LOL WUT

I hearby call on Stephen Harper to sing all his rebuttals to Michael Ignatieff.

Lord of the Flies

I should perhaps be writing about the adversities in North Korea that strikes too close to home for my liking (being that half my relatives live practically next door to Kim Jong Il, considering he thinks he can hit anywhere between the White House or the kangaroos in Australia with his long-range missiles), but this is distracting:

ILY Barack.

ps. I'm nursing my first sunburn ever. Thanks, Provence!

eta: If I can sit at a computer long enough, I'll soon write some actual thoughts about the North Korea thing. I used to live right south of that border, and most of my family is still back home, and it makes me home sick.

Itinerary

Fourteen days left between me and Europe. I think it's time to reveal my itinerary and ask for pardon for the upcoming absence (although I have been very MIA this month anyway).

I'm being super ambitious, hitting at least 14 cities in a 48-day span. 17 of those days, I'll be on La ferme de Noé to the north of Marseille and Aix-de-Provence, building housing for animals and farming and harvesting and cooking and engaging in other earth-friendly shenanigans (and hopefully also those not very friendly to my liver). The not-so-secret hippie in me is basking in the glory of the thought. Marseille, Aix and Arles are all within the arm's reach of the farm.

From then on I'm heading off to Genoa, Cinque Terre, Florence and Venice in Italy. Reading cautionary tales of Venice has made me wary, but I'm open to falling in love with the sinking city. So we'll see. Bern and Lucerne, Switzerland: Lucerne is my dad's favourite place in Europe, so I know I'll be captivated by its charm. Belgium will be housing my amazing twin sister (yeah, really) for three months, so I'll be visiting there on my way back to Paris! I hope to hit Antwerp (yay for wool), Brussels and Bruges (In Bruges being one of my favourite scripts ever). Then I'll head back to Paris before hitting home base in Toronto.

I know, right?

Time to go buy a travel case for my ukulele.

ps. I may or may not have been playing Hot 'n Cold by Katy Perry on my ukulele. Whatever.
pps. I have a lot to say about the suicide of the former president of Korea, and even more to say about the exhausting trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Then there's the North Korean tests, the UN response. There's just so much around me and far from me, and my head is turning in every which direction. I want to gather my thoughts and understand what they want, and still not make excuses.

Different stories

Heartbreaking:
http://www.optimum.net/News/AP/Article?articleId=545209
"As long as the husband is not traveling, he has the right to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night. Unless the wife is ill or has any kind of illness that intercourse could aggravate, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband."

Heartwarming:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/Local/article/206692
"The little girl asked White to sign her flag. He shook her hand, gave her a hug and wished her good luck. After the operation, she drew him a picture of her heart. White took the drawing back to Afghanistan."


I'm at a loss of words. Be back soon.

Don't divorce us.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Watch & sign this.

Relevance of things

1. Everything really is about economics. To a point, I find it heartbreaking. More than 700 casualities in Gaza, a third of them are children, and here we are pushing for the loonie to soar.

2. Bit of humour in the morning, nonetheless: Free Whopper from Burger King if you delete 10 friends from your Facebook! I might do it.

In Canada, it means I love you

1.

To this, the CP24 reporter said, "in Iraq, to throw shoes at someone is to show signs of contempt". I don't think I enjoyed journalism as much as I did in that precise moment ever before.

2. On that note, according to a recent poll conducted by CP24, 50% of those that answered thought that we directly elect our prime minister. Grade 10 civics, anyone?

Music week.

I've been to three shows in the last three nights; all Canadian, all amazing musicians. My roommate (whose blog you can check out here) once said that my iPod may as well be CBC Radio 3 (which you should definitely listen in to, in case you don't already--Canadian "indie" goodness), and this is probably a valid point. Although I'm not originally from Canada, when it comes to the arts I'm aggressively Canadian (and parts Irish, but that is a conversation for another day), which does well to explain my criticism of Harper for partially obliterating the importance of arts and culture here.

Anyway, the three bands I saw are: Dan Mangan from Vancouver, BC; the infamous and incomparable Broken Social Scene (they organized a food drive with the Daily Food Bank for the homeless--the participation was a bit disheartening, but my friend Adam and I Campbelled it up) ; and Hawksley Workman. Weeks like this, I really love living in Toronto. The Acorn, Ohbijou and The Rural Alberta Advantage (one of my favourite bands from Toronto) played together at Lee's Palace the same night of Broken Social Scene, as well as Black Hat Brigade and The Schomberg Fair at the Horseshoe.

I name-drop incessantly because I just want to point out how much there is to see and hear in this city--in every city, for that matter. And they've all got things to say, outside of their music as well. All songwriters are thinkers, and they are all bound to have something to say about something you've never thought of before.

So... seek them out! I assume there will be a Best of 2008 list at the end of the year, no matter how incomplete and limited my hearing range has been this year.

ps. If you go to shows, and you just absolutely must blaze/drink from the bottle right at the venue, please don't pick fights with my friends. Or start imitating the keys guy on my sister's head. It's annoying. Just sayin'.

pps. Last day of classes woo! But the upcoming Week Fourteen of Death is... frightening. So is the Last Day of Work Pending Unemployment--coming this Sunday!

le chat

I've been comparing my state to a cat: I just want to bask all day in the sun and play with balls of yarn. A difficult task to achieve via living in a basement in Toronto in November.

I painted Captain Pringles (I didn't intend this, but they ended up bearing a striking resemblance) for a friend's birthday in August. I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean, but a lost sea captain celebrates his birthday at sea while a whale navigates... is what I ended up implying.

Before I go, and just so I seem at least a bit more literate than a cat, I want to comment on the situation in Burma. A hundred peaceful activists are imprisoned again. The regime refuses to negotiate terms for UN's visit due in December. Half a million people are displaced in their own country. They've appealed, by democracy and by religion and by sheer humanity, but none of this seems to impress anyone of power. Something's got to give, but whowhenwherehow?

ps... A woman lives with 130 cats.