inconvenient Truth should change our lives. as a good friend of mine once said, "I don't go into throws of ecstasy every time I brush my teeth, but I do it because it's good for me."

sample a super fantastic portfolio

so this kid Dave Werner has put together a beautiful website of all his design work. his one page vignettes integrate concept/intention, process, video, music, drawings, and models seemlessly. video provides a much more accessible gateway to the work than the traditional 2-dimensional drawings/written-word model ever could. get inspired!

for the intense cookie monster only

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (more or less..as desired)

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-and lower-middle positions. Heat oven to 325*F (160*C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in chips to taste.
4. Roll scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and with jagged surfaces facing up, join halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth dough's uneven surface. Place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving 2 1/2-inches between each ball.
5. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets. When cooled, peel cookies from parchment.

taste the best friggin lasagna ever

Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna

Submitted by: Rosemary Rated: 5 out of 5 by 18 members

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 1 Hour 15 Minutes Yields: 8 servings

"Fresh pasta sheets baked with ricotta, feta, eggplant, tomato, pesto, pumpkin, Parmesan and mozzarella."

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups peeled and diced pumpkin 1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds 5 tomatoes 1 pint ricotta cheese 9 ounces crumbled feta cheese 2/3 cup pesto

2 eggs, beaten salt and pepper to taste 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce fresh pasta sheets 1 1/3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Place pumpkin on a baking sheet and roast in oven until browned and tender, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grill eggplant on a charcoal grill or fry in a skillet, turning once, until charred and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Halve tomatoes and place on baking sheet in oven for last 15 minutes of pumpkin time; cook until tender and wrinkly.
3.	In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, feta, pesto, eggs, salt and pepper until well mixed. Fold roasted pumpkin into ricotta mixture.
4.	Spoon half of the tomato sauce into a 9x13 baking dish. Lay two pasta sheets over the sauce. Arrange a single layer of eggplant slices over pasta and top with half the ricotta mixture. Cover with two more pasta sheets. Arrange the roasted tomatoes evenly over the sheets and spoon the remaining half the ricotta mixture over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella. Top with remaining two sheets of pasta. Pour remaining tomato sauce over all and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
5.	Bake in preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes, until golden and bubbly.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2005 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 6/24/2006

academy award attempt

taste of me :: circa ninety three

if i had religion

it would look something like this :: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (Marianne Williamson)

les images.

to inspire stories, song and poetry.

taste vegas.

:: heaven in a glass ::
pina coladas ($10) poolside @ the Luxor hotel.

:: the drink that keeps on drinking ::
$10 slushy beverage at the Frozen Daiquiri bar outside Coyote Ugly in New York-New York. hold on to the cup, and refill it for $7!

:: $5 meal ::
Sirrco's @ the casino in New York-New York serves up a monster slice of bready, thick-crust pizza just like my mom and dad used to make. the carbs will keep you going all night!

:: jaw-dropping theatre ::
le rêve @ the Wynn hotel. a franco dragone show that will blow your mind. sit in the "splash zone" (you will get splashed) for a cheaper ticket ($90), and a more interactive/immersive experience.

:: incredible art installation ::
a Dale Chihuly glass installation - the ceiling is bursting with flowers of many colours - greets you in the Bellagio hotel's lobby.

:: best free entertainment ::
you simply must see the fountain show @ the Bellagio hotel at night. it will move you to tears.

:: "the" buffet ::
for $20 you can enjoy a to-die-for lunch of bbq boar, pesto mashed potatoes, summer pea soup with mint, beautiful breads, jumbo shrimp cocktail, a sushi bar, etc, etc, PLUS an oustanding array of incredible desserts. the chocolate-coated strawberries were luscious!

:: espresso ::
if you're in the market for an americano and you are sick of the millions upon millions of Starbuck's, I'd recommend The Chocolate Swan - a small cafe between Mandalay Bay and the Luxor. they advertise "coffee like you've never tasted". i don't know about that, but they made me a darn decent Americano. and, though I didn't try any, the desserts on display looked divine (1" miniature cheesecakes - adorable!).

:: super cheese ::
the Luxor sphinx and lobby are unrivalled for kitsch-factor.

:: take moisturizing nasal spray ::
it brings much needed relief if you and your nostrils aren't from the desert.

taste the water of the honey tree.

insert poem here.